This is, from whatever cause, a very common phenomenon in our political history. A movement which began with the promise of sweeping all before it, seems to lose all its force, and is supposed by many observers to be now only the care of a few earnest and fanatical men. Suddenly it is taken up by a minister of commanding influence, and the bore or the crotchet of one parliament is the great party controversy of a second, and the accomplished triumph of a third.
During the year of 1879, it was thought desirable to ascertain by some practical test what were the various reasons which caused thinking women to wish for the suffrage; and letters were addressed to ladies who were eminent either in literature or art, or who were following scientific or professional careers, or were engaged in any form of philanthropic work. The answers that were returned were collected into a pamphlet of exceeding interest, which was sent to each member before the debate, and it was amazing to watch from the gallery how the little green pamphlet was consulted and quoted from, in the most opposite quarters of the House, by friends who sought fresh arguments from it or by enemies who were looking for some sentence on which to base a sarcasm.[546]
As a specimen of these letters Miss Frances Power Cobbe said:
So far from the truth is the reiterated statement of certain honorable members of parliament that women do not desire the franchise, that in my large experience I have scarcely ever known a woman possessed of ordinary common sense, and who had lived some years alone in the world, who did not earnestly wish for it. The women who gratify these gentlemen by smilingly deprecating any such responsibilities, are those who have dwelt since they were born in well-feathered nests, and have never needed to do anything but open their soft beaks for the choicest little grubs to be dropped into them. It is utterly absurd (and I am afraid the members of parliament in question are quite aware they are talking nonsense) to argue from the contented squawks of a brood of these callow creatures, that full grown swallows and larks have no need of wings, and are always happiest when their pinions are broken.
The production of this pamphlet marked an era in women's suffrage literature. It was impossible after this to doubt that a large body of thinking women, not the queens of society, but the women who wrote, read, thought, or worked, were in favor of having full admission to political rights and responsibilities.
The chief work of the society had now crystallized into five or six great centres. Edinburgh, under the presidency of Mrs. McLaren, assisted by Miss Wigham and Miss Kirkland, treasurer and secretary, was the recognized centre of activity for Scotland. In Ireland there was a committee in Dublin, of which Mrs. Haslam is the most active member; and the North of Ireland Committee, led by Miss Isabella Tod.[547] The three principal associations in England were those of London,[548] including the east and north-east counties; Manchester,[549] taking charge of the north of England and Wales, and Bristol[550] looking after the West. The officers of the several committees of the three kingdoms form a National Central Committee which has its headquarters in London and superintends all of the work bearing specially upon the action of parliament.
Petitions were still sent in, but no longer in such enormous numbers. It had become evident that parliament cared little for a long roll of names from the unrepresented classes; they were now chiefly collected as a means of discovering how public opinion stood in any particular district. For instance, in 1879, a petition was sent from 1,447 women householders of Leicester. The total number of women householders in this town was 2,610, of whom only 1,991 could be applied to, and there is no reason to suppose that public opinion was more advanced in Leicester than in the majority of large manufacturing towns.
The municipal elections occur in England every November, and our custom in some towns was to call meetings of the women householders in every ward in which there was a contest, to explain to them the responsibilities resting upon the voters, and after an earnest address from some one of the ladies, to invite the respective candidates to speak. By these means not only was the interest of the women awakened in local politics, but the candidates themselves were reminded of the interests of an important section of their constituencies.
With the beginning of 1880, came again the promise of a reform bill. The majority of the Liberal members of the House of Commons had pledged themselves to their constituents in its favor. But as our enemies were still reiterating that women themselves did not care for the franchise, some further proof of their sympathy was in order. The first great demonstration in favor of women was held in Free Trade Hall, Manchester, which seats about 5,000 people, February 3, where women were admitted free, and seats reserved for men in the gallery at 2s. 6d. each. This arrangement was adopted to make it a meeting of women. One hundred gentlemen were present besides the reporters.
The purpose of the demonstration had been explained at preliminary ward meetings to which men and women came in crowds. On the night in question the scene exceeded the most sanguine expectations. Those who had witnessed the great free trade gatherings which assembled to hear Charles Villiers, Richard Cobden and John Bright, never saw a more enthusiastic audience. Mrs. Duncan McLaren of Edinburgh, who had been invited to preside, took her seat followed by an array of distinguished women, such as had never before graced any platform in the history of the three kingdoms, while the vast area and galleries were crowded with women of wealth and culture; factory women, shop-keepers and hard toilers of every station were also there. Some had walked twenty miles to attend that great meeting. They sat on the steps of the platform, climbed on every coigne of vantage, stood in dense masses in every aisle and corner. A large over-flow meeting was also held in the neighboring Memorial Hall over which Mrs. Lucas presided, but even this could not accommodate all who came, and thousands went away disappointed. It was truly a marvelous meeting, grand in its numbers, grand in the enthusiasm which had brought so many thousands together unattracted by the names of any distinguished speakers, to sympathize with each other in a great national movement, and to proclaim unity of action until it was gained; and it was grand also in the impressiveness of the words that were uttered. The president in her clear grave tones which were heard in the breathless stillness over that large assembly, said: