Why, it fairly made my hair stand on end to hear the stories which
the pleasant men, whom I thought so grandly interested in schemes
for "the material development of the country," told about each
other. Mrs. Filch's shawl began to burn my shoulders before I had
worn it a half a dozen times. (I have since given it to Melissa,
as a wedding-present).
Before the next session was half over, I was doubly glad of being
safe at home. Mrs. Whiston supposed that the increased female
representation would give her more support, and indeed it seemed
so, at first. But after her speech on the Bounty bill, only two of
the fifteen Democratic women would even speak to her, and all hope
of concord of action in the interests of women was at an end. We
read the debates, and my blood fairly boiled when I found what
taunts and sneers, and epithets she was forced to endure. I
wondered how she could sit still under them.
To make her position worse, the adjoining seat was occupied by an
Irishwoman, who had been elected by the votes of the laborers on
the new Albemarle Extension, in the neighborhood of which she kept
a grocery store.
Pages:
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442