ul, she honored the memory of the dead in showing herself by her
works to be the worthy descendant of a noble race. And here, where the
story of this pure, single-hearted, self-sacrificing life began, it
shall be ended.

* * * * *

The usual fate of reformers is "praise when the ear has grown too dull
to hear, fame when the heart it should have thrilled is numb." Seldom it
is, indeed, that they live to see the fulfillment of the end for which
they labored, and even recognition usually is deferred until it can be
given only to a memory, but there are a few happy exceptions. While true
reformers seek no personal reward, those who love them rejoice when they
are spared to receive the honors they have earned. Susan B. Anthony's
self-imposed task, for almost half a century, has been to secure equal
rights for women--social, civil and political. When she began her
crusade, woman in social life was "cabin'd, cribb'd, confined," to an
extent which scarcely can be conceived by the present independent and
self-reliant generation; in law she was but little better than a slave;
in politics, a mere cipher. Today in society she has practically
unlimited freedom; in the business world most of the obstacles have been
removed; the laws, although still unjust in many respects, have been
revolutionized in her favor; in four States women have the full
franchise, in one the municipal ballot, in twenty-five a vote on school
questions, and in four others some form of suffrage; while in each
campaign their recognition as a political factor grows more marked. Miss
Anthony's part in securing these concessions may be judged from the
record of these pages. She is the only woman who has given her whole
time and effort to this one end, with no division of interest in behalf
of husband and children, no diversion of other public questions. Is
there an example in all history of either man or woman who devoted half
a century of the hardest, most persistent labor for one reform?

"Of the dead naught shall be spoken except good," is a rule so
universally observed that post mortem compliments have little weight,
but when beautiful things are said of those who still live and toil,
they are full of meaning. Not only is it a delight to her
contemporaries, but it will be a pleasure to future generations who
shall read her history, that Miss Anthony lived to receive her meed of
appreciation. While not all of even the enlightened