Middletown transcript., 1896-09-19

WSS9WyVSN in making STUN
speeches. Perhaps Mrs. Mary Ellie
Lease, the Popocratic orator of Kan
sas, has been oftenest mentioned i
that way, and this must amuse 'sAun
Susan'' Anthony, since she began l.
make ahat were practically stumI
speeches for the abolition causein 1853
the year Mrs. Lease was born. Mis-
Anthony started out as stump speake
only a short time after she had delivered
her first speech, and this first speech Of
hers, by the way, kicked up a mucl
bigger row than any of Mrs. Lease
ever has.
FIRST PUBLIC SPEECH BY A WOMAN
Strictly speaking, Miss Anthony's
maiden speech may not have been The
first public address delivered by a We.
man, but, to all intents and purposes il
was. 1t aroused all, over the land, q
storm of protests. of tue utmost bitter
ness and intensity, and it even upset the
good folk of the then little country
town of Rochester, where it was de-
livered, to such an extent as to drive
out almost every other topic Of general
talk for many long day.
1t is worth days wages to hear
"Aunt Susan" herself tell about that
speech. It's almost as good to hear
the story from the lips Oi any one
Of her many women disciples.
1t seems that the State Teachers As
sociation was holding convention in
the town at Genesee's mouth. About
200 men were present and about 500
women. But the latter were there as
"make-weights" only. Their presence
filled the benches and caused the hall,
in which the gathering was held, to
look crowded, but they could neither
speak nor vote. Miss Anthony chafed
at this. She had been gagged, as she
put it the year before at a national
temperance convention, and was still
smarting under what she considered
the injustice of the gag.
swell, the teachers convention drag
ged along for awhile without doing
much of anything. Then man teacher
got up and read piece about the lack
Of respect paid to professional peda-
gogues. Doctors and lawyers and minis
ters, he said, we're respected, but teach
ers, men and all, were spoken of as
"Miss Nancys" and "Old Grandmoth-
ers.o And yet, the man said, it was
really more important and honorable
thing to be teacher than lawyer or
a doctor, or even a minister. When
he had finished there was sensation
in the house. A young woman stood
on the floor, as if waiting the recogni.
tion of the presiding officer. /
WHAT "AUNT SUSAN" SAID.
The chairman almost fell off the |
platform. He had to lock twice to make |
sure his eyes were not playing tricks |
with him. AT last he inquired what |
the lady would have. She said she |
would like to say few words on the |
subject just discussed. The chairman
looked inquiringly about him, and hen
3 man away over in one corner rose
and moved that the lady be allowed to
speak. Then there was debate for
half an hour before 1t was decided that |
q woman might open her mouth in
public.
Miss Anthony rema ned standing all
he while, determined to be ready on
Jhe instant, If she only got her chance.
When it came, she had only two sent
srces to utter, and here they are al
most exactly as she spoke them forty
.hree years ago:
''Mr. President and Gentlemen-I
lave listened to your discussion with
| great deal of interest, but it seems to
me that none of you quite comprhend
the cause of the disrespect you com.
,lain of. Do you not see that while wo-
nan has not brains enough to be min
ster, doctor or a lawyer, but has am.
lie brains to be a teacher, ever man Of
'0u distinctly acknowledges that he
las no more brains than woman?n
Then there was row. The women
lidn't know whether TO laugh or cry,
'ut most of the men were indignant to
degree, and this made them pro-
oundly glum for the remainder of the
ay. Three of them, however, shook
he young woman's hand with great
eartiness, and the next day the news
apers said that, although she had made
he new men mad she had shit the nail
q the head.''
After that, though, the women dele
ates to that convention were allowed
0 speak and to vote and sit on com. {
,ittees; in short, to have ali the pri- /
ileges of the men. Miss Anthony /,
'as permitted even to cad sn ESSAY, and e
be says she knows 1t was good one,
,r she got Elizabeth Cady Stanton to :
rite it. It was well received, too, ~
fter fashion. "Faiher Hazleton, .
noted parsonage forty odd years ago, i
hid to Miss Anthony after the read /
g Of the paper: iii matter and i
lanner could not criticise your Q. ].
y, but, my dear young woman, I 4
ould rather have followed my wife
nd daughter to the grave than to have a
i'd either Of them stand here before d
lis audience and read that address.n !
THE WORLD s.Do MOVE . q
Whenever Aunt Snsan'' tells this b
ory, and she has told 1t scores and il
'orea Of times, and more than ones L