In the endless discussions at Headquarters—discussions that consider every subject on earth and change constantly in personnel and point of view—she is always the most silent. But when at last she speaks, often there ensues a pause; she has summed it all up. Superficially she seems cold, austere11, a little remote. But that is only because the 15fire of her spirit burns at such a heat that it is still and white. She has the quiet of the spinning top.
As for her mentality12 ... her capacity for leadership ... her vision.... There is no difference of opinion in regard to Alice Paul in the Woman’s Party. With one accord, they say, “She is the Party.” They regard her with an admiration13 which verges14 on awe15. Mentally she walks apart; not because she has any conscious sense of superiority, but because of the swiftness, amplitude16, and completeness with which her mind marches—her marvelous powers of concentration and her blazing devotion to the work.
I think no better description can be given of her than to quote the exact phrases which her associates use in talking of her. Winifred Mallon speaks of her “burning sincerity17.” Helena Hill Weed imputes18 a “prescience” to her. Anne Martin says, “She is the heart, brain, and soul of the Woman’s Party,” and “Her mind moves with the precision of a beautiful machine.” Nina Allender sums her up as “a Napoleon without self-indulgence.” She said that when at the hearing in 1915, Congressmen tried to tangle19 Alice Paul they found it an impossibility; everything in Alice Paul’s mentality was so clear; there was nothing to tangle. She added, “There are no two minds to Alice Paul.” “My mother describes her,” she concluded, “as a flame undyingly burning.”
This is Maud Younger’s tribute:
She has in the first place a devotion to the cause which is absolutely self-sacrificing. She has an indomitable will. She recognizes no obstacles. She has a clear, penetrating20, analytic21 mind which cleaves22 straight to the heart of things. In examining a situation, she always bares the main fact; she sees all the forces which make for change in that situation. She is a genius for organization, both in the mass and in detail. She understands perfectly23, in achieving the big object, the cumulative24 effect of multitudes of small actions and small services. She makes use of all material, whether human or otherwise, that comes along. Her work has perpetual growth; it never stagnates25; 16it is always branching out. She is never hampered26 or cluttered27. She is free of the past. Her inventiveness and resourcefulness are endless. She believes absolutely in open diplomacy28. She believes that everything should be told; our main argument with her was in regard to the necessity for secrecy29 in special cases. She is almost without suspicion; and sometimes with a too-great tendency towards kind judgment30 in the case of the individual. It seems incredible that with all these purely31 intellectual gifts, she should possess an acute appreciation32 of beauty; a gift for pageantry; an amazing sense of humor.
Lucy Burns says:
When Alice Paul spoke33 to me about the federal work, I knew that she had an extraordinary mind, extraordinary courage and remarkable34 executive ability. But I felt she had two disabilities—ill-health and a lack of knowledge of human nature. I was wrong in both. I was staggered by her speed and industry and the way she could raise money. Her great assets, I should say, are her power, with a single leap of the imagination, to make plans on a national scale; and a supplementary35 power to see that done down to the last postage stamp. But because she can do all this, people let her do it—often she has to carry her own plans out down to the very last postage stamp. She used all kinds of people; she tested them through results. She is exceedingly charitable in her judgments36 of people and patient. She assigned one inept37 person to five different kinds of work before she gave her up. Her abruptness38 lost some workers, but not the finer spirits. The very absence of anything like personal appeal seemed to help her.
Lucy Burns at the Head of the “Prison Specialists.”
These Women, All of Whom Served Terms in Jail, Are Wearing
a Reproduction of Their Prison Garb39.
Photo Copr. Harris and Ewing, Washington, D. C.
Lucy Burns is as different a type from Alice Paul as one could imagine. She is tall—or at least she seems tall; rounded and muscular; a splendidly vigorous physical specimen40. If Alice Paul looks as though she were a Tanagra carved from alabaster, Lucy Burns seems like a figure, heroically sculptured, from marble. She is blue-eyed and fresh-complexioned; dimpled; and her head is burdened, even as Alice Paul’s, by an enormous weight of hair. Lucy Burn’s hair is a brilliant red; and even as she flashes, it flashes. It is full of sparkle. She is a woman of twofold ability. She speaks and writes with equal eloquence41 and 17elegance. Her speeches before Suffrage42 bodies, her editorials in the Suffragist are models of clearness; conciseness43; of accumulative force of expression. Mentally and emotionally, she is quick and warm. Her convictions are all vigorous and I do not think Lucy Burns would hesitate for a moment to suffer torture, to die, for them. She has intellectuality of a high order; but she overruns with a winning Irishness which supplements that intellectuality with grace and charm; a social mobility44 of extreme sensitiveness and swiftness. In those early days in Washington, with all her uncompromising militantism, Lucy Burns was the diplomat45 of the pair; the tactful, placating46 force.
