Women of my country!--Exaltadas! if such there be,--women of English,
old English nobleness, who understand the courage of Boadicea, the
sacrifice of Godiva, the power of Queen Emma to tread the red-hot iron
unharmed,--women who share the nature of Mrs. Hutchinson, Lady
Russell, and the mothers of our own revolution,--have you nothing to
do with this? You see the men, how they are willing to sell
shamelessly the happiness of countless generations of fellow-creatures,
the honor of their country, and their immortal souls, for a money
market and political power. Do you not feel within you that which can
reprove them, which can check, which can convince them? You would not
speak in vain; whether each in her own home, or banded in unison.
Tell these men that you will not accept the glittering baubles,
spacious dwellings, and plentiful service, they mean to offer you
through those means. Tell them that the heart of Woman demands
nobleness and honor in Man, and that, if they have not purity, have
not mercy, they are no longer fathers, lovers, husbands, sons of
yours.
This cause is your own, for, as I have before said, there is a reason
why the foes of African Slavery seek more freedom for women; but put
it not upon that ground, but on the ground of right.
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