COMMEMORATION ADDRESSES 411 



retained on behalf of the petition. He stated his case 

 clearly and succinctly, but produced no effect, so far 

 as I could judge, on the Committee. Several gentle- 

 men addressed the Committee, most of them on be- 

 half of the proposal. I spoke myself, explaining the 

 relations which Harvard University would maintain 

 in the future with the proposed Radcliffe College. The 

 case looked perfectly hopeless when Mrs. Agassiz 

 arose. She first read a paper which she had written, 

 describing the aims of the college, and how they would 

 be fulfilled in combination with Harvard University. I 

 was looking straight at the Committee, and the soft- 

 ening in the faces of the Committee was remarkable. 

 Just her presence and her bearing changed the minds 

 of those plain citizens of Massachusetts. The chair- 

 man of the Committee was visibly affected by her 

 reading of her exposition and argument. 



When her reading ceased, she said that she was 

 ready to answer any questions the Committee might 

 ask. Now that was really a terrible ordeal to her; but 

 she felt it to be her duty and that it might prove a 

 good way of serving her cause. And indeed it did. Her 

 replies to the questions of the Committee were more 

 effective than her paper. It was an effect produced by 

 her personal bearing, by her speech, and by the abso- 

 lute sincerity and disinterestedness of her petition. It 

 was an effect of personality in public speech as strong 

 and clear as I have ever seen. Before she ceased to 

 speak, the case was won. The lawyer who was re- 

 tained on the other side failed to make any adequate 

 statement of the position of his clients. He was him- 



