The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony Volume II Part 33

These opinions might be multiplied almost to infinity and all would emphasize two points: 1st, the broad views entertained by Miss Anthony on all questions, based on her idea of individual freedom, the same for both s.e.xes; 2d, her fundamental belief that, until women cease to be a subject cla.s.s, and until they stand upon the plane of perfect equality of rights and privileges, there can be no such thing as a fair solution or adjustment of the issues of the day, either great or small; in other words, that these can not be satisfactorily and permanently settled through the judgment and decision of only one-half the people.

On October 18 she celebrated her complete recovery by accepting an invitation to "come and take a cup of tea with Aunt Maria Porter," in honor of her ninetieth birthday. She was obliged to cancel her engagement to speak at the Atlanta Exposition, but during this month made a trial of her strength by an hour's speech at the annual meeting of the Monroe County Suffrage Club at Brockport, "attempting it," she says, "with fear and trembling, but going through as if I never had had a scare." a.s.sured by this that she had herself well in hand once more, she went to Ashtabula, Ohio, for a three days' convention of the State a.s.sociation, attending every business meeting and public session. This fact being duly heralded in the newspapers, they put the obituary notices back into their pigeonholes.

She started for New York November 6 to be present at an event to which she had looked forward with more pleasure than to anything of that nature in all her life--the celebration of the eightieth birthday of Mrs. Stanton. At the convention in February it had been unanimously decided that the National-American a.s.sociation should have charge of this, but at the Woman's Council in Washington it was agreed that it would have greater significance if held under the auspices of that body, which cheerfully accepted the charge. Its new president, Mary Lowe d.i.c.kinson, urged Miss Anthony to take the chairmanship of the committee of arrangements, insisting that no one else could make so great a success of it, but Miss Anthony a.s.sured her of what afterwards proved to be true, that no one could manage the affair more perfectly than Mrs.

d.i.c.kinson herself.

Naturally many of the suffrage women resented having any one outside their own a.s.sociation as the leader on this great occasion, and Lillie Devereux Blake wrote: "Mrs. Stanton stands for suffrage above all else and she should be honored by our societies. To have the celebration under the charge of the secretary of the King's Daughters, an orthodox organization, seems very much out of taste, greatly as I honor Mrs.

d.i.c.kinson. I do not think any one else will make the celebration such a success as you would; you, the long-time companion and co-worker with our dear leader, are the person who should be at the head and, with your admirable manner as a presiding officer, you would give a tone to it that no one else could." To this Miss Anthony replied:

All of you fail to see the higher honor to Mrs. Stanton in having the celebration mothered by a great body composed of twenty national societies, instead of by only our one. Surely, for all cla.s.ses of women--liberal, orthodox, Jewish, Mormon, suffrage and anti-suffrage, native and foreign, black and white--to unite in paying a tribute of respect to the greatest woman reformer, philosopher and statesman of the century, will be the realization of Mrs. Stanton's most optimistic dream. I am surprised and delighted at the action of the council. It shows a breadth and comprehensiveness on the part of the leaders of its twenty-in-one organization of which I am very proud. Of course Mrs. Stanton stands for suffrage first, last and all the time, and the conservative women who join in this celebration do so knowing that she stands thus for a free and enfranchised womanhood.

Don't you see that for Anthony to head the fray, preside and be general master of ceremonies, would reduce it to a mere mutual admiration affair? The celebration is not taken away from us. We, the suffrage women, will have our modic.u.m of time to set forth what Mrs. Stanton has done for our specific cause, and the other women will have theirs. O, no, my dear, it is not possible that the greater can be less than one of the parts which compose it.

Her own "girls," Mrs. Sewall and Mrs. Avery, could not help being a little jealous for their general, and insisted that her name should head the invitations, but to them she wrote:

Do you not see that for Susan B. Anthony's name to stand at the top, will frighten the conservatives? Everybody will conclude that the big suffrage elephant has possessed the council, body and soul--all thrust into the suffrage hopper and the wheel turned by S. B. A. To make me chairman will wholly spoil the intention of the council, which is and should be to bring the fruits of Mrs.