I asked a member of the Woman’s Party who had watched the work from the beginning what was the difference between the two women. She answered, “They are both political-minded. They seemed in those early days to have one spirit and one brain. Both saw the situation exactly as it was, but they went at the problem with different methods. Alice Paul had a more acute sense of justice, Lucy Burns, a more bitter sense of injustice47. Lucy Burns would become angry because the President or the people did not do this or that. Alice Paul never expected anything of them.”
Both these women had the highest kind of courage. Lucy Burns—although she admits that at Occoquan Workhouse, she suffered from nameless terrors—has a mental poise48 that is almost unsusceptible to fear. Alice Paul—although she can with perfect composure endure arrest, imprisonment49, hunger-striking—acknowledges timidities. She does not like to listen to horrors of any description, especially ghost-stories. They say though that, in the movies, she always particularly enjoyed pirates.
点击收听单词发音
1 alabaster | |
adj.雪白的;n.雪花石膏;条纹大理石 | |
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2 dense | |
a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的 | |
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3 scooping | |
n.捞球v.抢先报道( scoop的现在分词 );(敏捷地)抱起;抢先获得;用铲[勺]等挖(洞等) | |
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4 prevailing | |
adj.盛行的;占优势的;主要的 | |
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5 opaque | |
adj.不透光的;不反光的,不传导的;晦涩的 | |
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6 pulsates | |
v.有节奏地舒张及收缩( pulsate的第三人称单数 );跳动;脉动;受(激情)震动 | |
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7 plaintiveness | |
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8 lucidity | |
n.明朗,清晰,透明 | |
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9 luminous | |
adj.发光的,发亮的;光明的;明白易懂的;有启发的 | |
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10 futility | |
n.无用 | |
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11 austere | |
adj.艰苦的;朴素的,朴实无华的;严峻的 | |
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12 mentality | |
n.心理,思想,脑力 | |
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13 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
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14 verges | |
边,边缘,界线( verge的名词复数 ) | |
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15 awe | |
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧 | |
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16 amplitude | |
n.广大;充足;振幅 | |
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17 sincerity | |
n.真诚,诚意;真实 | |
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18 imputes | |
v.把(错误等)归咎于( impute的第三人称单数 ) | |
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19 tangle | |
n.纠缠;缠结;混乱;v.(使)缠绕;变乱 | |
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20 penetrating | |
adj.(声音)响亮的,尖锐的adj.(气味)刺激的adj.(思想)敏锐的,有洞察力的 | |
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21 analytic | |
adj.分析的,用分析方法的 | |
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22 cleaves | |
v.劈开,剁开,割开( cleave的第三人称单数 ) | |
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23 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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24 cumulative | |
adj.累积的,渐增的 | |
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25 stagnates | |
v.停滞,不流动,不发展( stagnate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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26 hampered | |
妨碍,束缚,限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27 cluttered | |
v.杂物,零乱的东西零乱vt.( clutter的过去式和过去分词 );乱糟糟地堆满,把…弄得很乱;(以…) 塞满… | |
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28 diplomacy | |
n.外交;外交手腕,交际手腕 | |
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29 secrecy | |
n.秘密,保密,隐蔽 | |
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30 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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31 purely | |
adv.纯粹地,完全地 | |
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32 appreciation | |
n.评价;欣赏;感谢;领会,理解;价格上涨 | |
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33 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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34 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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35 supplementary | |
adj.补充的,附加的 | |
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36 judgments | |
判断( judgment的名词复数 ); 鉴定; 评价; 审判 | |
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37 inept | |
adj.不恰当的,荒谬的,拙劣的 | |
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38 abruptness | |
n. 突然,唐突 | |
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39 garb | |
n.服装,装束 | |
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40 specimen | |
n.样本,标本 | |
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41 eloquence | |
n.雄辩;口才,修辞 | |
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42 suffrage | |
n.投票,选举权,参政权 | |
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43 conciseness | |
n.简洁,简短 | |
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44 mobility | |
n.可动性,变动性,情感不定 | |
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45 diplomat | |
n.外交官,外交家;能交际的人,圆滑的人 | |
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46 placating | |
v.安抚,抚慰,使平静( placate的现在分词 ) | |
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47 injustice | |
n.非正义,不公正,不公平,侵犯(别人的)权利 | |
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48 poise | |
vt./vi. 平衡,保持平衡;n.泰然自若,自信 | |
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49 imprisonment | |
n.关押,监禁,坐牢 | |
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