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473]
Remarks at the Unveiling of
Miss Anne Whitney's statue of
Miss Martineau in the
Old South Meeting-House, December 26, 1883.
This was the last public utterance of
Mr. Phillips.
Webster once said, that “In war there are no Sundays.”
So in moral questions there are no nations.
Intellect and morals transcend all limits.
When a moral issue is stirred, then there is no American, no
German.
We are all men and women.
And that is the reason why I think we should indorse this memorial of the city to
Harriet Martineau, because her service transcends nationality.
There would be nothing inappropriate if we raised a memorial to
Wickliffe, or if the common-school system of
New England raised a memorial to Calvin; for they rendered the greatest of services.
So with
Harriet Martineau, we might fairly render a monument to the grandest woman of her day, we, the heirs of the same language, and one in the same civilization; for steam and the telegraph have made, not many nations, but one, in perfect unity in the world of thought, purpose, and intellect.
And there could be no fault found in thus recognizing this counsellor of princes, and adviser of ministers, this woman who has done more for beneficial changes in the
English world than any ten men in
Great Britain.
In an epoch fertile of great genius among women, it may be said of
Miss Martineau, that she was the peer of the noblest, and that her influence on the progress of the age was more than equal
