第 27 节
作者:痛罚      更新:2024-04-07 11:54      字数:9322
  platform would be a direct violation of the principle
  for which they stoodwhich was the protection of
  female modesty!  Recalling this; and the present
  hectic activity of the anti…suffragists; one must feel
  that they have either abandoned their principle or
  widened their views。
  For Julia Ward Howe I had an immense admira…
  tion; but; though from first to last I saw much of
  her; I never felt that I really knew her。  She was a
  woman of the widest culture; interested in every
  progressive movement。  With all her big heart she
  tried to be a democrat; but she was an aristocrat to
  the very core of her; and; despite her wonderful work
  for others; she lived in a splendid isolation。  Once
  when I called on her I found her resting her mind
  by reading Greek; and she laughingly admitted that
  she was using a Latin pony; adding that she was
  growing ‘‘rusty。''  She seemed a little embarrassed
  by being caught with the pony; but she must have
  been reassured by my cheerful confession that if
  _I_ tried to read either Latin or Greek I should need
  an English pony。
  Of Frances E。 Willard; who frequently came to
  Boston; I saw a great deal; and we soon became close…
  ly associated in our work。  Early in our friendship;
  and at Miss Willard's suggestion; we made a com…
  pact that once a week each of us would point out
  to the other her most serious faults; and thereby
  help her to remedy them; but we were both too sane
  to do anything of the kind; and the project soon
  died a natural death。  The nearest I ever came to
  carrying it out was in warning Miss Willard that she
  was constantly defying all the laws of personal
  hygiene。  She never rested; rarely seemed to sleep;
  and had to be reminded at the table that she was
  there for the purpose of eating food。  She was al…
  ways absorbed in some great interest; and oblivious
  to anything else; I never knew a woman who could
  grip an audience and carry it with her as she could。
  She was intensely emotional; and swayed others by
  their emotions rather than by logic; yet she was the
  least conscious of her physical existence of any one
  I ever knew; with the exception of Susan B。 Anthony。
  Like ‘‘Aunt Susan;'' Miss Willard paid no heed to
  cold or heat or hunger; to privation or fatigue。  In
  their relations to such trifles both women were dis…
  embodied spirits。
  Another woman doing wonderful work at this time
  was Mrs。 Quincy Shaw; who had recently started her
  day nurseries for the care of tenement children whose
  mothers labored by the day。  These nurseries were
  new in Boston; as was the kindergarten system she
  also established。  I saw the effect of her work in the
  lives of the people; and it strengthened my growing
  conviction that little could be done for the poor in a
  spiritual or educational way until they were given
  a certain amount of physical comfort; and until more
  time was devoted to the problem of prevention。
  Indeed; the more I studied economic issues; the more
  strongly I felt that the position of most philan…
  thropists is that of men who stand at the bottom
  of a precipice gathering up and trying to heal those
  who fall into it; instead of guarding the top and pre…
  venting them from going over。
  Of course I had to earn my living; but; though I
  had taken my medical degree only a few months
  before leaving Cape Cod; I had no intention of prac…
  tising medicine。  I had merely wished to add a
  certain amount of medical knowledge to my mental
  equipment。  The Massachusetts Woman Suffrage
  Association; of which Lucy Stone was president; had
  frequently employed me as a lecturer during the
  last two years of my pastorate。  Now it offered me
  a salary of one hundred dollars a month as a lecturer
  and organizer。  Though I may not have seemed so
  in these reminiscences; in which I have written as
  freely of my small victories as of my struggles and
  failures; I was a modest young person。  The amount
  seemed too large; and I told Mrs。 Stone as much;
  after which I humbly fixed my salary at fifty dollars
  a month。  At the end of a year of work I felt that
  I had ‘‘made good''; then I asked for and received
  the one hundred dollars a month originally offered
  me。
  During my second year Miss Cora Scott Pond and
  I organized and carried through in Boston a great
  suffrage bazaar; clearing six thousand dollars for
  the associationa large amount in those days。
  Elated by my share in this success; I asked that my
