FRANCES WILLARD.
In June, 1881, I spoke by invitation before the Alumnæ Association of
Whitworth College, at Brookhaven, Mississippi,--a venerable institution
under the care of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. I did not give
those young women strong doctrine, but I set before them the duty to
“Learn the mystery of progression truly:--
Nor dare to blame God’s gifts for incompleteness.”
Bishop Keener, the well-known opponent of women’s public work, sat beside
me on the platform. When the addresses were concluded, he pronounced them
“very good.” “For women?” I asked. “No,” he returned, “for _anybody_!” I
treated the gentlemen to some of the extemporaneous “sugar plums” which
for a half century they have been accustomed to shower from the rostrum
upon women--“just to let them see how it sounded.” Though it was against
the rules, they applauded as if they were delighted.
I said: “Lest they should feel overlooked and slighted, I will say a word
to the men--God bless them. Our hearts warm toward the manly angels--our
rulers, guides, and protectors, to whom we confide all our troubles and
on whom we lay all our burdens. Oh! what a noble being is an honest,
upright, fearless, generous, manly man! How such men endear our firesides,
and adorn and bless our homes. How sweet is their encouragement of our
timid efforts in every good word and work, and how grateful we are to be
loved by these noble comforters, and how utterly wretched and sad this
world would be, deprived of their honored and gracious presence. Again, I
say God bless the men.”
This occasion was of moment to me, because it led to one of the chief
events of my life--my friendship and work with Frances E. Willard. She had
seen in the New Orleans _Times_ the address I made at Brookhaven, and was
moved to ask me if I could get her an audience in my city, which she had
already visited without results. I had been invited to join the little
band enlisted by Mrs. Annie Wittenmeyer, the first president of the
National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union; but I had declined, saying
that this temperance work was the most unpopular and hardest reform ever
attempted. However, I looked up the remnant of the first society, and went
with their good president, Mrs. Frances A. Lyons, to call on every
minister in town, requesting each to announce the date of Miss Willard’s
address, and to urge upon their congregations that they should hear her
speak. We were uncommonly successful, even that princely Christian, Rev.
B. F. Palmer, D. D., departing from the usual Presbyterian conservatism.
The result was a large audience in Carondelet Methodist Church, of which
Rev. Felix R. Hill was the brave pastor;--for it required no little moral
courage at that time to introduce a woman to speak, and to do it in a
church, and on a subject upon which the public conscience was not only
asleep, but which affronted even many Christians’ sense of personal
liberty.
I remember that I remonstrated when Miss Willard removed her bonnet and
stood with uncovered head. But I could find no fault with the noble
expression of serene sadness on her clear-cut features and with the gentle
humility and sweetness which emanated from her entire personality.
Heavenly sentiments dropped in fitly chosen sentences with perfect
utterance, as she argued for the necessity of a clear brain and pure
habits in order to establish the Master’s kingdom on earth. The hearts of
the people went out to her in spontaneous sympathy and admiration; and the
brethren were ready to bid her God-speed, for they felt that this public
appearance was due to an impelling conviction that would not let her be
silent. Thus the New Orleans Methodist Church, that indomitable pioneer of
reform, proclaimed “All hail! to Frances Willard and the glorious cause.”
Some effort had been made to attain this success. With Miss Willard’s
telegram in hand, I had despatched a message to my son, Edwin T. Merrick,
jr., and to the W. C. T. U., but the train arriving ahead of time, a
carriage brought the expected guest and her companion, Miss Anna Gordon,
to my door, where I alone received and welcomed them. After weary travels
over thousands of miles and stoppages in as many towns, they were glad to
rest a week in my home. I had sent out hundreds of cards for a reception.
