She is earnest, unselfish, and as true to principle as the needle to the pole. I have never known her to do or say a mean or narrow thing; she is entirely above that petty envy and jealousy that mar the character of so many otherwise good women.
Miss Anthony herself said, "My work is like subsoil ploughing—preparing the way for others to perfect."
But the last eight years of her long life, in which she worked constantly and achieved much, must have given her the satisfaction of knowing that all the "subsoil ploughing" had not been in vain. Her constancy in keeping the idea of votes for women before the public won many over to the cause, and paved the way for the partial victory of to-day. At present, women have the privilege of the ballot in ten States of the Union: California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Washington, Arizona, Oregon, Kansas, and Michigan. It is clear that the question of woman suffrage has ceased to be a mere matter of academic discussion and that it is a very practical and even vital issue to-day.
For years Miss Anthony endured cruel misrepresentation and ridicule; now she is acknowledged to have been a woman of splendid intellect and wonderful courage, who devoted her life to the betterment of humanity.
To her co-workers she was always "Aunt Susan," and when her last illness came, there were many loving friends to care for her. The Reverend Anna Howard Shaw was with her when she died at Rochester, March 16, 1906. She says, "Miss Anthony died with calmness and courage. She spent her life in making other women freer and happier."
MARY A. LIVERMORE
MARY A. LIVERMORE
(1821-1905)