;;*iip!!i!iii!ii
'Siiliiill
|
IJillH:: |
:i |
^iuiHiiiuiiiililliliiiililiijiiH ■;iiiiMiiliiiifc
i •
:m^:
r/, -
■3Ei,c.3*=:
- LIBRARY
PREDEHICK DOUGLAoS LZjllTm OF NEGRO ARTS AND HISTORY
The Museum of African Art 316 A St., N,E., Washington, D.C
^crt^t/i^ AytA^iJUiL^
115
LIBRABY
MUSEUM OF AFRICAN ART 318-A STREET, NORTHZAS? WASHINGTON, D.C. 20G02
FREDERICK DOUGLASS
THE ORATOR./
CONTAINING
AN ACCOUNT OF HIS LIFE; HIS EMINENT PUBLIC
SERVICES; HIS BRILLIANT CAREER AS
ORATOR; SELECTIONS FROM HIS
SPEECHES AND WRITINGS.
BY
JAMES M. GREGORY, A. M.,
Professor of the Latin Language and Literature, Howard University, Washington, D. C.
WITH AN introduction BY
W. S. SCARBOROUGH, A. M.,
Professor New Testament, Greek and Literature,
Payne Theological Seminary,
Wilberforce, ' Ohio.
ILIvUSTRA
■;-v«<*
SPRINGFIELD, MASS. :
WILIvKY COIMRANY.
i3?S -
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the vear 1893,
By JAMES M. GREGORY, A. M.,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D. C.
SPRINGFIELD PRINTING AND BINDING COMPANY,
ELECTROTYPERS, PRINTERS AND BINDERS,
SPRINGFIELD, MASS.
\Vh
..^^L-^*--*^/ i I h ^
t^cu^^<^ '»■ H "^
TO THE STUDENTS
WHO HAVE PASSED UNDER MY INSTRUCTION DURING THE LAST TWENTY YEARS
THIS BIOGRAPHY
OF
AN EMINENT ORATOR AND A CHAMPION OF HUMAN FREEDOM
IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED.
yst
W. S. SCARBOROUGH.
INTRODUCTION.
When it was announced that Professor James M. Gregory of Howard University would edit a volume bearing upon some phase of the remark- able career of one of the most remarkable men of our times, the Hon. Frederick Douglass, all be- came expectant, and felt that a worthier chronicler of a worthier sire would be difficult to find.
Both the writer of this volume and his hero as well are eminent citizens in their respective spheres, and will doubtless receive the respectful attention they merit — the former as a representa- tive of the younger generation, and hence the product of the new dispensation; the latter, of the older generation, but the product of two dispensa- tions, the old and the new.
Professor James M. Gregory by education and by training is in a high degree qualified for the task he has undertaken. Having passed through the Cleveland (O.) city schools, he became a stu- dent of Oberlin College, and then a graduate of Howard University, Washington, D. C, where he took high honors.
Immediately upon graduation he was made tutor of mathematics in the preparatory depart-
6 INTRODUCTION.
ment of his alma mater. After four years as instructor here he \vas made professor of Latin in the college department, and was for two successive years dean of that department. He was also in- structor of political economy and general history.
Professor Gregory is a forcible writer, a fluent speaker, and an acceptable orator. Aside from this he is a man of sound judgment and great executive ability. As an educator he ranks among the first and easily holds his own. He was the first executive ofiicer of the American Associa- tion of Educators of Colored Youth, organized under the auspices of the alumni of Howard Uni- versity, and has since been annually re-elected to that important office. This in itself is conclusive proof of his eminent fitness for the position he holds.
He also served as a member of the board of trustees of the Washington city public schools for six years, and during that time was chairman of the committee on teachers. Here as in other positions he distinguished himself by his efficient service and strict integrity.
The hero of this volume is too well known for even a reference from me, but a few observations will not be out of keeping with the plan and scope of this work. Without exception, the most cele- brated negro now living is the Hon. Frederick Douglass. Born in the lap of slavery and reared
INTRODUCTION. 7
by slavery's fireside at least until he succeeded in making his escape from bondage, Mr. Douglass has demonstrated beyond contradiction the possi- bilities of his race even against the most fearful odds. There are other prominent colored men in America — doctors, lawyers, theologians, orators, statesmen, .nd scholars — but none of them from a national standpoint has attained the celebrity or the prestige of the " Sage of Anacostia." The pious Mrs. Auld, when she was " learning Fred how to read," little suspected that she, in reality, was shaping the future of him (though then a slave and a member of one of the despised races) who in time was destined to become one of the most distinguished men of his generation. Thus it was.
Mr. Douglass himself tells us, in his autobiog- raphy, that he made such rapid progress in master- ing the alphabet and in spelling words of three and four syllables, that his old master forbade his wife to teach him, declaring that learning would spoil the best " nigger " in the world, as it forever unfits him to be a slave. He added that he should know nothing but the will of his master, and should learn to obey it. As to Fred, learn- ing will do him no good, but a great deal of harm, making him disconsolate and unhappy. If you teach him how to read, he will want to know how to write, and this accomplished he will be run-
8 INTRODUCTION.
ning away with himself. Such in substance was his old master's opinion, and that it was a true prediction the life and career of Mr. Douglass, which have been fully told elsewhere, are a suffi- cient proof.
Mr. Douglass's superior ability as an orator and as a writer was early recognized by the friends of the race, and from that day to this his services in behalf of his people have ever been in demand. On the other hand he has been ready to sacrifice his own best interests for his race, and he has not failed to make the sacrifice. He is a brilliant orator, a fluent talker, and an interesting conver- sationalist. He has an excellent memory, and can recall dates and facts of history with perfect ease. A day in his society is a rare treat, a privi- lege that might well be coveted by America's greatest citizens. The greatness of the man and the inspiration that comes from every word that he utters, make one wonder how it was possible for such a remarkable character to have ever been a slave ; and, further, how even now it is possible for any discourtesies to be shown him because of his color. It is nevertheless true, however, that this distinguished American citizen must suffer with the rest of his fellows and share like indig- nities— and all because of his race.
Socrates used to say that all men are suffi- ciently eloquent in that which they understand.
INTRODUCTION. 9
Cicero says that, though this is plausible, it is not strictly true. He adds that no man can be elo- quent even if he understands the subject ever so well but is ignorant how to form and to polish his speech. We take these views for what they are worth, but venture to add that eloquence is a spon- taneous outburst of the humait soul.
The cause of the oppressed could not have found a more eloquent defender than Mr. Doug- lass. Himself oppressed and denied the rights and privileges of a freeman, he felt what he said and said what he felt. The negro's cause was his cause, and his cause was the negro's cause. In defending his people he was defending himself. It was here that the brilliancy of his oratorical powers was most manifest. It was here that he was most profoundly eloquent.
Themistocles, Pericles, and Demosthenes may be said to represent the three ages of Greek eloquence. Themistocles was undoubtedly the greatest orator of Athens before the time of Per- icles. " His eloquence was characterized," says Cicero, " by precision and simplicity, penetrating acuteness, rapidity, and fertility of thought."
Pericles was a finished orator, the most perfect type of his school, and was regarded by Cicero as the best specimen of the oratorical art of Athens — eloquentissinius A thenis Pericles, But the third representative was one whose oratorical greatness
lO INTRODUCTION.
seemed destined to remain forever uneclipsed. In Demosthenes political eloquence in Greece culminated. He was without doubt the greatest of all Athenian orators, and, to use the language of Longinus, " his eloquence was like a terrible sweep of a vast body of cavalry." It mowed down everything before it.
Certainly a noble ambition, if, as we learn else- where, the sole purposes for which he labored were to animate a people renowned for justice, humanity, and valor; to warn them of the dangers of luxur}^ treachery, and bribery, of the ambition and perfidy of a powerful foreign enemy; to recall the glory of their ancestors, to inspire them with resolution, vigor, and unanimity, to correct abuses, to restore discipline, to revive and restore the generous sentiments of patriotism and public spirit. Laudable as was this ambition, it was no more laudable than that which actuated Frederick Douglass during all the years of his active life.
The scathing invectives and fiery eloquence of Mr. Douglass were the inevitable outcome of a soul lono-ins: for freedom in all that the term implies, not only for himself but for an oppressed race. His sole purpose was to stir the hearts of the American people against the system of slav- ery and color prejudice ; to touch the philan- thropic chord of the nation so as to induce it to recognize the brotherhood of man and the father-
INTRODUCTION. I I
hood of God. A tremendous task was his, but he never gave up the struggle. Day and night he pleaded for freedom, for citizenship, for equal- ity of rights, for justice, for humanity. Could a higher sentiment of philanthropy and patriotism pervade a human soul than this ?
Lincoln, Grant, Sumner, Morton, Phillips, Gar- rison, Garfield, Blaine, Wilson, Conkling, Wade, Thaddeus Stevens, Chase, and other advocates of freedom have all passed away, but they have left behind them influences that survive. The echoes of their words in senate chambers and public halls will resound throughout all ages ; their heroic lives and their philanthropic deeds will live when time shall have passed into eternity. These, however, were of Anglo-Saxon extraction. On the other side stands one of African extrac- tion, to some extent their co-laborer, the hero of this volume. In point of ability and all the vir- tues that go to make up a well rounded citizen- ship Mr. Douglass compares well with them all — the only difference being that they represent white American and he black America.
This grand old patriot will always live in the hearts of his countrymen as one of the greatest of America's noblemen. His hard-fought battles and victories won will prove an incentive to gen- erations yet to come. His virtuous life and noble deeds will always remain to warn us to
1 2 INTRODUCTION.
bestir ourselves in the interest of manhood rights, in the interest of justice to all men regardless of color or nationality.
W. S. SCARBOROUGH.
WiLBERFORCE, O., April i8, 1893.
Manual Training- and Industrial School for Colored Youth, Ironsides, Bordentown, N. J.
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION.
The first thirteen chapters of this book were written while Mr. Douglass was living, and pub- lished in 1893. The last chapter was added after his death in 1895, at which time a second edition was issued, and afterwards a third.
It is gratifying to the author that the work has found favor with the public, and that there is an increasing desire on the part of the youth to know more of this remarkable man. In many of the public schools for colored children the birth- day of Frederick Douglass, February 9th, is regularly observed, and at these times the lessons from his life are impressed upon the young. It is always a hopeful sign of the development of a people when the young men and women find in their own race those whose characters are worthy of study and of imitation.
Some years ago, in Washington, Dr. San- ders, president of Biddle University, Charlotte, North Carolina, remarked to the writer that a young man came to him to rehearse his oration for commencement. He noticed that all the ex- amples of bravery and heroism were taken from
PREFACE.
the white race and he asked him why he had not taken some of his models from his own race. The student rephed that he did not know of any negro in history possessing these quaHties in an unusual degree. The Doctor arose, took down a book from a shelf in his library, and opened to the astonished gaze of the young man chapters headed ''Toussaint L'Ouverture" and ''Chris- pus Attucks." The oration was rewritten, and in the student was created a higher conception of courage and respect for members of his own race and in his bosom burned a new flame of pride and confidence in his powers.
In further attestation of the place Mr. Douglass holds in the affections and memory of the people, his old home. Cedar Hill, at Anacos-'" tia, District of Columbia, by act of Congress, under the direction of the Frederick Douglass Histor- ical Association, has been turned into a perma- nent memorial. Hither will come the people in loving remembrance of the Great Douglass who did so much to break the chains of slavery that bound and degraded his race, and who, after the abolition of slavery, was untiring in his efforts to secure for them all the rights and privileges of citizens.
The writer was engaged as instructor and professor in Howard University from 1872 to 1896, and has been principal of the Alanual
PREFACE.
Training and Industrial School for Colored Youth at Ironsides, Bordentown, New Jersey, since 1897. He finds here, as at Howard, the influence of the life of Mr. Douglass continues to impress itself upon him and to give him inspiration in his work of training and educat- ing the young.
JAMES M. GREGORY,
Manual Training and Industrial School for Colored Youth at Ironsides, Bordentown, N. J.
May 15, 1907.
PREFACE.
It has seemed to the author that a volume which should give the important incidents in the life of Frederick Douglass, and which should treat of him as orator and thinker, would find favor with the public. His speeches and lectures have been carefully examined, and the best selec- tions from these incorporated in the biography.
No pretensions are made to the discovery of new facts. Where practicable Mr. Douglass is permitted to speak in his own language. Most of the quoted passages are from that inimitable autobiography, " The Life and Times of Fred- erick Douglass," and are here introduced by per- mission of Mr. Douglass, and the publishers, Messrs. De Wolf, Fiske & Co. Such other pub- lications have been consulted as were deemed necessary.
The main purpose of this book is one of useful- ness. If it shall be instrumental in leading our youth to study the character of this remarkable man and to draw from it lessons that will uroe them to high and noble effort, the time and labor spent in its preparation will not have been in vain.
J. M. G.
Howard University, March 24, 1893.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. PAGE
Birth and Early Life. — Escape from Slavery, 17
CHAPTER II.
Career as an Anti-Slavery Agitator. — First
Visit to Great Britain, .... 28
CHAPTER III.
Editor of the " North Star." — Connection
with John Brown, 32
CHAPTER IV.
Second Visit to England. — The War of the
Rebellion, 50
CHAPTER V.
Continued Literary Efforts. — Freedmen's Bank. — Official Career in Washing- ton.— Visit to His Old Maryland Home, 54
CHAPTER VI.
Banquet in Recognition of His Public Serv- ices.— The Douglass in His Hall, . . 61
CHAPTER VII.
Visit Abroad. — Return Home and Reception. — Minister Resident and Consul General TO Hayti, . . . . 71
CONTENTS. 15
CHAPTER VIII. PAGE
As Orator and Writer, 89
CHAPTER IX.
Extracts from His Speeches and Lectures, . 97
CHAPTER X.
Extracts from His Speeches and Lectures
Continued, ....... 122
CHAPTER XL
Extracts from His Speeches and Lectures
Concluded, 173
CHAPTER XII.
Members of the Douglass Family, . , . 199
CHAPTER XIII.
His Home. — Personal Traits and Character- istics, ........ 207
CHAPTER XIV.
Death of Frederick Douglass and Funeral
Services at Washington, D. C, . . 217
CHAPTER XV.
Obsequies at Rochester, N. Y., . . . . 253
CHAPTER XVI.
Obituary Tributes, 271-309
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PORTRAITS.
Author's Portrait.
Frederick Douglass (as a 5-oung man).
Frederick Douglass (as an old man).
Frederick Douglass, Jr.
Charles R. Douglass.'
Lewis H. Douglass.
Mrs. R. D. Sprague (Daughter of Frederick Douglass).
John Brown.
James A. Garfield.
U. S. Grant.
John M. Harlan.
Rutherford B. Hayes.
Hyppolite.
Abraham Lincoln.
W. S. Scarborough.
Charles Sumner.
Mrs. Amy Post.
Robert Gould Shaw.
I\L\YOR F. S. Cunningham.
VIEWS.
Residence of Frederick Douglass (Cedar Hill, Ana- costia. D. C).
Front View.
Side View.
" Mr. Douglass' Den." The Old Post House (Headquarters of the Underground Railroad).
Cellar in the Old Post House.
Parlor of the Old Post House. Frederick Douglass' Old Post Office (where the North Star was printed). The Douglass Funeral.
The Line of March.
The Procession.
In Front of the Church.
Inside the Church.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS,
THE ORATOR.
CHAPTER I.
Birth and Early Life. — Escape from Slavery.
Among the great men America has produced whose achievements will be narrated to posterity and remembered, is Frederick Douglass. His name is so identified with the anti-slavery move- ment that no account of this eventful period of our national existence will be complete in which the historian neglects to tell of the remarkable career of this eminent man, and to assign him that place which the services he has rendered his race and mankind deserve.
It is often argued that great crises produce great men, and, conversely, great men bring about great crises, but it will be found difficult to estab- lish the truth of either of these propositions to the exclusion of the other, inasmuch as the forces that operate and co-operate in each are factors of a common product. Observation shows that when the exigencies of the times have de- manded leaders, those were chosen whose train- ing and experience fitted them for the particular
1 8 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
emergency. An ancient author relates that when an inhabitant of the barren island Seriphus in the ^gean sea, to which the Romans banished their criminals, claimed that Themistocles had acquired distinction not through his own glory but through that of his native Greece, Themis- tocles replied : " Neither, by Hercules, if I had been a man of Seriphus, should I ever have been eminent, nor, if you had been an Athenian, would you ever have been renowned."
It sometimes happens that one circumstance or chain of circumstances singles out a man from among his fellowmen and places him in the num- ber of those whose fame shall endure and grow brighter with time. Father of his Country is the title which appropriately belongs to Washington, because, under his leadership, success crowned our arms in the war for independence. The fame of John Brown is made secure by his raid upon Harper's Ferry and his subsequent martyrdom. If the other acts of President Lincoln be forgot- ten, the one act of signing the Emancipation Proclamation will insure him the remembrance of posterity. Hero of Appomattox is the desig- nation by which Grant will be known through the ages. The name of Frederick Douglass will survive as the fugitive slave who became one of the most eloquent orators as well as profound thinkers of his time.
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 1 9
Frederick Douglass was born at Tuckahoe, in Talbot county, Maryland, in February, 1817. The place was not distinguished either for the fertility of the soil, the beauty of the surround- ings, or the thrift and intelligence of its inhabit- ants. His mother was Harriet Bailey. Of his father he has no knowledge. He lived with his grandmother till he was five years of age, and during that period saw his mother only a few times. He was now taken to the home planta- tion of Colonel Lloyd, about two miles from his birthplace. Here, along with the other children, he was placed in the care of Aunt Katy, whom Mr. Douglass describes as a cruel and ill-natured person.
