FOOTNOTES:
[575] He asked me confidentially if I knew what the "D" in his name stood for. "Why," said I, "in line with your profession, it must be for 'Divinity,' or 'Doxology.'" "No," said he, "for 'Dynamite.'" As we were being blown up just then in all parts of London, I begged him not to explode until Sunday morning in old South Church, as I would rather see a wreck of the old theologies than of our charming hostess and Corney Green, who were giving us this pleasant entertainment.
[576] She says she prefers to be known as the wife of Duncan McLaren, a member of parliament from Edinburgh for sixteen years, who always voted right on the woman question, while John Bright is opposed to the movement.
[577] She occupies the home of an English woman who has taken her seven children to Germany for their education. How strange it is that so many parents imagine that they can educate their children better in a foreign land.
[578] After dinner, while the gentlemen still lingered at the table, the ladies being alone, an unusual amount of heresy as to the rights of "the divinely appointed head of the house" found expression. A young English-woman, who had been brought up in great retirement, turned to me and said, "I never heard such declarations before; do you ladies all really believe that God intended men and women to be equal, and do you really feel that girls have a right to enjoy as many privileges as boys?" In chorus we all promptly said, "We do," and I added, "If you will recall all the events of your life thus far, and your own feelings at times, you will find that again and again your own heart has protested against the injustice to which you have been subjected. Now," said I, "think a little, and see if you can recall no sense of dissatisfaction at the broad difference made between your sisters and brothers." "Well," said she, "I did often wonder why father gave the boys half a crown a week for spending money, and us girls a few pence; why so much thought and money were expended on their education, and so little on ours; but as I saw that that was the custom everywhere, I came to the conclusion that they were a superior order of beings, and so thought no more about it, and I never heard that theory contradicted until this evening."
[579] Among these were Mr. and Mrs. Haslam, Mr. Wigham, brother of Eliza Wigham, and his cultured wife; Hannah Webb, the daughter of Richard, and Thomas Webb and daughters, in whose old family-record book of visitors she was shown the autographs of William Lloyd Garrison and Nathaniel P. Rogers over the date of 1840.
[580] On one occasion I counted fourteen: Miss Risley Seward, Mrs. Louise Chandler Moulton, Mrs. Laura Curtis Bullard, Miss Rachel Foster, Mrs. William Mellen and two sons and daughters, Mr. Theodore Tilton. Miss Anthony, Mrs. Stanton Blatch and myself.
[581] Aside from those already mentioned were William Henry Channing, L. N. Fowler, the phrenologist, and his daughter; Mrs. Louise Chandler Moulton, Mrs. Stanton, Mrs. Stanton Blatch, Miss Anthony, Mrs. Powell, Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Phillips, several members from the Bright, the McLaren and the Cobden families, Mrs. Conway, Miss Emily Faithful, Mr. William Henry Blatch, Mr. Stark, the artist; Philip Marston, the blind poet; Miss Orme and Miss Richardson, attorneys-at-law; Judge Kelley, wife and daughter Florence, Miss Lydia Becker, Miss Caroline Biggs and sisters, Miss Julia Osgood.
[582] Among the distinguished persons on the platform were Frances Power Cobbe, Dr. Garrett Anderson, Mrs. Fawcett, Mrs. Jacob Bright, Mrs. Lucas, Mrs. Thomasson, Mrs. Margaret Parker, Mrs. Alice Scatcherd, Miss Becker, Miss Biggs, Mrs. Moore, Mr. and Mrs. Conway, Oscar Wilde and his queenly mother, Charles McLaren, M. P., Mrs. Peter A. Taylor, Miss Helen Taylor, Miss Orme, Miss Müller, Miss Lord, Miss Foster, Mrs. and Miss Blatch, Mrs. Mellen, Miss Tod of Belfast, Mrs. Chesson, daughter of George Thompson, the great anti-slavery orator, and very many others whose names we cannot recall.
[583] Where we met Mrs. Fawcett, Dr. Garrett Anderson, Sir Hugh Staples, Mr. Mitchell, the Misses Stackpole and brothers, Madame Venturi, Miss Biggs and sisters, Miss Frances Lord and her sister, who is doing a noble work in her kindergarten.
[584] Mrs. Seville, whose husband was a professor at Sandhurst College, having recently awoke to the indignities the church heaps upon women, made her protest in discarding her bonnet and appearing on Sundays with her head uncovered, contrary to Paul's injunctions. Having thus attended church for two years, involving much criticism and disturbance, both the vicar and the bishop labored with her to resume the bonnet, but she remained incorrigible. She read us a letter of remonstrance from the bishop, over which we all had a hearty laugh.
[585] The following is the report of the action prepared that evening by Mrs. Parker: "At a large and influential gathering of the friends of woman suffrage, at Parliament Terrace, Liverpool, November 16, 1883, convened by E. Whittle, M. D., to meet Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Miss Susan B. Anthony prior to their return to America, it was proposed by Mrs. Margaret E. Parker of Penketh (near Warrington), seconded by Mrs. McLaren of Edinburgh, and unanimously passed:
"That this meeting, recognizing that union is strength and that the time has come when women all over the world should unite in the just demand for their political enfranchisement; therefore
"Resolved, That we do here appoint a committee of correspondence, preparatory to forming an International Woman Suffrage Association.
"Resolved, That the committee consist of the following friends, with power to add to their number:
"For the American Center—Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Miss Susan B. Anthony, Miss Rachel Foster. London Center—Mrs. Peter A. Taylor, Mrs. Margaret B. Lucas, Miss Helen Taylor, Miss Henrietta Müller, Miss Caroline A. Biggs, Mr. and Mrs. Charles McLaren, Miss Eliza Orme, Miss Rebecca Moore, London; Mrs. Harriot Stanton Blatch, Basingstoke. Manchester Center—Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Bright, Manchester; Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Thomasson, Bolton; Mrs. Margaret E. Parker, Penketh; Dr. and Mrs. Whittle, Liverpool; Mrs. Oliver Scatcherd, Leeds; Mr. and Mrs. Walter McLaren, Bradford; Mrs. Philips, Liverpool; Mr. and Mrs. Crook, Bolton; Mr. Berners, Mr. Russell, Liverpool; Miss Becker, Manchester. Bristol Center—Miss Helen Bright Clarke, Street; Mrs. Alfred Ostler, Birmingham; Miss Priestman, Bristol. Center for Scotland—Mrs. Duncan McLaren, Mrs. Elizabeth Pease Nichol, Miss Eliza Wigham, Edinburgh. Center for Ireland—Miss Tod, Belfast; Mrs. Haslam, Dublin. Center for France—M'lle Hubertine Auclert, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Stanton, Charlotte B. Wilbour, Paris.