exception of the head of it. He had too much
wealth, and the care of it brought innumerable per
plexities and almost unutterable trouble of mind.
He seldom spent an hour a day in the society of his
wife and children, only when at meals. These were
generally partaken of in pensive silence, then away
again to attend to the wants of those in his employ,
whose " name was legion," or his tenants, and they
made up another small army. Besides the care of
all these, he built and owned the " Woodruff
House," the largest hotel in northern New York,
and superintended the financial affairs of its large
income. He did not hoard his wealth ; for the
AND RECOLLECTIONS. 115
heart of many a poor man has been made glad with
his benefactions. In his case, riches and benevolence
were linked together, hand in hand, however much
they are strangers in some other persons. The
pressure of the cares of business was too much for
his brain, and apoplexy and insanity were the
melancholy result. He was a wretched inmate of
an insane asylum for a series of months, from which
he was kindly released by death.
It is generally supposed that wealth brings happi
ness to its possessor, especially by those whom
Providence has allotted a low step in Fortune's
ladder. Ah ! mistaken idea ! there are often shock
ing contrasts in the exterior and interior of life ;
many a millionare has borne testimony to the falsity
of it. How few would accept the dollars and cents
for which they sigh, did they know a tithe of the
anxieties and brain labor that would come along
with them. The sweet brown loaf of the cottage
O
peasant, partaken of in sweeter peace, is an enviable
lot compared with such an one. The humble homes
from which the intricacies of a complicated and dif
ficult business, the wealthy are nearly always sub
jected to, are banished, are those where contentment
sits smiling upon the countenances of their inmates.
How blessed is such a home, if it hold the central
magnet of love, around which thronging hearts of
congenial friends and kindred revolve with an at-
116 PERSONAL SKETCHES
traction that never fails. There is a wealth by the side
of which the glittering coffers filled with Golconda's
precious metals, are but filthy rags. I hare made
intimate acquaintance with families whom poverty
rose up with in the morning, sat with at table, and
retired with them late at night to a hard couch, and
yet they were prodigally rich in a variety and ful
ness of blessings. Rich in faith, in the promises of
God, in the sympathy and encouragement of kind
friends, in health and activity, and all the nameless,
glorious anticipations of the future life, where all
the heart-yearnings, anxieties, hopes and fears of
the rich and poor together will have passed away.
Of this class, one poor widow, well advanced in
years, holds a prominent place in my recollections
of these days. In her struggles with poverty, the
lamp of hopeful assurance, for a " better time "
kept burning brightly to lighten her pathway. Her
seat at church was never vacant, and none dwelt
with more satisfaction on the comforting words of
the young pastor than she did. Her calm and serene
countenance was an index to the tranquility that
rested in her soul. In recounting her trials through
life she would remark, that God's promises which,
if all earthly comfort fail, would be her " rod and
staff through the dark valley and shadow of death."
" I will never leave nor forsake thee." This she
clung to as her chief good, through all the changes
AND RECOLLECTIONS. 117
which she had passed. She even dwelt with satis
faction on her past successes and joys, chilled as
they were in the intervals, with trouble and sorrow ;
they were a light to her sunken spirit. Like the
neglected grave mound of him who had been her
stay and support in better days, they awakened a
train of pleasing, yet painful memories. What a
blessed faith is that which assures us that an
Omniscient eye is over all the works of His hands,
in care for the least, as well as the greatest, and
that He will eventually send His good angels to
lead by the hand all the morally " halt, lame and
blind," into paths of righteousness and peace *
" For there is more joy in heaven over one sinner
that repenteth, than over ninety and nine just
persons that have no need of repentance." A faith
like this, and a life corresponding with it, are the
real riches of this world ; by the side of it, honor,
wealth, pride and ambition, are narrow and worthless,
if those who possess them are forgetful of the true
bread of life, and make the mind subservient to a
body pampered with " oil and wine."
LETTER XVI.
Extracts from "my Diary Reflections on the New Tear Woman's
Rights The Fable of the Monkey Theological Seminary at An-
dover Men engaged in the Woman's Rights Movement Henry
Ward Beecher and others, &c.
