the 10th of May, was duly received. I should be extremely happy to be with you in your deliberations, but so much of my time has of late been occupied in the work of the American Union Commission, that I can hardly spare a moment for even your good work. I, however, feel only selfish regrets, for I should be but a listener and partaker of the rich mental feasts that will there be freely offered to all who will partake. The great arguments have all been made by our opponents, and they concede all that we ask, save that they substitute expediency for principle. They have yet to learn that God will not be dethroned; that when He decrees a human soul, He surrounds it with all the dignity of free will and consequent responsibility. He therefore endows the soul with rights, the exercise and protection of which are the crown of humanity. We ask no new code of rights. We simply ask to be included in the general method of asserting and protecting them, which even the shadowy-browed children of bondage are now perceived to claim without presumption. It has been with no small degree of interest that I have seen that our wisest statesmen begin to so far see and feel the importance of the issue that lies inevitably in their path, that they stop to explain and apologize; but they dare not deny, lest the logic they use should be turned against themselves.
The great Christian doctrine of the equality of all before God, who is declared to be no respecter of persons, is the axe laid at the root of the tree of prejudice, which has for such long ages brought forth injustice and oppression in a multitude of forms. Our good and great men are reading with anointed eyes the declaration, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither bond nor free,"? and we may hope they will soon read the final assertion, "Neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus," In this full and broad assertion lies the completion of the great Christian scheme, not limited to any number of parts, but embracing the great whole, thus recognizing the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. What our cause now needs is the Christian advocacy of good and wise men and women. Legally, our position is conceded, so far as the logical sequences are concerned; but the pulpit, on which woman is prone to lean for all her opinions on questions of morality, has, with a few rare exceptions, been silent. Henry Ward Beecher has dared to speak ont in a manly, Christian way; but even ho has not laid upon the women of the Church that burden of responsibility concerning government that they ought to be made to feel. For what, let me ask, is to excuse them, if their want of intelligence and activity should lead to a thorough corruption of political morals such as we have seen in portions of our country during a few years past. Will they not be among those who hide their Lord's talent in the earth, and by and by come back with the little morsel carefully wrapped up in a napkin, all beautifully embroidered, it may be, and tender it back, saying, "Lo! there is thine own, take it!" In this religious aspect women must come to consider the question before it will become vital. Political action may give it a body, but God only can breathe into it the breath of life that will constitute it a living soul. Hence we see that without the best religious sanction, little progress can really be assured. I am conscious that my views are not identical with those of many who have reached the same general conclusions; but as many are disposed to regard the question from this standpoint, I have thought it best to express myself with great frankness. With many regrets that I can not partake in your deliberations,
My Very Dear Susan Anthony:—I fully intended coming to the meetings—gave up Washington, made all my arrangements, packed my bag—and stayed at home. Circumstances which I could not control, and which I can't very well explain, put utterly ont of my power the duty and pleasure of coming. There's no use in saying how sorry I am, for it would waste paper and time to state all my regrets. Suffice it to declare that I have rarely been so extremely sorry and disappointed.
| Office of Correspondence with the friends of the Missing Men of | ||
| United States Army, Washington, D. C., April 3, 1866. |