At the age of ten he was sent to Baltimore to live with Mr. Hugh Auld, whose wife, Mrs. Sophia Auld, was his first teacher, and she continued her instructions until objection was made to it by her husband. Frederick, however, found other means of accomplishing his desire. Having pro- cured a spelling book he learned to read through the assistance of his white playmates whom he met in the streets. When about thirteen years of age he bought a book entitled the " Columbian Orator," with money earned by blacking boots. The speeches of Sheridan, Lord Chatham, Will- iam Pitt, and Fox, which he read in this book, increased his information and supply of words, en-
20 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
abling him to give expression to the thoughts that now began to form in his mind. By reading and observation he was led at this early age to under- stand something of the wicked system of slavery.
About this time he became acquainted with a pious man by the name of Lawson, whom he visited at his home. Father Lawson inspired him in his search for knowledge by the assurance, " The Lord has a great work for you to do, and you must prepare yourself for it." It was soon after his acquaintance with this good man that he learned to write by copying letters with chalk on fences and pavements. Left in charge of the house he wrote upon the vacant spaces of copy books which his young master had used in school. He further continued his studies, seated in the kitchen loft late at night when the other inmates of the household were asleep, in transcribing from the Bible, the Methodist hymn book and other books, a barrel head serving him the pur- pose of a table.
Upon the death of his former owners Frederick became the property of Mr. Thomas Auld, who then resided at St. Michael's. Here he was cru- elly treated, having the coarsest food, and not enough of that to satisfy the cravings of his appe- tite. Several difficulties occurred between Mr. Auld and Frederick, in consequence of which Mr. Auld sent him to Covey, a notorious "negro-
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 21
breaker " in the neighborhood, for discipline. He had not been long with Covey before he was subjected to the greatest cruelty. The details of one difficulty between them we give in Mr. Doug- lass' own language, as it serves to show the meth- ods pursued in " breaking " slaves, and at the same time furnishes an example of his powers of narration, for which he is especially distinguished. " Mr. Covey sent me, very early in the morning of one of our coldest days in the month of Janu- ary, to the woods, to get a. load of wood. He gave me a team of unbroken oxen, telling me which was the inside ox, and which the off-hand one. He then tied the end of a large rope around the horns of the in-hand ox, and gave me the other end of it, and told me, if the oxen started to run, that I must hold on upon the rope. I had never before driven oxen, and of course I was very awkward. I, however, succeeded in getting to the edge of the woods with little difficulty, but I had got a very few rods into the woods, when the oxen took fright and started full tilt, carrying the cart against trees, and over stumps, in the most frightful manner. I expected every moment that my brains would be dashed out against the trees. After running thus for a considerable dis- tance, they finally upset the cart, dashing it with great force against a tree, and threw themselves into a dense thicket. How I escaped death, I do
^2 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
not know. There I was, entirely alone, in a thick wood, in a place new to me. My cart was upset and shattered, my oxen were entangled among the young trees, and there was none to help me. After a long spell of effort, I succeeded in getting my cart righted, my oxen disentangled, and again yoked to the cart. I now proceeded with my team to the place where I had, the day before, been chopping wood, and loaded my cart pretty heavily, thinking in this way to tame my oxen. I then proceeded on my way home. I had now consumed one-half of the day. I got out of the woods safely, and now felt out of danger. I stopped my oxen to open the wooden gate ; and just as I did so, before I could get hold of my ox-rope, the oxen again started, rushed through the gate, catching it between the wheel and the body of the cart, tearing it to pieces, and coming within a few inches of crushino^ me ao^ainst the gate-post. Thus twice, in one short day, I escaped death by the merest chance. On my return, I told Mr. Covey what had happened, and how it happened. He ordered me to return to the woods again immediately. I did so, and he followed on after me. Just as I got into the woods, he came up and told me to stop my cart, and that he would teach me how to trifle away my time, and break gates. He then went to a large gum-tree, and with his ax cut three large switches, and,
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 23
after trimming them up neatly with his pocket- knife, he ordered me to take off my clothes. I made him no answer, but stood with my clothes on. He repeated his order. I still made him no answer, nor did I move to strip myself. Upon this he rushed at me with the fierceness of a tiger, tore off my clothes, and lashed me till he had worn out his switches, cutting me so savagely as to leave the marks visible for a long time after. This whipping was the first of a number just like it, and for similar offenses."
After the affair just narrated, Frederick's suf- ferings were increased, and he was driven to such desperation by the treatment of Covey, that he determined to defend himself. In the next en- counter which they had Covey was handled so roughly by the young man that he never again raised his hand against him. This conflict with Covey had a most inspiring effect upon the youth. By resistance he asserted his manhood, increased his own self-respect, and confidence in himself. From this day on he was never whipped while in slavery, though he had several fights.
Leaving Covey in January, 1834, Frederick went to live with Mr. William Freeland, whom he found to be a very good man. He for more than a year after that time conducted a Sabbath- school, where he taught his fellow slaves to read. He also devoted three evenings in each week to a
24 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
similar purpose. While at Mr. Freeland's the following year he made up his mind to make an attempt to secure his liberty. He consulted with those slaves who he believed would be willing to co-operate in this movement with him. But they had in mind no definite place to which they could flee and enjoy their freedom. Mr. Douglass has beautifully and graphically described the thoughts that passed through their minds at the time they were planning to run away. Here is what he says : "At every gate through which we had to pass we saw a watchman ; at every ferry a guard ; on every bridge a sentinel, and in every wood a patrol or slave-hunter. We were hemmed in on every side. The good to be sought and the evil to be shunned were flung in the balance and weighed against each other. On the one hand stood slavery, a stern reality, glaring frightfully upon us, with the blood of millions in its polluted skirts, terrible to behold, greedily devouring our hard earnings and feeding upon our flesh. This was the evil from which to escape. On the other hand, far away, back in the hazy distance, where all forms seemed but shadows under the flicker- ing light of the north star, behind some craggy hill or snow-capped mountain, stood a doubtful freedom, half frozen, beckoning us to her icy do- main. This was the good to be sought. The inequality was as great as that between certainty
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 25
and uncertainty. This in itself was enough to stagger us ; but when we came to survey the un- trodden road and conjecture the many possible difficulties, we were appalled, and at times, as I have said, were upon the point of giving over the struggle altogether. The reader can have little idea of the phantoms which would flit in such circumstances before the uneducated mind of the slave. Upon either side we saw grim death, as- suming a variety of horrid shapes. Now it was starvation, causing us, in a strange and friendless land, to eat our own flesh. Now we were con- tending with the waves and were drowned. Now we were hunted by dogs and overtaken, and torn to pieces by their merciless fangs. We were stung by scorpions, chased by wild beasts, bitten by snakes, and, worst of all, after having suc- ceeded in swimming rivers, encountering wild beasts, sleeping in the woods, suffering hunger, cold, heat, and nakedness, overtaken by hired kidnapers, who, in the name of law and for the thrice-cursed reward, would, perchance, fire upon us, kill some, wound others, and capture all. This dark picture, drawn by ignorance and fear, at times greatly shook our determination, and not unfrequently caused us to
" ' Rather bear the ills we had, Than flee to others which we knew not of.' "
But just as they were about to start they found
26 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
that they had been betrayed, and their plans revealed. As a result of this discovery they were all bound with cords and driven off to the Easton jail. The slaveholders now demanded that Frederick be removed from the neighborhood. Captain Auld therefore sent him back to Balti- more to live with his brother Hugh, where he might learn a trade. Soon after going there he was hired to Mr. William Gardner, a ship builder, for the purpose of learning to calk vessels. He made no progress in the business at this place. The white apprentices thought it degrading to work with a slave, and on one occasion made an assault upon him. In the struggle which ensued Frederick, although bruised and severely beaten, resisted as best he could ; but at last had to yield because of the great numbers against him. He was afterwards hired to Mr. Walter Price, where he learned calking, and soon commanded the hio-hest wasres.
During his leisure hours he reflected much upon his condition ; and the more he reflected, the more he hated slavery, and the more discon- tented he became. He therefore determined to make another attempt to secure his liberty, and, with this end in view, obtained from a friend a "Sailor's protection," which in this instance served the purpose of free papers. Disguised as a sailor, he left Baltimore, September 3, 183S, now
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 27
twenty-one years of age, and made his way to New York, where he was introduced to Mr. Rug- gles, secretary of the New York Vigilance Com- mittee. As soon as she could be sent for, his affianced wife, Anna, came on, and they were married by the Rev. J. W. C. Pennington, of the Presbyterian church. Acting upon the ad- vice of Mr. Ruggles, he went to New Bedford, and was kindly received by Mr. Nathan Johnson. In slavery Frederick's name was Frederick Au- gustus Bailey. At the suggestion of Mr. Johnson his name was now changed to Frederick Doug- lass, by which title he has ever since been known. In New Bedford he found employment in putting away coal, sawing wood, moving rubbish, working on the wharves, and in a brass foundry ; and thus earned the means to support his family. It was here that he became a subscriber of Mr. Garri- son's paper, the Liberator, Mr. Douglass says this paper took the place in his heart, " second only to the Bible." Not long after subscribing for the Liberator^ he had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Garrison himself, and from this time on en- tertained for the distinguished agitator the high- est admiration. By reading the Liberator he came in possession of the principles of the aboli- tion movement. The spirit that animated its friends in their efforts to put down human slavery had already been awakened within him.
CHAPTER II.
Career as an Anti-Slavery Agitator. — First Visit to Great Britain.
On the nth of August, 1 841, an anti-slavery convention was held at Nantucket. Many dis- tinguished abolitionists were present, among whom was Mr. Garrison. Mr. Douglass had come to the convention that he might learn something further of the principles and measures of these reputed fanatics. Being invited to speak he at first declined to say anything. Urged by a friend, he at last came forward with great reluc- tance and embarrassment, and addressed the meeting. So great was the impression made upon the audience by his eloquent words, that it was the means of opening to him that field in which he has won so many laurels as a platform speaker and orator. Not long after this he was appointed a lecturing agent of the Anti-Slavery Society.
In the same year he made speeches in Rhode Island, where an attempt was made to set aside the old colonial charter by a constitution in which was a provision to deprive colored men there of the elective franchise. At this time there were very strong prejudices against the negro in that
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 29
state. Speaking of his work in Rhode Island, Mr. Douglass says : " In Grafton, I was alone, and there was neither house, hall, church, nor market-place in which I could speak to the peo- ple, but, determined to speak, I went to the hotel and borrowed a dinner bell, with which in hand I passed through the principal streets, ringing the bell and crying out, ' Notice ! Frederick Doug- lass, recently a slave, will lecture on American slavery, on Grafton common this evening at seven o'clock. Those who would like to hear of the great workings of slavery, by one of the slaves, are respectfully invited to attend.' This notice brought a large audience, after which the largest church in town was open to me."
In what is known as the " hundred conven- tions," which in the year 1843 were held in New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, Mr. Douglass took an active and leading part. He experienced the same diffi- culty in procuring places in which to speak, and often he was compelled to hold his meetings in the open air. A memorable meeting was held at Pendleton, Indiana. No building of any kind could be procured in which to hold the assem- blage, and consequently they convened in the woods near by, where an infuriated mob rushed upon and assaulted them. Mr. Douglass, in attempting to fight his way through the crowd,
30 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
had his arm broken, was knocked down, and left unconscious by his cowardly assailants. At Buffalo, where one of these meetings was con- vened, he took part in a convention of colored men assembled about the same time to discuss questions of importance to the race.
Mr. Douglass, some time after his speech at the Nantucket convention, wrote an account of his life and published it in pamphlet form. These pamphlets were widely circulated and read, and they, together with the addresses he had delivered as agent of the Anti-Slavery Society, attracted to himself the attention of the country. For this reason he was now in danger of being seized and carried back into slavery. With the view of avoiding the possibility of such a misfortune, he was induced to seek refuge abroad.
The visit which Mr. Douglass at this time made to Great Britain was of much benefit to him, as it gave opportunity of seeing the great cities of the mother country, of studying the character of its people and their institutions, of hearing the great orators of the age, and of meet- ing many eminent literary and educated men. He heard in parliamentary debate, Cobden, Bright, Peel, Disraeli, O'Connell, Lord John Russell, Lord Brougham, and other renowned statesmen. Of all these distinguished men, he thought Lord Brougham the best speaker. He was kindly re-
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 3 1
celved and hospitably entertained by eminent men in England, Scotland, and Ireland. On the 7th of August, 1846, the World's Temperance Convention was held in Covent Garden Theater, London. To Mr. Douglass was extended an invitation to speak, with which he complied, his remarks having special reference to the condition of the colored people in the United States.
A question of importance was being discussed in Scotland whither he now went. The Free Church there received contributions from slave- holders, and, by so doing, gave its sanction to slavery. This system was condemned by many of the leading men of Glasgow. Some undertook to defend in the name of the Bible not only this system but the holding of fellowship with slave- holders. Scotland was roused with excitement over the question. Much good resulted from the agitation which followed. Slavery was thoroughly discussed, and its pernicious practices exposed. To Mr. Douglass more than to any other at the time was given the credit of awakening the moral and religious sentiment of the people against the holding of human beings in bondage. Before his return to America, which soon after followed, some friends raised the money and purchased his freedom from his owner. Captain Auld of Mary- land, the amount charged being one hundred and fifty pounds sterling.
CHAPTER III.
Editor of the " North Star." — Connection WITH John Brown.
On his return to the United States Mr. Doug- lass determined to establish a newspaper, his idea being that a newspaper in the hands of a colored man, if properly conducted, would greatly assist in creating public sentiment for the overthrow of slavery. At that time there was no newspaper in this country under the control of colored men, though at intervals efforts had been made to establish one. The name given to the paper which he subsequently published at Rochester, New York, was the North Star, but it was after- wards called Frederick Douglass Paper. The publication of this journal reached a large circu- lation and was a source of incalculable benefit to its founder. He was required to write editorials and other matter, and had, therefore, to inform himself upon the subjects about which he wrote. Much time was necessarily spent in reading and research, so that, under the circumstances, his paper was for him the very best educator. In his early anti-slavery life he was a disciple of Mr. Garrison and believed with him in the pro-slav- ery character of the constitution of the United
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 33
States — that slavery could only be effectually destroyed by dissolving the union. He now held the opposite view, and ably defended his changed opinions through the columns of the North Star,
In June, 1872, he suffered a severe loss. His house was burned down, and among the other losses he sustained was that of twelve volumes of his paper. These he has been able to replace only in part. The destruction of these volumes is not a loss to the editor alone ; it is also a loss to the country, for they contained some of his best thoughts upon many of the most important questions which were before the people from 1848 to i860.
Mr. Douglass during one winter delivered a course of lectures on Sunday evening of each week in Corinthian Hall, in Rochester, and these lectures contributed in creating a healthy anti- slavery sentiment in that city and western New York. In the midst of all these duties he also found time to act as conductor of the Under- ground railroad. It was his business to receive fugitive slaves, secrete them, raise means, and send them on to Canada.
Soon after he began to publish his paper, he became acquainted with John Brown, then resid- ing in Springfield, Mass. Mr. Douglass on invi- tation visited that personage, who afterwards became so famous, and thus describes him : " In
34 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
person he was lean, strong, and sinewy ; of the best New England mold, built for times of trouble, fitted to grapple with the flintiest hard- ships. Clad in plain American woolen, shod in boots of cowhide leather, and wearing a cravat of the same substantial material; under six feet high, less than a hundred and fifty pounds in weight, aged about fifty, he presented a figure straight and symmetrical as a mountain pine. His bear- ing was singularly impressive. His head was not large, but compact and high. His hair was coarse, strong, slightly gray, and closely trimmed, and grew low on his forehead. His face was smoothly shaved, and revealed a strong, square mouth, supported by a broad and prominent chin. His eyes were bluish gray, and in conver- sation they were full of light and fire. When on the street, he moved with a long, springing, race- horse step, absorbed in his own reflections, neither seeking nor shunning observation. Such was Captain Brown, whose name has now passed into history as one of the most marked characters and greatest heroes known to American fame."
Mr. Brown explained the plan he had formed of freeing the bondmen of the South. It then was not his purpose to cause an insurrection of the slaves ; but he proposed that certain reliable men whom he would select and place at different points in the mountains of Virginia and Mary-
From Harper's Weekly. Copyright, 1877, by Harper & Brothers.
JOHN BROWN.
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 35
land, should go down into the lowlands, as oppor- tunity offered, and induce slaves to esca.pe. These should then be sent to Canada through means which would be provided. This in substance was Mr. Brown's plan. Mr. Douglass was very much impressed with his visit to John Brown, and began to doubt that slavery could ever be destroyed by peaceful means. From this time on his speeches showed that this impression had become a firm belief.
Nothing was attempted by Brown in this mat- ter till after the Kansas difficulty was settled. The two men continued friends from their very first acquaintance, and frequently exchanged visits. Just after the Kansas trouble Brown came to Rochester and remained with Mr. Doug- lass several weeks. While there he prepared a constitution which he intended should govern those associated with him. Mr. Douglass has now a copy of this constitution in Brown's own handwriting. It had been Brown's purpose to begin work in 1858, but, on account of the expos- ure of his plans by an Englishman whom he had met in Kansas, operations were postponed a year later.
