The Portland daily press., 1870-04-28
DAILY PRESS.
Thursday Morning, April 28, 1870.
MIR. Edward Pnyson versus Woman s,c.
fringe.
PoRTsIAANr

/ IrHses
| TO the Editor of the Press:
If Mr.. Payson, man have great respect
for, though / am afraid he has lived too long
at the South, had put his own name to his
| communication. I should have treated it diff
| ferently. And, have no doubt, he had in
tended to put his own name to it, he would
have argued the question more worthily.
As it is, l have only to say, that am sorry TO
find a man Of such talents, honesty of pur-
pose, and manly independence on what we
believe to be the wrong side Of such mo-
mentous question, and for no better reasons
| than appear in his communications to the
| Argus. But, a word in reply to his last.
1. He complains of the length of my arti-
cle-saying that 1 have taken one hundred
and fifty lines to answer his fifty. Careessly
urged, must say, and probably made at hap.
hazard, for my answer, with quotations and
broken paragraphs included, contains but one
hundred and nineteen lines, while his article
contains fifty-eight lines. instead Of fifty-no
less than thirty Of which are included in my
answer! As the charge is twice made, take
it for granted, that to him, at least, it is a Sc
rious matter, and well worth correction. But
Mr.. PaysOn is too good a lawyer-if not too
| good wrlter-nOt to know, that more words
| are wanted in reply, if quotations are intro
duced and arguments are to be answered by
arguments, instead of rismarole.
Mr.. Payson's pleasantries 1 pass over, ac-
knowledging nevertheless that have enioyed
them prodsously.
But my charges "hurt nobody" For this,
am thankful-and more thankful for the
acknowledgement, as my object, from the
first, has been, not to hart bat to heal, not to
hinder but to help. 81 al, .-r.,r
He complains too, that have said he was
boyish and arrogant and presumptuoas. 1
did no such thing. only said that "Amen
and amen" was in that way; and l. think so
still, and don't see what Mr.. Payson has to
do with it. If men will fight behind mask,
let the mask suffer, L say 80 .4.1
ButagaiA"sdr. Neal says, am prssumtuous.v
But he does not say why or ho,c: well then,
waving all objections to Mr.. Payson's appear
ance for "Amen and Amen" and reserving to
myself call, and all manner Of objections
hereafter, If they should be wanted, will tell
him aohy and when. call any man, be he who
he may, presumptuous who dares to stigma
tize any movement, political, religious, or civil,
which has overspread whole country, like
that in favor of woman-sufrage, "damnable
heresy."
1t is not for entertaining different opinion
from myself that 1 call anybody pressmptuous
but for daring to denounce and stigmatize
my opinions, as a "damable heresy."l Am 1
understood? If so-you have both the hov
and ,ohy. ..-'i t.h '' i'f
Again. My legal adversary cannot see
"what force accrues to my argument"-why
not say, how it helps the argument ?-to give
a short list of distinguished women, because
they displayed their heroism and greatness
before the movement in favor of Woman's
rights was inaugurated, not after it."
To which, L answer first-that the move
ment referred TO was "inaugurated" in the
days OF Wolstoncraft, and re-inaugrated by
Jeremy Bentham more than fifty years ago, and
| by myselfin Portland forty years ago, or there
abouts- and, of course, nearly generation
before Florence Nightengale or Grace Darl-
| ing were heard of.
i But if it were otherwise what then?
was endeavoring to show that in all ages, wo-
men have been found to do the work of men,
and to do it well. Mr.. Payson does not de-
ny this, but says that my list was not long
enough. But how long would he have it, he
who complains of my one hundred and tuoenty
lines, as tone hundred and ftty?" Were to
| give the names of all, who are acknowledged
it will fill the largest of our newspapers.
Next he fastenes upon typographical en-
ror, where am made TO say her for them.
Again, while he Acknowledges that "wo-
men have never failed to do whatever men
have either encouraged or permitted them to
do'-thereby conceding all zoe ask-he over
looks the inevitable @. E. d.
Now, eff this be SO, and I think it is" he
adds, "why not leave such healthful, desir-
able condition of things undisturbed?"
4 What condition of things? 1 would ask ?
The condition of things before women were
encouraged or even permitted to do what they
have done so admirably? Or that which pre-
walls now, widening their field of action? We
i nave PieacheiS anu PioeSSois, HoeV, hieuiSai
practitioners, lawyers and lecturers no,o and
sculptors now among women. But how long
has it been so? Ever since the woman's suf
frage question was inaugurated? No indeed
But only since the women have begun to,
think for themselves and assert themselves
before the world-to trouble their own Be-
thesda in other words to agitate the dead pool
Of public opinion. ..-..-r
Painters, ind poets and mathematician s
and astronomers, prose writers and actresses
we had before that day; but how?-as inter
lopers-exceptions-t be tolerated at most
or perhaps admitted but never encouraged.
Then we had Anglica Kaufmans-now We
have Rosa Bonheurs, in every department.
JOHN NEAL.