35»-

April 19., 1878.

0

wooDHULL & .cL~AE«LIiN’s”wEEKLr. “ . if ” ‘ . s

‘higher civilization requires the adoption of your theory of
the social and sexual relations, and have not a doubt that
‘the not distant future will realize its attainment. We had

Va lecture last evening in which your 130511310115 Were 0PeI11Y

~and ably advocated by Mrs. Brinkerhoff‘ before apgood au-
rdience, which gave her a. most attentive hearing, and evi-
-dencing very clearly that the world is ripe for the reception
-«of these great truths. O. Barrett also addressed us a
rishort time since taking substantially the same positions; so,
vcourage, you are not working alone. Let usgwork with a
faith that knows no doubting for the brighter future of hu-
rmanity. IRA BROWNELL.

Gn.E1esvILLE, LIVINGSTON Co., N. Y., March 9, 1873.
‘WOODHULL at CLAFLIN:

For some reason you have sent me an extra copy for sev-
'eral weeks past, and I have demand for them I assure you.
‘One and another made application for them, and I mail or
give them all away.

The public mind is certainly in a very inquiring mood, and
Ebecoming hopefully more so every day. The people of West-
zern New York have been in a dying condition for want of
intelligence on the subject of Beecher, Tilton, 8:0,, and even
some of the best posted ones are just waking up to a “sense
gof deplorable facts.” What a cowardly part, with few ex-

rceptions, this New York city press has acted. They ought 1

to be ashamed of themselves—those valorous knights of
types and self-styled guards of liberty! Their moral courage
.has been put to the test for once. _
Well, ladies——leagued\sisters I may call you—I do not pity
uthose recreant poltroons very much, but posterity will, and
ilabel them sneaks. But for you, sisters, in your persecu-
'-tions (if you accept it), I have real pity. I would like to take
you both by the hand and tender my sympathy, as to the
injured and wronged ones. I sent for your paper for the in-
telligence it contains, obtainable in no other way. Although
I neither approve nor fiercely condemn your “ social views,”
110Pi11g I do not fully apprehend them, yet I would continue
to be a friend by patronage or‘ otherwise, if necessary, so
long as a bigoted, petrified and malignant J esuitry continues
to violate the principles of free speech, press and person,
venting their spite upon you as representatives of the God-
dess of Liberty.

FRANK.
P. S.—Really now, sisters, develop and round out your so-
cial views in healthful, practical detail, fast as possible, and

( Yours, fraternally,

if they are consistent, salutoryiand"demonstrably conducive’

to the highest human happiness where adopted, the sober
second thought of the people will comprehend and accept
them. Whereas, if they do not so appear, Iwith others must
longer wait the evolutions of some great time coming.

F. RICE.

STONEHAVEN, Mass., March 27, 1873.

My Dear Sisters in Perscc-ation, Woodhull and Cla_flt‘a—
Ever having had a disgust fo.r a light hid under a bushel, I
am now most happy to touch upon the subject in a case so
grand, noble and triumphant as your own—-now so much
agitating the public mind. Long have I wished to be able to
speak to you, and could I have spoken for you as often as my
soul has gone out to do something to help you in the day of
trial, I might, perhaps, ere this have had the satisfaction of
knowing that I had been one holding at your banner-staff,
whose motto is, Revolution and Life. Had I ever professed
to publicly advocate the gospel of Free Thought and Liberty,
I would feel-—for the little I have done——much condemned.
What so many can be doing, in their silence, who are profes-
sors to reform, who have dared to be called spiritualists, is a
wonder to know. With‘ the thousand opportunities many
have, of daily putting a lever to the great wheel of progress,
how do they expect to render up in the “ day of accounts?”
A truth that will not bear holding up to the light is no truth
to me. I have been a member of different religions, and
never would shrink from taking up my “cross ” (if cross it

,might be called) in speaking for my cause.

