Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 4.djvu/461

 coming of age. Therefore women are beginning to put away childish things and to realize the greatness of womanhood. They have had to let ideals wait. They submitted to conditions because they were afraid that if they did not man would take to the woods and become again a wild barbarian. They were flattered by the fact that men liked them as they were, and they failed to realize that their power to civilize was God-given.

They needed a leader to rally them, to give them the courage of their convictions; and such a leader Miss Anthony has been. She spoke to the world in tones which rang out so clear and true that they will echo down the centuries. Some who had been protected and petted were slow to rally; others who had broader views accepted sooner the doctrine of rights—not privileges—of rights for all women. Miss Anthony taught us the sisterhood of woman, and that the privileges of one class could not offset the wrongs of another.

Mrs. Sewall, president of the International Council of Wonk, composed of the Councils of thirteen nations, and the largest organization of women in the world, said in part:

It is proper that the International Council should remember today "to render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's," and to pay tribute to the organization which it may not regard as other than its direct progenitor. There are certain incidents, simple in themselves, in which probably the actors are always at the time quite unconscious of their perennial significance, and yet which become landmarks in the evolution of the human spirit. Such are Thermopylæ and Marathon and Bunker Hill. Such was that first convention at Seneca Falls. The light from that meeting, springing from a vital source, has vitalized every point it has touched. Other torches lit by that have become beacon lights, and every one has stood for the illumination of women.

In the name and in the blended tongues of the women of the different nationalities who belong to the International Council, I salute and congratulate you. I beg the proud honor of placing your name, Miss Anthony, among the list of Patrons of the Council as a birthday gift, where it shall one day be pronounced in every language.

The Rev. Ida C. Hultin brought the gratitude of the ministers, saying:

Women have failed to see that the work of every woman has touched that of every other. The woman who works with the hand helps her who works with the brain. To-day we know there could be no choice of work until there was freedom of choice to work. O, beloved leader, we of the ministry, as they of all ministries of service, bring our greetings and benediction. I hear the voices which shall tell of the new gospel and among them