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- 