My house was thronged. Distinguished members of the bench, the bar, the
pulpit, the press and the literary world were present, and a large number
of young women and men. Frances Willard came to most of these as a
revelation--this unassuming, delicate, progressive woman, with her sweet,
intellectual face, her ready gaiety and her extraordinarily enlarged
sympathies, which seemed to put her spirit at once in touch with every one
who spoke to her. She wore, I remember, a black brocaded silk and point
lace fichu. She ever had the right word in the right place as she greeted
each one who was presented.
She particularly desired to see Geo. W. Cable, who was present with his
wife. “This is our literary lion to-night,” I said. “Oh, no!” he replied,
“I come nearer being your house cat!” at which sally Miss Willard laughed.
This visit was in March, 1882.
I did not attend all of Miss Willard’s meetings, and was greatly surprised
when on returning from one of them she informed me that I was the
president of the W. C. T. U. of New Orleans. I protested, and let her know
I did not even have a membership in that body of women, she herself being
for me the only object of interest in it. Finding that the source of power
in my family resided ultimately in the head of the house, she wisely
directed her persuasions in his direction. It was not long before I was
advised by Mr. Merrick to come to terms and do whatever Miss Willard
requested. This was the beginning of my work in the Woman’s Christian
Temperance Union and of a friendship which lasted until God called this
lovely and gifted being to come up into a larger life.
Mrs. Hannah Whitehall Smith aptly styled Frances Willard “one of God’s
best gifts to the American womanhood of this century,” having done more to
enlarge their sympathies, widen their outlook and develop their mental
aspirations, than any other individual of our time. She inspired purpose
and courage in every heart. She said: “Sisters, we have no more need to be
afraid of the step ahead of us than of the one we have just taken.” Women
have been ridiculed for their confidence in this glorious leader. It has
been said that if Frances Willard had pushed a thin plank over a
precipice, and had stepped out on it and said: “Come!” the White Ribbon
host would have followed her to destruction. Yes, they certainly would
have gone after her, for they had unwavering faith that her planks were
safely lodged on solid foundations, plain to her clear sight, even when
invisible to the rest of the world. I once told her that she had the fatal
power attributed to the maelstrom which swallowed up ships caught in the
circle of its attractions; that the women whom she wished to enlist in her
work were equally powerless to resist her compelling force. She had a
genius for friendships.
Nor were Miss Willard’s powers of attraction confined to her own sex. Her
fascination for men of taste was evident to the end of her blessed life.
Their letters of late date to her proved that “age could not wither nor
custom stale her infinite variety.” Gifted men loved to sit at her feet;
she was kindly disposed to the whole brotherhood. I have heard her say,
“If there is a spectacle more odious and distasteful to me than a man who
hates women it is a woman who hates men.” She also said: “If there is
anything on earth I covet that pertains to men it is their self-respect.”
She combined in her work a wonderful grasp on details and all the
attributes of a great general, and in her temperament the intellectual and
the emotional qualities. This woman was capable of sympathy toward every
human being; she possessed the rare “fellowship of humanity,” and while
she called out the best and noblest aspirations in others, she was herself
the gentlest and humblest and most ready to take reproof. She seemed
incapable of envy and jealousy, and it used to be said at National
Headquarters: “If you want a great kindness from Miss Willard it is only
necessary to persecute her a little.” With all her discriminating insight
into human nature, her social relations were simply her human relations;
she had no time for “society”--only for humanity. She proved to the world
that a woman can be strong-minded, gentle-mannered and sweet-hearted at
the same time, and that the noblest are the simplest souls.
No truthful pen picture can be given of Miss Willard which does not
include some account of the woman she loved best in the world. Lady Henry
Somerset, whom she had long admired in the distance, she loved at first
sight when this titled lady came to the World’s and National W. C. T. U.
