During my stay in England, I received many invitations to address meetings in various parts of the country. In compliance with these, I visited Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, and Carlisle. In Bristol I was the guest of Mary Carpenter, who gave me some friendly advice regarding the convention which I hoped to hold in London. She assured me that such a meeting could have no following unless the call for it were dignified by the name of some prominent member of the English aristocracy. In this view, she strongly advised me to write to the Duchess of Argyll, requesting an interview at which I might speak to her of my plans. I did write the letter, and obtained the interview. The Duchess, with whom I had had some acquaintance for many years, invited me to luncheon on a certain day. I found her, surrounded by her numerous family of daughters, the youngest of whom carried round a dish of fruit at dessert. Luncheon being at an end, the Duchess granted me a short tete-à--tete. ‘My only objection to a lady's speaking in public,’ she said, ‘is based upon St. Paul's saying: “I suffer not a woman to teach,” etc.’ I replied, ‘Yes; but remember that, in another place, he says that a woman may prophesy wearing a veil.’ She assented to this statement, but did not appear to interest herself much in my plan of a Woman's Peace Congress. She had always been
