and incapacitating her for general usefulness; and thus
inflicting an injury upon all born of woman, and cultivating in man a
lordly and arrogant spirit, a love of dominion, a disposition to
lightly regard her comfort and happiness, all which have been indulged
to a fearful extent, to the curse of his own soul and the desecration
of her nature.

7th. _Resolved_, That so long as the most ignorant, degraded, and
worthless men are freely admitted to the ballot-box, and practically
acknowledged to be competent to determine who shall be in office and
how the Government shall be administered, it is preposterous to
pretend that women are not qualified to use the elective franchise,
and that they are fit only to be recognized, politically speaking, as
_non compos mentis_.

REBECCA M. SANFORD TO THE CLEVELAND CONVENTION.

NEW LONDON, HURON CO., O., _October 3, 1853_.

FRIENDS OF REFORM:--Not being present at the Convention, I can but
express my interest by a few lines.

The mere question of woman's civil rights is not a deep one, for it is
a natural one, and closely follows her mission in this world. She was
not created anything else than a helpmeet to man, and where to limit
that assistance there is no rule in nature, except her physical
functions; _there is a limit in law_, but whether the law has the
right to place her where she is, is the question. It must be conceded
that the law has drawn too great an inference from her ancient social
attitude, and from present custom and prejudice. But has the law the
right to be prejudiced--ought it not to stand pure, and noble, and
magnanimous, founded on the natural rights of the human soul? The law
grants woman protection; it also grants negroes, animals, and property
protection in their certain spheres. It gives no more to woman.

Woman's sphere is her capability of performing her duty to herself,
her family, and to society, taking self-preservation as the first law
of her nature. At present she does not fully act in her sphere. The
lid of the ballot-box shuts out more than one-half of her duty to
herself, family, and society. The eye of the law is diseased, and
woman must be made assistant occulist, to render that eye pure and
single-sighted. Let not this Convention close until some way and means
are decided upon to secure woman's vote at the polls. The propriety or
impropriety of the same place and box and other objections, can be
disposed of in a