all the unpopular reforms through
years of pitiless persecution, and thanked her in behalf of the
young womanhood of the nation, that their path had been made
smoother by her brave life. Miss Anthony was so overcome with the
delicate compliments and the fragrant flowers at her feet, that
for a few moments she could find no words to express her
appreciation of the unexpected acknowledgement of what all
American women owe her. As she stood before that hushed audience,
her silence was more eloquent than words, for her emotion was
shared by all. With an effort she at last said:

Friends, I have no words to express my gratitude for this
marked attention. I have so long been the target for
criticism and ridicule, I am so unused to praise, that I
stand before you surprised and disarmed. If any one had come
to this platform and abused all womankind, called me hard
names, ridiculed our arguments or denied the justice of our
demands, I could with readiness and confidence have rushed
to the defence, but I cannot make any appropriate reply for
this offering of eloquent words and flowers, and I shall not
attempt it.

Being advertised as the speaker of the evening, she at once began
her address, and as she stood there and made an argument worthy a
senator of the United States, I recalled the infinite patience
with which, for upwards of thirty years, she had labored for
temperance, anti-slavery and woman suffrage, with a faithfulness
worthy the martyrs in the early days of the Christian church, and
said to myself, verily the world now as ever crucifies its
saviors.

Thanks to the untiring industry of Mrs. Minor and Miss Couzins,
the convention was in every way a success, morally, financially,
in crowded audiences, and in the fair, respectful and
complimentary tone of the press. Looking over the proceedings and
resolutions, the thought struck me that the National Association
is the only organization that has steadily maintained the
doctrine of federal power against State rights. The great truths
set forth in the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments of United
States supremacy, so clearly seen by us, seem to be vague and dim
to our leading statesmen and lawyers if we may judge by their
speeches and