th of virtue; and when the mothers asked for the abatement of
these evils, they were told to keep in their sphere. In the town
where she resided (McConnellsville, Morgan Co., Ohio), the women
sent a large petition to the court asking that grog-shops might
not be licensed. The judge thereupon remarked that "woman's place
was in the nursery and the parlor, and that when she interfered
with public affairs, or set herself up as an instructor of the
courts, she was out of her sphere." Thus men perpetuate
institutions which undermine the influence of the mothers, and
corrupt the morals of the sons. The boys were, therefore, in many
cases, what men made them. True, there were some cases in which
the mother, by superior power, shaped the destiny of her sons, in
spite of adverse influences. Such cases were not the rule, but
the exception. Mothers, generally, could not exert their full
influence over their sons, unless they were permitted to stand by
them as the equals of their fathers in all relations of life.

The following address, written by Ann Preston, and adopted as an
exposition of the principles and purposes of the Convention, was
impressively read by the author:

ANN PRESTON'S ADDRESS.

The question is repeatedly asked by those who have thought but
little upon the subject of woman's position in society, "What
does woman want more than she possesses already? Is she not
beloved, honored, guarded, cherished? Wherein are her rights
infringed, or her liberties curtailed?"

Glowing pictures have been drawn of the fitness of the present
relations of society, and of the beauty of woman's dependence
upon the protecting love of man, and frightful visions have been
evoked of the confusion and perversion of nature which would
occur if the doctrine of the equal rights of man and woman was
once admitted.

The idea seems to prevail that movements for the elevation of
woman arise, not from the legitimate wants of society, but from
the vague restlessness of unquiet spirits; not from the serene
dictates of wisdom, but from the headlong impulses of fanaticism.

We came not here to argue the question of the relative strength
of intellect in man and woman; for the reform which we advocate
depends not upon its settlement. We place not the interests o