Stanton's first demand, fifty years ago, and lay them at her feet; not only the suffrage children, but those of education, literature, science, reform, religion, all as one. If Mrs. d.i.c.kinson single out the hoofed and horned head of suffrage as the commander-in-chief, not only the nineteen other societies but all the world outside will say it is suffrage after all; which it will be, because the others won't train under our leadership. No, no; Mrs. d.i.c.kinson herself must be the chief cook of this broth and appoint her own lieutenants, one of whom, with name far down in the middle of the list, I shall be most happy to be, and do all I possibly can to help, but always in the name of the president of the council.

She was true to her word, and in every way a.s.sisted Mrs. d.i.c.kinson in the immense amount of preparation necessary for what was the largest and most perfect affair of this nature ever given in America. At her request Miss Anthony wrote over a hundred letters to collect funds, secure the presence of the pioneer workers among women, etc., but still insisted on keeping herself so much in the background as even to refuse to make one of the princ.i.p.al speeches of the occasion. When she reached New York, she went for the night to her cousin, Mrs. Lapham, and early the next morning to Mrs. Stanton's to read over the birthday speech, of which she writes: "My only criticism was that she did not rest her case after describing the wonderful advance made in state, church, society and home, instead of going on to single out the church and declare it to be especially slow in accepting the doctrine of equality to women. I tried to make her see that it had advanced as rapidly as the other departments but I did not succeed, and it is right that she should express her own ideas, not mine."

The next day she went to Newburgh to address the State convention, returning to New York on the 9th. Friends had come from all parts of the country to attend the celebration, and the three days following were pleasantly spent in visiting with them at the different hotels. On the evening of the 12th occurred the birthday fete. There is not room in these pages to describe in full that magnificent gathering, the great Metropolitan Opera House crowded from pit to dome, each of the boxes brilliantly and appropriately decorated and occupied by the representatives of some organization of women. On the stage was a throne of flowers and above it an arch with the name "Stanton" wrought in red carnations on a white ground. When Mrs. Stanton entered, the entire audience of 3,000 rose to salute her with waving handkerchiefs. At the right and left of the floral throne sat Miss Anthony and Mrs. d.i.c.kinson.

Instead of responding with a set speech, when called upon, Miss Anthony paid an eloquent tribute to the "pioneers," and then read the most important of the one hundred telegrams of congratulation which had been received from noted societies and eminent men and women in the United States and Europe.[116] The New York Sun said: "In ordinary hands this task would have been dull enough, but Miss Anthony enlivened it with her wit and cleverness and made a success of it." It may be truly said that not one woman in that audience, not even Mrs. Stanton herself, was prouder or happier than Miss Anthony over this splendid ovation.

The next day a large reception was given at the Savoy by Mrs. Henry Villard, the only daughter of Wm. Lloyd Garrison; and after various luncheons and dinners and good-by calls, Miss Anthony returned to Rochester. She plunged into the mountain of correspondence and, expecting to spend most of the next year at home, gave every spare moment to the arranging and cla.s.sifying of her ma.s.s of doc.u.ments, preparatory to some contemplated literary work. On November 21, the Political Equality Club celebrated Mrs. Stanton's birthday in a beautiful manner at the Anthony home, over 200 guests attending. Several unkind newspaper attacks being made upon Miss Anthony by disgruntled women, she wrote Mrs. Stanton, who was much distressed: "This fresh onslaught reminds me of the old adage, 'When one is over-praised by the many, the few will try to pull down and destroy.' Certainly I know that in my head and heart there never has been any but the strongest desire that all the other workers should have their full meed of opportunity and reward."

A telegram came November 25 announcing the sudden death, in Boston, of Mrs. Ellen Battelle Dietrick. She had been actively in the suffrage work for only a few years, but in that time Miss Anthony had learned her splendid powers and had said of her: "I feel that into her hands can safely fall the work of the future, both as to principle and policy."

