Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1860-11-09
To the Citlzems of Woreester.


To the Citizens of worcester.
1t was the boast of Archimedes that if lie
could find place on which to rest his lever,
| lie could construct one which should move
| the world. Equally presumptuous it will
| doubtless be thought for woman to attempt to
maintain an idea against the opposing force
Of the state. AS in history we may trace the
greatest revolutions to the silent development
| Of individual thought as the basis OF their
| commencement, so in the still, nOlseless cur
rent Of womans life may flow an irresistible
| power, obscure and insignificant, perhaps at
first but destined ultimately to achieve, more
| peacefully, it is true, but not less surely, a
| revolution as vast and far reaching i'll lis re-
! suits as any that have preceded it. From his
tory We may also CLEAN another tact,-that
every age is in itself protest against the tyr
amy and wrong OF the preceding one. Less
than a century ago, our fathers protested
against the injustice Of taxation without rep.
rusentation, which resulted in the Declaration
| OF Independence. AS in every other revolu-
tion they laid down certain principles, estab.
! lished certain self-evident truths,-began in
! theory what was reserved for future genera.
tons to complete in practice. In the interpret.
! alton of that document one of two assump-
| tions must be .granted-either that it was i'll
tended to be general i'm its application, mean
NY Tue NlOe uIlldli race, VI ltldl IL WIS " uG
| literally applied, purposey excluding women,
when it said that all men were created equal
with certain inalenable rights; which must
also hold true of the succeeding clause, that
| all true governments derive their just powers
! from the consent of the governed.
Unfortunately, here arises Il singular dis
crepancy between the theory and subsequent
legislation, showing either Interpretation TO be
| equally inconsistent. If we adopt the former,
Che voting clauses rise up to contradict it, if
we adopt the latter, the manner in which the
taxation clauses have been enforced declares
it equally erroneous. The only way lett for
us to explain away the incongruity, seems to
| be, to adopt as the theory Of American democ-
racy that all white men arc equal, constituting
the people all women are equal, constituting
nobody. Then of course, property being
something, but belonging to nobody, may just
| ly be taxed without violating the rights guar
antied by that article of the constitution which
expressly declares that no tax, impost, or du-
! ty, ought TO be levied upon any preteXt what
| sOeYer, without the consent of the people or
| their representatives in the legislature.
This will work very well SO long as woman
assents, but whenever she chooses to demand
the recognition of her existence it becomes an
| open question. When her acquescence is the
only argument that can be produced with any
show OF plausibility to defend the justice of a
statute which derives its legality entirely from
precedent, she is i'll duty bound TO withhold
| that acquiescence whenever in her judgment
it shall appear eXpedient.
For several years petitions have been sent
to the legislature OF Massachusetts praying
| for measures to be taken to secure to women
the right Of suffrage, which have met the COM
mon late of unpopular petitions. Once, the
committee to whom the subject was referred
en- "a n mud az
other source it might well be treated as vague
and visionary; but coming from the august
body of the general court OF Massachusetts it
may be entitled to yoHr worthy consideration.
1t would be an insult to the enlightened COM
mon sense Of this commonwealth tn suppose
for a moment that it gave expression to The
candid convictions OF those who endorsed ii.
They sought the easiest way to dispose Of a
troublesome question, and as woman had been
the dupe OF tiattery hitherto, they thought it
safe to try the experiment while longer.
1t began with the neve- ceasng argument,
til. acquiescence OF woman, Ito which, be it
remembered, there is one eXception,) support.
| ed by the probable opinion of the wise men of
| the revolution, who would not have failed to
see it if it we're so, that the extension of the
right of suffrage TO her was necessary to carry
out the doctrine of taxation and representa-.
ton Then it limited at the possible approach OF
the millennium, when she shall have completely
fulfilled her mission in her present sphere, ere
ating Il state of society which may safely dis
pense with much of the labor of the law.
maker. 1t ended with quoting extracts from
volume entitled "Woman's Mission" setting
forth her deep religious nature through
which she is destined by her influence to be
the true regeneratOr of the human race, a
mission to which she is peculiarly adapted ~
education and nature, being less selfish, and
the greater opportunities of reflection and self
communion she enjoys, which might be seri-
ously lessened by allowing her to mix l.. the
strife and excitement Of political action, and
worldly inter rests.
1t is immaterial to us now what the "wise
men" of the revolution thought Of the proprie-
ty Of allowing woman to exercise the elective
franchise, but this we know, that we should be
very inapt scholars in the lessons they taught,
if the lapse OF century had ieiled to give us
an idea which they had not. Neither is it Of
any moment to us what Mrs Sigourney hap
pened to think OF the true scope of wOman's
sphere.
We asked the legislature to grant us our
rights, and it was their duty to grant them,
or show cause why in themselves considered
they should be withheld not to branch off to
side issues and quote the opinions Of somebody
else. 1t is probably the first instance in
ual or class have been seized as an argument
to deprive them of their ust rights, which is,
however in perfect accordance with American
institutions which hold in bondage a race in
whom the religious sentiment is more strongly
developed than in any ether. The introduc-
ton of this subject is wholly irrelevant to the
point at issue, since rights exist independent
Of mental or spiritual osganizatio..s they are
usta as sacred to the pagan as the christian, to
the atheist as to the believer in the existence
Of the Deity. They are inherent, God given
they cannot be bestowed; ii they are taken
away they must be restored.
When God created woman, he created her
a human being, with the rights, duties, and
aspirations, OF Il human being. When He i'm
posed on her the sacred relations of wife and
mother, He implanted within her certain in.
siincts to consider her duties in these relations
paramount to any other, but lie never limited
her to these duties alone. II it be true that
she is superior in her moral and spiritual per.
cephons, SO mach tile more need that she
should dilluse her beneGcent influence whcr.
ever legalized wrong finds iooth0ld and coun.
terfeit justice mocks the righteousness of
heaven.
Here springs up the argument that has been