ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPA1GN PRODUCTION NOTE University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library Brittle Books Project, 2015.COPYRIGHT NOTIFICATION In Public Domain. Published prior to 1923. This digital copy was made from the printed version held by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It was made in compliance with copyright law. Prepared for the Brittle Books Project, Main Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign by Northern Micrographics Brookhaven Bindery La Crosse, Wisconsin 2015WOMAN'S DEFENCE A BBPiY TO Horace Greeley's Lecture, RECENTLY DELIVERED IN PROVIDENCE, R. I. WRITTEN BY MARY UPTON FERRIN. Price lO Cents. Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1869, by MARY UPTON FERRIN, in the Clerk's Office of the district of Massachusetts. PEABODY, PRINTED BY CHARLES D. HOWARD, SUTTON BUILDING,WOMAN'S DEFENCE. This country, like many others, has been favored with man*s tracts during the past fifty years, more or less;. to woman's great enlightenment ? to the amelioration of her con- dition ? to the replenishing of her purse ? If to either, it is civil to return the compliment; if to all, it is an impera- tive duty: those who think so are respectfully requested to read the following: [" Daily Evening Traveller, Supplement, Mar. 13, 1869."] " GREELEY ON FEMALE SUFFRAGE. In a recent lecture at Providence, Horace Greeley is reported to have said : In dealing with the shrill demand that all the political disabilities of womanhood be abolished, so that women shall vote and be voted for at elections, precisely as men are, I regard this as preeminently a question, to be decided by women. Women have not participated at the ballot box or on the tented field, because they have chosen, and, I think, wisely ehosen, not to do so. When the women of this entire free country shall desire to vote, the day of the enforcement is not far distant. If every woman in the Republic were required at this hour to say each for herself, will you accept and exercise the right of suffrage with the resulting right to be chosen to and hold office, on condition that you be drawn to serve on juries, summoned to the aid of the sheriff in cases of exigency, warn- ed out for training and drafted out to fight indiscriminately with men do not believe that one woman in a hundred would sincerely answer yes. And this is the fair, practical way of putting the question. The right of suffrage is not properly a native privilege, but a high public trust; &^ .•* !"V> ~o P 4 i & w 3 trust which involves high and weighty obligations. It would not be fair nor just that a woman should vote to go into a desperate, bloody war, and then require the men alone to fight us out of it. She may not be al- lowed to assume a single function and exclude all the others. For my own part, having been a voter for thirty-seven years, accepting the right of suffrage as a high public trust, to be exercised for the benefit of the entire community, and after discharging that trust as well as my limited •capacity would allow, I am entirely willing to relinquish it whenever I shall receive an honorable discharge from the service. If the women of our country say, with substantial unanimity, we will assume the reins of government, believing that we can rule better than you men, I, a weary, needy, dilapidated politician, worn out in the strife and in the toil of elections, would gladly step out and enjoy the quiet of home. If all of you are going to the polls, somebody will be wanted to stay at home and mind the children. I shall of course make some blunders at first, but be patient with me, and I shall live and learn. If I were to counsel the women in the premises, I would advise them to try the experiment of voting on a moderate scale." ' In dealing with the shrill demand that all the political disabilities of womanhood be abolished, so that woman shall vote and be voted for at elections, precisely as men are, I regard this as preeminently a ques- tion to be decided by woman.' Woman so " regards " it. 1 Women have not participated at the ballot box or on the tented field', because they have chosen, and, I think, wisely chosen, not to do so.' The farthest from it, possible : so far from this, woman has accepted and sustained the position which man in his magnan- imity has alloted her, with a heroism and fortitude with which she alone is gifted. The right of suffrage is one of the natu- ral inherent rights of the whole human race. One of the very first biblical commands, to woman, is, to have equal dominion, with man, over all things : Gen. ch. i: 27. So God created man in his own image, in the image •of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thinor that moveth upon the earth. 29. And God said, Behold I have given you every herb bearing seedv which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and4 to every thing that ereepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it wa& very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Gen. ch. 5 : v. 1. This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man in the likeness of God made he him. 2. Male and female created he them ; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. 