She had been made chairman of the national press work, and had shown an unsurpa.s.sed beauty and strength of style and thought. "She was a philosopher, a student," Miss Anthony wrote, "possessed of the conscience and the courage to stand by the truth as she saw it. Can it be that she is gone in the very prime of her womanhood? Why can not we keep with us the brave and beautiful souls; why can not the weak and wicked go? The world seems darker to me now, a light has gone out."

On December 2 she gathered about her a group of the very oldest and dearest friends in memory of what would have been her mother's one hundred and second birthday. She records attending a lecture by President Andrew D. White, at the close of which he presented his wife to her, saying: "I want you to know her; she is of your kind." The day before Christmas came another telegram, this one from May Wright Sewall, containing simply the words: "Dear General, my Theodore is taken." It meant the desolation of one of the happiest, most perfect homes ever made by two mortals. It told the breaking of as strong and sweet a tie as ever united husband and wife. What could she write? Only, "Be brave in this inevitable hour; take unto yourself the 'joy of sorrow' that you did all in mortal power for his restoration, that his happiness was the desire of your life; find comfort in the blessed memories of his tender and never-failing love and care for you in all these beautiful years."

But the poverty, the powerlessness of words in times like this!

And so the old year rolled into the past and the record was finished.

Among the letters which came to cheer its close, was one from Mary Lowe d.i.c.kinson, which ended:

In every way, in all this work, how grandly you stood by and helped me! Some day you will understand how grateful I am, and how thoroughly I appreciate the support, moral and other, that you have given me. I know this holiday season will bring you a great many loving souvenirs from all over the world, and I haven't sent you anything at all; but I have a gift for you, notwithstanding, a gift of loyal reverence for the grand outspoken bravery of your life and service, a gift of genuine grat.i.tude for what you have been and what you have done, and an affection that has been growing ever since my first talk with you in Chicago. This is quite a declaration for a reserved woman, but it is as sincere as it is unusual, and I wish you all sorts of blessings for the New Year, and most of all that it may show great progress in the work which lies so close to your heart.

And this from her beloved friend, Mrs. Leland Stanford:

It is needless for me to express all I feel in regard to your tender and long-continued friendship. I always prized it when I had my dear husband by my side to help me bear the burdens and sorrows of life, but now, standing as I do alone with the weighty cares and sacred duties depending upon me, I cherish your sympathy, your friendship and your tender words as an evidence of G.o.d's love. He can instigate and guide hearts to reach out sustaining helpfulness to His children, who need just such support as you have given me.

Long years past and gone, you and Mrs. Stanton were appreciated and extolled by my husband more than you ever realized. He predicted twenty years ago what has now come, and mainly through the instrumentality of yourself and her--the advancement and elevation of womanhood--and we are only on the eve of what is to follow in the twentieth century.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Autograph: "Leland Stanford"]

Miss Anthony was very glad to go back to Washington with the annual convention, which was held January 23 to 28, 1896. She went on a week beforehand to satisfy herself that all was in readiness. Although the details of the work were a.s.sumed by the younger members of the board, she was always on the scene of action early enough to look over the ground before the battle opened. This year the papers said: "A notable feature of the suffrage movement is the large number of college alumnae and professional women who are coming into the ranks." The committee reported organizations in every State and Territory except Alaska.

Delegates were present from almost every one, among them Mrs. Hughes, wife of the governor of Arizona, Mrs. Teller, wife of the senator from Colorado, Mrs. Sanders, wife of the ex-senator from Montana, the wives of Representatives Arnold, Allen, Shafroth and Pickler, Mrs. Ella Knowles Haskell, a.s.sistant attorney-general of Montana. Most of them addressed the committees of the Senate and House, who gave long and respectful hearings.

The princ.i.p.al cause of rejoicing at this convention was the admission of Utah as a State with the full enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of women. A clause to this effect had been put into the State const.i.tution, endorsed by all political parties, voted on by the men of the Territory and carried.