MY DEAE F :
A few extracts from my diary will inform you of
some of the ways I spent my time, and of my gen
eral employment out of the school-room.
January ls. Spent the day in^ school and re
ceived a call in the evening from my brother ; he
made me a New Year's present three books. Miss
Sedgwick's Letters from Abroad, in two volumes,
and Friendship's Offering, a beautiful annual with
steel engravings. This will make reading for many
leisure hours in the future. Time has brought us
to the close of another year. It has been justly
remarked that " time is the only thing of which it
is a virtue to be parsimonious ; " and yet we are the
most prodigal of it. How few of us can look back
upon the past year, and say that it has been well
spent. Will the next year be an improvement in
AND RECOLLECTIONS. 119
this respect? and where shall we be? Perhaps
with the dead. Let us not forget the blessings
which are daily showered upon all ; the " evil and
unthankful," as well as the good. The sun continues
his course in the heavens, dispensing light and heat
to all, regardless of circumstances, and how illy is
his value appreciated. " The works of the Lord
are manifold, and in wisdom He has made them all."
It was unquestionably the design of Deity, that we
should be placed in different spheres of action as we
are, and each have a share of good and evil, which
is allotted by an unerring Providence. While we
enjoy the cheerful fireside let us not forget the many
who pine in want and solitude, " sore pierced by the
wintry winds."
January 2>rd. This evening, attended the Ly
ceum at the Young Men's Association room. The
question debated, was in relation to the political
rights of women. My own opinion is, that it is
perfectly preposterous that women should have a
right to vote, or any voice in the matter, and I am
thinking they would be as much out of their sphere
as the monkey in the fable. " What a low and tire
some life is that which I lead in the forests with
stupid animals ! I, who am the image of man ! "
exclaimed a monkey, disgusted with living in the
woods. " I must go and live in the cities with people
who resemble me, and who are civilized." He
120 PERSONAL SKETCHES
thither went ; but he, himself, soon repented of it ;
he was taken, chained, mocked and insulted. Moral
Frequent your like, and not get out of your
sphere."* I am willing to allow the "lords of cre
ation " to superintend the_affairs of government, and,
as one man at the Lyceum remarked, " The women
are fit only to darn stockings and raise children."
The weight of argument, however, was on the other
side, and the chairman was obliged to decide in
favor of the political enfranchisement of women.
Bear in mind, my dear F., that the above was written
nearly twenty years ago, and that I do not wish to be
considered in any way responsible for the sentiment
of it now. The professors in the Theolgical Seminary
at Andover, are installed with the usual ceremonies
and solemnities, for a term of five years, in which
they pledge themselves to teach the peculiar theol
ogy in all its essential points, of the sect, by whose
patronage the institution lives. Perhaps their salary
has some bearing on their duty and belief, five years
in the future ; but, if from any cause a man is
obliged to believe and teach five years to come, what
he does to day, I can see no reason why a woman
should hold to the same faith twenty years, on a sub
ject which has agitated the public mind to such a
degree, that a complete revolution is likely to be the
*Bolmar's French Tables.
AND RECOLLECTIONS. 121
result. Not only intelligent and cultivated women
are laboring with well-directed energies to effect a
reform in their condition and position in society, but
a large body of enterprising men are earnestly and
zealously acting with them, in the same cause. Not
the least among these, was the late Rev. Theodore
Parker, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, and Hon. Gerritt
Smith, and scores of others, now living, swell the
number to legions. If the sentiments advanced at the
Lyceum, above spoken of, were ever true, the time has
gone by, that women are regarded in any such light.
True, most of women are skilful in these employ
ments, but just as much so in other vocations, at
suitable times and places, as those who have been
pleased to style themselves the " stronger sex." As
you have expressed an opinion on this subject and
asked for mine, I may as well introduce it here, as
hereafter, with my reasons for a change of opinion.