7 Where are those who were so ready at the first to take your

hand and work with you in the great battle for right? It is »

evident they have made a retreat, and since the enemy came
close upon you, they have been tenting, no doubt, scarce
daring to give a look for your welfare and safety. I have no
patience with women who dare not speak for their rights,
nor with those who are so ready to- censure their own sex.
How many generations would there yet be Willing tolive with
the same condition of affairs that now exist in society ?—man
ruling and sitting in judgment over woman, inharmonies
and combats increasing, while love and spiritual growth find
not their way.

I trust, dear sisters, that there are yet a few who would
march with you through the fire, and that the unseen minis-

tering ones will give you strength while you will not falter..

Not afraid to be called by any name that would be attached
toone who is ready to fight for liberty and justice, who is a
lover of mercy, I am your sister, A

. Mns. S. S. LOVEJOY.

WORCESTER Co., Leominster, March 26, 1873.

Dear Mrs. Woodhall—Through the kindness of friends, I
have been for nearly two years areader of your free, trutl1-tell-
ing paper; but at such a time as this, I believe it to be the
duty of every delighted reader to become a willing sub-
scriber. A _

For justice to the promptings of my spirit, from my ‘quiet
home in the heart of puritanical Massachusetts, I desire to
express my sympathy for you, seeing the persecution that
follows you as you courageously work for humanity, and
also my steadfast faith in your divine mission which I be-
lieve is no less important than was the missionof the Naz-
arine reformer. Dear sister your experience is not excep-
tional, for thus has the world ever treated its saviours. Many
timid ones say, “ Be quiet and wait; the great law of revolu-
tion will bring at length, truth and right, out of error and

‘ wrong.?’ But by and through its workings, we sometimes

experience crises which although trying are healthful and
purifying; and the terrible condition which humanity finds
itself in to-day with its aching, bleeding, starving hearts,
seems to demand a radical change, even this very crisis
which is now upon us. “First pure, then -peaceable.” To-
day, woman is awakening; and although yet “bound hand
andfoot, in the grpave-clothes” of oppression and ignorance,
yet soon will the word go forth, “loose her, and let her go,”
free, free, with her intuitive individuality. To you, my sis-
ter, we reverently accord the honor. and glory of hastening
this .crisis which ‘presages health, harmony and the reign of
free pure love in the glorious future. Expect then, dear sis-
ter on your earth-journey to meet persecution and discour-
agement; perhaps to repeat in your own experience the story
of Gethsemane; and if by the stupidity and cowardice of
your brother and sister reformers, you are left to agonize
alone, you have the sympathy of “legions of angels.” With
prophetic eye I see in the not very distant future, tall white
shafts of purest marble, which, pointing to the upper spheres
where Victoria Woodhull shall have ascended, shall, on their
burnished surface, tell, of the fearless discloser of human
wrongs, and the brave champion of human rights.
Thy sister. SUSAN A. BIXBY.

THE WAY THE “ LEAVEN ”° WORKS.
[Extract from a Private Letter] -

We are the only equality ones here, save one young preach-
er; he reads every number of o my paper and seems half-
inclined toadopt its ideas-he was one of Beecher’s worship-
pers. After all read the paper here, I send it to mother and
her household, in York State; she sends it to Rhineback
Academy, to my sister; from there it goes to a brother in
Nebraska, who is also teaching in a seminary; so you see
that the copy you so kindly send ’way down in Virginia,
travels quite a journey on its mission of doing good.

I am, truly yours, _ V

ELMINA DRAKE SLENKER.

 

Dear Ladt'es—-Dr. Treat, in issue of WEEKLY of 15th inst.
says: “ Mr. Beecher is a good man, in very many respects
one of our pre-eminently best men; but that very goodness
has made it profitable forlhim to be, as all these years he has
been, the greatest Jesuit of any man in America.” (What
character more despicable than that of a Jesuit!)

Now, I beg respectfully to say that there is such an utter
incompatibility of ideas involved in the quoted expressions
as to suggest great confusion of thought in the writer. I can
very well see how a man can be rated very talented in the
modes of expression and action peculiar, perhaps, to Beecher,
but I cannot see how any man can be dishonest, a hypocrite,
double-hearted and brazen-faced, without surrendering all
claim to even the title of good, especially pre-eminentlygood;
and, besides the possession of these latter-day Christian-
graces conceded to B., he stands charged with (convicted of,
I may say,) being a sneaking coward, in that he basely (and
covertly?) thrust yourselves and ‘Colonel Blood into jail,
etc., etc.