This const.i.tution had been accepted, the new State admitted by Congress, and the bill was signed by President Cleveland January 4, 1896. A noteworthy circ.u.mstance in this case was that, while the admission of Wyoming with a woman suffrage clause in its const.i.tution was fought for many days in both Senate and House in 1890, that of Utah was accepted with scarcely a protest against its enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of women. There was also rejoicing over the fact that, during the autumn of 1895, the full franchise had been conferred upon the women of South Australia.

The occurrence of the convention which forever made its memory a sad one to Miss Anthony was the so-called "Bible resolution." It had this effect not only because of the resolution itself but because those who were responsible for it were especially near and dear to her. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a.s.sisted by a committee of women, had been for several years preparing a work called the "Woman's Bible." It contained no discussion of doctrinal questions but was simply a commentary upon those texts and chapters directly referring to women, and a few others from which they were conspicuously excluded. Naturally, however, this pamphlet caused a great outcry, especially from those who had not read a word of it. That women should dare a.n.a.lyze even the pa.s.sages referring to themselves in a book which heretofore, neither in the original writing nor in all the revisions of the centuries, had felt the impress of a woman's brain or the touch of a woman's hand, stirred the orthodox to their greater or less depths. Mrs. Stanton was honorary president of the National-American Suffrage a.s.sociation, but had not attended its meetings or actively partic.i.p.ated in its work for a number of years.

Several members of the board, who were children when she and Miss Anthony founded that organization, and unborn when Mrs. Stanton called the first woman's rights convention, decided that her Woman's Bible was injuring the a.s.sociation, although only the chapters on the Pentateuch thus far had been published. They determined that this body should take official action on the question, but they understood perfectly that it would have to be brought before the convention without any previous knowledge on the part of Miss Anthony. Therefore it was planned to have a paragraph of condemnation and renunciation of the Woman's Bible incorporated in the report of the corresponding secretary. When it was read in open meeting she was struck dumb. Mrs. Colby sprung to her feet and moved that the report be accepted, all but the paragraph relating to the Woman's Bible. After an animated discussion the secretary's report was laid on the table and later was adopted with the offending clause stricken out. Miss Anthony supposed this was the end of the matter but, to her amazement, the committee on resolutions reported the following: "This a.s.sociation is non-sectarian, being composed of persons of all shades of religious opinions, and has no official connection with the so-called Woman's Bible, or any theological publication."

This resolution was wholly gratuitous. While true that the a.s.sociation was composed of persons of all shades of religious opinion, it comprised also among some of its oldest and ablest members those who entertained no so-called religious beliefs. Mrs. Stanton invariably had announced that this revision of the Scriptures was the individual work of herself and her committee, and there was no ground for holding the whole a.s.sociation responsible. The resolution, however, was debated for an hour. Miss Anthony was moved as never before. Not only was she fired with indignation at this insult to the woman whom she loved and revered above all others, but she was outraged at this deliberate attempt to deny personal liberty of thought and speech. Leaving the chair she said in an impa.s.sioned appeal:

The one distinct feature of our a.s.sociation has been the right of individual opinion for every member. We have been beset at each step with the cry that somebody was injuring the cause by the expression of sentiments which differed from those held by the majority. The religious persecution of the ages has been carried on under what was claimed to be the command of G.o.d. I distrust those people who know so well what G.o.d wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. All the way along the history of our movement there has been this same contest on account of religious theories. Forty years ago one of our n.o.blest men said to me, "You would better never hold another convention than allow Ernestine L. Rose on your platform;" because that eloquent woman, who ever stood for justice and freedom, did not believe in the plenary inspiration of the Bible. Did we banish Mrs. Rose? No, indeed!

Every new generation of converts threshes over the same old straw.

The point is whether you will sit in judgment on one who questions the divine inspiration of certain pa.s.sages in the Bible derogatory to women. If Mrs. Stanton had written approvingly of these pa.s.sages you would not have brought in this resolution for fear the cause might be injured among the _liberals_ in religion. In other words, if she had written _your_ views, you would not have considered a resolution necessary. To pa.s.s this one is to set back the hands on the dial of reform.

