The day book. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1857-1867, 1866-09-19
An orator In PetttcOats.

An orator In PetticOats.
We all know that the women Of Paris min
gled in the wild measures Of the Carmagnole
in an eetasy of delirious satisfaction, while
the less youthful, Or less frenzied, carried their
knitting to the foot Of the guillotine, and made
the ghastly murders they witnessed still more
hideous by the display OF honely art which
we habitually associate with the serene atmos-
phere Of the domestic hearth. They counted
the heads of the aristocrats as they fell, and
paid the tribute Of their unwomanly homage
to the peoples murder-cry of Equality"
All history repeats ITSELF and here comes
the Tragic Muse personated by Miss ANNA E.
DICKINSON, with her knitting, to represent the
strong-minded women of the North, and to
shout, with much declamatory force and rhet-
orical ornament, in favor of she knows not
what, and perhaps cares less. She produced
this knitting of hers at the Ethiopian show in
Philadelphia, and-to drop our fgure-her
speech is now published for the delectation Of
the public 1t is fine speech. She explodes
like bottle of polemic pop, and effervesces
like an overcharged soda fountain There is
sparkle, and froth, and pungent fla
vor about her remarks which render what
this strong-minded woman says vastly better
reading than the drsary stuff which her breth-
rem in trowsers poured forth on the same &C.
casion But when we come to analyse it, We
find 1t to be "perilous stuff" The number of
romances which this an1iabls woman has con-
trived to cram, with or without assistance, as
the case may be. into her speech. is really
wonderful, and does honor to her warmth OF
fancy and genius for invention She displays
the most admirable TACT and, indeed, does her
work artistically; for she keeps her victims
awake, and pours poison into their ears by
means Of the suggsstio fals5, that subtitle and
delicate means of producing effect which your
artist in Greeleyizing resorts to in preference
to the brazen lying of HAMILTON or a
BRowNLow, Some of her passages must have
produced, however, quiet grin On the broad
faces of her auditors; that, for example, in
which she pictures them as habitually looking
"into their graves" by which she means, not
to suggest the melancholy text that Gin the
midst Of life We are in death" but the CAM
pagn falsehood that Southern Radicals are
hunted by boodhounds, very much as Cuffee
hunts that marsupial delicacy popularity sup
posed to be found up gum tree" to wit, q
'possum. And thus the orator in pettcoats-
unless, indeed, she disdains these frivolous en-
cumbrances-goes on suggesting that which
is not true, and stirring up bitterness and ha-
tired in the name Of that old French murder
cry of Equality" At one point however,
sheer shall We say he9-Miss DICKINSON or
Mr.. DrCKERsoN, as you -incontinenty
lets the cat out of the bag when she e1claims,
in passion Of argument, addressing the as
sembled Serenaders:
"a few votes may be lost few heads may
roll in the dust; but the great Cause will win
The men who oppose you in this Convention,
in their desire to save their own constituent
cies, entirely ignore the fact that they are TAX
ing away from you the only constituencies you
possess. Who have you to back you? Who
are your constituencies? The four million Of
UiaChS, WIZ, DIS >iafC15 WHY Jul IIlSHte5 aAo
as freemen your supporters. When you go
back and say, L desire to sustain this princi-
pie, to send that man to Congress, where are
the votes to compass this end? Your votes,
your help, your support: your constituency,
are nowhere, save in the masses of people four
years ago chattels in your hands. These men,
in their desire to save an election to-day would
put it out Of your power to gain an election
fer all time to come. They say to you that
you will leopard the constitutional amend
ment, put in peril the plan of Congress l tell
you the constitutional amendment, the plan
of Congress are but waste paper without a
constituency to back you"
The vanity Of the orator runaway with her
here. She desired to make good point, and
overlooked the fact that the people she wa:
addressing had thought over that matter SONS
time ago; and it is. precisely because they are
statesmen in search of constituents that they
clamor so loudly for equality,
At present, Miss DICKINSON does the knit
ting, perhaps it will not be long before We
shall see the dancers in the streets, and hear
their horrid chansons, while this amiable lady
hurries to the foot Of the scaffold to dye hel
Saxony wool in the crimson blood of Cop
perbeads" and "Rebels"