n sky above our heads. Over us lay a light like a soft twilight, and
the great congregation filled not only all the pews, but the aisles, the
platform, and even the steps of the pulpit. The ushers were young women
from the University of Upsala, wearing white university caps with black
vizors, and sashes in the university colors. The anthem was composed
especially for the occasion by the first woman cathedral organist in
Sweden--the organist of the cathedral in Gothenburg--and she had brought
with her thirty members of her choir, all of them remarkable singers.

The whole occasion was indescribably impressive, and I realized in
every fiber the necessity of being worthy of it. Also, I experienced
a sensation such as I had never known before, and which I can only
describe as a seeming complete separation of my physical self from my
spiritual self. It was as if my body stood aside and watched my soul
enter that pulpit. There was no uncertainty, no nervousness, though
usually I am very nervous when I begin to speak; and when I had finished
I knew that I had done my best.

But all this is a long way from the early days I was discussing, when I
was making my first diffident bows to lecture audiences and learning the
lessons of the pioneer in the lecture-field. I was soon to learn more,
for in 1888 Miss Anthony persuaded me to drop my temperance work
and concentrate my energies on the suffrage cause. For a long time I
hesitated. I was very happy in my connection with the Woman's Christian
Temperance Union, and I knew that Miss Willard was depending on me to
continue it. But Miss Anthony's arguments were irrefutable, and she was
herself, as always, irresistible.

"You can't win two causes at once," she reminded me. "You're merely
scattering your energies. Begin at the beginning. Win suffrage for
women, and the rest will follow." As an added argument, she took me with
her on her Kansas campaign, and after that no further arguments were
needed. From then until her death, eighteen years later, Miss Anthony
and I worked shoulder to shoulder.

The most interesting lecture episode of our first Kansas campaign was
my debate with Senator John J. Ingalls. Before this, however, on our
arrival at Atchison, Mrs. Ingalls gave a luncheon for Miss Anthony, and
Rachel Foster Avery and I were also invited. Miss Anthony sat at the
right of Senator Ingalls, and I at his left, while Mrs. Ingalls, of
course, adorned the opposite end of her table.