“Why, yes,” answered Mr. Zenas, with a hesitancy which caused a general smile; it being pretty well understood in Tweenit that Mrs. Zenas does not fulfil that command to the very letter.
“This injunction, then,” remarked Mr. Hale, “takes from wives all personal responsibility. Submit yourselves to your husbands in every thing. If a husband wishes his wife to do a wrong act, it is her duty to obey him.”
Mr. David said, that, of course, a woman should not do any thing against her own conscience. Mr. Hale replied, that the text left her no right of private judgment, inasmuch as Paul declared over and over again in his epistles, that the wife must submit to the husband, and that “the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church.” “And here,” Mr. Hale continued, “is a passage which commands us to ‘Owe no man any thing.’ Those who cannot worship in a building in which women speak cannot worship with any person who is in debt. And here again” (turning the leaves) “are other texts: ‘Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth.’ ‘Bear ye one another’s burdens.’ These are equally emphatic: if one binds, all bind.”
It was at this point that Cyrus Fennel (brother of Martha) made a hit at Mr. David. He arose, and, looking toward the old man, said he should like to inquire whether Christ’s commands were as binding as those of Paul? Mr. David said that certainly they were, and more so. Cyrus then read these words of Christ: “Give to every man that asketh of thee.” This brought to every face an amused, half-pleased expression; Mr. David’s stinginess being almost a by-word here. He replied, that every man has a duty to his family. Fennel Payne reminded him again that nothing was to be explained away, and then read other commands of Christ, each of a similar import to the one mentioned by Cyrus. He then repeated all the different texts which had been brought forward, beginning with that against women speaking in the church. “And now I want to ask,” he continued, “why the first of these injunctions should be taken literally, and the others not?”
As Fennel Payne sat down, a tall, gray-haired man arose,—the same who came through the place, not long ago, selling “Bitters” of his own making. He is a pleasant-faced, good-humored man, and travels, with his jugs, in an antique carryall, on the outside of which is written with chalk, “Archangel Bitters.” His name is Hensiford. This man arose, and, after asking permission to speak, said in a bland, mild tone, speaking slowly, “My friends, it comes to my mind to ask a question, which is this: Why are men met together to decide this matter? My friends, if the Almighty Creator meant that woman should be judged by the law, he gave to her an understanding mind to understand the law: otherwise, God is unjust. And, my friends, if women are to be saved, or lost, according to the deeds done in the body, it must be that they have consciences whereby they may tell right from wrong: otherwise, God is unjust. My friends, woman either is a responsible being, or she is not a responsible being: she can’t be sometimes one, and sometimes the other. It does not appear to me, my friends, that we are called upon to decide this matter. The brother on my right hand allowed, just now, that woman should be guided by her conscience. Paul asks, ‘Why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience?’ Women might ask the same question by putting in the word ‘any’ in place of ‘another.’ And now, my friends,” continued the old man, looking round with a persuasive smile, “what a plain and simple way it would be to let women understand Scripter with their own understandings, and regulate their behavior by the voice of their own consciences!”
XIV.
AN ENTERTAINING MEETING.
THE great chapel question has been decided at last by a coup d’état. Cyrus Fennel had promised to give a lot of land; and the deed was made out some time ago, but not signed. At last, growing impatient with what he called the narrowness of Mr. David and a few others, Cyrus declared that he never would sign the deed, unless it was agreed that any person and every person who might feel moved to speak in their meetings should have liberty to do so. Some one suggested to Mr. David that he come up with Cyrus by giving a lot of land himself. This thunder-clap of a suggestion cleared Mr. David’s mental vision sufficiently to enable him to perceive that the minority should not stand out longer against the majority, and that possibly, by entering their protest, they had done all that was required of them.
Previous to this, however, a plan was proposed, which elicited a curious little bit of information in regard to the law. The plan was, that the sewing-circle should build and own the chapel. Some one queried whether or not this could be done legally; and, to make sure, Mrs. Hale and Adeline Payne went to Elmbridge one day, and consulted a lawyer.
The sewing-circle met here that afternoon; and, on returning from Elmbridge, the two delegates hastened over to announce the result of their mission. The lawyer had assured them, they said, that no company of married women could own a building, or any other property. “Not even a hen-house,” said Adeline. “The lawyer told us, that, if we two should want to set up storekeeping together, we couldn’t own our stock of goods.”
This announcement was followed by a dead calm, and the dead calm by a hurricane of exclamations: “Well, I declare!” “Now, if that isn’t a good one!” “What, not when we earned the money to build it?” “Pretty state of things!” “I don’t see why not!” “The ones that made that law better make it over!”[B]