they might assemble for the exercise of the right of free speech
in a city which denied to them the use of its halls and meeting-houses,
determined to erect for themselves such a place. At a cost of forty
thousand dollars they built Pennsylvania Hall and devoted it to "Free
Discussion, Virtue, Liberty, and Independence."

Two days after the dedicatory exercises were had the hall was occupied
by the annual convention of American Anti-Slavery Women. On the evening
of May 16th, Garrison, Maria Weston Chapman, Angelina Grimke Weld and
others addressed the convention in the new temple of freedom. The scenes
of that evening have been graphically described by the first speaker as
follows: "The floor of the hall was densely crowded with women, some of
the noblest specimens of our race, a large proportion of whom were
Quakers. The side aisles and spacious galleries were as thickly filled
with men. Nearly three thousand people were in the hall. There seemed to
be no visible symptoms of a riot. When I rose to speak I was greeted
with applause by the immense assembly, and also several times in the
course of my remarks. As soon, however, as I had concluded my address, a
furious mob broke into the hall, yelling and shouting as if the very
fiends of the pit had suddenly broken loose. The audience rose in some
confusion, and would undoubtedly have been broken up, had it not been
for the admirable self-possession of some individuals, particularly the
women. The mobocrats finding that they could not succeed in their
purpose, retreated into the streets, and, surrounding the building,
began to dash in the windows with stones and brick-bats. It was under
these appalling circumstances that Mrs. Chapman rose for the first time
in her life, to address a promiscuous assembly of men and women--and she
acquitted herself nobly. She spoke about ten minutes, and was succeeded
by A.E.G. Weld, who occupied nearly an hour. As the tumult from without
increased, and the brick-bats fell thick and fast (no one, however,
being injured) her eloquence kindled, her eye flashed, and her cheeks
glowed, as she devoutly thanked the Lord that the stupid repose of that
city had at length been disturbed by the force of truth. When she sat
down, Esther Moore (a Friend) made a few remarks, then Lucretia Mott,
and finally Abby Kelley, a noble young woman from Lynn.

"The meeting broke up about 10 o'clock, and we all got safely home. The
next day the street was thronged