my God, to Thee." The effect was marvelous; the audience at once
arose, and spontaneously joined in the hymn.

Phoebe W. Couzins, with great pathos, referred to woman's work in
the war, and the parade of the Grand Army of the Republic the
preceding evening; she said:

In such an hour as this, with my soul stirred to its deepest
depths, I feel unequal to the task of uttering words befitting
the occasion, and to follow the dear saint who has just spoken;
how can I? I am but a beginner, and to-day I feel that to sit at
the feet of these dear women who have borne the heat and burden
of this contest, and to learn of them is the attitude I should
assume. It is not the time for argument or rhetoric. It is the
time for introspection and prayer. We have come from Independence
Square, where the nation is celebrating its centennial birthday
of a masculine freedom. You have just heard from Mrs. Stanton the
reading of Woman's Declaration of Rights; that document has
already been presented in engrossed form, tied with the symbolic
red, white and blue, to the presiding officer of the day, Senator
Thomas W. Ferry, on their platform in yonder square; and the John
Hampden of our cause, the immortal Susan B. Anthony, rendered it
historic, by reading it from the steps of Independence Hall, to
an immense audience there gathered, that could not gain access to
the square or platform. [Great applause.] I cannot express to you
in fitting language the thoughts and feelings which stirred me as
I sat on the platform, awaiting the presentation of that
document.

We were about to commit an overt act. Gen. Hawley, president of
the centennial commission and manager of the programme, had
peremptorily forbidden its presentation. Yet in the face of
this--in the face of the assembled nation and representatives
from the crowned heads of Europe, a handful of women actuated by
the same high principles as our fathers, stirred by the same
desire for freedom, moved by the same impulse for liberty, were
to again proclaim the right of self-government; were again to
impeach the spirit of King George manifested in our rulers, and
declare that taxation without representation is tyranny, that the
divine right of one-half of the people to rule the other half is
also despotism. As I followed the reading