The great foundation and key stone alike of our Republican ideas, of our Constitution, is individual, personal representation, and it is the greatest blessing to the country at large that the question of representation has come up in the person of Miss Anthony.  Men are compelled to think upon underlying principles.  They are compelled to ask themselves where they get either natural or constitutional right to govern women.

From the earliest ages men have queried among themselves as to where lay the governing power.  In the time of Abraham, and even now in some parts of the world the Patriarch of the tribe is looked upon as its supreme ruler.  Members of Scottish clans to-day, look with more reverence upon their chief, than upon the Queen:  they obey his behests sooner than parliamentary laws.  Other men have believed the governing power lay in the hands of a select few, an aristocracy, and that these few men could by right make laws to govern the rest.  Others again have believed this power vested in a single man called King, or Czar, or Pope, but it was left to our country, and our age, to promulgate the idea that the governing power lay in the people themselves.  It took men a great many thousand years to discover this pregnant fact, and although our government laid down at the very first, certain underlying truths, it has taken a very long time even for this country to see, and practice these principles; but as men have opened their eyes to liberty there have been constant advances towards securing its full blessings to each and every individual, and in this progress we had first, the Declaration; second, the Articles of Confederation; third, the Constitution; then the ten Conciliatory Amendments, quickly followed by an eleventh and twelfth, each one of these designed to more fully secure liberty to the people, and making fifteen successive steps in the short period of twenty-eight years.

At the time of framing this government women existed as well as men, women are part of the people; the people created the government.  Now, when speaking to you to-night, I am speaking to the people of this part of Ontario County, I am not speaking to men alone, I am not speaking to women alone, but to you all as people.  When people frame a government the rights not delegated by them to the government, are retained by them, as is declared by the tenth amendment.  Now where do men get their constitutional right to govern women?  Women have either delegated their right of self-government to certain delegates, by them to be elected according to all the forms of this government, or they have not so delegated their rights of self-government, but have retained them.  In either case, according to the genius of our government, what is there to prevent them from exercising these rights any moment they choose, unless it is force?  What prevents them unless it is unjust illegal power?  The ninth amendment declares that the enumeration of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny, or disparage others retained by the people.  Remember what are the foundation principles of just government, principles fully acted upon by the old revolutionists; remember that no government of whatever kind or character can possibly create the right of self-government, but only recognize rights as existent; remember the non-use of a right does not destroy that right.