Volume I Part 16 (1/2)
Mrs. MOTT: We ought to thank Dr. Nevin for his kindly fears, lest we women should be brought out into the rough conflicts of life, and overwhelmed by infidelity. I thank him, but at the same time I must say, that if we have been able this afternoon to sit uninjured by the hard conflict in which he has been engaged, if we can maintain our patience at seeing him so laboriously build up a man of straw, and then throw it down and destroy it, I think we may be suffered to go into the world and bear many others unharmed.
Again, I would ask in all seriousness, by what right does Orthodoxy give the invidious name of Infidel, affix the stigma of infidelity, to those who dissent from its cherished opinions?
What right have the advocates of moral reform, woman's rights, abolition, temperance, etc., to call in question any man's religious opinions? It is the a.s.sumption of bigots. I do not want now to speak invidiously, and say sectarian bigots, but I mean the same kind of bigotry which Jesus rebuked so sharply, when He called certain men ”blind leaders of the blind.”
Now, we hold Jesus up as an example, when we perceive the a.s.sumption of clergymen, that all who venture to dissent from a given interpretation, must necessarily be infidels; and thus denounce them as infidels; for it was only by inference, that one clergyman this afternoon made Joseph Barker deny the Son of G.o.d.
By inference in the same way, he might be made to deny everything that is good, and praiseworthy, and true.
I want we should consider these things upon this platform. I am not troubled with difficulties about the Bible. My education has been such that I look to that Source whence all the inspiration of the Bible comes. I love the truths of the Bible. I love the Bible because it contains so many truths; but I never was educated to love the errors of the Bible; therefore it does not startle me to hear Joseph Barker point to some of those errors.
And I can listen to the ingenious interpretation of the Bible, given by Antoinette Brown, and am glad to hear those who are so skilled in the outward, when I perceive that they are beginning to turn the Bible to so good an account. It gives evidence that the cause is making very good progress. Why, my friend Nevin has had to hear the temperance cause denounced as infidel, and proved so by Solomon; and he has, no doubt, seen the minister in the pulpit, turning over the pages of the Bible to find examples for the wrong. But the Bible will never sustain him in making this use of its pages, instead of using it rationally, and selecting such portions of it as would tend to corroborate the right; and these are plentiful; for notwithstanding the teaching of theology, and men's arts in the religious world, men have ever responded to righteousness and truth, when it has been advocated by the servants of G.o.d, so that we need not fear to bring truth to an intelligent examination of the Bible. It is a far less dangerous a.s.sertion to say that G.o.d is unchangeable, than that man is infallible.
In this debate on the Bible-position of woman, Mr. Garrison having always been a close student of that Book, was so clear in his positions, and so ready in his quotations, that he carried the audience triumphantly with him. The Rev. Dr. Nevin came out of the contest so chagrined, that, losing all sense of dignity, on meeting Mr. Garrison in the vestibule of the hall, at the close of the Convention, he seized him by the nose and shook him vehemently. Mr.
Garrison made no resistance, and when released, he calmly surveyed his antagonist and said, ”Do you feel better, my friend? do you hope thus to break the force of my argument?” The friends of the Rev. Mr. Nevin were so mortified with his ungentlemanly behavior that they suppressed the scene in the vestibule as far as possible, in the Cleveland journals, and urged the ladies who had the report of the Convention in charge, to make no mention of it in their publication. Happily, the fact has been resurrected in time to point a page of history.
A question arising in the Convention as to the colleges, Antoinette Brown remarked:
That much and deeply as she loved Oberlin, she must declare that it has more credit for liberality to woman than it deserves.
Girls are not allowed equal privileges and advantages there; they are not allowed instructions in elocution, nor to speak on commencement day. The only college in the country that places all students on an equal footing, without distinction of s.e.x or color, is McGrawville College in Central New York. Probably Antioch College, Ohio (President Horace Mann), will also admit pupils on the same ground.
Mrs. ROSE said she knew of no college where both s.e.xes enjoyed equal advantages. It matters not, however, if there be. We do not deal with exceptions, but with general principles.
A sister has well remarked that we do not believe that man is the cause of all our wrongs. We do not fight men--we fight bad principles. We war against the laws which have made men bad and tyrannical. Some will say, ”But these laws are made by men.”
True, but they were made in ignorance of right and wrong, made in ignorance of the eternal principles of justice and truth. They were sanctioned by superst.i.tion, and engrafted on society by long usage. The Declaration issued by the Seneca Falls Convention is an instrument no less great, no less n.o.ble than that to which it bears a resemblance.
In closing she alluded to that portion of Mr. Channing's Declaration which referred to the code of morals by which a fallen woman is forever ruined, while the man who is the cause of, or sharer in her crime, is not visited by the slightest punishment. ”It is time to consider whether what is wrong in one s.e.x can be right in another. It is time to consider why if a woman commits a fault, too often from ignorance, from inexperience, from poverty, because of degradation and oppression--aye! because of designing, cruel man; being made cruel by ignorance of laws and inst.i.tutions,--why such a being, in her helplessness, in her ignorance, in her inexperience and dependency--why a being thus situated, not having her mind developed, her faculties called out: and not allowed to mix in society to give her experience, not being acquainted with human nature, is drawn down, owing often to her best and tenderest feelings; in consequence also of being accustomed to look up to man as her superior, as her guardian, as her master,--why such a being should be cast out of the pale of humanity, while he who committed the crime, or who is, if not the main, the great secondary cause of it,--he who is endowed with superior advantages of education and experience, he who has taken advantage of that weakness and confiding spirit, which the young always have,--I ask, if the victim is cast out of the pale of society, shall the despoiler go free?” The question was answered by a thunder of ”No! no! no!” from all parts of the house. A profound sensation was observable. ”And yet,” said Mrs. Rose, ”he does go free!!”
