ol, save
that of conscience and God, labored for absolute liberty for the whole
human race. We cannot think of the partial triumph of freedom in this
country, without rejoicing in the great part she took in the victory.
Lucretia Mott is one of the noblest representatives of ideal womanhood.
Those who know her, need not be told this, but those who only love her
in the spirit, may be sure that they can have no faith too great in the
beauty of her pure and Christian life.

This book would be incomplete without giving some account, however
brief, of Lucretia Mott's character and labors in the great work to
which her life has been devoted. To write it fully would require a
volume. She was born in 1793, in the island of Nantucket, and is
descended from the Coffins and Macys, on the father's side, and from the
Folgers, on the mother's side, and through them is related to Dr.
Benjamin Franklin. Her maiden name was Lucretia Coffin.

During the absence of her father on a long voyage, her mother was
engaged in mercantile business, purchasing goods in Boston, in exchange
for oil and candles, the staples of the island. Mrs. Mott says in
reference to this employment: "The exercise of women's talent in this
line, as well as the general care which devolved upon them in the
absence of their husbands, tended to develop their intellectual powers,
and strengthened them mentally and physically."

The family removed to Boston in 1804. Her parents belonged to the
religious Society of Friends, and carefully cultivated in their
children, the peculiarities as well as the principles of that sect. To
this early training, we may ascribe the rigid adherence of Mrs. Mott, to
the beautiful but sober costume of the Society.

When in London, in 1840, she visited the Zoological Gardens, and a
gentleman of the party, pointing out the splendid plumage of some
tropical birds, remarked: "You see, Mrs. Mott, our heavenly Father
believes in bright colors. How much it would take from our pleasure, if
all the birds were dressed in drab." "Yes;" she replied, "but immortal
beings do not depend upon feathers for their attractions. With the
infinite variety of the human face and form, of thought, feeling and
affection, we do not need gorgeous apparel to distinguish us. Moreover,
if it is fitting that woman should dress in every color of the rainbow,
why not man also? Clergymen, with their black clothes and white cravats,
are quite as monotonous as the Quakers."