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Show WOMAN'S EXPONENT. 4f i 4 and elevating nature. Mothers should be their children's confident in social pastimes. Ref. Young: Womans Journal Sept. Cov. Sec. 1904,. Doc. and Lesson 5. Hygiene: What we eat and drink, Water as a food, Hints about wear-in- s clothes, Sleep and how to get it, How to keep well. 42-22-2- 6. Lesson 6. Preparation for marriage: A girl should have a physically strong and well developed body, A knowledge of the preparation for good and wholesome food, some knowledge of what to do in case of emergencies, of- cleanliness and economy in the household, and of her matrimonial duties and rights etc. Ref. Doc and Cov. Sec. 89.; - Laurette M. 53 Peterson, R. S. Stake Secretary. and this- as a feature of hospitality of her fixed habits as stated by her biographer. One of the pleasant Nantucket "Customs was "the veal feast" which always followed the killing of a calf. There was a family reunion of,two days, on the first of which the husband's relatives and on the second the wife's were invited to the feast; while to thdse who were unable to cornea portion the good things was carried in dishes wrapped in large napkins which had been provided for such occasions as part ohtKe 'bridal outfit. This was only one of the many memories of her childhood which Lucretia carried away with her when she was twelve years old. and the family moved to Boston She always cherished traditions of the island; and "Nantucket way" was household - be-came- one . of-al- l law. At the age of thirteen , LUCRETIA mott. If Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the mother and the organizer of the womaa suffrage movement, Lucretia Mott was.its saint and prophet. Her name should be familiar to this generation and passed on to the next with loving reverence. Lucre- cretia Coffin s ancestors were amongst the first settlers of Nantucket Island and there she was born January 3, 1793- - Tristram Coffin left his English hom&with his wile. Dionis, and five children in 1642. Having organized a company to purchase the island of Nantucket, he moved there in 1662 and became one of its chief men. This third son. Tames, was the great- greatgrandfather of Lucretia and among his descendants were two admirals in the British navy. There was a hint of woman's rights early in the family, for according to an old chronicle, Mary Coffin, who married Nathaniel Starbuck, was a Deborah among the population and little of moment was done without her sanction at the town meetings, where she took an active part. She probably carried her point because she seemed to represent her husband's wisdom. Usually beginning her remarks with "Mv husband thinks," or "My husband and I feel," but the women folk. d of Nantucket were no For the most part their husbands were seafaring men and in their long absences the vviyes governed the families and the estates, andJf need .be took up business to add to their incomes. An historian of the island says: "These circumstances give women th e ability as well as the taste for that kind of superintendency to which, by their prudence and good management they seem to be in general very equal. This ripens their judgment and justly entitles them to a rank superior to that of other wives." From such stock was Benjamin Franklin descended; also Anna Gardiner, enshrined in the an rials of the woman's suffrage cause, and AnnaFol-- . ger, Lucretia Mott s motner, wno marneu her old playmate, Thomas Coffin, when she was seventeen years old, and he had just taken command of his first ship. They were both strong and steadfast in character and the mother was ditinguished for great energy and keen activity. Lucretia was the second of their six children and madehelpful at an early age. One of her duties when she was four was to draw the chairs in to mean-spirite- was-therefo- re she and a younger sister were sent to a Friends boarding school at Nine Partners, New York. In Nantucket there had been but two churches, the Presbyterian and the Quaker, and to the latter an ancestress of Lucretia had been converted in 1701 and had been a "mighty instrument" to bring others to the faith. The Coffins showed their fidelity, to their principles when they sent two of their little ones of such tender years a distance from which they could not return under two years, even for a visit. The biographer relates that communication was so dif ficult in those days that a baby sister grew to be three months old before the little exiles knew of its existence. James Mott was a teacher, on the bovs' side of the house, but as the boy and girl or to pupils were not