he is undoubtedly one of the most
skillful cultivators and florists in the country (a country abounding
with them), and carries off more prizes at the horticultural
exhibitions than almost any one else. I am told Mr. Lawrence is an
eminent surgeon in London, and that the whole of the country place is
under Mrs. Lawrence's management."--_Colman's Letters from Europe_.

DEAR FRIENDS:--As I finished reading this paragraph, your letter,
inviting me to your Convention, to be held on the 19th inst., was
received. I can not, as I gladly would, be with you. That my mite may
not be wanting in aid of the cause, taking the above extract for my
text, I would add as a commentary, that, according to the laws and
usages of a large portion of Christendom, in the event of the death of
Mr. Lawrence, Mrs. Lawrence, the one whose skill and taste has formed
this elegant establishment, would be left by the will of Mr. Lawrence
an income from a part of the estate, and the "privilege" of occupying
"during her natural life," two or three rooms in the large mansion,
but powerless as a stranger in the beautiful demesne made valuable by
her industry and skill! This is not "supposing" a case, only in the
application of it to Mrs. L. In this country, where, as a general
rule, women take their full share of the labor and responsibility of a
household, and thus by their constant assiduity contribute their full
proportion to the means by which a comfortable competence is secured,
do we not see the disposal of it assumed as a matter of right by the
male partner of the firm?

That women contribute their full share in the building-up of an estate
by _labor_--the only rightful mode--no one that is capable of taking
an enlightened view of the prevailing condition of things will deny.
True, she may not wield the axe or guide the plough, braced by the
invigorating air, for hers is the wearisome task, and the one which
requires the most skill to attend to the complicated machinery within
doors; she may not handle the awl or the plane for "ten hours a day,"
with but a small tax on the intellectual, but by her _perpetual_
oversight and unvarying labor she may make one dollar, two, or more.

This is one form of the many grievances to which women are subjected,
all arising from the false assumption of their inferiority by nature
and by the "ordination of Providence." May your Convention aid in
dispelling this delusion from the minds of men, but chiefly from the