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Modern Persecution, or Married Woman's Liabilities

From: Modern Persecution
Creator: Elizabeth P. W. Packard (author)
Date: 1873
Source: Available at selected libraries
Figures From This Artifact: Figure 1  Figure 2  Figure 3  Figure 4  Figure 5  Figure 6  Figure 7  Figure 8  Figure 9  Figure 10  Figure 11  Figure 12  Figure 13  Figure 14  Figure 15  Figure 16

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1265  

"Yes, naturally you would; but in my case, these relatives have not seen me for seven years, except brother Samuel, of Batavia, who has visited me only once during that time. And besides, opinions will not convict a criminal. Facts are needed as proof. A murderer is not convicted on opinions, but on facts."

1266  

"But insanity is not a crime, but a misfortune, and different kind of evidence is required to prove it. It is a disease, and as physicians detect disease by the irregularities of the physical organization, so they must judge of insanity by the 'views' they take of things."

1267  

"But, Doctor, is not the conduct the index of the mind and if 'these views' are not accompanied with irregularities of conduct, ought 'these views' alone to be treated as evidences of insanity?"

1268  

"Yes, a person may be insane without irregularities of conduct."

1269  

"But have we any right to restrain the personal liberty of any one whose conduct shows no irregularities. For instance; should you like to be imprisoned in one of these wards on the simple opinion of some one that you had an insane idea in your head, while at the same time all your duties were being faithfully performed?"

1270  

He made no reply.

1271  

After a silence of a few moments, I added:

1272  

"Now, if you, Doctor, or any other individual, will bring forward one act of my own, showing lack of reason in it, I will own you have a right to call me insane."

1273  

After waiting a long time, he said:

1274  

"Was it not an insane act for you to fall down stairs, and then to be carried back to your ward?"

1275  

"That was not my act in being carried back to my ward. It was your own act, and my falling down stairs was an accident, caused too, by your ungentlemanly interference; and the object I had in view by asserting my rights, was a rational one, for I had good reasons for doing so."

1276  

"Oh, no, no, the reasons are nothing."

1277  

"Yes, they are; for unless you know the reasons which influence the actions of others, many acts would appear insane, that would not, if we knew the reasons which prompted the act. I asserted my right to my liberty from principle, not from impulse, in compliance with the advice of Gerrit Smith, viz.:

1278  

"When you have done all that forbearance, kindness and intelligence can do to right your wrongs, all that is left for you to do is, to 'assert your rights,' kindly, but firmly, and then leave the issue to God."

1279  

After another pause he said:

1280  

"What motive, Mrs. Packard, could I have for making you out insane, if I considered you were not? Would money prompt me to do it?"

1281  

"No, Doctor, I don't think money has influenced your mind in my case; but yon have so long been in the habit of receiving women on the simple verdict of the opinion of the husband, without proof, that you seem to think there is no necessity of using your own judgment at all in the case. And you do not seem to apprehend the glaring truth of the present day that woman's most subtle foe is a tyrant husband.

1282  

"It is might, not right, that decides the destiny of the married woman.

1283  

"You know I am not by any means, the only one you have thus taken in here, to please a cruel husband. You have received many since I have been here, such as Mrs. Wood, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Kenny, and many others. Indeed Doctor, this fact has become so notorious here, that our attendants echo the remark made by Elizabeth Bonne, the other day, viz.:

1284  

'I did once think I would get married; but since I have been here, and seen so many wives brought here by their husbands, when nothing ails them, I am firmly resolved never to venture to marry in Illinois! I can take better care of myself, alone.

1285  

"And Doctor, I agree with her in this conclusion:

1286  

"It is fatally dangerous to live in Illinois, under such laws, as thus expose the personal liberty of married women."

1287  

This kind of married slavery is worse than negro slavery, and it must be abolished before the reign of righteousness prevails.

1288  

Resolution is pacific; and I am resolved to secure peace on no principle but justice, freedom and right. With resolution, firm and determined, I am resolved to fight my way through all obstacles to victory -- to the Emancipation of married women!

1289  

I assume that my personal identity is my God-given right, and I claim that this right shall be recognized in the settlement of this great woman question.

1290  

None to my knowledge sustain me in my path of self-denying obedience to the cause of "married woman's emancipation." But when the victory is achieved, there will be no lack of voices to chant this triumph. If, while in the hottest of this battle, some of these plaudits could be heard, it would be a help far more needed and welcome than when we have laid off our armor.

1291  

But he whom God guards is well guarded. It is the fate of many who seek to do good, to have to resist their friends, and face their foes.

1292  

To be God's chosen instrument to raise woman to her proper position is a glorious office, and those who win this crown, must be willing to bear this cross. The public conscience is in motion, and the great moral force my enemies are struggling against is the gospel enforced by conscience, and every energetic act in us adds potency in the moral element by which it is to be moved to action.

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