epter and a crown? Shall an
American Congress pay less honor to the daughter of a President
than a British Parliament to the daughter of a King? Should not our
petitions command as respectful a hearing in a republican Senate as
a speech of Victoria in the House of Lords? Do we not claim that
here all men and women are nobles--all heirs apparent to the
throne? The fact that this backward legislation has roused so
little thought or protest from the women of the country but proves
what some of our ablest thinkers already have declared, that the
greatest barrier to a government of equality is the aristocracy of
its women; for while woman holds an ideal position above man and
the work of life, poorly imitating the pomp, heraldry and
distinction of an effete European civilization, we as a nation
never can realize the divine idea of equality.

To build a true republic, the church and the home must undergo the
same upheavings we now see in the state; for while our egotism,
selfishness, luxury and ease are baptized in the name of Him whose
life was a sacrifice, while at the family altar we are taught to
worship wealth, power and position, rather than humanity, it is
vain to talk of a republican government. The fair fruits of
liberty, equality and fraternity must be blighted in the bud till
cherished in the heart of woman. At this hour the nation needs the
highest thought and inspiration of a true womanhood infused into
every vein and artery of its life; and woman needs a broader,
deeper education such as a pure religion and lofty patriotism alone
can give. From the baptism of this second Revolution should she not
rise up with new strength and dignity, clothed in all those
"rights, privileges and immunities" which shall best enable her to
fulfill her highest duties to humanity, her country, her family and
herself?

On behalf of the National Woman's Rights Central Committee,

ELIZABETH CADY STANTON, _President_; SUSAN B. ANTHONY, _Secretary_.

Letters both encouraging and discouraging were received. Robert Purvis,
one of the most elegant and scholarly colored men our country has
known, whose father was a Scotchman and mother a West Indian with no
slave blood, sent this noble response: "....I can not agree that this
or any hour is 'especially the negro's.' I am an anti-slavery man
because I hate tyranny an