What you should say to outsiders is that a Christian has neither more nor less rights in our a.s.sociation than an atheist. When our platform becomes too narrow for people of all creeds and of no creeds, I myself can not stand upon it. Many things have been said and done by our _orthodox_ friends which I have felt to be extremely harmful to our cause; but I should no more consent to a resolution denouncing them than I shall consent to this. Who is to draw the line? Who can tell now whether these commentaries may not prove a great help to woman's emanc.i.p.ation from old superst.i.tions which have barred its way? Lucretia Mott at first thought Mrs.

Stanton had injured the cause of all woman's other rights by insisting upon the demand for suffrage, but she had sense enough not to bring in a resolution against it. In 1860 when Mrs. Stanton made a speech before the New York Legislature in favor of a bill making drunkenness a ground for divorce, there was a general cry among the friends that she had killed the woman's cause. I shall be pained beyond expression if the delegates here are so narrow and illiberal as to adopt this resolution. You would better not begin resolving against individual action or you will find no limit. This year it is Mrs. Stanton; next year it may be I or one of yourselves, who will be the victim.

If we do not inspire in women a broad and catholic spirit, they will fail, when enfranchised, to const.i.tute that power for better government which we have always claimed for them. Ten women educated into the practice of liberal principles would be a stronger force than 10,000 organized on a platform of intolerance and bigotry. I pray you vote for religious liberty, without censorship or inquisition. This resolution adopted will be a vote of censure upon a woman who is without a peer in intellectual and statesmanlike ability; one who has stood for half a century the acknowledged leader of progressive thought and demand in regard to all matters pertaining to the absolute freedom of women.

Rev. Anna Shaw, Carrie Chapman Catt, Henry B. and Alice Stone Blackwell, Laura M. Johns, Annie L. Diggs, Rachel Foster Avery, Laura Clay, Mariana W. Chapman, Elizabeth Upham Yates, and others spoke in favor of the resolution; Lillie Devereux Blake, Clara B. Colby, Mary S. Anthony, Emily Rowland, Charlotte Perkins Stetson and Caroline Hallowell Miller were among those who opposed it. The vote resulted, 53 ayes, 41 nays; and the resolution was adopted. The situation was felicitously expressed in a single sentence by Mrs. Caroline McCullough Everhard, president of the Ohio Suffrage a.s.sociation: "If women were governed more by principle and less by prejudice, how strong they would be!"

Miss Anthony's feelings could not be put into words. At first she seriously contemplated resigning her office, but from all parts of the country came letters from the pioneer workers--the women who had stood by her for more than twoscore years--pointing out that this action of the convention was a striking ill.u.s.tration of the necessity for her remaining at the helm. Mrs. Stanton urged that they both resign, but Miss Anthony replied:

During three weeks of agony of soul, with scarcely a night of sleep, I have felt I must resign my presidency, but then the rights of the minority are to be respected and protected by me quite as much as the action of the majority is to be resented; and it is even more my duty to stand firmly with the minority because principle is with them. I feel very sure that after a year's reflection upon the matter, the same women, and perhaps the one man, who voted for this interference with personal rights, will be ready to declare that their duty as individuals does not require them to disclaim freedom of speech in their co-workers. Sister Mary says the action of the convention convinces her that the time has not yet come for me to resign; whereas she had felt most strongly that I ought to do it for my own sake. No, my dear, instead of my resigning and leaving those half-fledged chickens without any mother, I think it my duty and the duty of yourself and all the liberals to be at the next convention and try to reverse this miserable, narrow action.

In letters to the different members of her "cabinet," who had voted in favor of the resolution, she thus expressed herself:

In this action I see nothing but the beginning of a petty espionage, a revival of the Spanish inquisition, subjecting to spiritual torture every one who speaks or writes what the other members consider not good for the a.s.sociation. Such disclaimers bring quite as much of martyrdom for our civilization as did the rack and fire in the barbarous ages of the past.

