During the fifty years which have wrought this revolution, just one
woman in all the world has given every day of her time, every dollar of
her money, every power of her being, to secure this result. She was
impelled to this work by no personal grievance, but solely through a
deep sense of the injustice which, on every side, she saw perpetrated
against her sex, and which she determined to combat. Never for one
short hour has the cause of woman been forgotten or put aside for any
other object. Never a single tie has been formed, either of affection
or business, which would interfere with this supreme purpose. Never a
speech has been given, a trip taken, a visit made, a letter written, in
all this half-century, that has not been done directly in the interest
of this one object. There has been no thought of personal comfort,
advancement or glory; the self-abnegation, the self-sacrifice, have
been absolute--they have been unparalleled.

There has been no desire to emphasize the hardships and unpleasant
features, but only to picture in the fewest possible words the many
consecutive years of unremitting toil, begun amidst conditions which
now seem almost incredible, and continued with sublime courage in the
face of calumny and persecution such as can not be imagined by the
women of today. Nothing has been concealed or mitigated. In those years
of constant aggression, when every step was an experiment, there must
have been mistakes, but the story would be incomplete if they were left
untold. No effort has been made to portray a perfect character, but
only that of a woman who dared take the blows and bear the scorn that
other women might be free. Future generations will read these pages
through tears, and will wonder what manner of people those were who not
only permitted this woman to labor for humanity fifty years, almost
unaided, but also compelled her to beg or earn the money with which to