r do her duty, pursue her highest
conviction of right, and firmly grasp whatever she is able to
carry.

Much is said of the oppression woman suffers; man is reproached
with being unjust, tyrannical, jealous. I do not so read human
life. The exclusion and constraint woman suffers, is not the
result of purposed injury or premeditated insult. It has arisen
naturally, without violence, simply because woman has desired
nothing more, has not felt the soul too large for the body. But
when woman, with matured strength, with steady purpose, presents
her lofty claim, all barriers will give way, and man will
welcome, with a thrill of joy, the new birth of his sister
spirit, the advent of his partner, his co-worker, in the great
universe of being.

If the present arrangements of society will not admit of woman's
free development, then society must be remodeled, and adapted to
the great wants of all humanity. Our race is one, the interests
of all are inseparably united, and harmonic freedom for the
perfect growth of every human soul is the great want of our time.
It has given me heartfelt satisfaction, dear madam, that you
sympathize in my effort to advance the great interests of
humanity. I feel the responsibility of my position, and I shall
endeavor, by wisdom of action, purity of motive, and unwavering
steadiness of purpose, to justify the noble hope I have excited.
To me the future is full of glorious promise, humanity is
arousing to accomplish its grand destiny, and in the fellowship
of this great hope, I would greet you, and recognize in your
noble spirit a fellow-laborer for the true and the good.

ELIZABETH BLACKWELL.
MRS. EMILY COLLINS.

But, it was the proceedings of the Convention, in 1848, at Seneca
Falls, that first gave a direction to the efforts of the many women,
who began to feel the degradation of their subject condition, and its
baneful effects upon the human race. They then saw the necessity for
associated action, in order to obtain the elective franchise, the only
key that would unlock the doors of their prison. I wrote to Miss Sarah
C. Owen, Secretary of the Women's Protective Union, at Rochester, as
to the line of procedure that had been proposed there. In reply, under
date of October 1, 1848, she says:

Your letter