on his deathbed. The ceremony was performed
by Henry Ward Beecher and Rev. O.B. Frothingham, while such men as
Horace Greeley and Joshua Leavitt witnessed the solemn service. Though
no shadow had ever dimmed Mrs. Richardson's fair fame, yet she was
rudely treated in the court and robbed of her child, though by far the
most fitting parent to be intrusted with his care.

As the indignation among women was general and at white heat with regard
to her treatment, Miss Anthony suggested to me, one day, that it would
be a golden opportunity to give women a lesson on their helplessness
under the law--wholly in the power of man as to their domestic
relations, as well as to their civil and political rights. Accordingly
we decided to hold some meetings, for women alone, to protest against
the decision of this trial, the general conduct of the case, the tone of
the press, and the laws that made it possible to rob a mother of her
child.

Many ladies readily enlisted in the movement. I was invited to make the
speech on the occasion, and Miss Anthony arranged for two great
meetings, one in Apollo Hall, New York city, and one in the Academy of
Music, in Brooklyn. The result was all that we could desire. Miss
Anthony, with wonderful executive ability, made all the arrangements,
taking on her own shoulders the whole financial responsibility.

My latest thought on this question I gave in _The Arena_ of April, 1894,
from which I quote the following:

"There is a demand just now for an amendment to the United States
Constitution that shall make the laws of marriage and divorce the
same in all the States of the Union. As the suggestion comes
uniformly from those who consider the present divorce laws too
liberal, we may infer that the proposed national law is to place
the whole question on a narrower basis, rendering null and void the
laws that have been passed in a broader spirit, according to the
needs and experiences, in certain sections, of the sovereign
people. And here let us bear in mind that the widest possible law
would not make divorce obligatory on anyone, while a restricted
law, on the contrary, would compel many, marrying, perhaps, under
more liberal laws, to remain in uncongenial relations.

"As we are still in the experimental stage on this question, we are
not qualified to make a perfect law that would work satisfactorily
over so vast an area as o