This year brought some changes in the original plans. Three weeks before he made his raid on Harper's Ferry, he wrote to Mr. Douglass to come to Chambersburg, Penn., as he wished to
36 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
confer with him. The place selected for the meeting was an old stone quarry in the suburbs of the city. Thither Mr. Douglass went, taking with him Shields Green, a fugitive slave from South Carolina whom Brown had met at Mr. Douglass' house in Rochester. What took place in that memorable conference August 19, we will set forth in the exact language of Mr. Douglass as he has himself related it: " When I reached Chambersburg, a good deal of surprise was ex- pressed (for I was instantly recognized), that I should come there unannounced, and I was pressed to make a speech to them, with which in- vitation I readily complied. Meanwhile, I called upon Mr. Henry Watson, a simple-minded and warm-hearted man, to whom Captain Brown had imparted the secret of my visit, to show me the road to the appointed rendezvous. Watson was very busy in his barber's shop, but he dropped all and put me on the right track. I approached the old quarry very cautiously, for John Brown was generally well armed and regarded strangers with suspicion. He was there under the ban of the government, and heavy rewards were offered for his arrest, for offenses said to have been com- mitted in Kansas. He was passing under the name of John Smith. As I came near, he re- garded me rather suspiciously, but soon recog- nized me, and received me cordially. He had in
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 37
his hand when I met him, a fishing-tackle, with which he had apparently been fishing in a stream hard by ; but I saw no fish, and I did not suppose he cared much for his ' fisherman's luck.' The fishing was simply a disguise, and was certainly a good one. He looked every way like a man of the neighborhood, and as much at home as any of the farmers around there. His hat was old, and storm beaten, and his clothing was about the color of the stone quarry itself — his then present hiding place.
" His face wore an anxious expression, and he was much worn by thought and exposure. I felt that I was on a dangerous mission, and I was as little desirous of discovery as himself, though no reward had been offered for me.
"We — Mr. Kagi, Captain Brown, Shields Green, and myself— sat down among the rocks and talked over the enterprise which was about to be undertaken. The taking of Harper's Ferry, of which Captain Brown had merely hinted before, was now declared as his settled purpose, and he wanted to know what I thought of it. I at once opposed the measure with all the arguments at my command. To me, such a measure would be fatal to running off slaves (as was the original plan), and fatal to all engaged in doing so. It would be an attack upon the federal government, and would array the whole country against us.
38 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
Captain Brown did most of the talking on the other side of the question. He did not at all object to rousing the nation ; it seemed to him that something startling was just what the nation needed. He had completely renounced his old plan, and thought that the capture of Harper's Ferry would serve as notice to the slaves that their friends had come, and as a trumpet to rally them to his standard. He described the place as to its means of defense, and how impossible it would be to dislodge him if once in possession. Of course I was no match for him in such matters, but I told him, and these were my words, that all his arguments, and all his descriptions of the place, convinced me that he was going into a per- fect steel trap, and that once in he would never get out alive ; that he would be surrounded at once and escape would be impossible. He was not to be shaken by anything I could say, but treated my views respectfully, replying that even if surrounded he would find means for cutting his way out ; but that would not be forced upon him ; he should have a number of the best citizens of the neighborhood as his prisoners at the start, and that holding them as hostages, he should be able if worse came to worse, to dictate terms of egress from the town. I looked at him with some astonishment that he could rest upon a reed so weak and broken, and told him that Vir-
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 39
ginia would blow him and his hostages sky-high, rather than that he should hold Harper's Ferry an hour. Our talk was long and earnest; we spent the most of Saturday and a part of Sunday in this debate — Brown for Harper's Ferry, and I against it ; he for striking a blow which should instantly rouse the country, and I for the policy of gradually and unaccountably drawing off slaves to the mountains, as at first suggested and pro- posed by him. When I found that he had fully made up his mind and could not be dissuaded, I turned to Shields Green and told him he heard what Captain Brown had said ; his old plan was changed, and that I should return home, and if he wished to go with me he could do so. Cap- tain Brown urged us both to go with him, but I could not do so, and could but feel that he was about to rivet the fetters more firmly than ever on the limbs of the enslaved. In parting he put his arms around me in a manner more than friendly, and said : ' Come with me, Douglass, I will defend you with my life. I want you for a special purpose. When I strike, the bees w^ill begin to swarm, and I shall want you to help hive them.' But my discretion or my cowardice made me proof against the dear old man's eloquence — perhaps it was something of both which deter- mined my course. When about to leave I asked Green what he had decided to do, and was sur-
40 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
prised by his coolly saying in his broken way, ' I b'leve I'll go wid de ole man.' Here we sepa- rated ; they to go to Harper's Ferry, and I to Rochester."
On their way to Chambersburg Mr. Douglass and Shields Green stopped at Mrs. E. A. Glou- cester's in Brooklyn, August i8, who sent through Mr. Douglass to Captain Brown a letter and a small amount of money. The following is a copy of a letter signed by colored citizens of Philadelphia, which was found among the papers at the Kennedy farm, Brown's headquarters be- fore moving on to Harper's Ferry, and was sent to Mr. Douglass at Rochester in September : " F. D., Esq., Dear Sir, — The undersigned feel it to be of the utmost importance that our class be properly represented in a convention to come off right away (near) Chambersburg, in this state. We think you are the man of all others to repre- sent us ; and we severally pledge ourselves that in case you will come right on we will see your family well provided for during your absence, or until your safe return to them. Answer to us and to John Henrie, Esq., Chambersburg, Penn., at once. We are ready to make you a remit- tance, if you go. We have now quite a number of good but not very intelligent representatives collected. Some of our numbers are ready to go on with you." It was never known why this letter
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 4 1
was sent to Mr. Douglass. He thinks, however, that the sending of it was prompted by Kagi, who was present at the Chambersburg interview, and had heard him say that he could not go to Har- per's Ferry in the way proposed. Kagi probably thought a letter signed as this was would induce Mr. Douglass to reconsider his determination and at last consent to accompany Brown.
The report of the capture of Harper's Ferry was received by Mr. Douglass in Philadelphia. Information soon followed to the effect that Brown had been captured, and that a carpet bag had been found containing letters from abolition- ists, among which were some from Mr. Douglass. Leaving the city upon the advice of friends, Mr. Douglass went to New York. There he learned that the government intended to arrest all who had been in any way connected with the raid at Harper's Ferry. Alarmed at this intelligence he sent a message to his son Lewis at home to secure the important papers which were in his " high desk." Arriving at Rochester, he ascertained through Lieutenant Governor Selden, his neigh- bor, that the governor of New York would sur- render him upon legal demand by the gov- ernor of Virginia. Mr. Selden advised him to leave the country without delay. Canada being the nearest refuge, he went thither. Governor Wise, hearing that he had gone to Michigan,
42 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
made a demand upon the governor of that state for his detention and surrender to the Virginia authorities. The following letter, which was sent to Mr. Douglass by the historian, B. J. Loss- ing, after the war, shows that he acted wisely at the time in taking the advice of friends and thus putting himself beyond the danger of apprehen- sion : —
(Confidential.)
To His Excellency, James Buchanan, President of the United States, and to the Honorable Postmaster-General of the United States : —
Gentlemen, — I have information such as has caused me, upon proper affidavit, to make requisition upon the executive of Michigan for the delivery up of the person of Frederick Douglass, a negro man, supposed now to be in Michigan, charged with murder, robbery, and inciting servile insurrection in the state of Virginia. My agents for the arrest and reclama- tion of the person so charged are Benjamin M. Morris and Will- iam N. Kelly. The latter has the requisition, and will wait on you to the end of obtaining nominal authority as post office agent. They need be very secretive in this matter, and some pretext for traveling through the dangerous section for the exe- cution of the law in this behalf, and some protection against obtrusive, unruly, or lawless violence. If it be proper so to do, will the postmaster-general be pleased to give to Mr. Kelly, for each of these men, a permit and authority to act as detectives for the post office department, without pay, but to pass and re- pass without question, delay, or hindrance ?
Respectfully submitted by
Your obedient servant,
Henry A. Wise.
It was evident that Mr. Douglass could not hope for a fair trial before a Virginia jury. He
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 43
also doubtless felt that even in Canada he was not safe, for there was danger of being kidnaped and brought back to the United States ; hence he left for England on the 12th of the same month. He remained abroad six months, speak- ing upon anti-slavery and other subjects in Eng- land and Scotland, at the end of which time he was summoned home by the death of his daugh- ter Annie.
Some were disposed to criticise Mr. Douglass for the course he pursued in the Harper's Ferry affair, and went so far as to assert that he deserted Brown on that occasion. It is no doubt true that these criticisms grew out of the reports telegraphed over the country, after the capture of Brown, in which Cook, one of Brown's men, was made to say that Mr. Douglass had promised to be present in person on this famous expedition. Mr. Douglass, before taking his departure for Europe, wrote a letter which was published in the Rochester Democrat and America7t, in which he emphatically denied these statements, thus attributed to Cook. The one sentence I quote is characteristic of the whole letter : " I therefore declare that there is no man living and no man dead who, if living, could truthfully say that I ever promised him or anybody else, either condi- tionally or otherwise, that I would be present in person at the Harper's Ferry insurrection." Mr.
44 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
Douglass, in this letter quoted from, also prom- ised at the proper time, when it could be done without compromising the friends of the slaves, to tell all he knew of the attempt of John Brown to liberate the bondmen of Virginia and Mary- land. As the country knows, he has faithfully kept that promise in a published statement giv- ing all the facts as far as he knew them. Subse- quent history also verifies what he wrote to the Rochester Democrat and American while in Canada. The recent publication of the Life and Letters of John Brown, by his friend, F. B. San- born, in which all the particulars of the foray at Harper's Ferry are given to the public, coincides with what Mr. Douglass has said. I quote Mr. Sanborn, page 418 : —
"John Brown's long meditated plan of action in Virginia was wholly his own, as he more than once declared, and it was not until he had long formed and matured it, that he made it known to the few friends outside of his own household who shared his confidence in that matter. I cannot say how numerous these were, but beyond his family and the armed followers who accompanied him, I have never supposed that his Virginia plan was known to fifty persons. Even to those few it was not fully communicated, though they knew that he meant to fortify himself somewhere in the mountains of Virginia or Tennessee, and
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 45
from that fastness, with his band of soldiers, sally out and emancipate slaves, seize hostages, and levy contributions on the slaveholders. More- over, from the time he first matured it, there were several changes, amounting at last to an entire modification of the scheme. As he declared it to me in 1858 in the house of Gerrit Smith at Peterboro, it was very different from the plan he had unfolded to Thomas and to that other Mary- land freedman, Frederick Douglass, at Brown's own house in Springfield in 1847."
I believe there is no one who, in the light of developments, will say that Mr. Douglass acted in bad faith to John Brown. The interview at Chambersburg shows that Brown never lost con- fidence in his friend. Mr. Douglass never saw Cook, had no communication with him whatever. Even if Cook did say what was imputed to him, it can be shown by Brown himself that he was not always truthful. Brown, on his way to the scaffold, said to Cook, who had made a confession, " You have made false statements — that I sent you to Harper's Ferry ; you know I protested against your coming."
The following statement, which recently ap- peared in a leading journal, will throw additional light upon the facts connected with the hurried departure of Mr. Douglass for Canada just after John Brown was taken at Harper's Ferry.
46 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
" ' Yes, sir ; I am the man who saved Fred. Douglass' life when " Old John Brown " was cap- tured at Harper's Ferry. I suppressed a dispatch addressed to the sheriff of Philadelphia, instruct- ing him to arrest Douglass, who was then in that city, as proofs of his complicity in the memor- able raid were discovered when John Brown was taken into custody.'
" Seated on the doorstep of his cozy cottage, a few miles outside of Vineland, New Jersey, was John W. Hurn, a pleasant, gray-bearded man of sixty, who, when questioned, answered as above respecting the aid rendered by him to the noted abolitionist.
" ' At that time I was a telegraph operator located in Philadelphia,' continued Mr. Hurn, ' and when I received the dispatch I was fright- ened nearly out of my wits. As I was an ardent admirer of the great ex-slave, I resolved to warn Douglass of his impending fate, no matter what the result might be to me. The news had just been spread throughout the country of the bold action of John Brown in taking Harper's Ferry. Everybody was excited and public feel- ing ran high. Before the intelligence came that Brown had been captured, the dispatch I have mentioned was sent by the sheriff of Franklin county, Penn., to the sheriff of Philadelphia, in- forming him that Douglass had been one of the
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 47
leading conspirators, and requesting that he should be immediately apprehended.
" * Though I knew it was illegal to do so, I quietly put the dispatch in my pocket, and, ask- ing another operator to take my place, started on my search for Fred. Douglass. I went directly to Miller McKim, the secretary of the contra- band, underground, fugitive railway office in Philadelphia, and inquired for my man. Mr. McKim hesitated to tell me, whereupon Tshowed him the dispatch and promised him not to allow it to be delivered within three hours. I told him I would not do this unless he agreed to get Mr. Douglass out of the states. This he readily assented to, for it was his business to spirit escaped slaves beyond the reach of the authori- ties. I returned to the telegraph office and kept a sharp lookout for similar dispatches. None arrived, however, and when the allotted time expired I sent the belated message to its destina- tion.
" * In the mean time those intrusted with my secret saw Mr. Douglass and urged him to leave the town as quickly as possible. He was loath to do so at first, but the expostulation of his friends overcame his objections, and in an hour he left on a railroad train. He reached his home in Rochester, New York, in safety, destroying the compromising documents, and then packed his
48 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
gripsack and started for Canada. It was fortu- nate for him that he left so soon as he did, for immediately after his departure from Rochester his home was surrounded by officers.' "
We take the liberty of quoting in this connec- tion for the information of the reader an incident which occurred in the early acquaintance of Mr. Douglass with Brown, related by a writer who styles himself the " Rambler," in an article pub- lished in a New England paper.
" In the spring of '57, just after the Dred Scott decision of the Supreme Court, the Rambler (be- ing then a resident of Worcester, Mass., fondly called by the citizens ' The Heart of the Com- monwealth ') was getting up a lecture for Freder- ick Douglass. He secured the then mayor of the city to preside, it being the first time that the mayor of an American city had presided at an address of Mr. Douglass. The Rambler called at the house of Hon. Eli Thayer, then member of Congress from the ninth district, to ask him to sit on the platform. Here he found a stranger, a man of tall, gaunt form, with a face smooth shaven, destitute of the full beard that later be- came a part of history. The children were climb- ing over his knees ; he said, ' The children always come to me.' The Rambler was introduced to John Brown of Ossawatomie. How little one imagined then that, within less than three years.
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 49
the name of this plain, homespun man would fill America and Europe.
" Mr. Brown kindly consented to occupy a place on the platform, and at the urgent request of the audience spoke briefly. It is one of the curious facts, that many men who can do it are utterly unable to tell about it. John Brown, a flame of fire in action, was dull in speech. How many men are a living flame on the platform, who are nowhere in action. John Brown taught the world one lesson among others. Jf a man fully, absolutely, believes what he says, and if he has laid aside all fear, so that death has no terrors for him, that man is a power, that man is to be feared."
CHAPTER IV.
Second Visit to England. — The War of the
Rebellion.
Mr. Douglass returned from England in time to take part in the great presidential campaign of i860. He entered into that contest with earnest- ness and enthusiasm, for he believed that it was a struggle which would decide the fate of slavery in the United States. Later on when the war had been in progress three years, and the government decided to accept colored volunteers, he became conspicuous for the support and encouragement he gave in the enlistment of colored troops. When Governor Andrew of Massachusetts was given authority by President Lincoln to put into the field two colored regiments, the 54th and 55th, Mr. Douglass made a most eloquent appeal through his paper to the colored people of the North to enlist. There being few colored men in Massachusetts, it was found necessary to go outside of that state to recruit. Mr. Douglass not only urged and induced others to go, but gave his two sons, Lewis and Charles, to the cause; the latter of whom was the first colored man to enlist in the state of New York. Some time later his third and last son, Frederick, Jr., also entered the service.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 5 1
It was proposed in Pennsylvania to raise ten regiments, and Mr. Douglass was again requested to give his assistance in the work of recruiting. He entered this service with the understanding that when they enlisted colored men should re- ceive the same treatment that was accorded to white soldiers. The government, however, did not do in this respect what was expected of it ; on which account Mr. Douglass, thoroughly dis- heartened, suspended his labors for a time. But finally, urged by Mr. Stearns, who had first sought his assistance in enlisting men, he went to Wash- ington and presented the matter to the president and secretary of war. He thus describes his first meeting with President Lincoln : " I shall never forget my first interview with this great man. I was accompanied to the executive mansion and introduced to President Lincoln by Senator Pomeroy. The room in which he received vis- itors was the one now used by the presidents secretaries. I entered it with a moderate esti- mate of my own consequence, and yet there I was to talk with, and even to advise, the head of a great nation. Happily for me there was no vain pomp and ceremony about him. I was never more quickly or more completely put at ease in the presence of a great man than in that of Abra- ham Lincoln. He was seated, when I entered, in a low arm-chair, with his feet extended on the
52 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
floor, surrounded by a large number of docu- ments and several busy secretaries. The room bore the marks of business, and the persons in it, the president included, appeared to be much overworked and tired. Long lines of care were already deeply written on Mr. Lincoln's brow, and his strong face, full of earnestness, lighted up as soon as my name was mentioned. As I ap- proached and was introduced to him, he rose and extended his hand, and bade me welcome. I at once felt myself in the presence of an honest man — one whom I could love, honor, and trust without reserve or doubt. Proceeding to tell him who I was, and what I was doing, he promptly but kindly stopped me, saying, ' I know who you are, Mr. Douglass. Mr. Seward has told me all about you. Sit down ; I am glad to see you.* I then told him the object of my visit ; that I was assisting to raise colored troops ; that several months before I had been very successful in get- ting men to enlist, but that now it was not easy to induce the colored men to enter the service, because there was a feeling among them that the government did not deal fairly with them in sev- eral respects. Mr. Lincoln asked me to state particulars. I replied that there were three par- ticulars which I wished to bring to his attention. First, that colored soldiers ought to receive the same wages as those paid to white soldiers. Sec-
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 53
end, that colored soldiers ought to receive the same protection when taken prisoners, and be exchanged as readily, and on the same terms, as other prisoners, and if Jefferson Davis should shoot or hang colored soldiers in cold blood, the United States government should retaliate in kind and degree without delay upon Confederate prisoners in its h^nds. Third, when colored sol- diers, seeking the ' bauble reputation at the can- non's mouth,' performed great and uncommon service on the battlefield, they should be rewarded by distinction and promotion precisely as white soldiers are rewarded for like services."
