Part 11 (2/2)
The Woitation, while entirely separate froin to the interest this subject excited in the hearts and elina Gri the woman question one of reform Their broad views, freely expressed in their New York s, opened up the subject of wo state of public senti the condition of her white and colored sisters at the South, and the frantic efforts used to prevent her froan to see that she had soations outside of her home sphere and her private circle At first her only idea of aid in the great cause was that of prayer, which e, even encouraging her to pray for them; but it must be private prayer--prayer in her own closet--with no auditor but the God to whom she appealed As soon as it becaislatures and to Congress, the reprobation began The ene woman's influence, opposed her interference at every point; and when a Southern representative declared froht to send up petitions to Congress he was sustained by the sycophantic response which came from the North, that slavery was a political question, hich woelina Grimke answered this so fully and so eloquently in her ”Appeal to Northern Women,” that no doubt could have been left in the ht, but of her duty to interfere in this matter The appeal is s, but enough is said of her rights to shohither Angelina's own reflections were leading her, and it hts of e or two may be quoted as examples
”Every citizen should feel an intense interest in the political concerns of the country, because the honor, happiness and well-being of every class are bound up in its politics, government, and laws Are we aliens because we are women? Are we bereft of citizenshi+p because we are the hty people? Have women no country--no interests staked on the public weal--no partnershi+p in a nation's guilt and sha ties of kindred, nor sith man, nor power at the , or to bind the broken? The Lord has raised up , and knowledge,' to lay deep and broad the foundations of the tereat ed No war-trumpet summons to the field of battle; but Wisdo heart, let hi' Shall woman refuse her response to the call? Was she created to be a helpmeet for man--his sorrows to divide, his joys to share, and all his toils to lighten by her willing aid, and shall she refuse to aid him with her prayers, her labors, and her counsels too, at such a time, in such a cause as this?”
There had been, froitation, no lack of wohtest of the land had poured forth their words of grief, of courage, and of hope through azines and newspapers, in prose and in verse, and had proved their willingness to suffer for the slave, by enduring unshrinkingly ridicule and wrath, pecuniary loss and social ostracise, wo of paents They were regular attendants also on the anti-slaverythe estions that were offered But so strong and general was the feeling against wo in any public place, that, up to the tian their crusade, it was an al for a wo During the sittings of the Anti-Slavery Convention in Philadelphia, in 1833, which was attended by a nuh she had had experience in speaking in Quaker ht offend, ventured to propose an aood sense, Beriah Green, the president of the convention, encouraged her to proceed; and May, in his ”Recollections,” says: ”She made a more impressive and effective speech than any other that wasaddress of our president”
Two other ladies, Esther Moore and Lydia White, emboldened by Mrs
Mott's example, afterwards said a feords on one or two occasions, but these were the only infringeitation, of St Paul's oft-quoted injunction
When Sarah and Angelina Grimke accepted the invitation of the Female Anti-Slavery Society of Boston, to come and labor there, they found friends on every hand--woer to hear the what their eyes had witnessed in that land of worse than Egyptian bondage, but ready to be enlightened upon their own duties and rights in theas resolute to perform them Without experience, as the sisters were, we can hardly be surprised that they should have been carried beyond their original s, and have made what many of their best friends felt was a seriousupon abolitionists a double burden, and a responsibility to which the great majority of them were as much opposed as were their bitterest enemies But no movement in this direction was rown quite naturally out of, or been forced forward by, the alarhten and oerous topic
The Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Conventionabout it to Jane S on this woh, Colver and Birney, Garrison and Goodell, etc Their eloquence was no less delightful to the ear than the soundness of their doctrine was coht up, but this occasioned so a repudiation of civil govern to do this At Friend Chap talk with the brethren on the rights of wo that it is time our fetters were broken
L Child and Maria Chaply supported this view; indeed, very s is very desirable in this respect And now, s, I feel that it is not the cause of the slave only that we plead, but the cause of wo, and I as?' These holy causes must be injured if they are not helped by us I see not to what point all these things are leading us But one thing coh the Lord had sent us, and as if I was leaning on his arm”
And in this reliance, in a meek and lowly spirit, i sense of duty, these gentle woularity of their position, prepared to enter upon entirely new scenes of labor, enco to their delicate natures
A series of public ed for them as soon as the Convention adjourned, and the first was held in Dorchester, in the town hall, to which they repaired upon finding the nureat to be accommodated in a private house
Their next was in Boston on the following afternoon Angelina's heart here ale of woht of the responsibility resting upon her It was at this entleman set the example, which was followed by two or three otherinto a back seat to hear for hi was
