chair and officials wore white dresses, Emmeline wore purple, and Christabel,
pale green silk. Since the day was known as ‘Christabel Pankhurst’s Day’,
Emmeline took a less prominent role, allowing her daughter to speak first. She
glowed with motherly pride when Christabel, the ‘heroine’ of the evening, was
greeted with frantic cheering and shouting from the gallery and the stalls.^34
When Emmeline rose to address the meeting, she too was greeted by a great
outburst of cheering; then someone stepped forward and presented to her a
replica of a medal struck to commemorate the winning of the Bastille in the
French Revolution. With grateful thanks, she remarked, ‘I was born on July 14,
the anniversary of the destruction of the Bastille. I shall treasure and wear this
medal because I have always thought that the fact that I was born on that day
has had some kind of influence over my life.’^35 Weakened by her imprisonment,
she made a brief speech, gladly acknowledging the freshness of approach that
the energetic Christabel brought to the campaign:
I am glad that this is not my night, because I have not any longer that
physical vigour of youth, which has just filled me with so much
maternal pride. But I am thankful to say that though I have not the
physical vigour of youth I have come out of prison with as much
youthful spirit as the youngest girl in this hall ... after all, what have
we, my daughter and I, done more than the other women who have
been to prison this year?^36Despite her tiredness, Emmeline made a firm pledge, that in future they were
going to demand the treatment given to men political offenders in this and in
other civilised countries. She drew to a close by stressing the importance of
women working together for the vote, rather than individually, helped by the
best men.^37
Early in the New Year, on Thursday 14 January 1909, the WSPU held a
special meeting to honour the release of Emmeline and Mary Leigh. Mary Leigh
was unable to attend and so an inscribed clock was formally presented to her, in
her absence. But the evening belonged to Emmeline, a feminist icon, who was
received by the whole audience standing and cheering. The Union leader was
presented with a gold chain and pendant of amethysts, pearls and emeralds –
the colours of the WSPU – as a symbol of the dignity, purity and hope she had
brought into her followers’ lives ‘by her great passion for humanity’. A book
bound in purple morocco, listed in purple and green ink on its white vellum
pages the names of the subscribers, and spoke of ‘the deep devotion of our hearts
... our gratitude and love’.^38 With controlled emotion, Emmeline addressed her
audience, emphasising that if the Prime Minister did not include a votes for
women measure in the King’s Speech before parliament then they would
demonstrate again, as they did before. Then she made an appeal for more
women to join the suffrage agitation, particularly asking the younger women to
volunteer to serve prison sentences. Directly and simply, Emmeline clearly told
EMMELINE AND CHRISTABEL