Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1853-04-23
9elrfteo articles.
Political Rights Of Woman.
PROM REV. THEODORE rAnKEns SERMON.

By nature, woman has the samo Political
Rights that man has,-to vote, to hold office,
to make and administer laws. These she has
@ matter Of right. The strong hand and tho
great head Of man keep her down; nothing
more. In America, in Christendom, woman
has no political rights, is not citizen in full
she has no voice in making or administering
the laws, none in electing the rulers or admin
istrators thereof She can bold no office-can-
not be committee of primary school, overscer
Of the poor, or guardian TO public lamp-post
But any man, with conscience enough to keep
out of Jail, mind enough to escape the poor
house, and body enough to drop his ballot in
to the box, he is voter. lie may have no
character, even no money, that is no matter
he is male. Tho noblest woman has no voice
in tho State. Men make laws disposing of her
property, her person, her children still she
must bear it, "with patient shrug."
Looking at it as a matter of pure Right and
pure science, l know no reason why woman
should not be voter, or hold Office or make
and administer laws. / do not sec how can
shut myself into political privileges and shut
woman out, and do both in the name of unnli-
enable right. Certainly, every woman has
natural right to have her property represented
in the general representation Of persons.
Looking at it as a matter Of Expcdicncy sec
some facts. Suppose woman had share in
the municipal regulation of Boston, and there
were as many Aldcrwomcn as Aldermen, as
many Common Council women as Common
Council mcn,--do you believe that, in defiance
of the law of Massachusetts,, the City Govern
ment, last Spring, would have licensed every
two hundred and forty fourth person of the pop
ulation Of the city to sell intoxicating drink
would have made every thhty-fflh voter
Iumsollcri l do not.
DO you believe the women Of Boston would
have spent ten thousand dollars in one year in
a city frolic, or spend two or three thousand
every year, on the Fourth of July, for sky-rock-
cts and fre-crackcrs would spend four or five
thousand to get their Canadian guests drunk in
Boston harbor and then pretend that Boston
had not money enough to establish high school
for girls. to teach the daughters of mechanics
and grocers to read French and Latin, and to
understand the higher things which rich mems
sons arc driven to at college: do not.
Do you believe that the women of Boston, in
1851, would have spent three or four thousand
dollars to kidnap poor man, and have taken
all the chains which belonged to the city and
put them round the Court House, and have
drilled three hundred men, armed with blud-
gcons and cutlasscs, to steal a man and carry
him back TO slavcryi do not Do you
think, if the women had had the control, "iftcen
hundred men Of property and standing" would
have volunteered to take poor man. kidnap-
ped in Boston, and conduct him out of the
State, with fire and sword believe no such
thing
DO you think the women of Boston would
take the poorest and most unfortunate children
in the town, put them all together into one
school, making that the most miserable in the
city, where they had not and could not have
half the advantages of the other children in diff
ferent schools, and all tha. because the unfor-
tunates were dark colorcd; Do you think the
women of Boston would shut bright boy out
of the High School or Latin School, because ho
was black in the face.
Women are said to be cowardy. When
Thomas Sims, out Of his dungeon, sent to the
churches his petition for their prayers, had
women been "tho Christian clergy do you be-
liovc they would not have dared to prayf
If women had n voice in the Affairs of Mas.
sachusetts, do you think they would ever have
made laws SO that lazy husband could devour
all tho substance of his active wife.spitc of her
wish; so that a drunken husband could COM
mand her bodily presence in his loathly house;
and when on infamous man was divorced from
his wife, that he could keep all the children I;
Iconfess do not,
If the Affairs of the Nation had been under
woman's joint control, doubt that VIC should
have butchcrcd the Indians with such extcrnli-
mating savagery, that, in fny years, we should
have spent seven hundicds of millions of dol
lars for war, and row. in time of peace, send
twenty annual millions more to the same waste.
doubt that VIC should have spread slavery in
10 nino new States, and made it national. l
think the Fugitive Slave Bill would never have
been an Act. Woman has some respect for
the natural law of God
know men say woman cannot manage tho
great affairs Of a nation. Very well. Gov
'rnmentis Political Economy National House
keeping. Does any respectable woman keel
house so badly as the United States with =
much bribery, so much corruption, so muci
quarreling in the domestic councilsi
But government is also Political Morality,
is National Ethics. Is there any worth,
woman who rules her household as wickedl,
ms the nations arc ruled who hires bullics L
fight for her Is there any woman who treat
one sixth part of her household as If they wer
cattle and not creatures Of God, as if they wer,