Mrs. Victoria C. Woodhull and her sister were the chief ornaments of the Convention."

New York City.

Tribune, February 17th, 1871. "WASHINGTON, FEBRUARY 16TH.-Lincoln Hall was filled to overflowing, this evening, by a curious audience who assembled to hear the argument which Mrs. Woodhull and Mrs. Beecher Hooker were refused permission to deliver in the House of Representatives. On the platform were seated, among others, Gen. Butler, Mrs. Julian, Mrs. Paulina Wright Davis, Senator and Mrs. Ames, Judge Lawrence, Col. and Mrs. Tappon, while in the audience were many Senators and Representatives.

"Mrs. Woodhull appeared quite nervous, and evidently laboured under considerable excitement; her voice, a little tremulous at first, soon made itself distinctly heard throughout the hall. She read from printed slips an argument intended to be of a logical and legal character, occupying about an hour and a quarter in delivery, to which, after the first few minutes, the audience paid marked attention, with occasional applause. The argument was a careful elaboration of the memorial already printed by the Tribune, claiming that Republican government can only exist with the consent of the people, included men and women; under the Constitution women were citizens; that citizenship included all rights belonging to citizens of the United States; shall not be abridged by the States. She argued that the right to representation is herent to all in a government by all; that, according to Otis and Franklin, a government denying this, and taxing without consent, is a tyranny. One of the points made was on the use of the word qualification, as applied to the franchise. A qualification, she said, must be such as can be obtained by all citizens, otherwise it amounts to disfranchisement. Sex cannot be pleaded as a qualification, because it cannot be changed at the will of any person."

New York Herald, February 17th, 1871. New York City. "Mrs. Woodhull has opened her Presidential campaign with

a very effective speech, which she delivered to a full audience in Lincoln Hall at Washington last evening."

"Mrs. Woodhull delivered a lecture in Washington at Lincoln last night on Constitutional equality. The audience was the largest that has appeared in the hall, and although an admission fee was charged hundreds of persons were forced to go away, unable to get inside. General Butler was to have introduced Mrs. Woodhull, but he did not arrive in time, so that duty fell upon Mrs. Paulina Wright Davis. General Butler, accompanied by Senator Ames, his son-in-law, appeared upon the platform soon after Mrs. Woodhull began to speak and took a seat in front. He looked extremely happy, and seemed to be thinking of the excellent chance he would have of being elected President of the United States when the women shall be allowed to votethat is, provided Mrs. Woodhull is not a candidate. She seems to be the head and front of the movement now, having pushed the others aside, who never could manage to stir up public enthusiasm and enlist prominent politicians in the cause as Mrs. Woodhull has done.

"In addition to General Butler and Senator Ames, Representatives Lawrence, Judge Loughbridge, and Ela were on the platform. These are all converts made by Mrs. Woodhull to the woman suffrage movement. The lecture was listened to with great attention, those parts of it hitting hard at Bingham, the majority of the Judiciary Committee, and the members of the Congress who refused to allow Mrs. Woodhull to have the Hall of the House for her speech, were loudly applauded. Altogether it was a great success."

The Chronicle, February 17th, 1871. Washington (D. C.). "A vast concourse of intelligent men and women sat in Lincoln Hall last evening, and listened with rapt attention to the masterly argument delivered by Mrs. Woodhull upon the legal aspects of female suffrage. Long before the commencement of the lecture the ushers were busy in procuring chairs for those who could not find other seats, and with all that men and

women stood by scores all around the sides of the room. At eight o'clock Mrs. Paulina Davis advanced to the footlights and stated the object of the lecture in a few clear, earnest words, and then introduced Mrs. Woodhull. This was her first attempt at public speaking. During the remarks of Mrs. Davis she had sat with perfect composure, but those who knew her face saw at a glance that nothing but a tremendous effort of will enabled her to maintain that demeanour. When she commenced to speak, her voice was clear, distinct, and without the least tremor, but her face was perfectly colourless, and she was obliged to stop an instant between each sentence to gain strength to utter the next. It was a grand exhibition of will. But as she progressed and became warmed in her argument, much of the fire of her ordinary conversation returned, her face flushed, and she was herself. The lecture was a triumph, and she demonstrated that, with a little experience, Mrs. Woodhull will be as strong upon the rostrum as she is with the pen."

The Sunday Gazette, February 19th, 1871. Washington (D. C.). "The audience was the largest that ever congregated in Lincoln Hall, and her speech was applauded throughout."

Daily Republican, February 20th, 1871. Washington (D. C.). "In Lincoln Hall, on Thursday last, Mrs. Victoria Woodhull delivered an argument upon the legal aspects of the claims of woman to the right of suffrage under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of the Constitution.

"Mrs. Woodhull discussed the principles of the republican government as expounded by our revolutionary fathers, and applied them to the great questions of the present day. Of course she found no difficulty in proving woman's natural right to the exercise of the elective franchise. Coming to our own time, the reconstruction measures, both in constitutional amendment and in legislation, were fully discussed by the orator, and by them she fully proved the impregnable position she has assumed. That woman are citizens, and that no State has a right to abridge the rights, privileges, or immunities of