I would not now underrate the employment of taking
care of children, or detract a particle from the respon
sibility and magnitude of a mother's calling as such
for I know that it underlies all other aims human
ity aspires to, in the far off future. If all others
are ignorant of the fact, the mothers of this liberty-
loving land knows that, dearer interests than houses
or land, or the distracting cares of public life, are
invested in their little heart-treasures at home. The
great issues for good or ill, are in a measure in her
11
122 PERSONAL SKETCHES
hands, and to neglect their culture, for any minor
consideration, (and everything else ought to be
second to that duty with the mother), would be a
criminal perversion of the noblest instinct God has
placed in the human mind. All the great and good
of earth, Franklin, Howard, and Florence Nightin
gale, were caressed in a mother's lap, and no doubt
owe a large share of their world-renowned useful
ness, and sacrifices in humanity's cause, to their
vigilance and example.
But there is another view of this subject, which
opposers of the doctrine of the equality of the sexes
do not seem to appreciate. In the light of their
slim philosophy, the simple rights of citizenship, is
to them an absurd yearning in the heart of woman,
and they can see no middle ground, between mothers
leaving the cradle at home unrocked, and their hus
bands' stockings undarned, and rushing out into the
unfeeling world, for a battle between life and death,
(I wish this were wholly a fancy picture), and the
whole feminine race remaining in a blessed state of
ignorance of governmental affairs, of their husband's
financial affairs, of all the mechanical trades, and of
everything else in the way of lucrative employment.
There might be a little more plausibility in their
arguments, if all the adult females in the world
were mothers, or had fathers or husbands who had
the ability and disposition to support them. The
AND RECOLLECTIONS. 123
time has been, within my remembrance, that it was
a generally received doctrine with both sexes, that,
nature had not endowed women with a capacity of
acquiring the means of support equal to that of
men. Perhaps that doctrine would have been as
popular now, as it was thirty years ago, had not the
experiment been tried in hundreds of cases, and not
proved a failure. Driven by the force of circum
stances over which she had no control, into the world,
penniless, in too many instances she has demon
strated to the satisfaction of the most superficial
observer, that she has a natural business talent, fully
equal to that of the other sex. And that, too, in
the face of the most discouraging casualities ; in a
state of society like the present, when her education,
the voice of the multitude, the custom of the times,
and too many other things to name, have operated
to put out of her reach almost every available means
to gain such an end. But a very few employments
are opened to her which are considered " proper "
for women to engage in, and these are compensated
with a mere pittance. ' Even with the same amount
of labor, her remuneration has always been less, and
that often grudgingly paid. Cotton factories, sew
ing and knitting machines have finished the work of
taking from the hands of the masses everything
by which they could turn their energies to good
practical account, if they had anything to do. The
124 PERSONAL SKETCHES
consequence is, that a large share of the females in
the United States are as ignorant of the practical
duties of life as a boarding school Miss in Boston, is
of pioneer life in the wilds of Nebraska. Their
knowledge does not go beyond the crotchet-needle,
or the last novel. Between these is a butterfly
chase after airy nothings, or a new dress for the next
ball. Another class, and these include nearly all of
the remainder, are wearing out their lives and ener
gies in a treadmill of the most menial services, and
their earnings are no more under their control, than
are a southern slave's. Northern Christians have
a great deal to say about the evils of southern
slavery, and enough eloquence of the pulpit and
energy of the press have been exhausted in the
State of New York alone, it would seem on that one
subject, to convert the world from the darkest night
of atheism to the noon-day sun of Christianity,
whose beams shall penetrate a territory broad enough
to illumine every dark corner of the globe. Through
their instrumentality, millions of dollars have been
expended, sending the Bible with their interpretation
of it to the Feejee Islands, to India and Africa,
when, perhaps, at the same time under their own
roofs there existed a heathenish darkness, more
appalling than African servitude, and of that the
half of its evils have never been told. How many
mothers in this State have any knowledge of the
AND RECOLLECTIONS. 125
sciences or natural laws. Not half of them spend
an hour in a week, reading, because their endless
round of duties leaves them no time, and their
" lack of knowledge disqualifies them for a taste for
literature." If they are deficient in knowledge of
books, they are much more so with regard to busi
ness or financial affairs. Not one in ten knows any
thing about the amount of her husband's income or
outgo, and if she is left widowed, with the care of
a family, pretended creditors, may, and often do,
rob her of the last cent.