In view of these preferred charges of the Doctor, so fully
set forth by him, and my objections, briefly stated, I trust
you will allow me space to protest against his suggestion of
making Beecher the apostle of the not new but revived gos-
pel, and leader of the great world of loving brothers.

The revived gospel and band of loving brothers and sisters
have already a leader, chosen of God, competent in every re-
spect and reliable in every emergency. We want no cowards
nor hypocrites, etc., in the van of such a host.

Victoria C. Woodhull is already the proclaimed leader,
and with her aids dc camp, Colonel Blood and Tennie C.
Clafiin, will not and cannot fail, since God and Christ and
truth and right are on their side in the battle now being
fought and being» won.

Brother Beecher can be forgiven; but invited to leader-

ship, Never! The sin may be Dcondoned, but not the
sinner. .
Cordially thine, S.

HAL A
r 'vv*~

SOCIALISTIC.

“CAUSES OF PHYSICAL DEGENERACY.”

The editorial in the WEEKLY of March 29, under the above
title, is a very remarkable one. The position is taken, and
fearlessly maintained, that “ unused functions, designed by
nature for use, must pass into a morbid, if not diseased con-
dition.” It is also asserted that “ the subjects of continuous

‘ (amative) repression always suffer a pain at the base of the

brain, a result of this reactionary movement of force.”

Reading the above called to mind two facts relating to in-
ferior animals bearing” directly upon this subject; and as
facts are the expounders of theories, and the Greeks were
accustomed to say “the Gods themselves cannot alter facts,”
I furnish them for what they are worth. . I

1. It is well known among horsemen that stallions kept for
driving or work, and never used for breeding purposes, are
very apt to become diseased, generally in the head, some-
times become blind and otherwise degenerate, and often
drop down dead in harness.

2. It is an equally well-established fact that female dogs
never have the hydrophobia——at least, this dreadful disease
never originates with them—while the male canine is often
subject to it-. The female will take advantage of her abun-
dant opportunity, and act out nature and “ increase and
multiply,” however closely watched ; but the (male must
repress his sexual functions, because of the scarcity of
females; and to this cause scientific men attribute the fact
here mentioned. C

Is it not singular that we know so much more about horses
and dogs than we do about ourselves, and that the most rus-
tic farmer anxiously considers how he may improve the
quality of his calves and pigs, while even the most _ preten-
tious scholars have little or no thought about the quality of
their own offspring ?

Yours for the truths ANTHRQPQEQ

FASHION, N O. 2.—-ITS INFLUENCE ON MEN.
Could women generally realize the pernicious consequences
to the male sex of a custom that..constantly appeals to the
passional nature, they would stand aghast in the reflection
that it is themselves who culture men to believe them creat-
ed only to stimulate morbid fancies, minister to excitement

-and care of the nursery. Customs that make men tyrants at ’

home and’. unscrupulous of, associates abroad, do not under-
lie conditions of purity nor work out equality, but the r
verse, as all may see. I

It is useless, and measurablyinconsistent, to expect men
will combine to raise women from subjection while they
wear the badges of dependence, and while a false estimate of
honor and reputation makes easy prey of so many who tire
of the struggle to live against torturing odds. While their
apparel is the plain language of recklessness, their weakness
a testimony to violence against nature, the wise must mourn
their folly and stupidity, and the world wait for a quicken-
ing power. Could they show by a natural form that health
were possible, and by convenient costume that motion could
be free and labor easy, men would lose all excuse to withhold
any right. Now, men say “ very few could use more privi-
leges; these waddling masses of flounces and humps can’t be
benefited by more duties ;” failing to see that higher duties
would tend to draw them to higher planes of action.