allowed speak to each other "unless they were near relatives, it was only while visit ing his sister Sarah that Lucretia became acquainted with her future hus band. Lucretia was so admirable a pupil that she was made assistant teacher when she was 15, at 16 was a regular teacher, with the full salary of $100 a year and board. It was at this time, to quote her own words, "that the unequal conditionof women impressed my mind. Learning that the charge for the tuition of girls was the same as that for boys and that when they became teachers women received only half as much for their services, the injustice of this distinction was so apparent that I early resolved to claim for myself all that an impartial Creator ; had bestowed. " r j While fellow teachers James Mott and Lucretia'became attached to each other and when Lucretia joined her father in Philadelphia, whither Mr. Coffin had moved in 180Q to take charge of a large. Having business, James soon followed. in the business, he obtained a position and Lucretia concluded to pass meet- to-me- et : iuuuuuu. of the parents, for this written consent had to be submitted to both" the men's mPPtinc and the women's meeting, in. rnnnprtion with the proposals of mar ingv "i ncnrst-bicp-wci- s- , riage which had to be signed by both to parties. Two Friends were appointed marinquire into the man's "clearness for At riage, and the same for the woman. the second monthly meeting the parties at their re wererreauired-t- o spective meetings, and if the committees -b- icpuncu uiui nicy luuuu iiu uuMdtic iu the marriage, the;young people were at liberty to proceed.' Accordingly,, on ApriJ, 4. iSix, Lucretia Coffin and James Mott were married "with a gravity and weight becoming the occasion." - At this time Lucretia, short, sligjit, dark and vivacious, was .just turned 18. while James, tall, sandy-haireshy and serious, was 23. six The next years brought financial vicissitudes.- - in - which - Lucretia Mott helped a little in shopkeeping a"fid later with htr cousin, Rebecca Bunker, built a ' private school. I At 25 years of age Mrs. Mott first spoke in public by offering a prayer, but such were her gifts that she soon became an "acknowledged minister.". This was before the division among the Quakers into orthodox and Hicksite, and when she felt compelled to join the latter it brought her "disownment" and many trials and persecutions. At about the same time the views of James and Lucretia Mott on the slavery question led them to agree, that it was wrong to in any way participate in the profits of slave labor, and Mr. Mott accordingly gave up his profitable cotton commission business. James was a ready writer and from his admirable letters to his parents and others, one may note not only the facts in their mutual lives, but the gradual growth in their mutual views. Their granddaughter says that what either wrcjte, or said was meant for both, for their agreement was almost perfect J each seemed the other's complement. The contrast was very great between Mr. Mott's quiet ways and his wife's animation. She liked sometimes to rally him a little on his taciturnity. On one occasion she entered a room where he and his brother Richard, a counterpart of himself, were sitting in perfect silence- t said, "I thought you must both be here, it was so still." It was a great innovation in the established custom of woman's silence when Mrs. Mott took part in the historic cony vention when the American Society was organized in 1833. Thomas Whitson, writing of this occasion, said: 'The other speaker was a woman; I had never before heard a woman speak at a public meeting. She said but a few words, but these were spoken so modest- ly, in such sweet tones, yet so decisively, that no one could fail to be pleased." There were also in this meeting Lydia White, EstherMoore and Sydney and Ann Lewis; but the women were not rec ognized as members of the convention and did not sign the declaration of prin Mrs. Mott made some ciples adopted. suggestions which were well received, one of which was that the two last words in this sentence, "We may be personally defeated, but Our principles can never be." should be dropped, which added greatly to the strength of the sentence. The Socie Philadelphia Female was almost formed immediately after ty American with the Esther Moore Society, v as president. Lucretia Mott was its president during most of its existence. There were many stormy scenes and some times meetings were broken up by rioters opposed to abolition. ; (7V be Continued.) d, , -- -- Mrs-Mot- Anti-Slaver- -- . Anti-Slave- ry - Woman's Journal, e-present . . Boston,, Mass. |