Atthe annual meeting of the
Hebrew technical school for girls,
held
in the Temple Emmanuel, January 20, 1901
Mr. Clemens was introduced by
President Meyer, who said: “In one
of Mr. Clemens’s works he expressed his opinion
of men, saying he had no choice between
Hebrew and Gentile, black men or white;
to him all men were alike. But I never could
find that he expressed his opinion of women;
perhaps that opinion was so exalted that
he could not express it. We shall now be called
to hear what he thinks of women.”
Ladies and gentlemen,—It is a small help
that I can afford, but it is just such help that one
can give as coming from the heart through the mouth.
The report of Mr. Meyer was admirable, and I was as
interested in it as you have been. Why, I’m
twice as old as he, and I’ve had so much experience
that I would say to him, when he makes his appeal for
help: “Don’t make it for to-day or
to-morrow, but collect the money on the spot.”
We are all creatures of sudden impulse. We must
be worked up by steam, as it were. Get them
to write their wills now, or it may be too late by
-and-by. Fifteen or twenty years ago I had an
experience I shall never forget. I got into
a church which was crowded by a sweltering and panting
multitude. The city missionary of our town—Hartford—made
a telling appeal for help. He told of personal
experiences among the poor in cellars and top lofts
requiring instances of devotion and help. The
poor are always good to the poor. When a person
with his millions gives a hundred thousand dollars
it makes a great noise in the world, but he does not
miss it; it’s the widow’s mite that makes
no noise but does the best work.
I remember on that occasion in the Hartford church
the collection was being taken up. The appeal
had so stirred me that I could hardly wait for the
hat or plate to come my way. I had four hundred
dollars in my pocket, and I was anxious to drop it
in the plate and wanted to borrow more. But
the plate was so long in coming my way that the fever-heat
of beneficence was going down lower and lower—going
down at the rate of a hundred dollars a minute.
The plate was passed too late. When it finally
came to me, my enthusiasm had gone down so much that
I kept my four hundred dollars—and stole
a dime from the plate. So, you see, time sometimes
leads to crime.
Oh, many a time have I thought of that and regretted
it, and I adjure you all to give while the fever is
on you.
Referring to woman’s sphere in life, I’ll
say that woman is always right. For twenty-five
years I’ve been a woman’s rights man.
I have always believed, long before my mother died,
that, with her gray hairs and admirable intellect,
perhaps she knew as much as I did. Perhaps she
knew as much about voting as I.