Satisfied of its superior quality, and alarmed at its effects upon the audience, he shortly afterwards took great pains to prove that it was unscriptural for a wos were held at first only in the daylight, there was little show of opposition for so enthusias, by their power and success, their right to speak Angelina's letters to Jane Ss she and Sarah held during that su that they were able to endure such an amount of mental and physical labor, and erness to hear them Before the end of the first week, she records:--”Nearly thirty men present, pretty easy to speak” A few days later the nureat openness on their part to hear”
After having heldfroelina records on the 21st July, at Lynn:--
”In the evening of the same day addressed our first reat openness to hear, and ease in speaking”
This, so brieflyof the revolution in sentih it was met at the outset with much the same spirit which opposed abolitionism, soon spread and became a principle of reform as conscientiously and as ably advocated as any other, elina had any idea of starting such a revolution, but when they found it fairly inaugurated, and thatprivately held the same views as they did and were ready to follow in their lead, they bravely accepted, and to the end of their lives as bravely sustained all the responsibilities their opinions involved They were the pioneers in the great cause of political freedom for women, and opened the way in the true pioneer spirit The clear sense of justice and the broad humanity which inspired their trenchant rebukes and fervid appeals not only enlightened and encouraged other wos practised towards the sex which had up to that tinorance, or in despair of any possibility of relief The peculiar tenderness of Sarah Gri syelina, to the consideration of the necessity of soanized system of protection of helpless woation of the impositions and abuses to which they were subjected, was evolved, without much difficulty, the doctrine of woht to a voice on every subject of public interest, social or political Sarah's published letters during the summer of 1837 show her to have been as deeply interested in this reform as in abolitionism, and to her influence was certainly due the introduction of the ”Woman Question” into the anti-slavery discussions That this question was as yet a secondary one in Angelina's mind is evident from what she writes to Jane S on the rights of woh, everywhere I go, Ian audience, I never think of referring to it I was particularly struck with this two days ago Riding with Dr Miller to aat Franklin, I found, froreat amount of prejudice to ave hi, and verily believe I converted him, for he said he had no idea so round I had taken, and remarked: 'This will be quite new to the people, and I believe they will gladly hear these things,' and pressed me so much to speak on the subject at the close of ed to pro two hours, we returned to his house to tea, and he asked: 'Why did you not tell the people why you believed you had a right to speak?'
I had entirely forgotten all about it until his question revived the conversation we had on the road Now I believe the Lord orders these things so, driving out of ht not to speak on If the time ever comes when this shall be a part of et it”
But to return to theat Lynn We are told that the men present listened in ahtest noise which ht cause the loss of a word fro was called for, and held the next evening This was crowded to excess, -rooelina writes, ”stood around the doors, and, on the outside of each , men stood with their heads above the lowered sash Very easy speaking indeed”
But now the opposers of abolitionisan to be alare of one of the newspapers of the day) ”two fanatical woations of a respected nas of their most worthy kinsmen, the Barnwells and the Rhetts, should, by the novelty of their course, draw to their s idle and curious woent, respectable and cultivated citizens of every town, began to crowd to hear the theed immodest, and their conduct denounced as unwo Their devotion to principle, the purity of their lives, the justice of the cause they pleaded, the religious stand-point from which they spoke, all were overlooked, and the pitiless scorn of Christian men and women of every sect was poured down upon them Nor should onder e remember that, at that tied in the education and the training of New England woland men Even elina Gri unwo her voice to plead for those helpless to plead for theood a man and so faithful an anti-slavery worker as Samuel J May confesses that his sense of propriety was a little disturbed at first Letters of reproval, adood conscientious people, cay their woainst them Municipal corporations refused the use of halls for their s, and threats of personal violence caed The New England Yearly Meeting went so far as to advise the closing of -house doors to all anti-slavery lecturers and the disown expected now becaine how terrible all this , sensitive, and proud spirits But their courage never failed, nor was their hty work for hunation and wrath Angelina, writing to her dear Jane an account of some of the opposition to them, says:
”And now, thou ant to knoe feel about all these things
Well, dear, poor enough in ourselves, and defenceless; but rich and strong in the help which our Master is pleased to give froth in our weakness This is a truly hu I aether hidden behind the great cause I a Were it not for this, I do not kno I could face such audiences and such opposition O Jane, how good it is that we can cast all our burdens upon the Lord”