would wring from her the hard earnings of her toil
to gratify his own beastly appetites and passions.[56]

It is said that the suffrage is to be given to enlarge the sphere
of woman's influence. Mr. President, it would destroy her
influence. It would take her down from that pedestal where she is
today, influencing as a mother the minds of her offspring,
influencing by her gentle and kindly caress the action of her
husband toward the good and pure.[57]

Senator Vest then presented a list of two hundred men from
Massachusetts, among them forty-five clergymen, remonstrating against
any further extension of suffrage to women. He next presented the
old-time letter of Mrs. Clara T. Leonard of that State protesting
against the enfranchisement of women. Senator Hoar called attention to
the fact that the writer herself was an office-holder, a member of the
State Board of Lunacy and Charity, to which Senator Vest answered:

Ah! but what sort of an office-holder? She held the office
delegated to her by God himself, a ministering angel to the sick,
the afflicted and the insane. What man in his senses would take
from woman this sphere? What man would close to her the
charitable institutions and eleemosynary establishments of the
country? That is part of her kingdom; that is part of her
undisputed sway and realm. Is that the office to which woman
suffragists of this country ask us now to admit them? Is it to be
the director of a hospital? Is it to the presidency of a board of
visitors of an eleemosynary institution? Oh, no; they want to be
President, to be Senators and Members of the House of
Representatives and, God save the mark, ministerial and executive
officers, sheriffs, constables and marshals. Of course, this lady
is found on this board of directors. Where else should a true
woman be found? Where else has she always been found but by the
fevered brow, the palsied hand, the erring intellect, aye, God
bless them, from the cradle to the grave the guide and support of
the faltering steps of childhood and the weakening steps of old
age.[58]

Oh, no, Mr. President, this will not do. If we are to tear down
all the blessed traditions, if we are to desolate our homes and
firesides, if we are to unsex our mothers and wives and sisters
and turn our blessed temples of domestic peace in