University of Virginia Library

[INTRODUCTION]

THE death of no woman in the United States, — save one, perhaps — would call forth such widespread and eulogistic notice as that of Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, which occurred on October 26, at her home in New York City. The long and thoughtful editorial comments indicated not only the ability of the woman, but also the vitality of the cause of which she was a chief exponent. Mrs. Stanton herself, thinking, speaking, and writing with clearness and vigor on the living questions of the day to the age of eighty-seven, refuted conclusively the tenacious opinion that women are not physically capable of sustained mental effort. The fact that in all the present discussion of her long-continued work that for woman suffrage takes the most prominent place, shows the mistaken estimate of those who assert that this is a dead or dying issue. There was no time in her life when she would not have been willing to die to prove these two points.

The father of Mrs. Stanton was Daniel Cady, an eminent lawyer, judge and member of Congress; her mother was Margaret Livingston, granddaughter of Col. James Livingston, of General Washington's staff. She was born in

Johnstown, N. Y., November 12, 1815. If she had been a boy, the fine, legal mind and strong reasoning faculties which distinguished her above all other women would have been regarded approvingly as a direct inheritance from her paternal ancestor. If she had been a boy, her powerful fighting proclivities would have been hailed with delight as worthy of the maternal progenitor who, in the absence of his superior officer, took the responsibility of firing into a British vessel, which led to the capture of André the spy. But for a girl to have either legal or military genius was an unfortunate anomaly which must be counteracted by the most rigorous measures. These were faithfully applied at home during her childhood, and continued through her early womanhood by the world at large with all the ingenuity which the most bitter opposition could devise, but never for one hour was that dauntless spirit subdued.