t won't be fought for so long as there is a man left."

Even that achievement was not the height of the young orator's
attainment. Her next ovation was at Cooper Institute in New York City,
where she spoke in May of the same year. Faded newspaper accounts of
that meeting fill us with amazement that such a triumph could be, with
only a girl's indomitable will, an insufficient education and much
reading of books back of it.

"Long before the appointed hour for the lecture the hall was crowded.
The people outside were determined to get in at all hazards, ushers
were beaten down, those with tickets rushed in, and those without
tickets were pushed aside, while thousands went home unable to get
standing room even in the lobbies and outer halls.

"On the platform sat some of the most distinguished men of the day:
clergymen, lawyers, generals, admirals, leaders of the fashionable
set--all eager to do homage to the simple girl of whom the press said:

"'She is medium in height, slight in form, graceful in movement, her
head, well poised, adorned with heavy dark hair, displaying to
advantage a pleasant face which has all the signs of nervous force and
of vigorous mental life. In manner she is unembarrassed, without a
shade of boldness; her gestures are simple, her voice is of wonderful
power, penetrating rather than loud, as clear as the tone of metal,
and yet with a reed-like softness. Her vocabulary is simple, and in no
instance has there been seen a straining after effective expressions;
yet her skill in using ordinary language is so great that with a
single phrase she presents a picture and delivers a poem in a
sentence.'"

At the close of the meeting, which had been opened by Henry Ward
Beecher, he rose and said, with real emotion, "Let no man open his
lips here to-night; music is the only fitting accompaniment to the
eloquent utterances we have heard." Then the famous Hutchinson family
sang and closed the meeting with the John Brown song, in which the
vast audience joined with thrilling effect.

From that Cooper Institute meeting Anna received almost one thousand
dollars, an incredible amount for a simple speech to her unmercenary
spirit, but one which was to be duplicated many times before her
career was over.

After that meeting in New York her reputation as a public speaker was
established, despite the carping critics, and she continued to win
fresh laurels, not only for herself, but for vital issues. When doing