When we ask men, who are both thoughtful and cunning,
to consider our wrongs, and especially our needs of legal
equality, they appear puzzled, and say they had been con-
templating measures to curtail the rights we now possess
and abuse. In explanation, they become questioners, and
ask “if we should be allowed to commit suicide by slow
strangulation at the waist, and ponderous slave-clogs at the
feet?” and then adds, “no statute compels this.—free your-
selves from the weighty pall, and when you are adequate to
other offices our best shall be done for you.” Were all men
like these, ready aid could be counted on in cflorts at Dress
Reform; but, alas, a larger class is so blinded by selfishness
that it does not offer to reason the points. I

Quite as valid objections could be advanced to men’s legal
capacity, but the intent is not to cite their ruling appetites
and lapses, but to avoid even the appearance of retort, while
aiming to be instrumental in well serving both sexes.

Through all ages women’s cumbrous robes have wasted
their powers and banished their happiness, a.nd the character
of men has corresponded to their status in each century.

»But never has the blight of fashion been so apparent as
now; never have the nations so emphatically demanded that
the whole sex rise above false tastes, and devote life to great
and sublime purposes.

Can it be that this one source of failure, this absorber of
time and robber of strength——this vampire on means, inhe-
rent and acquired, alone must bar the way to the redemption
of both sexes from vanity and vice? Can it be that the finger
ef fools is still feared? Can it be that the dry-goods trade

can still bribe the world, and swell its hoards by drawing the .

birthright of competence from earth’s weary toilers?

M. E. TILLo'rsoN.

-9-:—9

GIVE US THE FACTS.
. RAVENNA, March 19, 1873.
Edt'tors—In a recent number of your paper, that stern old
hater of meanness and injustice and pusillanimity, Parker
Pillsbury, animadverts, with a freedom truly refreshing,

upon the contemptable meaness of the callers of the late .

Washington Convention, in purposely refraining from invit-
ing Mrs. Woodhull, and then with craven hearts and brazen
faces glorying in their shame.

But their must be some mistake; there is no doubt that
the whole matter was discussed at head-quarters, and that it
was prearranged that Mrs. Woodhull {should have the
go-by, but that they should publish the fact in their “call” is
too much for belief. Susan B. Anthony is presumed to have
been the leading spirit in calling and conducting that con-
vention, and Susan B. Anthony is not entirely wanting in
sense and delicacy, however much she might like to see
Mrs. Woodhull “take a back seat” (as that saintly pharisee,
and paragon of purity, T. W. ’Higinson, said all free_ lovers
would have to do). , I *~

But perhaps it was not designed to convey the impression
that Mrs, Woodhul1’s name was mentioned in the “call,”
though the words “blasphemed in the call” would seem to
indicate that. At any rate please give us the facts, the
names of the signers, etc.’ Did Isabella Beecher Hooker
have anything to do with the disgraceful proceedings?
Some of us were coming to greatly admire her for her cour-
age and true womanship. We want to know who stands by
Mrs. Woodhull now, so that we may know who are worthy
to be trusted in future. By and by she will be overrun with
friends. i

For one, I am thankful to these pseudo reformers for being’

so particular about their company. I want to see the lines
drawn. I do not want the real friends of freedom for woman
to be any longer deluded into supporting these humbug
leaders. Many the time that I have breakfasted on faith,
dined on a shilling and gone without my supper that I might
give a dollar to the cause of woman as represented by these
half-and-half advocates. I would not give them another
farthing though I were as rich as Rothschild. They are wel-
come to their front seats, and, in future, I promise not tobe
in the way while their back ones are being filled. I suppose
I have advocated (in a back seat) woman’s' right to the ballot
longer than any of them. But I have ever regarded it as in-
cidental—-as based upon the fundamental, all-embracing right
of individuality-—self-ownership. And this is the free-love

heresy. Mrs. W'oodhull was all right till she demanded for A

woman the right to absolute freedom. Though jealousy has,
doubtless, had something to do with it, yet this is the real
reason for their being no longer a seat for her. "
Anthony, Livermore, Higginson, Blackwell and company,
pretend to advocate woman’s freedom, but they do it with
“intent to deceive.” The freedom they go for is the freedom