The Baptist church was well filled on Friday evening of last week to hear the lecture of Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The subject announced was, “What Home Life consists of,” but upon consultation she decided to substitute her deservedly popular lecture, “Our Girls.” At the appointed hour Mrs. Stanton was introduced by Mrs. George Terwilliger, and for over two hours held the closest attention of her hearers. She is a lady of imposing presence, a fluent, graceful speaker, mingling argument, advice, invective, appeal and humor with the hand of a master, and all without oratorical effort or ostentatious display. The great trouble we think with most of our female speakers, is, that they speak in an unnatural tone, and gesture and act as though they were upon the stage instead of in a lecture room. Not so with Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She both speaks and acts in a perfectly natural manner, much to the delight and we may add benefit of her audience. It will be impossible for us to give anything like a fair sketch of her admirable lecture on Friday evening. Such lectures need to be heard to be fully appreciated. We wish that every parent in Fulton who has growing daughters could have been present and heard the excellent advice given in relation to the education, mode of dress, manners, and occupations of girls, and to their rights as citizens also. Mrs. Stanton holds that girls should be allowed the privileges of our Colleges, and other higher institutions of learning equally with the boys, that they should be permitted to enter the trades and professions upon equally as favorable auspices as the boys, and mentioned a number of instances where this has been done that the girls have far outranked the boys in scholarship, and in proficiency in business life.

Women should no longer be looked upon as the drudge or the plaything of man, but as a human being equal to himself in intellect, in force of character and business capacity. In matters of dress and manners her remarks were pointed and reasonable, and cannot fail of having a powerful effect in aiding the abolishment of the present unhealthy mode of female dressing, and in inaugurating a more rational system of manners. The last of her lecture was devoted to what we have long been accustomed to term “Woman’s Rights,” but her arguments in behalf of her sex being entitled to the elective franchise as citizens the same as other citizens; entitled to representation because they are subject to taxation, and entitled to stand equal with man in all the affairs and business of life, were so clearly, forcibly and kindly put that the results of allowing these rights were robbed of the terrors which the great mass of people have thrown around them. But few of the large audience went away we think without being convinced that she was pretty nearly right. The lecture as a whole will be long remembered. In this connection it is but proper for us to say that the people of Fulton are greatly indebted to Mr. Leslie Williams for the privilege of hearing this winter two of our most celebrated lecturers, Mr. Geo. R. Wendling and Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton. That this privilege has been appreciated we can fully attest.

Contributed by Nancy Kolk -- Glimpses of Fulton