Page:Heroines of freethought (IA cu31924031228699).pdf/275

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ERNESTINE L. ROSE
267

conceal from the public her real views; in a word, if she had been less honest and conscientious—she would to-day occupy a far higher position in public favor than she does. Her name, in that case, would not have been omitted in the list of those “eminent women” who have distinguished themselves on the lecture platform, in their chivalric crusade against all forms of slavery; nor would she be assigned a second or third-rate place in public meetings devoted to the objects to which she has for long years given her time, her labor, her money, and her best energies. But her strong, fine nature would need to be dwarfed and circumscribed of its present symmetrical fullness to allow her to become coward enough to deny her honest, earnest convictions in regard to theological matters. And the day is not so far off as many imagine when she will be given full credit for the noble courage and purity of purpose which forced her to declare herself an Atheist, in days when that word was a