3. And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image ; and called his name Seth. The clergy, throughout the land, are respectfully requested to preach from the above passages of scripture, should such occur in their bibles, for man's instruction, and for woman's special benefit, who traces her ancestry to these, in a direct line through Noah. Adam and Eve and their descendants- were all drowned, long ago, in the flood. Woman, of the present day, washes her hands and heart too, clean, of all par- ticipation of whatever sins and transgressions they may have been guilty. She hurls back with inexpressible contempt this diabolical insult that has been thrust in her face, from her first knowledge of her existence in a Biblical light. Man claims, to have founded his laws upon the bible; he has done it in di- rect violation of its express command. Once more, woman stands forth pure and undefiled before all men, proclaiming her innocence so far as it regards bringing sin into the world and " Eternal Death and Damnation " upon her race. She gives the Clergy or any other class of men the privilege of pocketing the insult if they wish. If they bear it with any more meekness than she has hitherto done, they will richly merit a crown of thorns, aye, and thistles too. Not only is it vouchsafed to woman to have equal dominion with man, but every man is woman's child. Every man who intrudes upon her rights or withholds from her the privilege of their free exercise through brutal force or ungentlemanly rea- soning, except as this is done through ignorance, offers her a gross, unpardonable insult. 4 When the women of this entire free country shall desire to vote, the day of the enforcement is not far distant. If every woman in the Re- public wer£ required at this hour to say ' (this is superfluous since no one5 lias the right to require her to say anything) 'each for herself, will you accept and exercise the right of suffrage with the resulting right to be chosen to and hold office, on condition that you be drawn to serve on juries, summoned to the aid of the sheriff in case of exigency, warned out for training and drafted out to fight indiscriminately with men, I do not believe that one woman in one hundred would sincerely answer, yes. And this is the fair, practical way of putting the question.' Indeed, sir, you treat woman as though she was less than idiotic. If this mighty effort emanated through your igno- rance, it is excusable ; if through your want of courtesy, go on; in due time you will find your proper level. Woman knows that the right of suffrage is hers, inalienably; it can neither be accepted from or conferred by any existing power, nor can it be abolished by such. Her right to office is the same as man's. No one questions his right to elect her. When allowed to exercise her existing right, to be her own juror, be assured women will not hang each other, nor will they execute man, as he has Mrs. Surratt and hosts and hosts of others of wo- man's unoffending sons and daughters; nor will she bore his tongue and ears nor brand him with red hot irons; never was the time when twelve women in this free country would have done it. No pen can portray the sufferings man has inflicted upon woman's lacerated, bleeding heart. How often has he compelled her to summon the aid of the sheriff for her own and her children's special protection. Your faith in woman will be mightily shaken when convinced that she will not hes- itate to defend man, to the extent of her power, whom she has borne, always at the risk and often at the sacrifice of her own life. What is man's experience in an occasional war, compared with woman's daily experience sustained in silence without a murmur ? Nothing; virtually nothing. While man brings to death thousands, woman brings to life millions. How does man account this to her ? As nothing; virtually nothing. " Tit for tat," is it ? By no means ; living or dy- ing, the honor is man's alone, so long as he is the sole appoint- ed engineer. Shaken, too, when convinced that she is even now exercis-6 ing a mightier weapon than any sword that man ever wielded,, or had the power to invent. In the exercise of her rights she will settle other subjects like as she is now settling this mighty question of the rights of one half of the human race, convuls- ing not only this nation but the whole civilized world with her invisible power and her mild persuasion. Man has fought out, with his sword, the privilege, for himself, of exercising his- right of suffrage. At every sacrifice woman lent him her in- dispensable aid. Where would have been his independence had she opposed him, even as he now opposes her ? Echo an- swers, where ? And yet, woman walks up to this with a firm- ness and a determination that are strengthened by every appar- ently adverse influence. Knowing the right, woman dares maintain it. 4 The right of suffrage is not properly a native privilege, but a high public trust, a trust which involves high and weighty obligations/ " Trust" is not the word, nor is it the subject : right and suffrage are the words and the subjects; when allowed the exercise of these, war will cease; woman's home will never more be made desolate, nor will her hearthstone ever again be drenched, as it has been, with the heart's blood of her children. 