The Sun.
London, England, 1850-12-13 00:00:00

THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN.

Of all the odd fruits which the tree of liberty in
America will bear when in want of pruning, none can
match with the " Woman's Rights Convention,"
which has been held within the last three weeks at
Worcester, in the State of Massachusetts. The
convention, comprising matrons and spinsters from
various parts of the Union, assembled on Wednes-
day, the 231 of October; and, perhaps not unneces-
sarily, " was immediately called to order by Mrs.
R. Earle." Business must be attended to; and,
in the election of officers which followed, the
choice of president (erroneously called chairman
by subsequent speakers) fell upon Mrs. Pauline
Wright Davis, of Rhode Island. The fair pre-
sident opened the proceedings by reading an address
in exposition of the wrongs of " crucified woman-
hood," the drift of which appeared to be that all
previous political revolutions and religious reforms
had failed, inasmuch as they persisted in
recognising the disparity of the sexes.' Unfor-
tunately
was not high enough for the amiable revolutionists.
Mrs. Lucretia Mott, evidently the great Ajax of the
movement, objected to its being received, and "desired
they:might speak with an earnestness and severity which
would make the ears of man tingle for their degradation."
Bat as there are Alps above Alps, so there was a sterner
fetnale resolution than even that of Mrs. Mott. Mrs.
Abbey Kelly Foster said she " preferred not to argue
about women's rights, but to take them," and imme-
diately left the hall, apparently to fetch them. This was
, naturally felt to be alarming ; Mrs. Mott's weaker
sympathies overcame ber ; the woman relented
though the delegate was firm ; and she rose to express
her' fear that the language of Mrs. Foster might
be construed to favour the use of violence and blood-
shed es one of the means of obtaining their
rights." Scissors and bodkins ! to what perils
are we not exposed ! When will " the tyrant
sex" be wise ? It was some time before the sensa-
tion excited by this incident was appeased ; but then
"Mrs. Rose, of New York, delivered one of her effec-
tive and eloquent speeches, in which she alluded to
our Pilgrim Fathers, and the pride and reverence
with which they were often referred to. But,
said she, who has heard of the Pilgrim Mothers ?"
But the strength of the movement was reserved for
the second day. The Rev. Samuel J. May wrote to
mention that " the State was in a condition of half
orphanage; there were fathers of the public, but no
mothers." The great card, however, was an epistle from
Mrs. Elizabeth C. Stanton, of Seneca Palls. We have
vainly tried to picture to ourselves the personal ap-
pearance of this remarkable woman. Any in-
formation on the subject would be thankfully
received ; but at present we are left with
no clue but that she speaks lofty con-
tempt of " the tender age of twenty-one." A
few extracts from her letter will excite in the
reader a similar curiosity to that which devours
ourselves. " Because," says Mrs. S., " a woman
may not choose to worship at the same altar as
her liege lord, must she of necessity do up all her
worshipping in private in her own closet? We
have many noble women in our land, free from
domestic incumbrances, who might grace a senate
chamber, and for whose services the country
might gladly forego all the noise, bluster, and
folly of one-half the male dolts who flourish there,
and pocket their eight dollars a day." " Much
of this talk about domestic harmony is the sheerest
humbug." Our most sincere condolences are at
the service of Mr. Stanton, of Seneca Falls. The
activity of the convention was stimulated' to a
high point by the letter of his amiable spouse ;
and they passed all the resolutions by acclama-
tion. Mrs. Sarah Tyndale presented herself, and
Paid, "she was a widow; but if her children could
see her standing up before such an audience, they