Conventions, at Boston, in 1891. The rank and file of her old friends were
startled and sore to discover that the queen of their affections, always
before so easy of access, was much absent after business hour in the
Convention, from her headquarters at the Revere House, and was with Lady
Henry at the Parker House. This emulation of the first place in their
leader’s regard for a time somewhat threatened the unity and peace of the
White Ribbon Army in the United States. But Lady Somerset so swiftly made
her own way into American hearts that the littleness of jealousy was
discarded, and the women shared with Miss Willard high regard for this
noble Englishwoman--the daughter of the Earl of Somers. The _Review of
Reviews_ styled her “a romance adorning English life.” She had only now
come to believe that if the world’s woes are to be lessened, women must
grapple bravely with their causes and range themselves on the side of
those who struggle for justice; and that the heart and instinct and
intellect of woman must be felt in the councils of nations. Thus she
became the foremost woman in English reforms.
I sent a word to Lady Henry asking if she objected to being mentioned in
these pages, and received the following characteristic reply:
“EASTOR CASTLE, LEDBURY, Sept. 28, 1899.
“MRS. C. E. MERRICK:
“My dear friend, I thank you very much indeed for your letter. The
words you write about Frances touched my heart. She is indeed the
woman of the century who has done more than any other to give woman
her place, and yet retain her womanliness. Anything you care to say
about me and my poor little efforts belongs to you. Believe me yours
in our best and truest bond,
“ISABEL SOMERSET.”
While the love I cherish for Frances Willard was shared, in such degree,
with Lady Henry, making a common bond between us, it was Mrs. Hannah
Whitehall Smith who introduced me to her in Boston. Writing afterward to
Mrs. Harriet B. Kells, in Chicago, at National W. C. T. U. Headquarters in
the Temple, I said: “Give my love to our peerless Frances, God bless her!
You say she is happy in the enjoyment of the delectable society of Lady
Henry Somerset. I would say God bless Lady Henry too! only she doesn’t
need any blessing, having already everything on earth any one can wish
for, with our chieftain’s heart superadded.”
Mrs. Kells repeated this to Lady Henry, who seemed much amused, but did
not reveal whether there were yet any unsatisfied longings in her life.
Many American hearts to-day say tenderly, “God bless Lady Henry!” for she
is a sweet spirit, a brave soul, a true woman. It is no exaggeration to
say that these two heroic women are chief historic figures in the records
of their sex, and while they were needful to each other their united labor
was more important for the world’s reforms.
So many arc-lights have been thrown on Miss Willard’s character that it
may not be possible to add more to the world’s knowledge of her. Still I
should like to make known a little of her self-revealings in letters to
me, on points that illustrate her simple greatness. When the Red Cross was
making its first essays in America, a postal card came which showed her
friendliness to all worthy organizations: “The Red Cross is _royal_. No
grander plan for ‘We, Us & Co.’ of North and South. If not in W. C. T. U.
I should give myself to it. The noblest spirits of all civilized lands
are enlisted. Princes in the old world are its sponsors.”
Again, she wrote: “How do you like dear Miss Cobbe’s book, ‘Duties of
Women’? I had a letter from her the other day and the creature said, to my
astonishment and delight, that she was just as familiar with my name as I
was with hers! And she the biggest woman of the age!”
No censure, abuse or disappointment seemed ever to destroy the sweet
hopefulness of her spirit. At one time she wrote: “Somebody’s strictures
in the _New Orleans Picayune_ gave me many thoughts. I may come under
criticism not only in these regards, but in others concerning which there
may not have been expression. I sincerely desire to be a true and a
growing Christian woman. Some friends can hold the mirror to our faults.”
All the world knows how her soul was moved that the church of God should
uphold our Christian cause, and that the M. E. Conference should seat its
women delegates. At that time her word came to me: “If the M. E. pastors
don’t endorse our blessed gospel, so much the worse for them--in history,
that’s all! ‘This train is going through; clear the track!’ I want you in
a delegation to the General Conference in May. Will Mrs. Bishop Parker
allow her name added? It is a blessed chance to put a blessed name to a
most blessed use. Oh that he may see this for the sake of God and Home and
Humanity!”