Mr. Lincoln was impressed with the argument of Mr. Douglass, and in his reply spoke encour- agingly of the intentions of the administration. After this interview with the president, and a subsequent one with Secretary Stanton, Mr. Douglass felt encouraged and went away feeling assured that the government would, as fast as con- ditions warranted, deal justly by the colored soldier.
He was one of the crowd that listened to the second inauguration address of President Lin- coln. In the evening of the same day he at- tended the president's reception. No colored person had hitherto presented himself on such an occasion. When conducted to the president's room, Mr. Lincoln received him with marks of great respect and attention.
CHAPTER V.
Continued Literary Efforts. — Freedmen's Bank. — Official Career in Washington. — Visit to his Old Maryland Home.
After the war closed and the country had re- turned to pursuits of peace, Mr. Douglass began to think of what calling he should follow. His great life work, the abolition of slavery, had been accomplished, and it seemed that now there was little for him to do. He had about made up his mind to spend the remainder of his days in farm- ing, when invitations came to him to deliver lec- tures before colleges and literary societies. Thus a new vocation was opened to him, by which he might improve his knowledge and better his pecuniary condition. While employed by the Anti-Slavery Society he had been paid a salary of $450 a year, now he was offered $100 and often $200 for one lecture.
Mr. Douglass early saw that the greatest pro- tection of the colored man after emancipation w^ould be the ballot — in fact, it would prove his only safety ; he, therefore, was among the very first to begin the agitation of the question, suf- frage for the negro. This question was discussed in the National Loyalists' Convention, which was
U. S. GRANT.
LIBRARY
MUSEUM OF AFRICAN ARf 318-A STREET, NORTHEAST WASHINGTON, D.C. "0002
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 55
held in Philadelphia in 1866. Mr. Douglass, as a delegate from Rochester, attended this gathering and made an earnest speech, urging a free and untrammeled ballot to all citizens of the country. The convention, though divided at first in opin- ion, before it adjourned passed resolutions favor- ing the enfranchisement of the freedman. The question grew rapidly in public favor. President Grant recommended the measure to Congress, and erelong the ballot was made secure to the negro by the adoption of the 15th amendment to the constitution.
In the year 1869, having been induced by some friends, Mr. Douglass came to Washington and established the New National Era newspaper. This paper was finally turned over to his sons, Lewis and Frederick.
About this time he was elected president of the Freedmen's Bank, an institution intended as a secure depository for the savings of the colored people. The intentions of the founders of this organization were no doubt good, but by bad management the bank was brought to ruin. Mr. Douglass had previously been elected a trustee of this corporation, while residing in Rochester, and had attended a few of its meetings, but he knew nothing personally of its true condition. He himself says: "About four months before this splendid institution was compelled to close its
56 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
doors in the starved and deluded faces of its depositors, and while I was assured by its presi- dent and by its secretary of its sound condition, I was solicited by some of its trustees to allow them to use my name in the board as a candidate for its presidency. So I waked up one morning to find myself seated in a comfortable arm-chair, with gold spectacles on my nose, and to hear myself addressed as President of the Freedmen's Bank. I could not help reflecting on the con- trast between Frederick the slave boy, running about at Colonel Lloyd's with only a tow linen shirt to cover him, and Frederick, president of a bank, counting its assets by millions. I had heard of golden dreams, but such dreams had no comparison with this reality. And yet this seem- ing reality was scarcely more substantial than a dream. My term of service on this golden height covered only the brief space of three months." Mr. Douglass, when he found out by careful in- vestigation the facts in reference to the condition of the bank, to use his own words, when he dis- covered that he was " married to a corpse," he immediately went before the Senate Finance Committee, of which Hon. John Sherman was chairman, and gave it as his opinion that the bank was insolvent and could not recover from its losses. The committee took the same view and immediately three commissioners were ap-
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 57
pointed by Congress to wind up the affairs of the company.
Mr. Douglass was sent by President Grant with Messrs. Wade, Howe, and White, commis- sioners to Hayti. He took the position with General Grant in favor of annexation of that country to the United States. Mr. Sumner cham- pioned the opposite view in the Senate and held that annexation meant the extinction of the Hay- tian people as such. Mr. Douglass held that a union would give protection to the weaker state and prosperity beyond what it could ever enjoy as a separate government. On this question the opinion of the country was divided. There were strong arguments used for and against the scheme.
In the year 1872 General Grant was nominated a second time for the presidency. The indepen- dent republicans, dissatisfied with his administra- tion, nominated Horace Greeley. In the national convention of colored men held in New Orleans in the same year, over which Mr. Douglass pre- sided, an effort was made to get that body to indorse the independent candidate. Mr. Doug- lass used his influence to prevent such action, and had he not been present it is probable that the convention would have passed resolutions indorsing Mr. Greeley for the presidency. Hav- ing been chosen an elector at large of the state of New York on the Republican ticket, he was
58 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
commissioned by the electoral college of the state to carry the vote to the capitol at Wash- ington.
Mr. Douglass had been appointed by President Grant in his first term a member of the council of the District of Columbia, but was compelled, by the pressure of other duties, to resign after a short time, and his son Lewis was appointed to the position. When Mr. Hayes became presi- dent, he appointed Mr. Douglass marshal of the district. Immediately a great cry was made against this act of the president, and representa- tives of the bar appeared before the Senate com- mittee for the purpose of defeating his confirma- tion. Mr. Conkling, then a member of the Senate, in executive session, made an able speech in sup- port of Mr. Douglass. Other members came to his aid, and the Senate promptly confirmed the appointment. One of the objections made to Mr. Douglass holding the office of marshal was that he would be required to introduce guests to the president on state occasions. But this duty did not by law devolve upon that officer. The president could as well designate any other officer at the capital to perform such service. Mr. Douglass did, however, introduce to President Hayes during his term of office many distin- guished persons, and he on such occasions was always treated with the greatest courtesy by this
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.
Life of Frederick Douglass. 59
chief magistrate. Great credit should be given Mr. Hayes for the courage he displayed in ap- pointing Mr. Douglass in opposition to the wishes of the pro-slavery sentiment of the District, and that he could not be induced to revoke the ap- pointment.
It had long been the cherished desire of Mr. Douglass to visit his old Maryland home. Dur- ing slavery times he did not think it safe to gratify his wishes in this respect. The opportunity to do so, however, presented itself while he was holding this office. He went first to St. Michael's upon the invitation of Mr. Charles Caldwell, a colored man. Arriving there he was invited by his old master, Captain Auld, now eighty years of age, to visit him, he at this time being on his deathbed. When Mr. Douglass entered the room in which the sick man lay, the captain ad- dressed him as Marshal Douglass and treated him with great respect. The interview was a most affecting one, but lasted only a few minutes, owing to the weak condition of the aged veteran. Mr. Douglass while in this neighborhood also vis- ited the Eastern jail, where in youth he had been confined with other slaves for attempting to run away from their masters.
He some time after paid a visit to the Lloyd plantation in Talbot county, which he left when he was only eight years old, in 1B25, He ther|
6o LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
met with the kindest reception from the Lloyds, who were still living on the premises. He was entertained in the old family mansion ; was es- corted over the grounds, saw the buildings, many of them standing just as he was accustomed to see them in former times. He conversed with many of the colored people who were children when he was a boy, and whom he then knew; looked into the kitchen where he had last seen his mother, and his eyes grew dim with tears. He visited the family burying-ground, and while there Mr. Howard Lloyd kindly presented him a bou- quet of flowers, taken from the graves of those he had known in his childhood days.
Mr. Douglass, on Decoration day. May 30, 1 88 1, was invited to deliver his lecture on John Brown at Storer College, an institution established in the interest of the colored race at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. On the platform sat An- drew J. Hunter, who was the prosecuting attorney when the old hero was convicted. He applauded parts of the lecturer's remarks heartily. Truly the times had changed, and the sentiments and feel- ings of that community had changed with them.
When Mr. Garfield, in 1881, became president, Mr. Douglass was appointed recorder of deeds of the District of Columbia, which position he held till the appointment of Mr. James C. Mat- thews, in the spring of 1886.
JAMES A. GARFIELD.
CHAPTER VI.
Banquet in Recognition of his Public Serv- ices.— The Douglass in his Hall.
On the first of January, 1883, the twentieth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, a banquet was tendered Hon. Frederick Douglass, in recognition of his high personal attainments, and of his eminent public services in behalf of his race and humanity, at Freund's, Washington, D. C. The entertainment was not only a social event of unusual interest, but one worthy of the occasion. No more brilliant array of talent has ever assembled to do honor to a great man of our race. The tables were beautifully decorated, and laden with the choicest viands. They were so arranged as to group the company about the distinguished guest, who sat at the head of the central table. There were present doctors of divinity, bishops, lawyers, doctors of medicine, members of Congress and northern state legisla- tures, professors of colleges, authors, and editors of newspapers.
After prayer by Bishop John M. Brown, the company spent two hours in partaking of the excellent dinner placed before them. It was ten o'clock when ex-Senator Bruce introduced Mr.
62 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
Douglass in an appropriate and eulogistic ad- dress, closing with these words : " I now, gentle- men, have the honor to present to you Frederick Douglass, the distinguished guest of this happy occasion, whose fame as an orator and an earnest and effective worker in the cause of human lib- erty is not confined to one continent, but known throughout the civilized world, and whose name is a household word, cherished and loved by mil- lions who, from writhing under the cruel chains of slavery, have at last been brought into the bright sunlight of freedom. He will now respond to the toast, * The Day,' this, the twentieth anni- versary of the one fixed by the sainted Lincoln, when the Emancipation Proclamation should go into full force and effect."
In responding to the sentiment Mr. Douglass said : —
" Mr. President and gentlemen, since you have taken me into your confidence, my life, as most of you know, was begun under a great shadow. Before I was made part of this breathing world the chains were forged for my limbs, and the whip of a slave master was plaited for my back, and while I have labored and suffered in the cause of justice and liberty, I have no doleful words to utter here to-night. It was said of a great Irish orator, speaking of Irish liberty, that he had rocked it in its cradle and had followed it to its
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 63
grave. I can say of the colored man's liberty, I have rocked it in its cradle and witnessed its manhood, for I stand to-night in the presence of emancipated millions. He would be a gloomy man indeed who could live to see the desire of his soul accomplished, and yet spend his life in grief. I am happy to say now and here that while my life has been more of cloud than sunshine, more of storm than calm, it has nevertheless been a cheerful life, with many compensations on every hand, and not the least among those compensa- tions, I reckon the good word and will which have come to me on the present occasion. This high festival of ours is coupled with a day which we do well to hold in sacred and everlasting honor, a day memorable alike in the history of the nation and in the life of an emancipated peo- ple. This is the twentieth anniversary of the proclamation of emancipation by Abraham Lin- coln— a proclamation which made the name of its author immortal and glorious throughout the civilized world. That great act of his marked an epoch in the life of the whole American nation. Reflection upon it opens to us a vast wilderness of thought and feeling. Man is said to be an animal looking before and after. To him alone is given the prophetic vision, enabling him to dis- cern the outline of his future through the mists and shadows of the past. The day we celebrate
64 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
affords us an eminence from which we may in a measure survey both the past and the future. It is one of those days which may well count for a thousand years.
" Until this day twenty years ago there was a vast incubus on the breast of the American peo- ple, which baffled all the wisdom of American statesmanship. Slavery, the sum of all villainies, like a vulture, was gnawing at the republic. Until this day there stretched away behind us an awful chasm of darkness and despair of more than two centuries. Until this day the American slave, bound in chains, tossed his fettered hands on high and groaned for freedom's gift in vain. Until this day the colored people of the United States lived in the shadow of death, hell, and the grave, and had no visible future.
" 'Agonized heart throbs convulsed them while sleeping,
And the wind whispered death, while over them sweeping.' "
"Until this day we knew not when or how the war for the union would end ; until this day it was doubtful whether liberty and union would triumph, or slavery and barbarism. Until this day victory had largely followed the arms of the Confederate army. Until this day the mighty conflict between the North and South appeared to the eye of the civilized world, as destitute of moral qualities. Until this day the sympathies of the world were largely in favor of the Southern
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 65
rebellion. Until this day the man of sable hue had no country and no glory. Until this day he was not permitted to lift a sword, to carry a gun, or wear the United States uniform. Until this day the armies of the republic fought the rebels in fetters, for they fought for slavery as well as for the union. Until this day we presented the spectacle of that weakness, indecision, and blind- ness which builds up with one hand while it tears down with the other. Until this day we fought the rebels with only one hand, while we chained and pinioned the other behind us. On this day, twenty years ago, thanks to Abraham Lincoln and the great statesmen by whom he was sup- ported, this spell of blasted hopes and despair, this spell of inconsistency and weakness, was broken, and our government became consistent, logical, and strong, for from this hour slavery was doomed, liberty made certain, and the union estab- lished.
" We do well to commemorate this day. It was the first gray streak of morning after a long and troubled night of all abounding horrors.
" The future as well as the past claims consid- eration on this day. Freedom has brought duties, responsibilities, and created expectations which must be fulfilled. There is no disguising the fact that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance, and, if we maintain our high estate in this repub-
66 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
lie, we must be something more than driftwood in a stream. We must keep pace with the nation in all that goes to make a nation great, glorious, and free. Natural equality we have long pleaded, and righteously, but now that the fetters are off, we must be able to plead practical equality, equal- ity of industr}^, equality of morality, equality of education, equality of wealth, equality of general attainments. I hardly need say here that to all this there are formidable obstacles and discour- agements ; that we have entered the race of civil- ization at an immense disadvantage is manifest to the candid judgment of all men. No people ever entered the portals of freedom under circum- stances more unpropitious than the American freedmen. They were flung overboard on an unknown sea in the midst of a storm, without planks, ropes, oars, or life preservers, and told they must swim or perish. They were without money, without friends, without shelter, and without bread. The land which they had watered with their tears, enriched with their blood, tilled with their hard hands, was owned by their enemies. They were told to leave their old quarters and seek food and shelter elsewhere. In view of this condition of things the marvel is not so much that they have made little progress, but that they are not exterminated. I regret to observe that even colored men are heard to deny that any
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 67
improvement has taken place in their condition during the last twenty years. How they can do this I am utterly unable to see. Twenty years ago there was perhaps not a single schoolhouse for colored children in the Southern states. Now there are two hundred thousand colored children regularly attending school in those states.
" That fact, which does not stand alone, is suffi- cient to refute all the gloomy stories of croakers as to the progress of the colored freedmen of the South. The trouble with these croakers is that they do not consider the point of the freedmen's departure. They know the heights which they have still to reach, but do not measure the depths from which they have come.
" Twenty years, though a long time in the life of an individual, is but a moment in the life of a nation, and no final judgment can be predicated of facts transpiring within that limited period.
" For one, I can say in conclusion that nothing has occurred within these twenty years which has dimmed my hopes or caused me to doubt that the emancipated people of this country will avail themselves of their opportunities ; and by enter- prise, industry, invention, discovery, and manly character vindicate the confidence of their friends, and put to silence and to shame the gloomy pre- dictions of all their enemies."
At the conclusion of the remarks of Mr. Doug-
68 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
lass rapturous applause followed, many of the guests rising from their seats and coming for- ward to congratulate the venerable orator. After a few minutes the speaking continued. The fol- lowing gentlemen, in short speeches, responded to sentiments : Hon. John R. Lynch of Mis- sissippi, Colored Men in the South ; Hon. John P. Green of the Ohio legislature, The Colored Man as a Legislator ; Rev. B. T. Tanner, D.D., The Negro Press ; Hon. George W. Williams, The Negro Author ; T. Thomas Fortune of the New York Globe, Independent Journalism; Prof. R. T. Greener, The Negro's Adherence to the Republican Party; Hon. Robert Smalls of South Carolina, The Exodus from the South ; Prof. J. M. Gregory, The Color Line ; Bishop John M. Brown, The A. M. E. Church ; William E. Mat- thews, The Orator and Orators ; Dr. John R. Francis, The Profession of ^Medicine ; Jesse Law- son, Our Presiding Officer; J. B. Devaux, The Ladies ; E. M. Hewlett, Life Insurance, its Ne- cessity; G. W. Cook, Howard University; Judge Samuel Lee of South Carolina, Co-operation ; J. H. Green of Mississippi, The Slater Fund ; R. J. Smith, Disunion, Consequent Weakness; W. H. Richards, The Profession of the Law ; Joseph Brooks, William Lloyd Garrison ; Dr. E. W. Blyden, The Republic of Liberia.
At one time while the speaking was in progress
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 69
Mr. Douglass became so impressed with what was said that he rose of his own accord and deHvered one of his old time speeches, full of fiery eloquence, in which he contrasted his past life with that of the young men before him, and con- cluded his impromptu remarks with an earnest appeal to the youth to make the most of their opportunities, show themselves worthy of the great privileges they enjoy and equal to the de- mands of the age. As soon as Mr. Douglass had resumed his seat Professor R. T. Greener pro- posed three cheers for the " Old Man Eloquent," which were given with a hearty good will.
