e without you until I heard of your sudden illness. Let me urge you
with all the strength I have, and all the love I bear you, to stay at
home and rest and save your precious self." From Mrs. Cooper this urgent
message: "You are too far along in years to work as hard as you do. Take
it easy, my beloved friend, and let your young lieutenants bear the heat
and burden of the day, while you give directions from the hill-top of
survey. Age has the right to be peaceful, as childhood has the right to
be playful. You are the youngest of us all, nevertheless nature cries a
halt and you must obey her call in order to be with us as our leader for
a score of years to come."

There is a long hiatus in the diary, and then for many days the brief
entry, "On the mend." In September she began to walk out a little and
then to call on the nearest friends, and by the last of the month she
attended a few committee meetings. The rumor had been persistently
circulated that she was to resign the presidency of the
National-American Association and retire to private life. In fact, she
never had the slightest intention of giving up active work. She realized
that inactivity meant stagnation and hastened both physical and mental
decay, and she was determined to keep on and "drop in the harness" when
the time came to stop.[115] It was evident, however, that she must have
relief in her immense correspondence. This she recognized, and so
secured an efficient stenographer and typewriter in Mrs. Emma B. Sweet,
who assumed her duties October 1, 1895. The five large files packed with
copies of letters sent out during the remaining months of the year show
how pressing was the need of her services. Miss Anthony relates in her
diary with much satisfaction, that she "managed to have a letter at
every State suffrage convention held that fall."

She thought possibly she might have to work a little more moderately for
a while, and one of her first letters was written to the head of the
Slayton Lecture Bureau: "I should love dearly to say 'yes' to your
proposition for a series of lectures at $100 a night. Nothing short of
that would tempt me to go on the lyceum platform again, and even to
that, for the present, I must say 'nay.' I am resolved to be a home-body
the coming year, with the exception of attending the celebration of Mrs.
Stanton's eightieth birthday and our regular Washington convention."
Among the characteristic short letters is this to Dr. Sarah Hack