n the Convention. My excuse
is that I was unavoidably absent during the discussion on the
subject.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, madam,

Your obedient servant,
LUCRETIA MOTT. DANIEL O'CONNELL.

The following earnest and friendly letter from William Howitt, was
highly prized by Mrs. Mott:

LONDON, _June 27, 1840_.

DEAR FRIEND:--....I regret that I was prevented from making a
part of the Convention, as nothing should have hindered me from
stating there in the plainest terms my opinion of the _real
grounds_ on which you were rejected. It is a pity that you were
excluded on the plea of being women; but it is disgusting that
under that plea you were actually excluded as heretics. That is
the real ground, and it ought to have been at once proclaimed and
exposed by the liberal members of the Convention; but I believe
they were not aware of the fact. I heard of the circumstance of
your exclusion at a distance, and immediately said: "Excluded on
the ground that they are women?" No, that is not the real cause;
there is something behind. And what are these female delegates?
Are they orthodox in religion? The answer was "No, they are
considered to be of the Hicksite party of Friends." My reply was,
"That is enough; _there_ lies the real cause, and there needs no
other. The influential Friends in the Convention would never for
a moment tolerate their presence there if they could prevent it.
They hate them because they have dared to call in question their
sectarian dogmas and assumed authority; and they have taken care
to brand them in the eyes of the Calvinistic Dissenters, who form
another large and influential portion of the Convention, as
Unitarians; in their eyes the most odious of heretics."

But what a miserable spectacle is this! The "World's Convention"
converting itself into the fag-end of the Yearly Meeting of the
Society of Friends! That Convention met from various countries
and climates to consider how it shall best advance the sacred
cause of humanity; of the freedom of the race, independent of
caste or color, immediately falls the victim of bigotry; and one
of its first acts is to establish a caste of sectarian opinion,
and to introduce color i