Before the company separated. Dr. B. T. Tan- ner of the Christian Recorder approached Mr. Charles R. Douglass, son of the guest of the even- ing, and, in the hearing of the writer, made this remark which v/e think will prove of prophetic import : " From the fact that this company is made up chiefly of young men, we may conclude that the future of your venerable father is secure. He who can command the fealty of the men of his own generation is only secure in his reputation while they survive ; but he who has the strength or fitness to command the fealty of the genera- tion coming immediately after him, may count the future as secure."
Thus the entertainment was agreeably pro- longed by speaking and conversation, till the late-
70 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
ness of the hour brought the proceedings to a close, and the guests retired feehng that they had spent a pleasant and profitable evening.
CHAPTER VII.
Visit Abroad. — Return Home and Reception. — Minister Resident and Consul Gen- eral TO Hayti.
For some time prior to his retirement from public office, Mr. Douglass had contemplated a trip to Great Britain and other countries of the old world. He desired to know more of their peo- ple, their government, and institutions. Being released from the cares and responsibilities im- posed by official life, he gladly welcomed the opportunity to revisit the scenes of his first two journeys abroad, and to extend his travels to classic Athens, historic Rome, Paris, the most elegant city of the world, free Switzerland, the home of the legendary hero, William Tell, Ger- many, the country of scholars, and Egypt, the land of pyramids and hieroglyphics. Having made all preparations for the voyage, he and Mrs. Douglass, in September, 1886, left New York for Liverpool on the steamer City of Rome.
He returned to the United States after a year's absence, and on his arrival in Washington was tendered a public reception by his fellow citizens in the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church of that city, one of the largest and most
72 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
handsome edifices owned by colored people in the country. The church, beautifully and taste- fully decorated with flags and bunting, was illu- minated with lights of various colors. Rev. Dr. T. G. Stewart presided. After music by the choir of the church. Rev. Walter Brooks recited the following original poem: —
ODE OF WELCOME. Honor the statesman now returning From the shores of France and Spain, From the British Isles and mainland. To his native home again.
Honor the man whose potent speeches In the world both old and new, Now for him a fame undying Made the bondman friends most true.
Honor the old man in his glory, Read the story of his life, Tell it to your sons and daughters Till they feel the bitter strife.
Strife for freedom, land, and manhood, Strife for all the rights of men, Hold him up the friend of letters, In his threescore years and ten.
Hold him up a people's leader, In the struggle which we wage 'Gainst oppression dark and cruel, . Honor him, the prince and sage.
Honor him, and hail him welcome, Welcome Frederick Douglass here, Where he made long fight for freedom, Wielding tongue of fire e'er.
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 73
Honor him with shouts of gladness, Bid the nation honor, too, For in him the cause of justice Finds a champion strong and true.
Champion of the rights of all men. What their color, what their clime, Does not matter — he is loyal. Honor him, the Old Sublime !
Honor to him and praise Jehovah, Who from bondage called him out, To deliver from their thraldom Christ's own people, true, devout.
Honor him, though seeing never, Angels sent to break his chains. Bidding him to flee his serfdom. And command a living name.
Angels sent to guide his footsteps And to clothe his tongue with speech. Touch his heart with fire from heaven. While he freedom bravely preach.
Honor him, God's chosen prophet, Sent against his people vile. Who for sordid gain in barter. Did themselves with blood defile.
Blood of their own brothers bleeding. Bleeding under chain and lash, As they toiled and prayed and waited, Freedom's coming, slavery's crash.
Honor him, the people's hero, Praying God might make it plain That the blow he struck for freedom Was God's wrath unloosed again.
74 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
Wrath that burned like fire consuming, Till this nation rent in twain, On the issue denouncing bondage, With its blood washed out the stain.
Mr. Brooks having concluded his poem, which throughout the recital pleased and entertained the audience, Professor W. S. Montgomery, in scholarly language, made the opening address, and then Rev. C. W. Handy welcomed the distin- guished guest in the following eloquent words : —
" Mr. Douglass, permit me on behalf and in the name of your fellow citizens, not only of the Dis- trict of Columbia, but of our common country, to most cordially congratulate you upon your safe return to the land of your home, to the scenes of your labors, the old arena of your almost match- less triumphs.
" Honored sir, we come to greet you, we come to talk and have you talk with us, we come as old friends, as good neighbors, to shake your honest hand and to congratulate you on your return home from England, France, Germany, from all Europe, from Egypt and the dark continent. Again, sir, we welcome you to your home, your family, and to your friends. Long may you live, far and wide may your influence and usefulness be felt, ever may you be under the fostering care of the great I Am, until time with you shall emerge into the ocean of eternity. I now take great pleas-
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 75
ure in introducing to you Hon. Frederick Doug- lass."
So hearty and continued was the applause after Mr. Handy's address, that it was some minutes be- fore Mr. Douglass could proceed with his address. At length quiet being restored he came forward and said : —
" Friends, this is indeed an honor which I had not expected. I am certainly a very proud man to-night. Who would not be proud at such a grand ovation as this ? I thank you with all my heart ; you want to hear something about my trip to Europe and to Egypt, etc. Well, I will com- mence at the starting point. The passage from New York to Liverpool on the splendid steamer City of Rome, the largest ship afloat except the Great Eastern, was exceedingly pleasant. The winds and waves were in their most amiable mood, and we made the voyage from land to land in seven days. In nothing has there been more progress and improvement than in naval architecture and in navigation. Five and forty years ago fourteen days was a short trip from New York to Liver- pool— now it can be made in six days. Fifty years ago the great scientist, Dyonisius Lardner, proved by facts and figures to his own satisfac- tion, that no vessel could carry enough coal to propel her across the Atlantic, but theories amount to nothing against facts accomplished. The City
76 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
of Rome consumes a ton of coat every five min- utes during her voyages. She has sixty furnaces and a crew, including all hands, of two hundred and fifty persons. To walk her decks is like walking a populous street ; she is a small town, not on wheels, but on the waves. Our voyage to Liverpool was marked by two incidents in which you will be interested, since they illustrate the gradual wearing away of race prejudice. There was on board the Rev. Henry Wayland, son of the great Dr. Wayland, late president of Brown University. Mr. Wayland had known me years ago, and had been my friend in Rochester. He is one of God's freemen. Through him I was made known to many of the passengers, and this resulted in a strong invitation to address the pas- sengers in the saloon, with which I complied. After this I was called upon by Capt. Monroe to move a vote of thanks in a brief speech to Lord Porchester, who had presided at a concert given in the grand saloon by some talented musicians ; thus my privacy was at an end, and I had much talking to do which I could not avoid. The con- trast between the treatment I received during this voyage and that of forty years ago, was as strik- ing as it was gratifying. Then I could not obtain a first-class passage — even on a British steamship — and was compelled to go in the forward cabin. Now I found myself not only welcome in the first
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 7/
cabin, but treated by everybody with special marks of interest and esteem. It is true, that although I belonged in the forward cabin forty years ago, I made many friends during that voyage, and was then, as on the late voyage, invited to deliver an address on the saloon deck of the Cambria, but I did not comply till invited to do so by the cap- tain. There were several slaveholders on board, and a number of dough-faces from the North. I had hardly been speaking ten minutes when one of the wildest, bitterest, and most devilish rows occurred that I ever saw. It was only put down by the captain calling upon the boatswain to bring up the irons and threatening to put anyone in irons who dared to disturb me. A most unfair account of this outbreak of pro-slavery violence has gone into the history of the Cunard line, de- nouncing me as the cause of the disturbance on the same principle that the slaves used to be denounced as the cause of the war. The fact is, slaveholders at that time were dictators on sea and land, and the Cunard line, although flying the British flag, found it for their interest to yield to slaveholding dictation, but I believe I am the last man of color proscribed on the Cunard line. I made such a noise in England about it at the time that Samuel Cunard himself publicly declared that there should be no more proscription on his ships on account of race and color. Contempla-
"jdf LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
tion of the forces of nature is enlarging. Stand- ing on the deck of the City of Rome, and moving among its company of passengers so unHke in appearance and character, and then looking out upon the broad, dashing billows of the Atlantic, suggested to my mind the formula that the types of mankind are various. They differ like the waves, but are one like the sea.
The Home Rule Question.
The features of Eno-land are too well known to justify me in saying much about my sojourn in that country. It is common nowadays to speak of England as a declining power in comparison with the rest of the world, and there may be truth in that representation, but the American who travels there will see nothing on the surface to justify that conclusion. Great Britain, though small in territory and limited in population, as compared with our republic, is still Great Britain — great in her civilization, great in physical and mental vigor, great in her statesmanship, and great in her elements of power and stability. The question uppermost when we landed there, as when we left there, was Home Rule, or coercion for Ireland. No question of modern times has stirred England so deeply as this. It has rent asunder parties, cast down leaders, broken up friendships, and divided families ; men who have
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 79
acted together in politics during nearly half a century, have all at once found themselves widely separated on this vast and vital question. There is much strength in the positions of each party, as in the case of our maintenance of our union. I believe that good order, liberty, and civilization will be better served and better preserved in the union of Great Britain and Ireland than outside of it. The spirit of the age does not favor small nationalities. Extension, organization, unifica- tion, are more in harmony with the wisdom of the times. The trouble in Ireland, however, is not its limited population^ its destitution of states- men, or its inability to maintain an independent government, but that there is in reality two Ire- lands ; one loyal to the union, and the other anx- ious for complete separation. The loyal part of the people of Ireland, as a class, are Protestant, and the Home Rule men are largely Catholic ; so just here is the bitterest element in the British polit- ical cauldron. The Tory party profess to see in Home Rule the entering wedge to the entire sep- aration of Ireland from England, and handing over the whole loyal Protestant population into the power of the hostile Catholic — a result they look upon with unaffected horror. It is this which has caused even the generous and noble- minded John Bright to array his powerful in- fluence against Home Rule, A Republican in
8o LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
his sympathies and convictions, he yet shrinks back in horror from applying the RepubHcan majority rule to Ireland. His great friend, Mr. Gladstone, hitherto far more conservative than Mr. Bright, has no such scruples. He seems quite willing to trust the fairness and justice of the majority. He is bitterly reproached for his change of front. It is said he did not always hold his present liberal views towards Ireland, and that his conversion is far too sudden to be genuine. His answer to this, however, seems to be honest, statesmanlike, and conclusive. He tried coercion for Ireland so \onQ- as he thousfht coer- cion the only remedy for the ills of that country. He treated Ireland as a wise physician would treat his patient ; having his health steadily in view, when he found that one course of treatment failed to restore health, he tried another. His method was changed, but his object, never. I hardly need say that I am in sympathy with Home Rule for Ireland, as held by Mr. Glad- stone ; I am so, both for the sake of England and for the sake of Ireland. The former will throw off a tremendous load both in money and in repu- tation by granting it. The glory of England will cease to be soiled with shame for the grievances of Ireland, and Ireland will be put upon her good behavior before the world, and made responsible for her own good or ill condition. Though often
CHARLES SUMXER.
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 8 1
charged with seeking the dismemberment of the British Empire, I believe Mr. Gladstone is as firm a friend to the union between England and Ire- land as any man in the United Kingdom, but he is for the rule of justice instead of the rule of the bayonet, the rule of love instead of the rule of hate, the rule of trust and confidence instead of the rule of doubt and suspicion. I wanted to see this famous statesman and orator while in Lon- don. It has been my good fortune to hear many of the best speakers in this country and in Eng- land. I have heard Webster, Everett, Sumner, Phillips, and other great American orators, living and dead. I have also heard Sir Robert Peel, Richard Cobden, George Thompson, John Bright, Lord Brougham, O'Connell, and other great speakers in England, and I felt it would be some- thing to hear the peer of any of the greatest of them. Well, the opportunity was afforded me ; I heard Mr. Gladstone, under the most favorable conditions. It was on an occasion of his motion in Parliament to reject the infamous Coercion bill. For weeks the bill had been debated, and Mr. Gladstone had borne his full share in that de- bate, and I was anxious to know what he could say further. The tide of public opinion set strongly against him, and the passage of the bill was already assured. The press of the country, for the most part, had kept up a steady fire upon
6
82 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
him and loaded him with reproaches of the bit- terest kind. The House was crowded, and all eyes were turned upon him when he rose to make his last great effort to defeat this force bill for Ireland, which he knew could not be defeated ; but Mr. Gladstone had a duty to perform and he performed it admirably. The first glance at his face impressed me. There was a singular blend- ing of qualities in it, the lamb and the lion were there ; dauntless as a veteran soldier, and yet meek as a saint. His speech was one of the grandest I ever heard, and was listened to with profoundest silence by the whole House. My expectations were high, very high, but in some respects they were far exceeded. For one hour and a half, without pause, and without once hesi- tating for a word, he poured out a stream of elo- quence, learning, and argument which seemed to be irresistible. When he sat down the govern- ment benches, as well as the opposite benches, were immediately emptied, and poor Mr. Balfour, the secretary for Ireland, was left almost without an audience to hear his reply.
My visit to England was in some respects sen- timental. I wanted to see the faces and press the hands of some of the dear friends and ac- quaintances I met there over forty years ago. Among them were two ladies who were mainly instrumental in giving me the chance of devoting
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 83
my life to the cause of freedom. These were Ellen and Anna Richardson, of Newcastle-upon- Tyne. They are both living, one aged seventy- nine, and the other over eighty ; without any sug- gestion from me they opened a correspondence with Hon. Walter Foward, of Pittsburgh, and Mr. Merideth, of Philadelphia, and through them bought me out of slavery, secured a bill of sale of my body, made a present of myself to myself, and thus enabled me to return to the United States, and resume my work for the emancipation of the slaves. It was a great privilege to see these two good women, and to see others who assisted them in raising the money to ransom me. If I had no other comipensation for my voyage across the sea, this would have been ample payment ; of course m.any of the precious friends who met me in Eng- land, Ireland, and Scotland forty years ago have passed away, but I saw some of them through their children and in them recognized their noble qualities.
One of the most interesting places for Ameri- can tourists is the city of Edinburgh, and it was especially so to me, not only on account of the historical associations that cluster about it, and its many beautiful features, but for the memor- able controversy I took part in with the Free Church during my first visit to Scotland. The facts are these : That church ha,d sent a deputa-
84 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
tion to the United States immediately after sepa- rating itself from the established church of Scot- land, to collect money to build churches and support its ministry. That deputation went South and collected several thousand pounds for this pur- pose in the slave states and presumably from slave- holders. George Thompson, Henry C. Wright, and James N. Buffom, lately deceased, made an issue with the church. We felt that it would be good testimony against slavery if we could induce the Free Church to follow the example of Daniel O'Connell in a like case to send back the money. The debate was sharp and long — the excitement was great. Nearly everybody in Scotland, out- side the Free Church, were on the side of free- dom, and were for sending back the money. This sentiment was written on the pavements and walls and sung in the streets by minstrels. The very air was full of send back the money. Forgetting I was in a monarchy and not in this Republic, I got myself into trouble by cutting "send back the money "on Arthur's seat. I was soon after arrested for trespassing on the Queen's forests, and only got off by a written apology.
I visited the same spot when over there a few weeks ago, but the friendly grass of forty years had obliterated all trace of the famous formula and my humiliation, as it has also happily blotted out all further need of that sentiment itself. The
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 85
money, however, was never sent back, for Scotch- men do not part with money without knowing wherefor — a lesson which colored people will do well to learn, if they ever favorably change their relations to the people and civilization of our age. I have traveled since I left, not only in Eng- land, Ireland, and Scotland, but in France, Switz- erland, Italy, Athens, and Egypt. The most civilized, the best cultivated, and apparently the most prosperous of these countries is England. Nothing here goes to waste, every inch of fertile soil is cultivated and made to yield abundant harvests. The average crop of wheat is forty-six bushels to the acre, exceeding that of our best western lands. Its fields are pictures in frames of rich hedges, adorned with leaves and flowers, its people are well behaved, orderly, and strong, its cattle, large, smooth, and round, its public buildings, substantial and imposing, its houses, neat, ample, and comfortable ; everything here exhibits the mark of thoughtful care. The man- agement of its railroads for the comfort of trav- elers is somewhat clumsy ; they lack over there our excellent system of checks, but the protection of life is more complete, and a higher rate of speed is attained ; the railroad crossing for teams are spanned by bridges — no teams cross on the rails, and hence nobody is run over as in free America.
86 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
" I stopped but a little while in London, the greatest city, with the greatest population in the world, a population which is just double what it was fortv-two years ao-o. It was two and a half millions then ; it is five millions now. I was there long enough to revisit St. Pauls, the Na- tional Gallery, the British ]\Iuseum, Westminster Abbey, the Tower, iMadam Tausaud's, and to visit Buffalo Bill's show, — for this is the latest addition to London life, — and you would be aston- ished to see the hundreds of thousands that flock day after day to see this wonder of the Wild West.
" If any American wants to have a vivid impres- sion of human progress, and to shudder at the cruelty and barbarism of England a few centuries ago, he has only to go to the Tower of London, and look upon the terrible things he will see there — torture and death are written all over that ancient prison. But I must not stop here with England, otherwise I shall hardly reach in my narrative any one of the other great counties it was my good fortune to visit during my stay abroad. Even as the matter now stands, I must postpone to another occasion remarks upon other features of my tour. On leaving London we went directly to Paris and spent several weeks there. We hardly felt ourselves in a strange land and among strangers till we reached this wonder-
Life of Frederick Douglass. 87
ful city, the center of fashion, taste, refinement, and art, where we no longer heard our mother tongue, or saw our English and American man- ners. The situation was strange, but not dis- agreeable. We were in a city of great historical events, marvelous transitions, startling revolu- tions, where human passion has been more power- fully displayed in riot and ruin than in any other city of modern times. A whole wilderness of horrors is suggested when its name is men- tioned, and yet there is found in it quiet, orderly, majestic, and beautiful signs of life, and it is beaming with cheerfulness and thronged with seemingly happy people."
