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Thus all the pecuniary sacrifices I had made for this cause, by presenting each member of the Legislature with a copy of my book, amounting alone to over three hundred dollars, in addition to all the expenses attending a six months' campaign; added to my most indefatigable labors in Connecticut to bring about this most desirable change in the laws, that of removing some of the legal disabilities of married women, seemed, by this fell stroke, to be a dead failure, or in other words, "A Bull-run defeat!"

Another most formidable foe which I had to encounter in this field was "clandestine letters," sent to individual members, asking them to circulate them secretly, without letting me know of this fact or the infamous character of these letters.

Besides these members, I have been told that Dr. Bacon and Dr. Abbott and other clergymen in the city had copies of these same letters sent them, accompanied with most earnest appeals to use all their influence in trying to defeat my efforts in the Legislature!

From one who read these letters I was informed they were very derogatory to me and my character, even more scandalous if possible, than the published article.

Knowing nothing of this occult influence at work against me, I could not help feeling surprised and hurt, when meeting upon the street, the morning of the appearance of these scandalous articles, some members of my personal acquaintances, instead of giving me their usual polite salutation, accompanied by a tip of the beaver, evidently avoided me, by crossing over to the opposite side of the street, or passing by apparently unconscious of my presence. And it was in consequence of my speaking of this fact to one of my patrons, which led him to make me the above revelation, as an explanation of the cause of this neglect and coldness thus manifested. Said I:

"Why could not this ministerial influence Mr. Packard has thus rallied as an antagonism to defeat the reform I am trying to inaugurate, have met me in an open field of fair discussion instead of thus secretly attacking the moral character of its defender?"

"Because they could not afford" to do this openly, as this movement has already received the popular voice in its favor, and this brutal assault upon the character of a woman, so utterly defenseless and so self-dependent also, might react upon themselves, and thus endanger their popularity."

"But, sir, it would not be so reprehensible an act in itself?"

"No, Mrs. Packard, but it might bring an unenviable notoriety upon themselves, as deserving public censure, while this secret attack might defeat this reform, and at the same time, shield them from detection as opposers to humanitarian reforms."

"But ministers of Christ have no license to act unmanly any more than any other class."

"Certainly they have not, still their mistakes are often times allowed to pass unnoticed lest "the cause" suffer by their actions being subjected to criticism in common with others -- in other words, their position shields them."

"But, sir, I think this is wrong, for the ministerial office does not insure men against the commission of sins of the darkest hue, for the ministry is composed of men, who are subject to like frailties and passions with other men. And ministers, like all other men, must stand just where their own actions place them, not where their position ought always to find them. They ought to be men whose characters should be unimpeachable. But they are not all so.

"Neither are all other men what they should be in their position.

"It is as much the duty of the minister to be true to himself -- true to the instincts of his God-given nature, as it is of other men. And any deviation from the path of rectitude which would not be tolerated in any other man, ought not to be tolerated in a minister.

"In short, ministers must stand on a common level with the rest of the human race in judgment. That is, they, like others, must stand just where their own conduct and actions place them. If their conduct entitles them to respect, we should respect them.

"But if their conduct makes them unworthy of our respect and confidence, it is a sin to bestow it upon them, for this respect which we give them under such circumstances, only countenances their sins and encourages them in iniquity, and thus puts their own souls in jeopardy, as well as reflects guilt upon those who thus helped them to work out their own destruction, when they ought to have helped them work out their own repentance for evil doing."

But even in spite of this array of powerful influence against the petition, and their ostensible triumph for a time, I have reason to think the good seed did take root, and although thus buried, for a time, beneath the sod of ignorance and prejudice, yet, the sun-light of truth and righteousness can and will permeate these elements and not only cause the good seed to germinate, but also to mature it into perfected fruit, and thus ensure the blessings of spiritual freedom to mothers of future generations, as their rightful heritage.