Francis Jackson Garrison, William Lloyd Garrison, 1805-1879; the story of his life told by his children: volume 4

‘ [87] religion, the demand for the entire and speedy extinction of slavery in every part of our country.’ Concert Hall, the largest assembly-room in the city, was scarcely adequate for the throng of members and friends who gathered in joyful confidence that the end of their anti-slavery labors was near at hand; and in dramatic contrast to the conditions under which the Convention of 1833 had met, a slave-auction block now served as the speakers' stand, the national colors were festooned upon the walls, and a squad of colored soldiers from a neighboring camp (which bore the peaceful name of William Penn) occupied seats on the platform at the opening session. Of the forty-five survivors of the original founders of the Society, eleven¹ were present; and the racy and delightful reminiscences of the first Convention which were given by Samuel J. May, J. M. McKim, and Lucretia Mott, with an account of the women's anti-slavery societies by Mary Grew, filled what was left of the first day's sessions after the great audience had listened to Mr. Garrison's welcoming address, to letters from absent friends, and to the reading, by Dr. William H. Furness, of the Declaration of Sentiments.

The absence of Wendell Phillips and Edmund Quincy was greatly regretted. Others unable to attend, who sent letters which were read or printed, were John G. Whittier, David Thurston, Simeon S. Jocelyn, and Joshua Coffin, of the Signers of the Declaration; Arthur Tappan, Samuel Fessenden, John Rankin, Theodore and Angelina Weld, and Sarah Grimke, of the early supporters of the movement; and Joshua R. Giddings, Charles Sumner, Owen Lovejoy, B. Gratz Brown (then leading the emancipation movement in Missouri), and John Jay (subsequently Minister to Austria),² of the political allies of the cause.