Prolonged applause followed the conclusion of this address, after which the audience filed past Mr. Douglass, each one in turn shaking the hand of the distinguished man.
Mr. Douglass was appointed minister resident and consul general to Hayti by President Harri- son in 1889, and after holding the office for two years resigned. For some years prior to this time the United States had been unsuccessful in its attempts to secure a naval station in Hayti. These efforts, renewed soon after Mr. Douglass had entered upon his duties as minister, were again unsuccessful, and it was claimed that in the negotiations he did not heartily support the propositions made by his government for the
88 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
lease of the mole St. Nicholas. The charge is entirely groundless. In a word, the real objec- tion to granting the request of our government came from the Haytian people themselves. The opinion was general that securing the mole was only the first step in our purpose to annex the whole island to this country. Whether this opin- ion was correctly founded or not, President Hyp- polite, even if he had desired to favor the United States in the matter of leasing the mole, saw it was impolitic to act in defiance to the wishes of his countrymen.
As a proof of its respect and confidence, that government appointed Mr. Douglass to represent the Haytian Republic at the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893.
CHAPTER VIII.
As Orator and Writer.
By whatever standard judged Mr. Douglass will take high rank as orator and writer. It may be truly said of him that he was born an orator; and, though he is a man of superior intellectual faculties, he has not relied on his natural powers alone for success in this his chosen vocation. He is called a self-made man, but few college bred men have been more diligent students of logic, of rhetoric, of politics, of history, and general litera- ture than he. He belongs to that class of orators of which Fox of England and Henry and Clay in our own country are the most illustrious repre- sentatives. His style, however, is peculiarly his own.
Cicero says, " The best orator is he that so speaks as to instruct, to delight, and to move the mind of his hearers." Mr. Douglass is a striking example of this definition. Few men equal him in his power over an audience. He possesses wit and pathos, two qualities which characterized Cicero and which, in the opinion of the rhetori- cian Quintilian, gave the Roman orator great advantage over Demosthenes. Judge Ruffin of Boston, in his introduction to Mr. Douglass' auto- biography, says : " Douglass is brimful of humor,
50 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
— at times of the driest kind ; it is of a quaint kind ; you can see it coming a long way off in a peculiar twitch of his mouth ; it increases and broadens gradually until it becomes irresistible and all-pervading with his audience." The humor of Mr. Douglass is much like that of Mr. Joseph Jefferson, the great actor, who never makes an effort to be funny, but his humor is of the quiet, suppressed type. Like Mr. Jefferson, now he excites those emotions which cause tears, and now he stirs up those which produce laughter. Grief and mirth may be said to reside in adjoin- ing apartments in the same edifice, and the pass- ing from one apartment to the other is not a diffi- cult thing to do.
The biographer of Webster gives the following amusing anecdote to show the simplicity of ex- pressing thought for which that Colossus of Amer- ican intellect is distinguished in his speeches: " On the arrival of that singular genius, David Crock- ett, at Washington, he had an opportunity of hearing Mr. Webster. A short time afterwards he met him and abruptly accosted him as follows : ' Is this Mr. Webster ? ' ' Yes, sir.' ' The great Mr. Webster of Massachusetts ? ' continued he, with a siofnificant tone. ' I am Mr. Webster of Massachusetts,' was the calm reply. ' Well, sir,' continued the eccentric Crockett, ' I had heard that you were a great man, but I don't think so ;
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 9 1
I heard your speech and understood every word you said! "
President Lincoln gave this reply to the ques- tion asked, to what secret he owed his success in public debate : " I always assume that my audi- ences are in many things wiser than I am, and I say the most sensible things I can to them. I never found that they did not understand me."
The power of simple statement is one of the chief characteristics of Mr. Douglass' style of speaking, and in this respect he resembles Fox, the great British statesman, who, above all his countrymen, was distinguished on account of plainness, and, as I may express it, homeliness of thought w^hich gave him great power in persuad- ing and moving his audience.
Mr. Douglass' influence in public speaking is due largely to the fact that he touches the hearts of his hearers — that he impresses them with the belief of his sincerity and earnestness. His heart is in what he says. " Clearness, force, and ear- nestness," says Webster, " are the qualities which produce conviction. True eloquence, indeed, does not consist in speech ; it cannot be brought from far ; labor and learning may toil for it, but they will toil for it in vain. Words and phrases may be marshaled in every way, but they cannot compass it ; it must exist in the man, in the sub- ject, and in the occasion,"
92 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
There have been those of brilliant minds who have gained some reputation as speakers ; they have been successful in pleasing and amusing those they addressed, but their success stopped here. They could not reach the depths of the heart, because their own hearts were not touched. The poet Horace admirably enforces this thought when he says : " If you wish me to weep, you must first yourself be deeply grieved."
But to be fully appreciated, Mr. Douglass must be seen and heard. This was also true of Henry Clay. One could form but a faint conception of his eloquence and grandeur by reading his speeches, and yet, as ' reported, they were both logical and argumentative. The fire and action of the man could not be transferred to paper. Mr. Douglass in speaking does not make many gestures, but those he uses are natural and spon- taneous. His manner is simple and graceful, and there is nothing about his style artificial or de- clamatory. Much of an orator's success depends upon his delivery. The younger Pitt said that he could not discover where lay his father's elo- quence by simply reading his speeches. It is related of Garrick that he w^as asked by a clergy- man why it was that he could produce greater effect by a recital of fiction than the clergy by the presentation of the most important truths. Garrick replied : " Because you speak truths as if
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 93
they were fictions; we speak fictions as if they were truths."
Mr. Douglass, as an extemporaneous speaker, was much more impressive than he has been since he began to write out his speeches and dehver them from manuscript. He remarked to the writer one day that he thought he had made a mistake in thus writing out his lectures ; he im- bibed the idea that his extemporaneous speeches would be defective and subject him to criticism. He had by so doing lost much power in delivery. " For," said he, " I never was a good reader." The first address he wrote out in full was the paper before the Western Reserve College in 1854. Ever since his return from England in i860 he has steadily followed the habit of writing what he has to say and reading from manuscript. His former style is what we call extemporaneous, but we do not wish to convey the idea that he spoke without preparation. On the contrary, he gave much thought to the topics which he in- tended to discuss, and then prepared notes under the different divisions of his subject. By not being confined to his manuscript, he caught the inspiration of his audience. This inspiration, so essential to true eloquence in the orator, can never be secured by the essayist, however fin- ished and perfect he may be.
While Mr. Douglass may have lost much of
94 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
his eloquence in using manuscript, yet some im- portant advantages have resulted from this prac- tice. He was led to investigate more extensively the subjects on which he wrote, and to take more time for preparation; and thus made his speeches more com.plete. Formerly, many of his best ex- temporaneous efforts were never fully reported, and consequently much that he said has been lost. His later lectures and speeches have been preserved in manuscript form, and when pub- lished together, as they will be one day, will prove a valuable contribution to literature.
Some of his best lectures are The Mission of the War, The Sources of Danger to the Repub- lic, Self-made Men, Recollections of the Anti- slavery Contest, William the Silent, Santo Do- mingo, The National Capital, Abraham Lincoln, John Brown.
The discourses of Mr. Douglass when re- viewed, will bear the test of criticism, and will be found to contain the requisites of a correct and finished style. His language is pure, his words are choice, and in accordance with the best usage. His sentences are constructed in the English idiom, and have the elements of strength because preference is given in their formation to short Anglo-Saxon words, rather than to those derived from Latin and Greek. So carefully is the rule of propriety observed by him that one would
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 95
think he had thoroughly mastered the principles of grammar and rhetoric under the most compe- tent instructors. From the discrimination he uses in the selection of words to express the idea he wishes to convey, we conclude he must have been for many years a diligent student of the dictionary. His v/ritings are remarkably free from obscurity and affectation, which Macaulay regards as " the two greatest faults in style," and they may, therefore, be taken as models of per- spicuity, so essential to one who would become eminent as an essayist. This excellence to which v/e allude, is due, no doubt, to the fact that he first forms clear and distinct conceptions of the truth he wishes to illustrate, and then making use of simple language to express the ideas arranged in his mind in logical order, writes freely as if under inspiration. Since he has followed the practice of writing his speeches his style has become more argumentative and massive, similar to that of Webster and Burke. In all he says, like these great masters, whom none have surpassed, there is so much beauty of expression, elegance of diction, dignity of thought, and elevation of moral feeling that the most happy and lasting effect is pro- duced upon the mind of the reader.
In the preparation of his speeches and ad- dresses, Mr. Douglass at times requires greater privacy than his library affords, where he is liable
96 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
to interruption by members of his household and visitors. In order that he may wholly give his attention to the literary work which he has in hand, he retires to his " den," as he calls it, a sm.all, one-room building, situated in the rear of his dwelling, and used by former owners as a storehouse, but now v»dth certain interior altera- tions made into a cozy study. It is a pleasant retreat in summer, for it is protected from the heat of the sun by trees and vines, and in winter is made comfortable by a glowing fire in the old- fashioned fireplace found within. The study is furnished simply with a lounge, a high desk, and a stool. It is the practice of Mr. Douglass to write standing, when in this room, where he will remain for hours at a time, denying himself to all visitors. While composing, he thinks accurately and correctly, and on this account his composi- tion requires but little correction. His manu- script is always neat, not marred by erasures and alterations. We mention this fact because it proves that correct writing is the result of care exercised by the writer in the beginning, which in time becomes a fixed habit.
o o c o r >
z
CHAPTER IX.
Extracts from His Speeches and Lectures.
We shall now make a few additional selections from his speeches and lectures to show further his style as orator and writer. We regret we have no exact report of the Nantucket speech, to which reference in these pages has already been made. This was his maiden effort and was the turning point of his whole life. I quote from Mr. Garrison, who was in attendance upon the con- vention, and heard the addresses of the different speakers. After telling of the fortunate circum- stance that Mr. Douglass was induced to address the meeting, he gives the impressions made upon him by the speaker in his remarks on that occa- sion. Here is what he says : —
" Fortunate, most fortunate occurrence ! — for- tunate for the millions of his manacled brethren, yet panting for deliverance from their awful thral- drom ! fortunate for the cause of negro emancipa- tion, and of universal liberty ! fortunate for the land of his birth, which he has already done so much to save and bless ! fortunate for a large cir- cle of friends and acquaintances, whose sympathy and affection he has strongly secured by the many sufferings he has endured, by his virtuous
7
gS LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
traits of character, by his ever-abiding remem- brance of those who are in bonds, as being bound with them ! fortunate for the multitudes, even in various parts of our republic, whose minds he has enlightened on the subject of slaver}^ and who have been melted to tears by his pathos, or roused to virtuous indignation by his stirring eloquence aofainst the enslavers of men ! fortunate for him- self, as it at once brought him into the field of public usefulness, 'gave the world assurance of a man,' quickened the slumbering energies of his soul, and consecrated him to the great work of breaking the rod of the oppressor, and letting the oppressed go free !
" I shall never forget his first speech at the con- vention— the extraordinary emotion it excited in my own mind — the powerful impression it created upon a crowded auditory, com.pletely taken by surprise— the applause which followed from the beginning to the end of his felicitous remarks. I think I never hated slavery so intensely as at that moment ; certainly my perception of the enor- mous outrage which is inflicted by it, on the God- like nature of its victims, was rendered far more clear than ever. There stood one in physical proportion and stature commanding and exact, in intellect richly endowed, in natural eloquence a prodigy, in soul manifestly ' created but a little lower than the angels ' — yet a slave, ay, a fugitive
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 99
slave, trembling for his safety, hardly daring to believe that on the American soil a single white person could be found who would befriend him at all hazards, for the love of God and humanity ! As soon as he had taken his seat, filled with hope and admiration, I arose and declared that Patrick Henry, of Revolutionary fame, never made a speech more eloquent in the cause of liberty than the one we had just listened to from the lips of that hunted fugitive. So I believed at that time, such is my belief now,"
Afterwards Mr. Douglass, referring to the remarks he made on this occasion, said that he had no idea that he v/as making much of an effort. Getting over his embarrassment, he caught the spirit of the mxceting and somehow words came to him spontaneousl}^
Mr. Douglass in December, 1841, made an anti-slavery speech in Providence, Rhode Island. This speech, like the Nantucket one, was never written out or fully reported. We give the ac- count of it as furnished by that elegant writer, N. P. Rogers.
" Friday evening was chiefly occupied by col- ored speakers. The fugitive Douglass was up when we entered. This is an extraordinary man. Pie was cut out for a hero. In a rising for lib- erty he would have been a Toussaint or a Hamil- ton, He has the ' heart to conceive, the head to
lOO LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
contrive, and the hand to execute ! ' A command- ing person — over six feet, we should say, in height, and of most manly proportions. His head would strike a phrenologist amid a sea of them in Exeter Hall, and his voice would ring like a trumpet in the field. Let the South congratulate herself that he is a fugitive. It would not have been safe for her if he had remained about the planta- tions a year or two longer. Douglass is his fugi- tive name. He did not wear it in slavery. We do not know why he assumed it, or who bestowed it on him, but there is some fitness in it, to his commanding figure and heroic part. As a speaker he has few equals. It is not declamation, but oratory, power of deba.te. He watches the tide of discussion with the eye of the veteran, and dashes into it at once with all the tact of the forum or the bar. He has wit, argument, sar- casm, pathos — all that first-rate men show in their master efforts. His voice is highly melodious and rich, and his enunciation quite elegant, and yet he has been but two or three years out of the house of bondage. We noticed that he had strikingly improved, since we heard him at Dover in September. We say this much of him, for he is esteemed by our multitude as of an inferior race. We should like to see him before any New England legislature or bar, and let him feel the freedom of the anti-slavery meeting, and see
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. lOI
what would become of his inferiority. Yet he is a thing, in American estimate. He is the chattel of some pale-faced tyrant. How his owner would cower and shiver to hear him thunder in an anti- slavery hall ! How he would shrink away, with his infernal whip, from his flaming eye when kin- dled with anti-slavery emotion ! And the brother- hood of thieves, the posse comitatus of divines, we wish a hecatomb or two of the proudest and flint- iest of them were obliged to hear him thunder for human liberty and lay the enslavement of his people at their doors. They would tremble like Belshazzar."
Of his early speeches here is an eloquent ex- tract upon
"Man's Rights to Liberty.
" Indeed, I ought to state, what must be obvious to all, that, properly speaking, there is no such thing as new truth ; for truth, like the God whose attribute it is, is eternal. In this sense, there is, indeed, nothing new under the sun. Error may be properly designated as old or new^ since it is but a misconception ; or an incorrect view of the truth. Misapprehensions of what truth is have their beginnings and their endings. They pass away as the race move onward. But truth is 'from everlasting to everlasting,' and can never pass away.
I02 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
"Such is the truth of man's right to Hberty. It existed in the very idea of man's creation. It was his even before he comprehended it. He was created in it, endowed with it, and it can never be taken from him. No laws, no statutes, no compacts, no covenants, no compromises, no con- stitutions, can abrogate or destroy it. It is be- yond the reach of the strongest earthly arm, and smiles at the ravings of tyrants from its hiding place in the bosom of God. Men may hinder its exercise, they may act in disregard of it, they are even permitted to war against it ; but they fight against heaven, and their career must be short, for Eternal Providence will speedily vindicate the right.
" The existence of this truth is self-evident. It is written upon all the powers and faculties of man. The desire for it is the deepest and strong- est of all the powers of the human soul. Earth, sea, and air, — great Nature, with her thousand voices, proclaim it. In the language of Addison we may apostrophize it : —
" ' Oh, Liberty I thou goddess, heavenly bright, Profuse of bliss, and pregnant with delight ! Thou mak'st the glowing face of nature gay, Giv'st beauty to the sun, and pleasure to the day.'
" I have said that the right to liberty is self-evi- dent. No argument, no researches into mouldy records, no learned disquisitions, are necessaiy
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. IO3
to establish it. To assert it, is to call forth a sympathetic response from every human heart, and to send a thrill of joy and gladness round the world. Tyrants, oppressors, and slaveholders are stunned by its utterance, while the oppressed and enslaved of all lands hail it as an angel of deliverance. Its assertion in Russia, in Aus- tria, in Egypt, in fifteen states of the Ameri- can Union, is a crime. In the harems of Turkey, and on the Southern plantations of Carolina, it is alike prohibited ; for the guilty oppressors of every clime understand its truths and appreciate its electric power."
The following extract, a model of passionate eloquence, is from an oration delivered on the Fourth of July, 1852, to the citizens of Rochester.
"The White Man's Fourth of July.
" To me the American slave-trade is a terrible reality. When a child, my soul was often pierced with a sense of its horrors. I lived on Philpot street. Fells Point, Baltimore, and have watched from the wharves the slave-ships in the basin, an- chored from the shore, with their cargoes of human flesh, waiting for favorable winds to waft them down the Chesapeake. There was at that time a grand slave-mart kept at the head of Pratt street, by Austin Woldfolle. His agents were sent into every town and county in Maryland,
104 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
announcing their arrival through the papers, and on flaming ' handbills^ headed, Cash for Negroes, These men were generally well dressed, and very captivating in their manners, ever ready to drink, to treat, and to gamble. The fate of many a slave has depended upon the turn of a single card ; and many a child has been snatched from the arms of its mother, by bargains arranged in a state of brutal drunkenness.
