ildren.
Martha C. Wright, of Auburn, was a frequent visitor at the center of
the rebellion, as my sequestered cottage on Locust Hill was
facetiously called. She brought to these councils of war not only her
own individual wisdom, but that of the wife and sister of William H.
Seward, and sometimes encouraging suggestions from the great statesman
himself, from whose writings we often gleaned grand and radical
sentiments. Lucretia Mott, too, being an occasional guest at her
sister's in Auburn, added the dignity of her presence at many of these
important consultations. She was uniformly in favor of toning down our
fiery pronunciamentoes. For Miss Anthony and myself, the English
language had no words strong enough to express the indignation we felt
in view of the prolonged injustice to woman. We found, however, that
after expressing ourselves in the most vehement manner, and thus in a
measure giving our feelings an outlet, we were reconciled to issue the
documents at last in milder terms. If the men of the State could have
known the stern rebukes, the denunciations, the wit, the irony, the
sarcasm that were garnered there, and then judiciously pigeon-holed,
and milder and more persuasive appeals substituted, they would have
been truly thankful that they fared no worse.
Mr. Seward, in the brief intervals in his Washington life, made
frequent visits in our neighborhood at the house of Judge G. V.
Sackett, a man of wealth and some political influence. One of the
Senator's standing anecdotes at dinner to illustrate the purifying
influence of woman at the polls, which he always told with great zest
for my special benefit, was in regard to the manner his wife's sister
exercised the right of suffrage.
"Mrs. Worden having the supervision of a farm near Auburn, was obliged
to hire two or three men for its cultivation. It was her custom,
having examined them as to their capacity to perform the required
labor, their knowledge of tools, horses, cattle, gardening, and
horticulture, to inquire as to their politics. She informed them that
being a woman and a widow, and having no one to represent her, she
must have Republicans to do her voting, to represent her political
opinions, and it always so happened that the men who offered their
services belonged to the Republican party.
"Some one remarked to her one day, 'Are you sure your men vote as they
promise?' 'Yes,' she replied, 'I trust nothing to their discretion. I
take them in m
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