That a majority of the delegates could see no wrong personally to Mrs. Stanton and no violation of the right of individual judgment, makes me sick at heart; and still, I don't know what better one could expect when our ranks are now so filled with young women not yet out of bondage to the idea of the infallibility of that book.

To every person who really believes in religious freedom, it is no worse to criticise those pages in the Bible which degrade woman than it is to criticise the laws on our statute books which degrade her. Everything spoken or written by Jew or Greek, Gentile or Christian, or by any human being whomsoever, is not too sacred to be criticised by any other human being.

She was far too magnanimous, however, and loved the cause too well to relax her efforts for the welfare of the a.s.sociation. Before the year closed she received from Mrs. Avery and Mrs. Upton most tender and beautiful letters, acknowledging their mistake, expressing their sorrow and begging to be reinstated in her confidence and affection.[117]

In order that Miss Anthony's position maybe clearly understood and that she may not appear biased and one-sided, and in order also to consider this question all at one time, her point of view will be a little further ill.u.s.trated. In an interview in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle she is thus reported:

"Did you have anything to do with the new Bible, Miss Anthony?" was asked.

"No, I did not contribute to it, though I knew of its preparation.

My own relations to or ideas of the Bible always have been peculiar, owing to my Quaker training. The Friends consider the book as historical, made up of traditions, but not as a plenary inspiration. Of course people say these women are impious and presumptuous for daring to interpret the Scriptures as they understand them, but I think women have just as good a right to interpret and twist the Bible to their own advantage as men always have twisted and turned it to theirs.... It was written by men, and therefore its reference to women reflects the light in which they were regarded in those days. In the same way the history of our Revolutionary War was written, in which very little is said of the n.o.ble deeds of women, though we know how they stood by and helped the great work; and it is the same with history all through."

Although she stood so firm for individual rights she nevertheless regretted that Mrs. Stanton should give the few remaining years of her precious life to this commentary, and frequently wrote in the following strain, when importuned to a.s.sist in it:

I can not help but feel that in this you are talking down to the most ignorant ma.s.ses, whereas your rule always has been to speak to the highest, knowing there would be a few who would comprehend, and would in turn give of their best to those on the next lower round of the ladder. The cultivated men and women of today are above the need of your book. Even the liberalized orthodox ministers are coming to our aid and their conventions are pa.s.sing resolutions in favor of woman's equality, and I feel that these men and women who are just born into the kingdom of liberty can better reach the minds of their followers than can any of us out-and-out radicals.

But while I do not consider it my duty to tear to tatters the lingering skeletons of the old superst.i.tions and bigotries, yet I rejoice to see them crumbling on every side.

Months after this Washington convention, when Miss Anthony was in the midst of a great political campaign in California, she sent Mrs. Stanton this self-explanatory letter:

You say "women must be emanc.i.p.ated from their superst.i.tions before enfranchis.e.m.e.nt will be of any benefit," and I say just the reverse, that women must be enfranchised before they can be emanc.i.p.ated from their superst.i.tions. Women would be no more superst.i.tious today than men, if they had been men's political and business equals and gone outside the four walls of home and the other four of the church into the great world, and come in contact with and discussed men and measures on the plane of this mundane sphere, instead of living in the air with Jesus and the angels. So you will have to keep pegging away, saying, "Get rid of religious bigotry and then get political rights;" while I shall keep pegging away, saying, "Get political rights first and religious bigotry will melt like dew before the morning sun;" and each will continue still to believe in and defend the other.

Now, especially in this California campaign, I shall no more thrust into the discussions the question of the Bible than the manufacture of wine. What I want is for the men to vote "yes" on the suffrage amendment, and I don't ask whether they make wine on the ranches in California or believe Christ made it at the wedding feast. I have your grand addresses before Congress and enclose one in nearly every letter I write. I have scattered all your "celebration"

speeches that I had, but I shall not circulate your "Bible"

literature a particle more than Frances Willard's prohibition literature. So don't tell Mrs. Colby or anybody else to load me down with Bible, social purity, temperance, or any other arguments under the sun but just those for woman's right to have her opinion counted at the ballot-box.