We have read the Preamble of the Constitution, and
quoted authorities to show in what light it must be read in reference to
its following provisions. By its Preamble, the Constitution is shown to
make no distinction in favor of sex. From secret debates of the
convention which framed it, we find the motives and the arguments of its
framers.
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.
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