A Baptist preacher, Rev. J. B. Hawthorne, built on the antiquated plan, delivered a sermon not only denouncing suffrage but abusing its advocates. The result was to make the other ministers in the city offer their pulpits to the convention speakers, and on Sunday lectures were given in various churches by Emily Howland, Elizabeth Upham Yates, Mrs. Colby and Mrs. Meriwether. Rev. Anna Shaw preached in the opera house and the Constitution prefaced its report as follows: "When the opening hour arrived there was not an empty chair in the house. So dense became the crowd that the doors were ordered closed before the services began. The vast congregation was made up of all classes of citizens. Every chair that could be found had been utilized and then boxes and benches were pressed into service. Many prominent professional and business men were standing on the stage and in different parts of the house."
Miss Anthony, besides her president's address, made many brief speeches and also read Mrs. Stanton's fine paper on "Educated Suffrage," which was especially acceptable to a southern audience.[110] One of the most eloquent speakers was General Robert R. Hemphill, member of the South Carolina legislature. Among the able and interesting southern delegates Laura Clay and Josephine K. Henry, of Kentucky, and A. Viola Neblett and Helen Lewis Morris, of North Carolina, were especial favorites. After the convention a mass meeting was held in the courthouse, which was crowded with an enthusiastic audience. Mrs. M. L. McLendon, president of the Atlanta Club, requested Miss Anthony to take charge. The Constitution said:
Miss Anthony was received with such a warmth of demonstration on the part of the large audience as to thoroughly convince her that she was addressing those who were in sympathy with the suffrage movement. As she stood up in the presence of the vast congregation of faces a profound silence filled the hall and every one seemed to be intently waiting for her opening words. Within the railing a large number of men, who preferred to stand near the speaker rather than secure seats in the rear of the hall, were grouped in a solid mass, and appeared to be equally as much concerned as the ladies.
There were many distinguished women present at the convention, from the South and the North, and all separated with the feeling that fraternal bonds had been strengthened and many converts made to the belief in equal suffrage.
Miss Anthony was much revered by the colored race and while here she addressed the students of the Atlanta University, and spoke with Bishop Turner to an immense audience at Bethel church. She was invited also to address the alumnæ of the girls' high school. At the close of the convention she went, with her sister Mary, niece Lucy, Anna Shaw and Mrs. Upton, for a three days' visit at the spacious old-time mansion of the Howards, in Columbus. She left for Aiken, S. C., February 9, where she spoke in the courthouse and was introduced by the Baptist minister. Here she was the guest of Miss Martha Schofield, and was much interested in the very successful industrial school for colored children, founded by her during the war. On February 12, she lectured at Columbia for the Practical Progress Club, introduced by Colonel V. P. Clayton. The Pine Tree State contained an excellent editorial in favor of woman suffrage, but thought "it could be more successfully advocated in that locality by some one of less pronounced abolitionism." Her hostess, Mrs. Helen Brayton, gave a reception for her, and she met a large number of the representative people of Columbia. Her last lecture was given at Culpepper, Va. The six weeks' southern trip had been very pleasant; she had made many friends and found much sentiment in favor of suffrage. The only drawback had been the severity of the weather, the coldest ever known in that locality, which will long be remembered because of the destruction of the orange groves.
Miss Anthony reached Washington on the morning of her seventy-fifth birthday, February 15. The National Woman's Council was to open its second triennial meeting on the 18th, and its official board and many delegates were already in the city. When she arrived she found that "her girls," as she was fond of designating the younger workers, had arranged for a banquet in her honor at the Ebbitt House that evening. Covers were laid for fifty and it was a beautiful affair. After a number of speeches had been made, Rachel Foster Avery arose and stated that the friends of Miss Anthony from ocean to ocean and the lakes to the gulf, had placed in her hands sums of money amounting to $5,000. This she had put into a trust fund, purchasing therewith an "annuity" of $800, which she now took great pleasure in presenting. There were 202 contributors and although Mrs. Avery had been for several months collecting the money, incredible as it may seem, the whole matter was a complete surprise to Miss Anthony. Realizing that during the last forty-five years she had spent practically all she had earned and all that had been given her, to advance the cause to which she had devoted her life, they determined to put this testimonial into such shape as would make it impossible thus to expend it. She was greatly overcome and for once could not command the words to voice her feelings.
As each three months have rolled around since that occasion, and the $200 check has been sent with a pleasant greeting from the Penn Mutual insurance company, hoping that she might live to use the entire principal, her heart has thrilled anew with gratitude and affection to Mrs. Avery and the friends who put their love and appreciation into this material shape. It suffices to pay the monthly expenses of the modest household and, with the income from the few thousands that have been laid away, an occasional paid lecture and the gifts from generous friends, Miss Anthony is freed from financial anxiety, although obliged to exercise careful economy.
It is impossible in this limited space to attempt a description of that great council extending through the days and evenings of two weeks, attended by delegates from twenty national organizations, representing the highest intellects and activities among women and covering a wide range of vital questions. Miss Anthony stood for the department of Government Reform. Although at this council she desired to be simply one of the many representatives of different organizations, the public would make her the central figure of all occasions. On February 28, Mrs. John R. McLean, assisted by Mrs. Calvin Brice, gave a reception in her honor, attended by many of the official, literary, artistic and musical people of the capital.
Frederick Douglass came into the council the afternoon of the 20th and was invited by the president, Mrs. Sewall, to a seat on the platform. He accepted, but declined to speak, acknowledging the applause only by a bow. Upon entering his home in Anacostia, a few hours later, he dropped to the floor and expired instantly. Funeral services were held in the African Metropolitan church, Washington, February 25, in which, at the request of the family, Miss Anthony took part, paid a brief tribute and read Mrs. Stanton's touching memorial of the only man who sustained her demand for the enfranchisement of women in that famous first convention of 1848.
At the close of the council Miss Anthony lectured at Lincoln, Va., in the ancient Quaker meeting house. Returning to Washington she was entertained by Mrs. Mary S. Lockwood at a dinner party on the evening of the Travel Club, at which she was one of the speakers. Reaching Philadelphia March 9, she turned her steps, as was always her custom, directly towards her old friend Adeline Thomson, and her surprise and grief may be imagined when she found that she had died a month previous. Her relations with Adeline and Annie Thomson, who had passed away nearly ten years before, had been those of affectionate sisters, and for nearly forty years their home had been as her own. She had received many contributions from them, and Adeline had made her a personal gift of $1,000. She often had said to her and written in her letters, that she had $5,000 more laid away for her after she herself should have no further use for it, but as is so often the case she neglected to make provision for this, and all her property went to a nephew.