ss, and that may in a measure account for
his gloomy forebodings." The audience burst forth into a roar of
applause and laughter, and the president introduced the next speaker,
seemingly unconscious that she had stabbed the prophet through and
through, and dissipated the effect of his warnings.

Mrs. Mott was frequently chosen the presiding officer of the early
conventions. Though she seldom regarded Cushing's Manual in her
rulings, she maintained order and good feeling by the persuasiveness
and serenity of her voice and manner. Emerson says: "It is not what
the man says, but it is the spirit behind it which makes the
impression." It was this subtle magnetism of the true, grand woman,
ever faithful to her highest convictions of truth, that made her
always respected in every position she occupied. Hers was pure moral
power, for in that frail organization there could be but little of
what is called physical magnetism. Her placid face showed that she was
at peace with herself, the first requisite in a successful leader of
reform. That Mrs. Mott could have maintained her sweetness and charity
to the end, is a marvel in view of the varied and protracted
persecutions she endured.

Rarely have so many different and superior qualities been combined in
one woman. She had great personal beauty; her brow and eye were
remarkable. Although small in stature, it is said of her as it was of
Channing, he too being of diminutive size, that she made you think she
was larger than she was. She had a look of command. The amount of will
force and intelligent power in her small body was enough to direct the
universe; yet she was modest and unassuming and had none of the
personal airs of leadership. Her manners were gentle and
self-possessed under all circumstances. Her conversation, though
generally serious, earnest and logical, was sometimes playful and
always good humored. Her attitude of mind was receptive. She never
seemed to think even in her latest years that she had explored all
truth. Though she had very clearly defined opinions on every subject
that came under her consideration, she never dogmatized.

It was this healthy balance of good qualities that made her great
among other women of genius; and the multiplicity of her interests in
human affairs that kept her fresh and young to the last. The thinkers,
the scholars, the broadest intellects are often the octogenarians,
while the narrow selfish souls dry up in their own channels. O