Francis Jackson Garrison, William Lloyd Garrison, 1805-1879; the story of his life told by his children: volume 2

[297] from Massachusetts; Nathaniel Colver moving that the¹ committee enroll only men. With him voted his brother ministers Phelps, Orange Scott, George Storrs, George Allen, Beriah Green, La Roy Sunderland, among others, together with Birney and Lewis Tappan. Gerrit Smith, who was in the chair, and voted for the admission of women, thought that five to one were on his side, but Lewis Tappan called for the yeas and nays, which carried the vote over till the next forenoon, and gave a chance for rallying the opposition, and the final vote stood 180 yeas to 140 nays. Even then Phelps strove to obtain a declaration that the vote did not mean that women should speak, or act on committees; but this was of course negatived, and when Mr. Garrison afterwards, having the floor, yielded it to Abby Kelley, she exercised² her right to address her fellow-delegates, while Gerrit Smith gave her a place in committee.

This authoritative official decision greatly rejoiced Mr. Garrison. ‘We hail it,’ he said, ‘with unmingled ³ satisfaction as an era in the history of human rights. It is worth more to the cause of humanity than was received into the treasury of the Parent Society during the past year.’ Moreover, it placed that Society in accord with the State organizations of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania, and with the New England Convention. Tappan and Torrey gave notice of a protest, which was presently received, bearing 116 signatures, and ordered to be printed with the proceedings. It pronounced the Society's action in regard to women ⁴ unconstitutional, and [let the political expounders of the Constitution mark it] repugnant to the wishes, wisdom, or moral sense of many early and present members of the Society.

So far the response was favorable to ‘the question whether the Society would have anything to do with Garrison,’ which a correspondent of the Christian Mirror ⁵ ‘found it familiarly spoken of as one object of the Convention to settle.’ It remained to fix the rights of State