The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1873-01-24
Letter to the Girls.
ABOUT THE woMAN's RIGHTS CONVENTION
BY AMETHYST.

Dear GirLs:-Augustus came home
the other evening, and, observing that
/ had arrayed myself in goodly apparel,
inquired, in tone OF whitening sar-
casm, if / intended TO immortaliZe my
self by going to the Woman's Rights
Convention that evening. Now, as /
have known Augustus ever since he wore
pinafores, the idea of my being anni-
Inflated by anything he might say was
simply absurd. So Iquietly replied that
did.
Invent alone. A disposition to accom-
pany his maiden aunt to Woman Suf-
frage Convention is not characteristic
of the American nephew.
There were quite q number of fair
women and brave men at the Temple,
but l was sorry to observe that few of
you were present.
We went to see as we'll as to hear, so
we did not content ourselves with n
birdis-eye view of the Convention, but
went on up till we sat under the very
droppings OF the sanctuary / was glad
we did, for now know the exact shade
of Mrs. Howe's dress, and / could tell
you to a certainty the number of ruffies
on Mrs. Cutters over-dress. These are
the things you would like most to know,
but shall not tell you; you should have
come and seen for yourselves.
Just i'm front of the stage was a round
table-and there sat the hydra-headed
monster, "the Press
Dear girls, had never seen live
reporter. But remembering the reports
he has been in the habit of giving Con-
ventions similar TO this, had pictured
him to myself rs a "scofiing, scowling
darksOme man, scarce worthy woman's
scorn."
He was nothing of the kind. He ap.
peared altogether lovely and amiable.
They seemed TO be on excellent terms
with themselves and everybody else
and had evidently come to have a gooC
/ time. \ WOman's Convention, for
sOoth! IL was lawful plunder. But
noticed that, before the evening wa:
over, they actually listened, and wrote
quietly and thoughtfully.
And / am happy to know that thesI
Knights of the Round Table gave such ;
fair and just account of the proceeding
of the Convention as entities them Il
the name.
BY and by, a gentleman came out an,
placed a settee on the platform.
And the reporters sharpened thei
pencils; and the audience grew i'm
patient.
Then another man came out on tn
platform; then three or four women
then one or two more men, one O
whom spoke. You read his speech
probably.
Then Mrs. Longley gave an address
y most wOmanly woman, with pleas
ant face, and voice pitched low, who's
penetrating sweetness made up for it
lack of strength.
After her, Mrs. Cutler. a woman {
'infinite Variety Of ready wit; mis-
tress Of logic in "the feminine sense {
the word"
/ had never attended n Woman
( Rights meeting before, and | listened 70
tile stormy denunciatiOns of the "tyran
man." for the ranting, violent orator
that had been told characterized sue
assemblies.
Dear girls, listened in vain. All tha
l heard was two women, thoroughly i
earnest in their work, quietly digniiie
in their manner, asking men to Civ
women the ballot-asking it, not rs
gift which would bring only crushin
sense of obligation to the giver, but as
right.
; Howe, Lucy Stone, Mr.. Blackwell, an
e Miss Mary Eastman.
a, / wish ] could give you picture
the woman who wrote the "Battl
4 Hymn of the Republic but she is han
{ to describe. When n woman array
n herself in subdued shades, when all IL
. tints of her hair, eyes and compleXio
are neutral, it is difficult to get up
c vivid picture. 4 tall woman-at lea
h YOU think so when she moves across Il
- stage, but | have an idea that she is n
so many inches above the avera!
> woman. 1t is her "presence." 81
wore black, with lace ut the throat al
c wrists, ''like n drift of snow from Il
II eaves.n II tell you these things, dc
:, girls, because | know you care most
Il them). Her hair is gray, drawn straig
back from her face; her eyes are gr
n also, imagine, but they darken VIII
n she speaks. Her favorite gesture,
:. that can be called n gesture which is
IL unvarying, is both hands uplifted; a
Dt you would know she came from Bost
le if you met her in the Cannibal Islan'
pr She strikes you rs being n purely
!, tellectual woman.
IN Her sentences are like sculpture, I
It. poetry in the woman ever and aga
re breaking through the stern prose of
J. argument.
le Then came Miss Eastman.
" Mrs. Howe addresses you; Miss Ea
ln man talks to you. With a subtle a
r effective sarcasm she laughs you out
- your prejudices; she reasons with "
= With an eloquenee that stirs your bic
ks she rouses you from your apathy. :
nd appeals to your sense of justice to
.or women be classed no longer with Idle
criminals and lunatics. She ransaG
III history for proofs of wOman's greatne
nd and, finding them, argues therein
yer woman's capability of greatness in
m, future. And, having said all this, .
much more, she leaves the platfOI
ed while the audience applaud her to
1T echo.
nt But Lucy Stone! think, after
80 she is the queen of hearts. The 70
= happy-looking woman who has bi
l i quietly sitting there by her husband
il the evening, who introduced Mrs bic
IN so genially to the audience, whoi
-, President of the Association, is alw
prompt, never says too much, ne
ch makes blunder-that IS Lucy Sto
Ii is late, and she will talk "only
minutes" she says. But never
woman say so much in five minu
lis She told how, years ago, she first bel
TX, thinking about these things.
it'll Her husband was thousand m
his away, and she held her baby on
the knee, as she wrote her refusal TO pay
lite taxes, for just the same reason that
lily fathers refused to pay the tax on tea,
in just the same reason that Thoreau Ia
ley year in Concord Jail. How they ca
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