4 It would not be fair nor just that a woman should vote to go into a desperate, bloody war, and then require the men alone to fight us out of it. She may not be allowed to assume a single function and exclude all the others.' And so, forsooth, man must, in self defence, exclude her from every function. He has only to come out, for woman to see and justly appreciate his valor. Her maternal pride will be immeasurably augmented. 4 For my own part, having been a voter for thirty seven years, accept- ing the right of suffrage as a high public trust, to be exercised for the benefit of the entire community, and after discharging that trust as well as my limited capacity would allow, I am entirely willing to relinquish it whenever I shall receive an honorable discharge from the service.' Woman will call a National Female Convention and give you a discharge with the highest " blushing honors " of the deepest dye, with the nation's seal affixed thereto.7 ' If the women of our country say, with substantial unanimity, we will assume the reins of government, believing that we can rule better than you men, I, a weary, needy, dilapidated politician, worn out in the strife and in the toil of elections, would gladly step out and enjoy the quiet of home.' Woman has suggested the propriety of your taking a por- tion of paregoric. 4 If all of you are going to the polls, somebody will be wanted to stay -at home and mind the children.' Never fear; you are too dilapidated for an extensive call. It is but a minute's service after a minute's walk; those that cannot be left, as in other cases, woman can provide for. Al- lowing she could not, your argument proclaims in unmistaka- ble terms the limited position you assign her. 41 shall of course make some blunders at first, but be patient with me and I shall live and learn.' It will be safe for all others for you to practice on your own. ' If I were to counsel the women in the premises, I would advise them to try the experiment of voting on a moderate scale.' While woman appreciates your advice, she tenders you a fit- ting thank-offering. Oft is it said, " woman cannot fight, as man does, in her own, nor in his defence." With all due deference is this ac- cepted as man's greatest forte; a boast so stale that woman is inadequate to a fitting reply. Man wars against man, not in her defence, but of his own inherent rights, and his own "Divine Religion." Not until he has thoroughly sifted these will he fully realize the virtue of his sacrifices, which are an- nounced by the cannon's roar, by the electric wires and through the public press. Woman's hot, scalding tears, and silent, bitter sorrow proclaim her heartfelt, unfeigned sympathy. It is greater to live than it is to die. What were the world without its people ? Let the nations tell. It is through wo- man that man exists; always at the greatest risk to which hu- manity is subjected. Not by the cannon's roar, nor by the electric wires, nor through the public press, is this proclaimed. Silently has woman met and sustained this all-important, indis-8 pensable, unavoidable call; always achieving the purpose or dying in the effort; never has she failed. What man was ever capable or ever had the power of doing this ? Here are strength and ability unequaled—exclusively wo- man's—with which no man was ever gifted. Woman, too, has certain knowledge and indubitable proof that her children are her own. What certain knowledge did any man ever have that his own children were his ? What proof except the evi- dence of his wife or his victim ? Here are power, and knowl- edge, and living proof, unexampled, exclusively woman's, standing out in bold relief, of which the whole human race is cognizant. Let man emulate, excel woman if he can. Show her what he can do, to which she may not aspire ; resting assured that she knows well how to appreciate him; knows too that human rights can neither be conferred, withdrawn, augmented nor di- minished. Well and truly may woman worship the " God of Nature " by whom, though never insulted, she is alone visibly protected. Man in his ruthless, ungracious, iron, legal grasp, after wrenching from her all things else, takes even her chil- dren, except such as " have no father," leaving her utterly destitute and desolate; and to these more than orphans, heroes and heroines, who despite of all adversity and legal disabili- ties, aspire to and attain the highest honors, he awards the most offensive epithets, and disinherits them here and here- after : " to the tenth generation these shall not enter the con- gregation of the Lord." To this let the purest man among us trace his title clear/if he can. Vent., chap, xxii: v. 28-29. Chap, xxiii, v. 2.