" The fleshmongers gather up their victims by dozens, and drive them, chained, to the general depot at Baltimore. When a sufficient number have been collected here, a ship is chartered for the purpose of conveying the forlorn crew to Mobile, or to New Orleans. From the slave prison to the ship, they are usually driven in the darkness of night ; for since the anti-slavery agi- tation, a certain caution is observed.
" In the deep, still darkness of midnight, I have often been aroused by the dead, heavy footsteps, and the piteous cries of the chained gangs that passed our door. The anguish of my boyish heart was intense, and I was often consoled, when speaking to my mistress in the morning, to hear her say that the custom was very wicked ; that she hated to hear the rattle of the chains, and the heart-rending cries. I was glad to find one who sympathized with me in my horror.
"Fellow-citizens, this murderous traffic is, to-
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. I05
day, in active operation in this boasted republic. In the soHtude of my spirit, I see clouds of dust raised on the highways of the South ; I see the bleeding footsteps ; I hear the doleful wail of fettered humanity, on the way to the slave-mar- kets, where the victims are to be sold like horses, sheep, and swine, knocked off to the highest bid- der. There I see the tenderest ties ruthlessly broken to gratify the lust, caprice, and rapacity of the buyers and sellers of men. My soul sick- ens at the sight.
#^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 4&>
"A* nv- "Tr ^P" "A* *?!*
"What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July .f^ I answer, a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham ; your boasted liberty, an unholy license ; your national greatness, swelling vanity ; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless ; your denun- ciations of tyrants, brass-fronted impudence ; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery ; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanks- givings, with all your religious parade and solem- nity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and more bloody than
I06 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
are the people of these United States at this very hour."
At the commencement exercises of the West- ern Reserve College, July 12, 1854, Mr. Douglass ably discussed the question, " The Claims of the Negro Ethnologically Considered." As stated elsewhere in this sketch, up to this time he had delivered his speeches extemporaneously or from brief notes. On this occasion he wrote out in full his address and spoke from manuscript, in- troducing his subject to the audience in these words : —
"Gentlemen of the Philozetian Society: I pro- pose to submit to you a few thoughts on the subject of the Claims of the Negro, suggested by ethnological science, or the natural history of man. But, before entering upon that subject, I trust you will allow me to make a remark or two somew^hat personal to myself. The relation be- tween me and this occasion may justify what, in others, might seem an offense against good taste.
"This occasion is to me of no ordinary interest, for many reasons ; and the honor you have done me, in selecting me as your speaker, is as grate- ful to my heart as it is novel in the history of American collegiate or literary institutions. Sur- prised as I am, the public are no less surprised, at the spirit of independence, and the moral
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. I07
Courage displayed by the gentlemen at whose call I am here. There is felt to be a principle in the matter placing it far above egotism or personal vanity ; a principle which gives to this occasion a general, and, I had almost said, an universal interest. I engage, to-day, for the first time, in the exercises of any college commence- ment. It is a new chapter in my humble expe- rience. The usual course, at such times, I believe, is to call to the platform men of age and distinc- tion, eminent for eloquence, mental ability, and scholarly attainments — men whose high culture, severe training, great experience, large observa- tion, and peculiar aptitude for teaching, qualify them to instruct even the already well instructed, and to impart a glow, a luster, to the acquire- ments of those who are passing from the halls of learning to the broad theater of active life. To no such high endeavor as this, is your humble speaker fitted ; and it was with much distrust and hesitation that he accepted the invitation, so kindly and perseveringly given, to occupy a por- tion of your attention here to-day.
" I express the hope, then, gentlemen, that this acknowledgment of the novelty of my position, and my unaffected and honest confession of in- aptitude, will awaken a sentiment of generous indulgence towards the scattered thoughts I have been able to fling together, with a view of pre-
Io8 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
senting them as my humble contribution to these commencement exercises.
" Interesting to me, personally, as this occasion is, it is still more interesting to you ; especially to such of you as have completed your education, and who (not wholly unlike the gallant ship, newly launched, full rigged, and amply fitted, about to quit the placid waters of the harbor for the boisterous waves of the sea) are entering upon the active duties and measureless responsibilities incident to the great voyage of life. Before such, the ocean of mind lies outspread more solemn than the sea, studded with difficulties and perils. Thoughts, theories, ideas, and systems, so various, and so opposite, and leading to such diverse re- sults, suggest the wisdom of the utmost precau- tion, and the most careful survey, at the start. A false light, a defective chart, an imperfect com- pass, may cause one to drift in endless bewilder- ment, or to be landed at last amid sharp destruc- tive rocks. On the other hand, guided by wis- dom, manned with truth, fidelity and industry, the haven of peace, devoutly wished for, may be reached in safety by all. The compensation of the preacher is full, when assured that his words have saved even one from error and from ruin. My joy shall be full, if, on this occasion, I shall be able to give a right direction to any one mind, touching the question now to be considered.
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. IO9
" Gentlemen, in selecting the Claims of the Ne- gro as the subject of my remarks to-day, I am animated by a desire to bring before you a mat- ter of living importance — matter upon which action, as well as thought, is required. The rela- tion subsisting between the white and black peo- ple of this country is the vital question of the age. In the solution of this question, the scholars of America will have to take an important and controlling part. This is the moral battlefield to which their country and their God now call them. In the eye of both, the neutral scholar is an igno- ble man. Here, a man must be hot, or be ac- counted cold, or, perchance, something worse than hot or cold. The lukewarm and the cow- ardly will be rejected by earnest men on either side of the controversy. The cunning man who avoids it, to gain the favor of both parties, will be rewarded with scorn ; and the timid man who shrinks from it for fear of offending either party, will be despised. To the lawyer, the preacher, the politician, and to the man of letters, there is no neutral ground. He that is not for us, is against us. Gentlemen, I assume at the start, that wherever else I may be required to speak with bated breath, here, at least, I may speak with freedom the thought nearest my heart. This liberty is implied, by the call I have received to be here ; and yet I hope to present the subject so
no LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
that no man can reasonably say that an outrage has been committed, or that I have abused the privileges with which you have honored me. I shall aim to discuss the claims of the negro, gen- eral and special, in a manner, though not scien- tific, still suiiiciently clear and definite to enable my hearers to form an intelligent judgment re- specting them."
H^ ^ ^ '7^ ^ ^ ^
He concludes in the following eloquent plea in behalf of his race : —
" But, gentlemen, the time fails me, and I must bring these remarks to a close. My argument has swelled beyond its appointed measure. What I intended to make special, has become, in its progress, somewhat general. I meant to speak here, to-day, for the lonely and the despised ones, with whom I was cradled, and with w^hom I have suffered ; and now, gentlemen, in conclusion, what if all this reasoning be unsound ? What if the negro ma}' not be able to prove his relationship to Nubians, Abyssinians, and Egyptians ? What if ingenious men are able to find plausible objec- tions to all arguments maintaining the oneness of the human race ? What, after all, if they are able to show very good reasons for believing the negro to have been created precisely as we find him on the Gold coast — along the Senegal and the Niger — I say, what of all this ? 'A 7?ian 's a man for
LIFE OF FREDERICK IDOUGLASS. I I I
a that^ I sincerely believe, that the weight of the argument is in favor of the unity of origin of the human race, or species — that the arguments on the other side are partial, superficial, utterly subversive of the happiness of man, and insulting to the wisdom of God. Yet, what if we grant they are not so? What, if we grant that the case, on our part, is not made out ? Does it fol- low, that the negro should be held in contempt ? Does it follow, that to enslave and imbrute him is either /W/ or wise? I think not. Human rights stand upon a common basis ; and by all the rea- son that they are supported, maintained, and de- fended, for one variety of the human family, they are supported, maintained, and defended for all the human family ; because all mankind have the same wants, arising out of a common nature. A diverse origin does not disprove a common nature, nor does it disprove a united destiny. The essen- tial characteristics of humanity^are everywhere the same. In the language of the eloquent Cur- ran, ' No matter what complexion, whether an Indian or an African sun has burnt upon him,' his title deed to freedom, his claim to life and to liberty, to knowledge and to civilization, to society and to Christianity, is just and perfect. It is registered in the courts of heaven, and is enforced by the eloquence of the God of all the earth. *' I have said that the negro and white man are
112 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
likely ever to remain the principal inhabitants of this country. I repeat the statement now, to submit the reasons that support it. The blacks can disappear from the face of the country by three ways. They may be colonized, — they may be exterminated, — or, they may die out. Colo- nization is out of the question, for I know not what hardships the laws of the land can impose which can induce the colored citizen to leave his native soil. He was here in its infancy ; he is here in its age. Two hundred years have passed over him, his tears and blood have been mixed with the soil, and his attachment to the place of his birth is stronger than iron. It is not probable that he will be exterminated ; two considerations must prevent a crime so stupendous as that — the influence of Christianity on the one hand, and the power of self-interest on the other ; and, in regard to their dying out, the statistics of the country afford no encouragement for such a con- jecture. The history of the negro race proves them to be wonderfully adapted to all countries, all climates, and all conditions. Their tenacity of life, their powers of endurance, their malleable toughness, would almost imply especial interpo- sition on their behalf. The ten thousand horrors of slavery, striking hard upon the sensitive soul, have bruised, and battered, and stung, but have not killed. The poor bondman lifts a smiling
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. II3
face above the surface of a sea of agonies, hoping on, hoping ever. His tawny brother, the Indian, dies under the flashing glance of the Anglo- Saxon. Not so the negro ; civilization cannot kill him. He accepts it — becomes a part of it. In the church, he is an Uncle Tom ; in the state, he is the most abused and least offensive. All the facts in his history mark out for him a des- tiny united to America and Americans. Now, whether this population shall, by Freedom, Indus- try, Virtue, and Intelligence, be made a bless- ing to the country and the world, or whether their multiplied wrongs shall kindle the ven- geance of an offended God, will depend upon the conduct of no class of men so much as upon the scholars of the country. The future public opin- ion of the land, whether anti-slavery or pro-slav- ery, whether just or unjust, whether magnanimous or mean, must redound to the honor of the schol- ars of the country or cover them with shame. There is but one safe road for nations or for indi- viduals. The fate of a wicked man and of a wicked nation is the same. The flaming sword of offended justice falls as certainly upon the nation as upon the man. God has no children whose rights may be safely trampled upon. The sparrow may not fall to the ground without the notice of his eye, and men are more than sparrows. "Now, gentlemen, I have done. The subject is
114 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
before you. I shall not undertake to make the ap- plication. I speak as unto wise men. I stand in the presence of scholars. We have met here to-day from vastly different points in the world's condition. I have reached here — if you will par- don the egotism — by little short of a miracle ; at any rate, by dint of some application and per- severance. Born, as I was, in obscurity, a stran- ger to the halls of learning, environed by igno- rance, degradation, and their concomitants from birth to manhood, I do not feel at liberty to mark out, with any degree of confidence, or dogmatism, what is the precise vocation of the scholar. Yet, this I ca7t say, as a denizen of the world, and as a citizen of a country rolling in the sin and shame of slavery, the most flagrant and scandalous that ever saw the sun, ' Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.' "
A gentleman who was present and heard this address, in a recent article to a newspaper writes the following: " One of the societies in ' Western Reserve College ' (now removed to Cleveland, and known as Adelbert College, and endowed by the late Mr. Stone) had invited Mr. Douglass to give the annual address before that body. It was a
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. II5
very honorable exhibition of breadth and progres- siveness on the part of the students. The West- ern Reserve was always in advance, keeping step with Worcester county, Massachusetts. Mr. Douglass took as his subject, ' The Claims of the Negro Ethnologically Considered.' The hon- ored president of the University of Rochester kindly and cordially promised to give Mr. Doug- lass the benefit of his extended knowledge of eth- nology, and it was the privilege of the Rambler to accompany Mr. Douglass to the house of the president and to introduce (as an isthmus con- necting two continents) the radical lecturer to the somewhat conservative president. Later it was his honor to introduce Mr. Douglass to the president of Brown University.
" In the course of his address, Mr. Douglass cited one author who decried the claim of the negro to equal manhood, on the ground that ' the voice of the negro is thin and piping, an evidence of inferiority.' This passage Mr. Doug- lass delivered in a voice of thunder, convulsing the audience, and rendering other reply needless."
Mr. George Thompson, whom Lord Brougham called " the most eloquent man in all England," had argued before the people of Glasgow, Scot- land, that the constitution of the United States was a pro-slavery instrument, and took the ground that the dissolution of the Union as held by the
Il6 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
Garrisonians was the end to be sought by the American aboHtionists as opposed to those who beheved in the anti-slavery character of the consti- tution and duty of laboring inside of the govern- ment for the abolition of slavery. Mr. Douglass, then being in Glasgow, was invited to answer Mr. Thompson, and did so in a speech which showed not only his ability as a ready debater, but his thorough understanding of the question he dis- cussed. The extract which we here present of that speech Vvill give some idea of his power of simple statement and force of logical reasoning : — " I have read with much care a speech delivered in the City Hall, Glasgow, on the 28th of Febru- ary, purporting to be a reply to one made by myself in Dr. Anderson's church a few weeks previously. I found that speech at length in one of your most respectable daily papers. The minuteness and general shading of the report bore evidence that the orator had been his own reporter. The speech showed no marks of being marred or mutilated in its transition from the manuscript to the types, and no doubt may be properly taken as a fair transcript of the orator's utterances on that occasion. On some accounts I read that speech with much regret, and on others with much satisfaction. I was certainly pleased with the evidence it afforded that the orator had largely recovered his long-lost health,
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. II7
and much of his wonted eloquence and fire. But my chief ground of satisfaction is that its deliv- ery— perhaps I ought to say its publication, for I should not have noticed the speech but for that — furnishes an occasion for bringing before the friends of my enslaved people one phase of the great struggle going on in America between slav- ery and freedom, which I deem both interesting and important.
J£. J£, M, ^ ^ ^ 41.
'7^ T^ tF W ^V" "SP Tf"
" I stand by all I said, and more than all I said, in the speech in Dr. Anderson's church. But enough of this ; I proceed to the discussion. Much will be gained at the outset if we fully and clearly understand the real question under dis- cussion. Indeed, nothing is or can be understood till this is understood. Things are often con- founded and treated as the same, for no better reason than that they resemble each other, even while they are in their nature and character totally distinct and even directly opposed to each other. The jumbling of things is a sort of dust- throwing which is often indulged in by small men who argue for victory rather than for truth. Thus, for instance, the American government and the American constitution are spoken of in a manner which would naturally lead the hearer to believe that the one is identical with the other; when the truth is, they are as distinct in charac-
Il8 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
ter as are a ship and a compass. The one may point right and the other steer wrong. A chart is one thing, the course of the vessel is another. The constitution may be right, the government wrong. If the government has been governed by mean, sordid, and Vv^icked passions, it does not follow that the constitution is mean, sordid, or wicked. What, then, is the question ? I will state it. But first let me state what is not the question. It is not whether slavery existed in the United States at the time of the adoption of the constitution ; it is not whether slaveholders took part in framing the constitution ; it is not whether those slaveholders, in their hearts, in- tended to secure certain advantages in that instru- ment for slavery ; it is not whether the American government has been wielded during seventy-two years in favor of the propagation and permanence of slavery ; it is not whether a pro-slavery inter- pretation has been put upon the constitution by the American courts — all these points may be true, or they may be false, they may be accepted or they may be rejected, without in any way affect- ing the real question in debate. The real and exact question between myself and the class of persons represented by the speech at the City Hall may be fairly stated thus : First, does the United States constitution guarantee to any class or description of people in that country the right
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. II9
to enslave, or hold as property, any other class or description of people in that country ? Second, is the dissolution of tKe union between the slave and free states required by fidelity to the slaves or by the just demands of conscience ? Or, in other words, is the refusal to exercise the elective franchise, and to hold office in America, the sur- est, wisest, and best way to abolish slavery in America ? To these questions the Garrisonians say, yes. They hold the constitution to be a slave- holding instrument, and will not cast a vote or hold office, and denounce all who vote or hold office, no matter how faithfully such persons labor to promote the abolition of slavery. I, on the other hand, deny that the constitution guarantees the right to hold property in man, and believe that the way to abolish slavery in America is to vote such men into power as will use their powers for the abolition of slavery. This is the issue plainly stated, and you shall judge between us. Before we examine into the disposition, tendency, and character of the constitution, I think we had better ascertain what the constitution itself is. Before looking for what it means, let us see what it is. Here, too, there is much dust to be cleared away. What, then, is the constitution ? I will tell you. It is no vague, indefinite, floating, un- substantial, ideal something, colored according to any man's fancy, now a weasel, now a whale, and
I20 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
now nothing. On the contrary, it is a plainly written document, not in Hebrew or Greek, but in English, beginning with a preamble, filled out with articles, sections, provisions, and clauses, defining the rights, powers, and duties to be secured, claimed, and exercised under its author- ity. It is not even like the British constitution, which is made up of enactments of Parliament, decisions of courts, and the established usages of the government. The American constitution is a written instrument full and complete in itself. No court in America, no Congress, no president, can add a single word thereto, or take a single word therefrom. It is a great national enact- ment done by the people, and can only be altered, amended, or added to, by the people.