Frances Willard’s fearless mind threw a searchlight into any new thought
that seemed worthy of exploration. She investigated Swedenborgianism,
Faith-healing, Psychic and Christian Science--if perchance she might find
the soul of truth which is ever at the origin of all error. She was not
afraid of the evolution of man, for she early realized that the works and
word of God must harmonize; that when science and religion should better
understand themselves and each other there could be no real conflict,--and
she joyed in this larger vision. After a visit to my house, in 1896, she
wrote thus to Judge Merrick: “Christ and His gospel are loyally loved,
believed in and cherished by me, and have been all along the years; nor do
I feel them to be inconsistent with avowing one’s position as an
evolutionist: ‘When the mists have cleared away,’ how beautiful it will be
to talk of the laws of the universe in our Father’s house, and to find
again there those whom we have loved and lost--awhile. In this faith I am
ever yours.
“FRANCES E. WILLARD.”
It is scarcely worth while to say that she often was the subject of the
doctrinaire. At one time a noted advocate of the faith cure was her guest,
and was using all diligence to lead Miss Willard to embrace her “higher
life.” She said to this lady: “Come with me to-day to see a friend, a
lovely woman, who seems to me to walk the higher life of faith in great
beauty and peace and power for others. I think you will be kindred
spirits.” The visit was made, and the two strangers fell into each other’s
arms, as it were, in the intensity of their spiritual sympathy. On their
return to Rest Cottage, Miss Willard quietly said to her guest: “That
friend is one of the most noted Christian Science healers.” Now this was
the chiefest of heterodoxies to the faith-healer. “How I did enjoy her
shocked astonishment,” Miss Willard gleefully said to me, “and I told her
I was more than ever sure how truly _one_, in the depths of their natures
and their essential faiths, are those who are sincerely seeking to know
God.”
Frances Willard’s spiritual life was too overflowing and comprehensive to
find expression in creeds. Her own new beatitude, “Blessed are the
inclusive, for they shall be included,” is a fair statement of her
doctrine as it related to her human ties, and to all the household of
faith. Her whole law and gospel was “To love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart--and thy neighbor as thyself:” and she found God in His works as
well as in His Word, and His image in every beautiful soul that passed her
way--and always her spirit ascended unto the Father. She herself was
regenerate by love, and she expected love alone--enough of it--to
transform the world. She wrote me: “Be it known unto thee that I
believe--and _always_ did--that the fact of _life_ predicts the fact of
immortality. Lonesome would it be indeed for us yonder in Paradise were
not the trees and flowers and birds we loved alive, once more with us to
make heaven homelike to our tender hearts. How rich is life in
friendships, opportunity, loyalty, tenderness! To me these things
translate themselves in terms of Christ. Perhaps others speak oftener of
Him, and have more definite conceptions of Him as an entity; but in the
wishful sentiment of loyalty and a sincere intention of a life that shall
confess Him by the spirit of its deeds I believe I am _genuine_.”
Just after the Boston World’s and National Conventions of 1891, Lilian
Whiting--that keen analyzer of motive and character--wrote: “Frances
Willard is a born leader; but with this genius for direction and
leadership, she unites another quality utterly diverse from
leadership--that of the most impressionable, the most plastic, the most
sympathetic and responsive person that can possibly be imagined. Her
temperament is as delicately susceptible as that of an Aeolian harp; one
can hardly think in her presence without feeling that she intuitively
perceives the thought. She has the clairvoyance of high spirituality.
“No woman of America has ever done so remarkable a work as that being done
by Frances Willard. There is no question of the fact that she was called
of the Lord to consecrate herself to this work. She is so simple, so
modest, so eager to put every one else in the best possible light, so
utterly forgetful of self, that it requires some attention to realize her
vast comprehensiveness of effort and achievement. If ever a woman were in
touch with the heavenly forces it is she. Frances Willard is the most
remarkable figure of her age.”
Some one else in a private letter writes: “Her strength was because she
could love as no one else has loved since the Son of Man walked the
earth.”