  salary should be increased to one hundred and
  twenty…five dollars a monthbut this was not done。
  Instead; I received a valuable lesson。  It was freely
  admitted that my work was worth one hundred and
  twenty…five dollars; but I was told that one hundred
  was the limit which could be paid; and I was re…
  minded that this was a good salary for a woman。
  The time seemed to have come to make a practical
  stand in defense of my principles; and I did so by
  resigning and arranging an independent lecture tour。
  The first month after my resignation I earned three
  hundred dollars。  Later I frequently earned more
  than that; and very rarely less。  Eventually I lec…
  tured under the direction of the Slaton Lecture
  Bureau of Chicago; and later still for the Redpath
  Bureau of Boston。  My experience with the Red…
  path people was especially gratifying。  Mrs。 Liver…
  more; who was their only woman lecturer; was grow…
  ing old and anxious to resign her work。  She saw
  in me a possible successor; and asked them to take
  me on their list。  They promptly refused; explain…
  ing that I must ‘‘make a reputation'' before they
  could even consider me。  A year later they wrote
  me; making a very good offer; which I accepted。  It
  may be worth while to mention here that through
  my lecture…work at this period I earned all the money
  I have ever saved。  I lectured night after night; week
  after week; month after month; in ‘‘Chautauquas''
  in the summer; all over the country in the winter;
  earning a large income and putting aside at that
  time the small surplus I still hold in preparation for
  the ‘‘rainy day'' every working…woman inwardly
  fears。
  I gave the public at least a fair equivalent for
  what it gave me; for I put into my lectures all my
  vitality; and I rarely missed an engagement; though
  again and again I risked my life to keep one。  My
  special subjects; of course; were the two I had most
  at heart…suffrage and temperance。  For Frances
  Willard; then President of the Woman's Christian
  Temperance Union; had persuaded me to head the
  Franchise Department of that organization; suc…
  ceeding Ziralda Wallace; the mother of Gen。 Lew
  Wallace; and Miss Susan B。 Anthony; who was be…
  ginning to study me closely; soon swung me into
  active work with her; of which; later; I shall have
  much to say。  But before taking up a subject as
  absorbing to me as my friendship for and association
  with the most wonderful woman I have ever known;
  it may be interesting to record a few of my pioneer
  experiences in the lecture…field。
  In those daysthirty years agothe lecture bu…
  reaus were wholly regardless of the comfort of their
  lecturers。  They arranged a schedule of engagements
  with exactly one idea in mindto get the lecturer
  from one lecture…point to the next; utterly regardless
  of whether she had time between for rest or food or
  sleep。  So it happened that all…night journeys in
  freight…cars; engines; and cabooses were casual com…
  monplaces; while thirty and forty mile drives across
  the country in blizzards and bitter cold were equally
  inevitable。  Usually these things did not trouble
  me。  They were high adventures which I enjoyed at
  the time and afterward loved to recall。  But there
  was an occasional hiatus in my optimism。
  One night; for example; after lecturing in a town
  in Ohio; it was necessary to drive eight miles across
  country to a tiny railroad station at which a train;
  passing about two o'clock in the morning; was to be
  flagged for me。  When we reached the station it was
  closed; but my driver deposited me on the platform
  and drove away; leaving me alone。  The night was
  cold and very dark。  All day I had been feeling ill
  and in the evening had suffered so much pain that
  I had finished my lecture with great difficulty。  Now
  toward midnight; in this desolate spot; miles from
  any house; I grew alarmingly worse。  I am not
  easily frightened; but that time I was sure I was
  going to die。  Off in the darkness; very far away; as
  it seemed; I saw a faint light; and with infinite effort
  I dragged myself toward it。  To walk; even to stand;
  was impossible; I crawled along the railroad track;
  collapsing; resting; going on again; whipping my
  will power to the task of keeping my brain clear;
  until after a nightmare that seemed to last through
  centuries I lay across the door of the switch…tower
  in which the light was burning。  The switchman
  stationed there heard the cry I was able to utter;
  and