Mr. Spelter (the editor of the "Burroak Banner") suggests that I
must be brief, if I wish my words to reach the ears of the millions
for whom they are designed; and I shall do my best to be so. If I
were not obliged to begin at the very beginning, and if the
interests of Atlantic had not been swallowed up, like those of
other little States, in the whirlpool of national politics, I
should have much less to say. But if Mr. George Fenian Brain and
Mrs. Candy Station do not choose to inform the public of either the
course or the results of our struggle, am I to blame? If I could
have attended the convention in Boston, and had been allowed to
speak--and I am sure the distinguished Chairwoman would have given
me a chance--it would have been the best way, no doubt, to set our
case before the world.
I must first tell you how it was that we succeeded in forcing the
men to accept our claims, so much in advance of other States. We
were indebted for it chiefly to the skill and adroitness of Selina
Whiston. The matter had been agitated, it is true, for some years
before, and as early as 1856, a bill, drawn up by Mrs.
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