me would have been the order of the Convention, as it was
the indication of the call, had not the time arrived for the
bugle-note, calling all "to the front." Events of the hour at
once changed the direction of thought, and inaugurated a line of
movement for the practical enfranchisement of, and restoration to
woman, of her equal rights as an American citizen. A few days
previous to the time of holding this Convention, Mrs. Victoria C.
Woodhull, of the City of New York, memorialized Congress for the
exercise of the elective franchise, which memorial was read in
the House of Representatives by Hon. George W. Julian, early
friend of the cause, referred to the Judiciary Committee and
ordered to be printed.

This action on the part of Mrs. Woodhull was taken without
consultation with, or even knowledge of the movers of the
Convention, and by unprecedented energy and great intelligence,
pressed upon the attention of both branches of Congress, upon the
plea that she was "born upon the soil and was subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States," and that as a citizen, she
desired a voice in legislation, through the only means in a free
government, that of a vote; and on this pivot she based her
demand. With some difficulty she obtained permission for a
hearing before the Judiciary Committee. Learning this important
step taken by Mrs. Woodhull, a stranger to the Convention, a
conference was held between the parties, resulting in a friendly
agreement, that with consent of the chairman of the Committee,
Mrs. I. B. Hooker, on the part of the Convention, should at the
same time, through a constitutional lawyer, Hon. A. G. Riddle,
ex-member of Congress, defend the memorialists (30,000 women)
whose names were already before Congress, asking to exercise the
right of the ballot.

Mrs. Woodhull spoke with power and marvelous effect, as though
conscious of a right unjustly withheld, and feeling a duty, she
was forbidden to do. Under the supreme law of the land, the
Constitution, and the XIV. and XV. Amendments thereto, she asked
equal protection to person, property, and full citizenship; in
response to this, the key-note, Mr. Riddle followed with an
unanswerable legal argument, sweeping away all laws of the United
States, and of any State, restricting