—Let man read these texts—then will he know what marriage is ; let him evermore hold his peace regarding woman; repenting in " sackcloth and ashes" for the intolerable abases he has hitherto heaped upon her and her helpless, inoffensive off- spring ; crushed to the earth, yet still alive! One of the in- exorable laws of nature consummated, the first biblical com- mand obeyed, Gen. chap, i: v. 28, woman will record her own marriage and proclaim it fearlessly abroad. Thus will she9 protect herself and her children, knowing that the right and the duty are hers. Man's laws are inadequate to this and to the command of woman's respect; through brute force alone are these enforced. Let him read his bible, heedfully for him- self, then will he know its true value to him, and the protec- tion it extends to woman. How often is man found racking his brain, to its utmost ten- sion, for words with which to trumpet his own or another's praises, in which woman never participates, except as she looks on with beaming eyes and says, " O ! is this my son ?" The wonder is not that she is so little, but that she can assume any -sort of dignity with such an overwhelming array of talent against her. To what ceaseless reproaches is woman subjected. " A se- cret confided to her is told, and told, until there is no one to tell it. to." She has a precedent for this. Had man been true, keeping the first secret confided to him by the All-wise, neither Eve nor the Serpent, had known that the fruit was forbidden to him. " The woman gave to me, and I did eat." The first to divulge a secret; the first to prove treacherous to woman; covetously accepting the proffered gift; withholding an adequate return already at hand. Had he given to her of the " Tree of life," that she and hers at least might eat and live forever, what centuries of time, what manly strength, what midnight oil might he have saved to the clergy—expend- ed in dressing the apple for woman to swallow. How long their skill will thus be taxed, no one can tell, for woman nev- er can, nor will she do it. " Statistics show that more Northern wives run away from their hus- bands, than do Southern slaves from their masters."—New York Trib- ■ mie, before the ivar. Nor is this a wonder if man's first step in matrimony is a tree criterion by which to judge of his future conduct. Let Americans commence a reform ; if foreigners do not profit by the example, dignity of character is not theirs. Becently, a lady advised an eminent Judge of a neighboring city, New York, to get married; giving reasons therefor which elicited .the following :10 So far from advisins such to hire one self-authorized, no law requires it, to extort from woman the promise to love, comfort, honor and obey him; he should be advised to give no rest to himself and his brother man, until a reform in this is established throughout the land, for the human mind can con- ceive of nothing more arrogant, exacting, insolent and impu- dent. Man will face danger and death in every form, but the bravest dare not ask this of woman, in sober earnest, for him- self, nor would he hire another to do it, did he fully realize what an arrant coward he proves himself by proffering to her so intolerable an insult, knowing, as he does, that she is com- pelled by the force of nature to perform for herself every need- ed ceremony from her ingress to the world, to her egress from it. She lives, moves, breathes, sees, hears, smells, tastes, eats, drinks, sleeps, thinks, speaks, laughs, cries, works, plays, ex- periences pleasure and pain, love and hatred, bears children,, grows old, decays and dies. Where is her marriage ? Where her divorce? Hath the All-wise capacitated her for every other requirement of her nature and withheld the power of per- forming these important parts in the drama of her existence, bestowing it elsewhere ? Where then is her marriage—in the pocket of the husband? from the lips of the Priest outward? Where her divorce—in her own pocket? from the lips of the Judge outward ? God forbid, evermore. " What God hath joined together let not man put asunder." If, then, God hath joined these together, what need hath wo- man to be confronted by an hired servant, with language which he dare not utter for himself? attempting to extort—Attempt- ing ! Does he not succeed? No. Does not woman promise? Never. Why does she not ? She knows that she has no more command over her future passions and sentiments than over the wind and the waves; that those of which she is now pos- sessed are influenced altogether by circumstances; that whom she involuntarily loves and honors to-day, she may as involun- tarily hate and despise to-morrow, and that the weakness of making such promises under such circumstances, can be equal- ed only by the attempt to extort them from her. But she can.11 promise obedience. This is not the province of an independ- ent half of humanity without whom none other exists ; nor has man the right to ask it of her; neither is it gentlemanly nor courteous. What then is man's marriage ceremony ? A bubble which would have burst long ago, had he viewed it with, but half an eye ; with but half the jealousy and solici- tude with which she overlooks the affairs of his neighbors. He sometimes tells, very innocently, what sort of an animal he has written himself down ; but, of a truth, none greater than the author of this ever brayed in the community, and the mil- lions on millions who have blindly followed in his train, have proved themselves " ninnyhammers," at least, in this respect. " Let not man put asunder." Let not man by the pervers- ity of his nature, by the abuse of his power, alienate woman's affections from him, for, by so doing, does he " put asunder" " what God hath joined together,"—virtually effecting a di- vorce, which he is expressly forbidden to do. Does woman complain, man refers her to his bible; telling her that hereon he has founded his laws to which he so ungraciously