The handful of women who have dared to open
their mouths in public, in defense of the rights of
their sex, or, in fact, on any other subject, have been
branded as coarse, unlady-like and masculine, and
the venom of a legion of tongues and pens, has
been showered upon them from the pulpit and press ;
and they have been tauntingly referred to what St.
Paul says of women being " keepers at home," (I
might digress here, dear F., enough to preach you
a sermon on some of the customs of St. Paul's times,
and pass an opinion that some of his sentiments
were particularly adapted to that age, and just
mildly hint that, his being an old bachelor, might
have some bearing on his restrictions with regard to
women ; but if I did I should be immediately set
down as an infidel, by the same ones, perhaps, who
do not feel themselves bound to accept all of St.
126 PERSONAL SKETCHES
Paul's advice, for he advises the " unmarried and
widows to remain unmarried, even as I.") " Keep
the hearth-stone bright," they say, " and leave every
thing else to us." What if they have no hearth
stones ? There is not a town in the United States,
probably, that has not women who have been driven
from their homes, (if the hovels they stay in are
deserving that sacred name), by drunken husbands,
and left to take a choice between starvation for them
selves and little ones, and the pauper's protection in
the almshouse. In case of final separation, no mat
ter for what cause, the laws of the State, up to last
winter, by a new act of Legislature, gave the hus
band all the property and children. Now, the
mother is the legal guardian of her children, as she
always has been the natural one, in case of death,
drunkeness, or wilful desertion. This was opposed
as strenuously as though the cause had been a just
and humane one, but the majority ruled. It is not
more than three years since a man in Pennsylvania,
about to die, willed his three children to his brother,
because his wife, their mother, was a Catholic.
After his death she appealed to the Supreme Court
for protection in her God-given right, and they de
cided against her ; the unfeeling uncle took them to
his own home. " Tell it not in Gath ! " In the light
of all these facts there are thousands of women in
Christian New York, who say they have all the
AND RECOLLECTIONS. 127
rights they want. Voluntary slavery is more de
grading than any other, for it shows a lower degree
of aspiration and desire for advancement than that
which is compulsory.
The sister of the noble Kossuth, who kept a board
ing house in New York city, had all her furniture
and hard earnings seized to pay the debts of a worth
less husband. She remonstrated with him on his
extravagance ; and he pointed her to our revised
statutes, with the remark : " Remember, you are
not in Hungary, now." She remarked to a friend,
in speaking of her troubles, that the the laws of
New York State, with regard to married women,
were worse than those of poor oppressed Hungary.
There was one woman who wanted and needed
more rights than she had. Justice and law on which
it is founded should have protected her in her own
house, but she was sent forth a beggar in a strange
land, by the European tyrant who was her legal
husband's creditor. The law, as it is now, does no
harm or wrong to any man or woman living, for
sober, temperate, and industrious husbands, it does
not effect, and it will, and has done much good.
What would it not have been worth, to the toil-worn
woman in question ?
The laws in Germany, with regard to married
women's property, have been just what they should
be, for more than twenty years. Miss Catherine
128 PERSONAL SKETCHES
Sedgwick, w ho is conceded to be a woman of cor-
O
rect judgment, and one whom nature has endowed
with a gift of clear insight, which would be an en
viable possession for any man or woman, in her
travels abroad in 1840, she writes from Germany :
" There is one of the rights of women secured to
them here which I have been assured has an impor
tant effect on general prosperity and individual hap-
-piness. The German wife has an inextinguishable
right to half the joint property of herself and her
husband. He cannot deprive her of it by will, nor
can it be applied.to debts of his contracting. " This
it is," said a gentleman to me, "that makes our wives
so intelligent in the management of their concerns,
so industrious and economical." I don't know how
this may be, but it seems to me to be but common
justice that a wife should be an equal partner in a
concern of which she bears so heavy a part of the
burden. Would not the introduction of such a law
have a beneficient effect on the laboring classes in the
United States ? How many women would be stimu
lated to ingenuity and productive labor, if the re
sults of their industry were secured to them ? How
many women are first wronged and then disheart
ened by having an inheritance consumed by a hus
band's vices or dispersed by. his wild speculations ?
