Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1853-01-08
Fanny Wright Darusmunt,


was reared, as n ward in Chancery, by ma
ternal nunt. Ilcr love for study was deyel-
oped when she was quite a child, us we'll as
! her Independence of mind.
In 1878, she embarked from Liverpool for
New York, aud was received into the first
cassts of fashion aud fespcctabiliy, appear
| ing Mt the parties Of tic late DR. David llo.
sack, Colonel John Trumbull, the artist, aud
other families of distinction. IN reply to n
remousirance of her uncle for having given
America the preference over Italy aud
| Greece, which he recommended she said,
"The sight of Italy, dear uncle, Frustrated
under the lendcn sceprc of Austria, would
break my heart"
The fruit of her visit to this country wns
a work on America, in which she expressed
| the highest admiration of its institutions aud
people. II brought her the acquaintance of
General Lafayette, on whose invitation she
visited Paris, where she resided for some
time. But she returned to this country IN
, 1921 with Lafayette, with a view to n per-
manent residence. A tragedy she published,
called Altorf aud founded on incidents in
swiss history, as much perhaps Ivy tic ex.
Cclicn, playing Of James, WNlack in the
principal character, MS hy its literary merits,
won her considerable distinction.
bUt lllt httluttIuilb VI llltlulN lhlllt NbuiN
not turn her from certain great moral and
sociul enterprises, in which she had long
been interested, aud to which she was re-
solved TO give practical trial. She pur-
chased some two hundred ncrcs Of land (all
rcinrmurs begin with nnd) ut the old Chick
asaw bluffs, uow Memphis, and peoplcd it,
| perhaps we should say stocked IT, as slaves
nrc held to lc cattle only with number of
slave families which she had redcemcd.-
! These were educated Ia agricultural pursuits,
aud in general knowledge, aud promised 10
| make thriving COLONY, when unfortunately,
the i'll health of Miss Wright forced her TO
go abroad, aud 10 leave the Management of
her estate in incompetent aud wnsteiiIl hands.
The establishment was consequently broken
UP, aud The slaves sent TO llayli.
She then joined Robert Owen, in his com.
munisiic scheme at New Harmony, editing |
the Men Harmony G0=eiie in its behalf and
lccturing ut tile principal cities and towns Of
tie West. Her eloquonce and enrncsiness
soon attracted almost universal attention to-
wnrds her. IL was so uncommon, at thnt
day, for women to do anything but clout
babies and wash dishes, that all the men
who fell il to he a peculiar right of their
own TO talk out loud, were nightly offended. !
They said with the Turks, TINT no honest
nursery, unless she bad her head covered |
and therefore they pronounced Miss Wright |
no better Than she should he.
But the freedom with which this lady
spoke Of matters, both in Church and State,
the castigu,lons she gave husbands for their
tyranny, and wives for submitting to IT, with |
sundry strong hints as 10 tie possible inper- |
iections of the existing relations Of society !
were pEnn moro pfIanstya tlni, Iar mud pis q |
in speaking at all; and the hornets nests
that were let loose upon her, must have
astounded the young woman, with her naui-
rally refined and elevated tastes; vet she
was not ut all inundated by the fearful op-
position raised against her, aud still less by
the multitude Of private friends who were
estrnngcd 10y her course She lectured at
Cincinnati, at ST. Louis, at Baltimore, at
Philadclplin, nnd finally 1T New York. As
her lectures were free, they were, Of course
largely attended, aud produced the most hit |
ter disscnsious in society. Those who were |
willing to hear her doctrines and who invit- !
ed her TO speak, were denounced from pulpit |
aud press, in the vilesl terms, aud the words |
lnidel," communist" "incohiu," "Tom |
Paine" with n large collateral variety of
reITonchcs, flew about ms thick us briCk-bats |
in IA Philadelphia riot.
We we'll remember the first appearance
of Miss Wright at the Park Theatre in this |
city, where she was about 10 deliver series
of dlscOurces "on knowledge we believe
the subject was. A fierce storm of oloauy
broke upon the heads OF all who proposed
to listen TO her words, 10 see what good or
III there might he in them. The newspapers
rnved, the pupits thundcrcd; the parlours
shrieked; while, on the other hand, Tam
many Hall, then the defender of free discus
SION, and host of admirers from the Me-
clianics and other societies, insisted that she
wns an angel of light come to emancipate
and redeem mankind Tie police slept in
TO Keep order between the hostile camps.
Miss Wright was tall and well formed
but by no means a handsome woman, though
her cOuniennnce was animated and intellect
unl, and her manner graceful aud dignfed.
She spoke in n loud, clear voice, with her
manuscript in her hands, using no attempts
10 excite applause Ivy any tricks of rhetoric
or arr. Her expressions were bold. bat not
vrulent, aud her mode of treating her sub
Jeci rather too delicate to be generally inter
esling TO popular audience Many women
That we have since henrd, Mrs. Mott, Paulina
Wright, Mrs. Rose, Mrs. Smith, &c. are
greatly superior TO what she was in elo-
quencc.
The excitement in regard to her subsided
IN few years, but tho i'll name which
lammany had provoked by taking her part,
and allowing the deislic societies 10 hold
sunday meetings in the hall, chung TO the
Democratic purity of the city a long while.
u was derded as the "lniidel party" by all
the "old iogies" of the day, aud even up to
The present time, there are some honest citi-
zens who believe that nn unmenlionable
person who swings caudIe nppendage
"As gentleman switches his cane"
still haunts the chambers of the venerable
building on Frankfort street.