y she donated the proceeds of
one lecture to the sufferers by the Chicago fire. Usually she had good
audiences but occasionally would fall into the hands of persons
obnoxious to the community and the meeting would be a failure. She
writes in her diary, "It seems impossible to escape being sacrificed by
somebody." The press of Washington was for the most part very
favorable. The Olympia Standard said: "We had formed a high opinion of
the ability of the lady and her remarkable talent as a public speaker,
and our expectations have been more than realized. She presents her
arguments in graceful and elegant language, her illustrations are ample
and well chosen, and the hearer is irresistibly drawn to her
conclusions.... There is no gainsaying the sound logic of her
arguments. They appeal to a sense of right and justice which ought not
longer be denied." There was sometimes, however, a discordant note, as
may be shown by the following from the Territorial Despatch, of
Seattle, edited by Beriah Brown:

It is a mistake to call Miss Anthony a reformer, or the movement in
which she is engaged a reform; she is a revolutionist, aiming at
nothing less than the breaking up of the very foundations of
society, and the overthrow of every social institution organized
for the protection of the sanctity of the altar, the family circle
and the legitimacy of our offspring, recognizing no religion but
self-worship, no God but human reason, no motive to human action
but lust. Many, undoubtedly, will object that we state the case too
strongly; but if they will dispassionately examine the facts and
compare them with the character of the leaders and the inevitable
tendency of their teachings, they must be convinced that the
apparently innocent measure of woman suffrage as a remedy for
woman's wrongs in over-crowded populations, is but a pretext or
entering wedge by which to open Pandora's box and let loose upon
society a pestilential brood to destroy all that is pure and
beautiful in human nature, and all that has been achieved by
organized associations in religion, morality and refinement; that
the whole plan is coarse, sensual and agrarian, the worst phase of
French infidelity and communism....

She did not directly and positively broach the licentious social
theories which she is known to entertain, because she well knew
that they would shock the sensibil