Page:Heroines of freethought (IA cu31924031228699).pdf/225

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FRANCES WRIGHT D’ARUSMONT.
217

omitting the expletive “dog.” This was made the basis of the hue and cry against her, though the truce meaning of it was, that simple-minded men were seared out of their wits lest their wives should learn from her example something that would induce them to question masculine supremacy. It was a cold winter's night when I prevailed upon my honored husband to go with me and hear the famous woman. There might have been fifty persons—not more—present, and these began to shuffle and call for the speaker. It was all so much more gross and noisy than anything I had ever encountered where a woman was concerned, that I grew quite distressed. At length, the door in the rear of the desk opened, and a neat foot was placed upon the platform. She was a full-sized woman, with well-developed muscle, and handsomely shaped, dressed in black silk, with plain linen collar and cuffs; her head was large, but not handsome, comparatively low, but broad, indicating force and executive ability.