when she must be guided
by her lawyer's advice, and he paid her bail. Ignorant of the
technicalities of the law, she did not realize the far-reaching
implications of this well-intentioned act until they left the
courtroom and in the hallway met tall vigorous John Van Voorhis of
Rochester who was working on the case with Judge Selden. With the
impatience of a younger man, eager to fight to the finish, he
exclaimed, "You have lost your chance to get your case before the
Supreme Court by writ of habeas corpus!"[295]

Aghast, Susan rushed back to the courtroom, hoping to cancel the bond,
but it was too late. Bitterly disappointed, she remonstrated with
Henry Selden, but he quietly replied, "I could not see a lady I
respected in jail." She never forgave him for this, in spite of her
continued appreciation of his keen legal mind, his unfailing kindness,
and his willingness to battle for women.

Within a few days she appeared before the Federal Grand Jury in
Albany and was indicted on the charge that she "did knowingly,
wrongfully and unlawfully vote for a Representative in the Congress of
the United States...."[296] Her trial was set for the term of the
United States District Court, beginning May 13, 1873, in Rochester,
New York.

[Illustration: Judge Henry R. Selden]

During these difficult days in Albany, Susan found comfort and
courage, as in the past, in the friendliness of Lydia Mott's home.
Here she planned the steps by which to win public approval and
financial aid for her test case. She addressed the commission which
was revising New York's constitution on woman's right to vote under
the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, pointing out that the law
limiting suffrage to males was nullified by this new interpretation.
Eager to spread the truth about her own legal contest, she distributed
printed copies of Judge Selden's argument. Then traveling to New York
and Washington, she personally presented copies to newspaper editors
and Congressmen. To one of these men she wrote, "It is not for
myself--but for all womanhood--yes and all manhood too--that I most
rejoice in the appeal to the legal mind of the Nation. It is no
longer whether women wish to vote, or men are willing, but it is
woman's Constitutional right."[297]

* * * * *

In spite of the fact that Susan was technically in the custody of the
United States Marshal, who objected to her leaving Rochester, she
managed to carry out