r rounds the letters
came to Martha Wright, the gentle Quaker, who commented with the fine
irony of which she was master: "It strikes me favorably. It would be a
fine thing for Mrs. Hooker to preside over the Washington convention,
while her sister, Catharine Beecher, was inveighing against suffrage,
for the benefit of Mrs. Dahlgren and others. Perhaps she is right in
thinking that Robert Collyer and a good many others who would not care
to speak for 'the Union,' would speak for her--I for one would be glad
to have her try it! If 'Captain Susan' would consent to be placed at
the head of the association, there could not be a more suitable and
just appointment."

Mrs. Stanton wrote that her lecture engagements would not permit her to
go to Washington and she would send $100 instead. Mrs. Hooker replied:

Your offer just suits me, and of myself I should accept $100 with
thankfulness, and excuse you, as you desire, but Susan looked
disgusted and said, "She must appear before the Congressional
committees, at any rate." I had not thought of that, but of course,
if you were in Washington, it would be absurd not to be on our
platform; and so I don't know what to say. You will talk more
forcibly than any one else, and in committee you are invaluable.
Still, I want your money, and I could do without you on the
platform.... I fully expect, to accomplish far more by a convention
devoted to the purely political aspect of the woman question, than
by a woman's rights convention, however well-managed; and this,
because the time has come for this practical work--discussion has
prepared the way, now we must have the thing, the vote itself. It
just occurs to me that you might write an argument for the
committee, which I would read, but of course your presence is most
desirable, and I incline to have you on hand for this last, great
effort; for it does seem to me that _we need not have another
convention_ in Washington, but only a select committee to work
privately every winter, and send for speakers, etc., when the
committees are ready to grant hearings.

It is the part of wisdom to suppress Mrs. Stanton's reply to this, but
she sent it to Martha Wright, who answered her:

You can imagine what success Mrs. Hooker will have with those wily
politicians. She thinks they will come serenely from their seats to
the lobby, when she tries "all the mean