How many well-qualified for respectable branches of
business, are deterred from attempting them by the
AND RECOLLECTIONS. 129
impossibility of securing to themselves and their
children, the proceeds ? How many poor women
among the lowest class of laborers, have you and I
both known, whose daily earnings have been law
fully taken from them by their brutal husbands ?
This is a pretty serious evil, as in that class, at least,
(you will allow me to say), the destructive vices
are pretty much monopolized by your sex. It is
one of our distinctions, thank God, in the New
World, that we do not quietly rest in any error ;
so I have faith that in good time this matter will be
set right."
The United Colonies of this free and happy Re
public, waged a seven years' war with Great Britain
in 1776, upon the principle of a declaration made in
the House of Representatives of Massachusetts in
1764, to the effect, " that the imposition of duties and
taxes by the Parliament of Great Britain, upon a
people not represented in the House of Commons, is
absolutely irreconcilable with their rights." " If
we are not represented, we are slaves." One of Eng
land^ noblest jurists, Justice Pratt, has acknowledg
ed the truth of this doctrine in the following words :
" My position is this. Taxation and representation
are inseparable. The position is founded in the law
of nature. It is more ; it is itself an eternal law of
nature." And yet when they had wrested from the
grasp of Great Britain the colonies, because she
130 PERSONAL SKETCHES
would not govern them upon this principle, and
undertook to organize them, most of the colonies
cut off one half of the people, that is, tlie women,
from any representation in the government, but they
still claimed the right to tax them for its support,
and the right to punish them for disobedience. They
were as inconsistent as the Puritan fathers, who fled
from the mother country on account of religious
persecution, and then became themselves the perse
cutors of the Baptists and Quakers, because they
did not agree with them in opinion.
I can see no justice in people who have masters
to represent them in everything else, being made to
suffer the penalty of crime. Less than two years
ago, in a town joining this one, a married woman
was convicted of the crime of theft, and her hus
band had the offer of settling the offence by paying
the sum of three hundred dollars. A great deal of
sympathy was excited in the minds of the public,
that the husband should be required to pay .the
penalty of his wife's misconduct. But the woman
had no property of her own. To be sure, they had
acquired a large sum together, and he had the legal
control of the whole ; for, though a husband and
wife are one, according to law, that one is the hus
band, with regard to their joint earnings, and at
that time this was true of any personal property.
This case proved to -be one of insanity. Improve-
AND RECOLLECTIONS. 131
ments in respect to the position of women in society,
are constantly in progress, for which let us be thank
ful. Every free State in the American Union, ex
cept, perhaps, two or three, and one of them is New
Jersey, have legislated is some way with regard to
married women's separate control of property, and
a few of them have given them their own earnings
after marriage. Among these are Massachusetts
and New York. Kentucky is a little in advance of
all of them in one respect. She has actually extend
ed the right of suffrage to women in some educa
tional matters. The constitutional convention of
Kansas, too, voted within six, of extending it with
out reserve, and expunging the word male from the
Constitution. Surely this is a little in advance of
the law that reads as follows, this, I think, is, or
has been a statute law of the State of Ohio : " The
personal property of the wife, such as money, goods,
cattle, and other chattels, which she had in
possession at the time of her marriage, in her own
right and not in the right of another, vest imme
diately in the husband, and he can dispose of them
as he pleases. On his death they go to his re
presentatives like the residue of his property. So
if any such goods or chattels come to her possession
in her own right after the marriage, they in like
manner immediately vest in the husband." The re
form from such heathenish laws as these mentioned,
132 PERSONAL SKETCHES
to those in a very few States alone which give to
the mother the guardianship of her children, after
the death of her husband, and the right to the
avails of her own toil while he is living, with some
other privileges, which God and nature intended
she should have from the beginning, have all taken
place within the last ten years. Surely the