The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1885-12-16

uC oCCaSlOu was u SlIOuS TcIllluutE VI u
similar one that took place years ago on
the occasion of the sixtieth birthday of
Horace Greeley. But national and world
wide, indeed, as had been Horace Gree
lcy's services to humanity, it was not by
any public or spontaneous outburst that
his natal day was celebrated. 1t waa
the thought and work OF an individual,
and there were greetings and responses
and the memory of that benignant, child
like face, radiant with happiness, can
never be forgotten, still it WAS as moth,
ing in its significance compared with the
outburst of affection and greeting which
came from every part of the country and
every quarter of the globe and made a
halo for the white head of Elizabeth
Cady Stanton on her SEVENTEEN birthday.
The Federation" seems to have be-
gun with Mrs. Elizabeth Boynton Har-
bert, who devoted the November num-
Der of her New Era to tributes in prose
and verse, and it was echoed by clubs
and suffrage societies all over the
country, while the browning fete in New
York was signslized by the presence of
Queen Elizabeth herself, and the reading
Of special paper prepared for the &C.
%casion, "The Pleasures of Old Age"
Royalty itsclf-hcr of the ruff, I mean
might have been proud of the letters
and cables from the old world, the let
tiers and kilograms and gifts from the
new. The flowers, the books, the pic
lures, the silver, the mosaics, the Cali
fornia blankcts-even bank checks,
which, as the recipient remarked, were
as welcome to old ladies of sp%endthrift
tendencies as to the young. Tributes in
prose and verse were plentiful enough to
ill volumes; but the one that pleased
me best came in a letter from a married
daughter living in England.
Among the hundreds of clubs and So
cietics thut specially celebrated the event
was the New Orleans Woman's Cuba
significant fact, as showing not only the
cordially that exists between the women
of the South and the women of the
North, but the utter change that has
taken place in public sentiment in every
part Of the Union.
Mrs. Stanton's resume of the ''PIeas-
ures of Old Age" was delightful, and
certainly went far to prove, as she said,
that cat fifty, not fifteen, began the
true heyday Of a woman's life" Very
touching were the remarks made by Miss
Anthony, who referred to the length of
time they had worked together since
1850, when they met at the first anti
slavery convention, which met at Mrs.
Stanton's residence in Seneca Falls. N.
Y. Since then they had been ardent
co-laborers, and were spending their
later days, one at seventy, the other at
sixty-fve, in collecting materials and
writing their history of the reform
movements of this century.
Mrs. Lille Devereux Blake, in one of
her bright, ready speeches, told the fol.
lowing anecdotes:
"AIrs. Stanton is better known for her
ability than for her ready wit. A smile
seems to be lurking always in the cor
ners of her mouth, and Il merry retort is
evcr on her lips. I remember one such
instance which occurred at the earliest
convention at which I was present. 1t
was at Newport in the summer of 1869.
Mrs. Isabella Bcccher Hooker made her
first public speech on that occasion. She
had a manuscript in her hand from
which she read, but having a strong ma
tive gift as an orator, she frequently d.
verged from the paper. In the course
of her remarks she came to some allusicn
to Moses, when looking up from her
lecture she said:
81 have always thought that when I
passed to a better world the person I
should most wish to see, of course after
members of my own immediate family,
would be Moses"
Mrs. Stanton whispered soto voce, ri
have often suspected that Moses was a
Beecher."
A gentleman on the platform leaned
over and asked, "Nlrs. Stanton, when
you 60 to heaven do you want to see
Moses?"
''No," size replied promptly, II want
to see Lots wife
The distinguished lady once enjoyed a
Joke at the expense OF one Of the leading
Judges of the State. lie had opposed
the married woman's property rights be-
cause he declared if a wife held a separ.
ate estate IL WOuiu leau 10 quar[els III
the family and direful were the pictures
he drew of the divorces and miscries
which would follow such a law.
Despite these lugubrious vaccinations
the bill was passed and not long after
Mrs. Stanton met the judge. She OK
tended her hand with a sad and mourn
full countcnance, saying: "Pcrmit me
to condole with you, judge"
"On what, MADAME he asked in
alarm.
"on your great domestic trials, and