subjects her ,* from which there is no appeal; to the support of which he so ungenerously compels her to contribute; and that be- cause so founded these cannot be altered! If man, in his infancy, had the power to found, upon the bible, unalterable laws which are in themselves powerless and inactive,—he has now in his greater enlightenment, the power to expunge these imported relics of barbarism from his Statute Books; leaving woman free and unfettered to enact laws for herself, and to combat as best she may with surrounding obsta- cles, as did her Creator, whose laws founded in nature, are im- mutable, powerful, active and irresistible ; dispensing, as do these, with the formality of an oath: " You are solemnly sworn, so help you God." What blasphemy—what mock- ery—how revolting to woman's sense of propriety ! But she believes in a God? Aye, though not in one who sanctions such lawgiving founded upon the Word which says,—" Swear not at all." What right has woman to enact laws for herself? A natu-12 ral, just, inalienable and incontrovertible right. Has man more than this ? He has the authority of the bible. To wo- man's utter astonishment has he exhibited his understanding of this. Inasmuch as it is good authority for man, it is good for woman ; for his special benefit does she quote it: Genesis, Chap, ii., v. 21.—The Making of Woman, and Institution of Marriage." 21. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof. 22. And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman and brought her unto the man. Accompanied by none more honorable. A precedent, es- tablishing unquestionably, woman's right to make the first ad- vance. How has man wrenched from her this privilege ; mo- nopolizing it exclusively; compelling her, always, to seek the shade; subjecting her to the keenest ridicule if in any case she oversteps the bounds prescribed by him; allowing her one year in four to be treated to his more special ridicule; appro- priating to himself every year in five to exercise this most sa- cred privilege, rightfully guaranteed to her! What apology can he offer for such impertinent assumption so long persisted in ? Does he think woman is too stupid to know her own proper place, and that she is alone benighted ? " And brought her unto the man." No fee demanded? no promises required; no obedience enforced; no support expected. " I will make him an help meet for him." Inasmuch as woman is an efficient help meet, which cannot be disproved, she supports herself; to imply that she does not, is in keeping with the usages to which she is subjected, and with man's understanding of his authority. Nor is this a wonder, tracing, as he does, his lineage to a manufactured man and woman—the one, out of the " dust of the ground "; the other, out of dust's "rib." This accounts, it may be, for woman's being trampled so long, in the dust, by the4m|i heel of despotism ; yet, for her there is hope—the light of Inspira- tion beams as brightly for woman as for man. While she pub-13 licly proclaims her rights, she as publicly disclaims every trace to such ancestry. Her parents were created. To these is giv- en equal right to, and dominion over all things, by the author- ity of the bible and by the authority of nature. Gainsay it who can. " Let not man put asunder." Yet man has a law founded upon this very Word, by which he claims to put asunder. Claims ? Does he not do this ? No : he can no more effect a divorce by talking of the relative position of man and woman, than he can effect moonshine by talking of the moon ; or dark- ness by talking of an eclipse; nor can his powerless, inactive law be brought to bear in the case, regarding woman, unless she can prove that such a divorce has already existed in her own heart, in the view of the community ; in the will of the man ; and in every other sense except a legal one, during five years, through which time she has been compelled, if so cir- cumstanced, to provide for, protect and defend herself and her children in her own greatest need and their greatest helplessness. But the law awards to woman alimony. Alimony from a pauper, a beggar, a burglar, an incendiary,, a drunkard, a murderer and a convict! Protection, too, from these after such a probation and exposure (in a " court of jus- tice " so called), to a mixed audience of old and young from, every grade of society, of her private family affairs to her own. and her children's everlasting disgrace and mortification, at ani expense of twenty dollars and upwards of her own hard wrought earnings, wrung from her bleeding hands or borrow- ed from some kindly friend or neighbor ! For what ? To buy of man his divorce ? He has none to sell; none to give ; none in his possession nor at his command. This divorce has already been established by the inexorable decree of fate, dur- ing five years. Aye, but he can sell her his permit to marry again. Man's permit to woman, to marry ! " Get thee hence, Satan." Will any woman ask liberty of a judge or a justice to do this ? Then is she not a woman in an intellectual sense, at least. Aye, but she cannot marry legally. Aye, again ;14 if "God joins these together," what matters the legality? Her children will be illegitimate. Then will they be her own; with a free admittance to " The congregation of the Lord " after