privileges are concerned_."

Dr. Sherman's motion was carried by a vote of 142 to 70, and the
question of lay representation was submitted to all the members of the
Church over twenty-one years of age. The General Conference did not ask
women to vote on a proposition that only male members of the Church
should be represented in the General Conference, and it did not then
enter the thought of any clear-headed man that women were to be deprived
of their rights to a seat in the General Conference. There were a few
noisy, disorderly brethren who cried out from their seats, "No, no," but
they were silenced by the presiding Bishop and the indignation of the
right thinking, orderly delegates.

What does the Rev. Dr. David Sherman, the mover of the motion to strike
out the word "male," now say of the prevailing sentiment on that day of
great debate? I have his freshly written words in response to an inquiry
made a few weeks ago. On March 21st he made this statement:

"Some of us believed that women were laymen, that the term 'men' in the
Discipline, as elsewhere, often designated not sex, but genus; and that
those who constituted a main part of many of our churches should have a
voice in determining under what government they would live. We believed
in the rightful equality of the sexes before the law, and hence that
women should have the same right as men to vote and hold office. The
Conference of 1868 was a reform body, and it seemed possible to take
these views on a stage; hence the amendment was offered, and carried
with a rush and heartiness even beyond my expectations....The latter
interpretation of the Conference making all not members of Conferences
laymen, fully carried out these views, as they were understood at the
moment by the majority party. Some, to be sure, cried out against it,