Ernestine L. Rose, says the _Plain Dealer_, is the master-spirit of the Convention. She is described as a Polish lady of great beauty, being known in this country as an earnest advocate of human liberty.
Though a slight foreign accent is perceptible, her delivery is effective. She spoke with great animation. The impression made by her address was favorable both to the speaker and the cause. In speaking of the _personnel_ of the platform, it says:
Mrs. Lydia Ann Jenkins, of New York, who made an effective speech, is habited in the Bloomer costume, and appears to much advantage on the stage. Her face is amiable, and her delivery excellent. She is as fine a female orator as we have heard. The address embodied the usual arguments offered in favor of this cause, and were put in a forcible and convincing manner. We say convincing, because such a speaker would convince the most obdurate unbeliever against his will.
Miss Stone is somewhat celebrated for an extraordinary enthusiasm in the cause of her s.e.x, and for certain eccentricities of speech and thought, as well as of outward attire. She is as independent in mind as in dress. She is as ready to throw off the restraints society seems to have placed on woman's mind, as she is to cast aside what she considers an absurd fas.h.i.+on in dress. Without endorsing the eliminated petticoats, we can not but admire Miss Stone's ”stern old Saxon pluck,” and her total independence of the G.o.d, Fas.h.i.+on. Her dress is first a black velvet coat with collar, fastened in front with b.u.t.tons, next a skirt of silk, reaching to the knees, then ”she wears the breeches” of black silk, with neat-fitting gaiters. Her hair is cut short and combed straight back. Her face is not beautiful, but there is mind in it; it is earnest, pleasant, prepossessing. Miss Stone must be set down as a lady of no common abilities, and of uncommon energy in the pursuit of a cherished idea. She is a marked favorite in the Conventions.
During the proceedings, Miss Brown, in a long speech on the Bible, had expounded many doctrines and pa.s.sages of Scripture in regard to woman's position, in direct opposition to the truths generally promulgated by General a.s.semblies, and the lesser lights of the Church. Mrs. Emma R. Coe took an equally defiant position toward the Bench and the Bar, coolly a.s.suming that she understood the spirit of Const.i.tutions and Statute Laws. Some lawyer had made a criticism on the woman's pet.i.tion then circulating in Ohio, and essayed to give the Convention some light on the laws of the State, to all of which Mrs.
Coe says:
I have very little to say this evening beyond reading a letter, received by me to-day. (Here follows the letter). I beg leave to inform the gentleman, if he is present, that I believe I understand these laws, and this point particularly, very nearly as well as himself; and that I am well acquainted with the laws pa.s.sed since 1840, as with those enacted previous to that time. I would also inform him that the committee, some of whom are much better read in law than myself, were perfectly aware of the existence of the statutes he mentions, but did not see fit to incorporate them into the pet.i.tion, not only on account of their great length, but because they do not at all invalidate the position which the pet.i.tion affects to establish, viz: the inequality of the s.e.xes before the law. Their insertion, therefore, would have been utterly superfluous. This letter refers, evidently, to that portion of the pet.i.tion which treats of the equalization of property, which I will now read. (Then follows the reading of one paragraph of the pet.i.tion). Again I refer you to the letter, the first paragraph of which is as follows:
”Mrs. Emma R. Coe, will you look at Vol. 44, General Laws of Ohio, page 75, where you will find that the property of the wife can not be taken for the debts of her husband, etc.; and all articles of household furniture, and goods which a wife shall have brought with her in marriage, or which shall have come to her by bequest, gift, etc., after marriage, or purchased with her separate money or other property, shall be exempt from liability for the debts of her husband, during her life, and during the life of any heir of her body.”
Very true: we readily admit the law of which the gentleman has given an abstract; and so long as the wife holds the property in her hands, just as she received it, it can not be taken for the husband's debts, but the moment she permits her husband to convert that property into another shape, it becomes his, and may be taken for his debts. The gentleman I presume will admit this at once.
The next paragraph of the letter reads thus: ”Also in Vol. 51, General Laws of Ohio, page 449, the act regulating descent, etc., provides, that real estate, which shall have come to the wife by descent, devise, or gift, from her ancestor, shall descend--first, to her children, or their legal representatives.
Second, if there be no children, or their legal representatives living, the estate shall pa.s.s to the brothers and sisters of the intestate, who may be of the blood of the ancestor from whom the estate came, or their legal representatives,” etc. True again: So long as the wife holds real estate in her own name, in t.i.tle, and in t.i.tle only, it is hers; for her husband even then controls its profits, and if she leave it so, it will descend to her heirs so long as she has an heir, and so long as she can trace the descent. But if she suffers her husband to sell that property and receive the money, it instantly becomes his; and instead of descending to her heirs, it descends to his heirs. This the gentleman will not deny. Now, we readily admit, that while the wife abides by the statutes, of which our article has given us an abstract, her husband can not take the property from her, he can only take the use of it. But the moment she departs from the statute, she comes under the provisions of the common law; which, when they do not conflict, is equally binding in Ohio, as the statute law. And in this case the common and statute laws do not conflict. Departing from the statute, that is, suffering her property to be exchanged, the provision is thus: (Here follows the common law, taken from the pet.i.tion). I have nothing further to add on this point, but will quote the last paragraphs in the letter.
”If you would know what our laws are, you must refer to the laws pa.s.sed in Ohio since 1840.”
This has already been answered.