ed to proceed to
Fort Adams.

Miss Lewis' repeated acts of philanthropy have been recognized by
gifts at various times, but no national testimonial, so far as we
are aware, has yet been offered to her. True generosity, like
true virtue, is its own reward, and we of the world are not often
disposed to meddle with its quiet enjoyment by its possessor. It
seems eminently fitting, however, that among the first to receive
the new decoration to be bestowed by congress for heroic deeds in
saving life, should be the heroine of Newport harbor.

Writing from Valley Falls September 9, 1885, Elizabeth B. Chace,
president of the Rhode Island Association, in summing up the steps
of progress, says:

On December 4, 1884, by unanimous consent of our General Assembly
the state-house was granted to us for the first time, for a woman
suffrage convention. A large number of our best men and women,
and some of our ablest speakers[178] were present. An immense
audience greeted them and listened with eager interest
throughout. The occasion was one of the most pleasant and
profitable we have enjoyed in a long time. At the following
session of our Legislature, 1885, an amendment to our State
constitution was proposed giving the franchise to women, on equal
terms with men. It passed both Houses by a large majority vote,
but by some technicality, for which no one seemed to blame, it
was not legally started on its round to the vote of the people.
Hence the proposition to submit the amendment will be again
passed upon this year, and with every promise of success. We have
strong hopes of making our little commonwealth the banner State
in this grand step of progress.

The following letter from Frederick A. Hinckley, makes a fitting
mention of some of the noble women who have represented this
movement in his State:

PROVIDENCE, R. I., Sept. 14, 1885.

DEAR FRIENDS: You ask for a few words from me concerning salient
points in the history of the woman suffrage movement in Rhode
Island. As you know, ours is a very small State--the smallest in
the Union--and has a very closely compacted population. With us
the manufacturing interest overshadows everything else,
representing large investments of capital. On the one hand we
have great accumulations of wealth b