Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1850-04-27
LETTERS.
From Mercy L. Holmes.
SELMA, April 18th, 1850.

" ~ WIN yOh iidl HlOTe, WllO NOulu Ice
1t among the proudest acts of our lives, coulC
we hear and be heard in this first great meet
= Ing of Western rebels" but circumstances dc
not seem to justify it now. We should
however, he very happy to meet n commit
tee OF your appointment before the Delegates
10 the State Convention, the first of mex
month. To many this may seem like rathcI
bold move, but from the hasiy thought
have given it, il strikes me as decidedly Judi
cious. Something, it is true, may be effected
by resolutions and petitions, but not hair tht
agitation and discussion would he clciteo
that Committe of Women would call forth
should they appear and address the Conven
tion on behalf of their sex. Men have sc
long been accustomed TO disregard the pray
ers and renonsirances Of women, except a.
they tend TO promote their own selfish and
despotic ends, that presume, should pcti.
ton be presented, il would serve no higher
purpose than to call out little of their OBJ
scene and vulgar wit. But let us 70, in the
language of the call, "in womanly strength
and with womanly energy" and demand OF
them as righ, not beg of them as n privi-
iege, an equal paricipancy in all that con-
"erns us as rational intelligcncies, and who
among us can predict the sensation il would
occasion--the ihomgllt il would elicit, and in
fine, the impetus that would be given TO the
great car of Universal Freedom and emnnc-
patton? Should such course be deemed
prudent, do not let us shrink from il because
of unpleasant consequences TO which it may
subject us. We must expect thesc-they
nre the necessary attendants to healthy action
on the part of morbid and diseased orguns.
But perhaps il may be said, majority even
of our otcn ser would revolt at such move.
What ii they do-whnt does il argue? A
melancholy trtdh-one that true womap-can
never record without blush. Ipthese, sla-
very and degradation have done their work,
have made sad hayaS-pf~ Gods holy image (;
yet there ls SIN Vitality even there. The
waning spark OF liberty and true womun-
hood may he reliindled resuscitated. The
moral Hnd intellectual heavens will yet glow
with bright worlds from these obscure and
unresolved nebule. Let us then be hopeful,
confident in the omnipotence of truth, and
rictory will crown our efforts. There may
he those in existence to-day who will bask in
the sunshine of this dawning orb of liberty
who will bear home to the spirit-lnnd glad
tidings Of practical recognition Of tile uni
verspl brotherhood of the race.
The origin and design of the rights of hu-
manity, as suggested in the call, is an impor-
tant question for discussion. Ii is indeed The
question, for il is only by going back to the
common source of all our rights, that we
conclusivcly the position we t9ke.
The query there arises, what is it that gives
us right to the use of any faculty or organ
we possess? Evidently the end TO be achie-
ved.! We were never placed here by good
and wise Father for specified purpose, and
then forbidden the use of such instrument
Utilities as would enable iis to attain that pnr-
pose. This presume will be granted. The
question then occurs, what evidence have
we that the end to be achieved is the same
in the different sexes? | answer, the COM
mon insirlaaenfatiiies conferred upon them.
Woman possesses every faculty that man
does, and, moreover, these faculties are sub
ject TO tho same laws of development. If
then we have common destiny, are endow-
ed with common instrunentaities for the
achievement of that destiny, and our rights
have their origin there, how dare man pre-
sumo to wrest them from us? Ii is inpiouS
is assuming preroSative that neither God
nor man has right TO, while we are consti-
tuted as we are. To admit such right IN
our good Parent, would be TO admit in Him
n right and power TO do iorong, something
wholly inconsistent and at variance with lis
nature. If tho position taken be true, then,
whence comes mans boosted superiority,
the intellectual pre-eminence he claimsT-
Clearly from his superior circumstance
superior discipline. Extend to woman equal
privileges and discipline, and she will not
lag behind him, and those equal privileges
must and ,oiU be extended. Nothing short
of this will ever satisfy the demands of n
noble and dignifed spirit-one in which the
spark Of Dipinity has indeed been kindled.
This question, so vitality important TO us all,
is too often discussed from wrong premises.
For instance, il is contended that because
certain organs, as a class, are larger in males
than in females, (ioholly the result Of a differ
ence in discipline,) therefore men have rights
that i0e have not; just as though the size of
the organ determined the right TO its use.
We might just as well say, that because one
man is more intellectual than another,
therefore he has superior rights. The orgu-
ment is as applicable in one case ms tie other.
But Oh what scene would ensue, should
n practical application of this doctrine be
nude among the selfeyedied despots! Not
one of them from the eoicardly tyIckling spiT-
tied Webster down 10 the verest IDIOT that can
run at large, but what would feel himself IN
suited at such a suggestion. The truth is,
they do not believe what they say. IL is only
kind of sophistry, resorted 10 to blind those
whom they have already enslaved and degra-
ded. Ii matters not how little mental capa-
bility is possessed, provided il belongs to
the punidloon SEX all the rights of humanity
are claimed for it-aye, and more. Should
he be fortunate enough, or some benunbed,
distorted spirit unfortunate enough, TO be-
come his welded wife, he has almost exclu-
siye right and control over her also. How
many thousands of intellectual and nobie-mi'l-
ded women are this day o,oned as il were by
petty tFaIlts, not half as good or discerning
as themselves We are slayes-ablec slaves,
for what else do we mean by the term than
one whose actions and earnings are underline
arbitrary control of another? Just read
Mansfield, or another writer OH the "legal
rights Of women. All! what picture! il
makes me'shrinls back ashamed and DISCUS
. ted, when see myself in such a horrible
mirror. AS unmarried women, we have taxa
ton without representation labor almost