^* ^P ^* ^r ^r ^^ ^'
" I repeat, the paper itself, and only the paper itself, with its own plainly-written purposes is the constitution. It must stand or fall, flourish or fade, on its own individual and self-declared char- acter and objects. Again, where would be the advantage of a written constitution, if, instead of seeking its meaning in its words, we had to seek them in the secret intentions of individuals who may have had something to do with writing the paper ? What will the people of America a hun- dred years hence care about the intentions of the scriveners who wrote the constitution ? These
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 121
men are already gone from us, and in the course of nature were expected to go from us. They were for a generation, but the constitution is for ages. Whatever we may owe to them, we certainly owe it to ourselves, and to mankind, and to God, to maintain the truth of our own language, and to allow no villainy, not even the villainy of holding men as slaves— which Wesley says is the sum of all villainies — to shelter itself under a fair-seeming and virtuous language. We owe it to ourselves to compel the devil to wear his own garments, and to make wicked laws speak out their wicked in- tentions. Common sense, and common justice, and sound rules of interpretation, all drive us to the words of the law for the meaning of the law."
CHAPTER X.
Extracts from his Speeches and Lectures —
Continued.
On Decoration day, 1871, Mr. Douglass deliv- ered an address before a great concourse of peo- ple, including General Grant and his cabinet, in which he distinctly points out the motives which actuated those who fought on opposite sides in the late civil conflict. It is, perhaps, the best of his short speeches, and we think there cannot be found a more just and eloquent tribute to our illustrious dead. Here is what he said : —
" Friends and Fellow Citizens : Tarry here for a moment. My words shall be few and sim- ple. The solemn rites of this hour and place call for no lengthened speech. There is, in the very air of this resting-ground of the unknown dead, a silent, subtle, and all pervading eloquence, far more touching, impressive, and thrilling than liv- ing lips have ever uttered. Into the measureless depths of every loyal soul it is now whispering lessons of all that is. precious, priceless, holiest, and most endurino; in human existence.
"Dark and sad v/ill be the hour to this nation when it forgets to pay grateful homage to its greatest benefactors. The offering we bring to-
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 12^
day is due alike to the patriot soldiers dead and their noble comrades who still live ; for, whether living or dead, whether in time or eternity, the loyal soldiers who imperiled all for country and freedom are one and inseparable.
" Those unknown heroes whose whitened bones have been piously gathered here, and whose green graves we now strew with sweet and beautiful flowers, choice emblems alike of pure hearts and brave spirits, reached, in their glorious career, that last highest point of nobleness beyond which human power cannot go. They died for their country.
"No loftier tribute can be paid to the most illus- trious of all the benefactors of mankind than we pay to these unrecognized soldiers when we write above their graves this shining epitaph.
"When the dark and vengeful spirit of slavery, always ambitious, preferring to rule in hell than to serve in heaven, fired the Southern heart and stirred all the malign elements of discord, when our great republic, the hope of freedom and self- government throughout the world, had reached the point of supreme peril, when the union of these states was torn and rent asunder at the center, and the armies of a gigantic rebellion came forth with broad blades and bloody hands to destroy the very foundation of American so- ciety, the unknown heroes who flung themselves
124 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
into the yawning chasm, amid roaring cannon and whistling bullets, with a sublime devotion fought and died for their country.
"We are sometimes asked, in the name of pa- triotism, to forget the merits of this fearful strug- gle, and to remember with equal admiration those who struck at the nation's life and those who struck to save it, those who fought for slavery and those who fought for liberty and justice.
" I am no minister of malice. I would not strike the fallen. I would not repel the repentant; but may ' my right hand forget her cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,' if I for- get the difference between the parties to that terrible, protracted, and bloody conflict.
" If we ouo-ht to fororet a war v/hich has filled our land with widows and orphans ; which has made stumps of men of the very flower of our youth ; which has sent them on the journey of life arm- less, legless, maimed, and mutilated ; which has piled up a debt heavier than a mountain of gold, swept uncounted thousands of men into bloody graves and planted agony at a million hearth- stones— I say, if this war is to be forgotten, I ask, in the name of all things sacred, what shall men remember ?
" The essence and significance of our devotions here to-day are not to be found in the fact that the men whose remains fill these graves were
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 1 25
brave in battle. If we met simply to show our sense of bravery, we should find enough on both sides to kindle admiration. In the raging storm of fire and blood, in the fierce torrent of shot and shell, of sword and bayonet, whether on foot or on horse, unflinching courage marked the rebel not less than the loyal soldier.
" But we are not here to applaud manly courage, save as it has been displayed in a noble cause. We must never forget that victory to the rebellion meant death to the republic. We must never for- get that the loyal soldiers who rest beneath this sod flung themselves between the nation and the nation's destroyers. If to-day we have a country not boiling in an agony of blood, like France, if now we have a united country, no longer cursed by the hell-black system of human bondage, if the American name is no longer a by-word and a hissing to a mocking earth, if- the star spangled banner floats only over free American citizens in every quarter of the land, and our country has before it a long and glorious career of justice, lib- erty, and civilization, we are indebted to the unselfish devotion of the noble army who rest in these honored graves all around us."
On the 14th of April, 1876, on the occasion of the unveiling of the Freedmen's monument in memory of Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln park, Washington, D. C, Mr. Douglass was the orator
126 LIFE OF FRED?:RICK DOUGLASS.
of the day, and in his masterly oration spoke elo- quently of the life and services of President Lin- coln. We give the concluding portion of what he said : —
" Fellow-citizens, whatever else in this world may be partial, unjust, and uncertain, time, time ! is impartial, just, and certain in its action. In the realm of mind, as well as in the realm of matter, it is a great worker, and often works wonders. The honest and comprehensive statesman, clearly discerning the needs of his country, and earnestly endeavoring to do his whole duty, though covered and blistered with reproaches, may safely leave his course to the silent judgment of time. Few great public men have ever been the victims of fiercer denunciation than Abraham Lincoln was during his administration. He was often wounded in the house of his friends. Reproaches came thick and fast upon him from within and from without, and from opposite quarters. He w^as assailed by abolitionists ; he was assailed by slave- holders ; he was assailed by the men who were for peace at any price ; he was assailed by those who were for a more vigorous prosecution of the war ; he Avas assailed for not making the war an abolition war ; and he was most bitterly assailed for making the war an abolition war.
"But now behold the change; the judgm.ent of the present hour is, that taking him for all in all,
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 1 27
measuring the tremendous magnitude of the work before him, considering the necessary means to ends, and surveying the end from the beginning, infinite wisdom has seldom sent any man into the world better fitted for his mission than Abraham Lincoln. His birth, his training, and his natural endowments, both mental and physical, were strongly in his favor. Born and reared among the lowl}% a stranger to wealth and luxur}^, com- pelled to grapple single-handed with the flintiest hardships of life from tender youth to sturdy manhood, he grew strong in the manly and heroic qualities demanded by the great mission to which he was called by the votes of his countrymen. The hard condition of his early life, which would have depressed and broken down wea.ker men, only gave greater life, vigor, and buoyancy to the heroic spirit of Abraham Lincoln. He was ready for any kind and any quality of work. What other young men dreaded in the shape of toil, he took hold of with the utmost cheerfulness.
" 'A spade, a rake, a hoe, A pickaxe, or a bill ; A hook to reap, a scythe to mow, A flail, or what you will.'
"All day long he could split heavy rails in the woods, and half the night long he could study his English grammar by the uncertain flare and glare of the light made by a pine knot. He was at
128 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
home on the land with his axe, with his maul, with gluts, and his wedges ; and he was equally at home on water, with his oars, with his poles, with his planks, and with his boat-hooks. And whether in his flat-boat on the Mississippi river, or at the fireside of his frontier cabin, he was a man of work. A son of toil himself, he was linked in brotherly sympathy with the sons of toil in every loyal part of the republic. This very fact gave him tremendous power with the Amer- ican people, and materially contributed not only to electing him to the presidency, but in sus- taining his administration of the government.
" Upon his inauguration as president of the United States, an ofifice, even where assumed under the most favorable conditions, fitted to tax and strain the largest abilities, Abraham Lincoln was met by a tremendous crisis. He was called upon not merely to administer the government, but to decide, in the face of terrible odds, the fate of the republic. A formidable rebellion rose in his path before him ; the Union was already prac- tically dissolved ; his country was torn and rent asunder at the center. Hostile armies were al- ready organized against the republic, armed with the munitions of war which that republic had provided for its own defense. The tremendous question for him to decide was whether his coun- try should survive the crisis and flourish, or be
LIFE OF FREDP:RICK DOUGLASS. 1 29
dismembered and perish. His predecessor in office had already decided the question in favor of national dismemberment by denying to it the right of self-defense and self-preservation — a right which belongs to the meanest insect.
" Happily for the country, happily for you and for me, the judgment of James Buchanan, the patri- cian, was not the judgment of Abraham Lincoln, the plebeian. He brought his strong common sense, sharpened in the school of adversity, to bear upon the question. He did not hesitate, he did not falter ; but at once resolved that at what- ever peril, at whatever cost, the union of the states should be preserved. A patriot himself, his faith was strong and unwavering in the patriotism of his countrymen. Timid men said before Mr. Lin- coln's inauguration, that we had seen the last pres- ident of the United States. A voice in influential quarters said, *Let the union slide.' Some said that a union maintained by the sword was worth- less. Others said a rebellion of eight million can- not be suppressed ; but in the midst of all this tumult and timidity, and against all this, Abra- ham Lincoln was clear in his duty, and had an oath in heaven. He calmly and bravely heard the voice of doubt and fear all around him ; but he had an oath in heaven, and there was not power enough on earth to make this honest boat- man, backwoodsman, and broad-handed splitter of 9
130 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
rails evade or violate tha.t sacred oath. He had not been schooled in the ethics of slavery; his plain life had favored his love of truth. He had not been taught that treason and perjury were the proof of honor and honesty. His moral train- ino: was aQ:ainst his savinc^ one thino" Vv^hen he meant another. The trust which Abraham Lin- coln had in himself and in the people was sur- prising and grand, but it was also enlightened and well founded. He knew the American peo- ple better than they knew themselves, and his truth was based upon this knowledge.
" Fellow-citizens, the fourteenth day of April, 1865, of which this is the eleventh anniversary, is now and w^ill ever remain a memorable day in the annals of this republic. It was on the evening of this day, while a fierce and sanguinary rebellion was in the last stages of its desolating power; v/hile its armies were broken and sca,ttered before the invincible armies of Grant and Sherman; while a great nation, torn and rent by war, was already beginning to raise to the skies loud an- thems of joy at the dawn of pe?,ce, it w^as startled, amazed, and overwhelmed by the crowning crime of slaver}^ — the assassination of Abraham Lin- coln. It was a new crime, a pure act of malice. No purpose of the rebellion was to be served by it. It was the simple gratification of a hell-black spirit of revenge. But it has done good, after all.
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. I3I
It has filled the country with a deeper abhorrence of slavery and a deeper love for the great liberator.
"Had Abraham Lincoln died from any of the numerous ills to which flesh is heir ; had he reached that good old age of which his vigorous constitution and his temperate habits gave prom- ise ; had he been permitted to see the end of his great work ; had the solemn curtain of death come down but gradually — we should still have been smitten with a heavy grief, and treasured his name lovingly. But, dying as he did die, by the red hand of violence, killed, assassinated, taken off without warning, not because of per- sonal hate — for no man who knew Abraham Lin- coln could hate him — but because of his fidelity to union and liberty, he is doubly dear to us, and his memory will be precious forever.
"Fellow-citizens, I end as I began, with con- gratulations. Wq have done a good work for our race to-day. In doing honor to the memory of our friend and liberator, we have been doing highest honors to ourselves and those who come after us ; we have been fastening ourselves to a name and fame imperishable and immortal ; we have also been defending ourselves from a blight- ing scandal. When now it shall be said that the colored man is soulless, that he has no apprecia- tion of benefits or benefactors ; when the foul reproach of ingratitude is hurled at us, and it is
132 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
attempted to scourge us beyond the range of human brotherhood, we may cahiily point to the monument we have this day erected to the mem- ory of Abraham Lincoln."
An eminent divine at the unveiHng of the monument here referred to, after congratulating the orator of the day upon his masterly portrayal of the character of the martyr president, turned to General Grant, who was present, and said : " There is but one Frederick Douglass."
On the anniversary celebration of the emanci- pation of slaves in the District of Columbia, Mr. Douglass was the orator in the years 1883, 1885, and 1886, respectively. The speeches delivered at the time here referred to, are discourses on the relations subsisting between the white and colored people of the United States, in which the orator clearly shows that, though the negro possesses personal freedom and the ballot, he is still a victim of prejudice and injustice.
Here is an extract from the first of these addresses, delivered in the First Congregational Church, April 16, 1883.
" Let any man now claim for the negro, or, worse still, let the negro now claim for himself, any right, privilege, or immunity which has hitherto been denied by law or custom, and he will at once open a fountain of bitterness, and call forth over- whelming wrath.
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 1 33
" It is his sad lot to live in a land where all pre- sumptions are arrayed against him, unless we except the presumption of inferiority and worth- lessness. If his course is downward, he meets very little resistance, but if upward, his way is disputed at every turn of the road. If he comes in rags and in wretchedness, he answers the pub- lic demand for a negro, and provokes no anger, though he may provoke derision, but if he pre- sumes to be a gentleman and a scholar, he is then entirely out of his place. He excites resentment and calls forth stern and bitter opposition. If he offers himself to a builder as a mechanic, to a client as a lawyer, to a patient as a physician, to a university as a professor, or to a department as a clerk, no matter what may be his ability or his attainments, there is a presumption, based upon his color or his previous condition, of incompe- tency, and if he succeeds at all, he has to do so against this most discouraging presumption.
" It is a real calamity, in this country, for any man, guilty or not guilty, to be accused of crime, but it is an incomparably greater calamity for any colored man to be so accused. Justice is often painted with bandaged eyes. She is described in forensic eloquence, as utterly blind to wealth or poverty, high or low, white or black; but a mask of iron, however thick, could never blind Ameri- can justice, when a black man happens to be on
134 LiFfi OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
trial. Here, even more than elsewhere, he will find all presumptions of law and evidence against him. It is not so much the business of his ene- mies to prove him guilty, as it is the business of himself to prove his innocence. The reasonable doubt which is usually interposed to save the life and liberty of a white man charged with crime, seldom has any force or effect when a colored man is accused of crime. Indeed, color is a far better protection to the white criminal, than any- thing else. In certain parts of our country, when any white man wishes to commit a heinous of- fense, he wisely resorts to burnt cork and black- ens his face, and goes forth under the similitude of a negro. When the deed is done, a little soap and water destroys his identity, and he goes un- whipped of justice. Some negro is at once sus- pected and brought before the victim of wrong for identification, and there is never much trouble here, for as in the eyes of many white people all negroes look alike, and as the man who was arrested and who sits in the dock in irons is black, he is undoubtedly the criminal.
"A still orreater misfortune to the nesfro is that
o o
the press, that engine of omnipotent power, usu- ally tries him in advance of the courts, and, when once his case is decided in the newspapers, it is easy for the jury to bring in its verdict of * guilty as indicted.'
LiFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 1 35
" In many parts of our common country, the action of courts and juries is entirely too slow for the impetuosity of the people's justice. When the black man is accused, the mob takes the law into its own hands, and whips, shoots, stabs, hangs, or burns the accused, simply upon the alle- gation or suspicion of crime. Of such proceed- ings Southern papers are full. A crime almost unknown to the colored man in the time of slav- ery seems now, from report, the most common. I do not believe these reports. There are too many reasons for trumping up such charges.
"Another feature of the situation is, that this mob violence is seldom, rebuked by the press and the pulpit, in its immediate neighborhood, be- cause the public opinion which sustains and makes possible such outrages, intimidates both press and pulpit.
" Besides, nobody expects that those who par- ticipate in such mob violence will ever be held ansv/erable to the law,^nd punished. Of course, judges are not always unjust, nor juries always partial in cases of this class, but I affirm that I have here given you no picture of the fancy, and I have alleged no point incapable of proof, and dra,wn no line darker or denser than the terrible reality. The situation is discouraging, but, with all its hardships and horrors, I am neither des- perate nor despairing as to the future."
136 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
In the following extract from his second address delivered at the Lincoln Memorial Church, April 16, 1885, he compliments President Cleveland upon his inaugural address and expresses the hope that he will administer the affairs of the government with due regard to the rights of all citizens irrespective of race or color.
These are his words : —
No better words have dropped from the east portico of the Capitol since the inauguration days of Abraham Lincoln and General Grant. I be- lieve they were sincerely spoken, but whether the president will be able to administer the govern- ment in the light of those liberal sentiments is an open question. The one-man power in our gov- ernment is very great, but the power of party may be greater. The president is not the auto- crat but the executive of the nation. But, happily, the executive is yet a power, and may be able to obtain the support of the co-ordinate branches of the government in so plain a duty as protecting the rights of the colored citizens, with those of all other citizens of the republic. For one, though Republican I am, and have been, and ever expect to be, though I did what I could to elect James G. Blaine as president of the United States, I am disposed to trust President Cleveland. By his words, as well as by his oath of office, solemnly subscribed to before uncounted thousands of
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 1 37
American citizens, he is held and firmly bound to execute the constitution of the United States in the fullness of its spirit and in the completeness of its letter, and thus far he has shown no dispo- sition to shrink from that duty.
" The Southern question is evidently the most difficult question with which President Cleveland will have to deal. Hard as it may be to manage his party on the civil service question, where he has only to deal with hungry and thirsty office seekers, nineteen out of every twenty of whom he must necessarily offend by failing to find desir- able places for them, he will find it incomparably harder to meet that party's wishes in dealing with the Southern question. There are several meth- ods of disposing of this Southern question open to him, and there are lions in the way, whichever method he may adopt.
" First, he may adopt a policy of total indiffer- ence. He may shut his eyes to the fact that in all of the Gulf states political rights of colored citizens are literally stamped out ; that the consti- tution which he has solemnly sworn to support and enforce is under the feet of the mob ; that in those states there is no such thing as a fair elec- tion and an honest count. He may utterly refuse to interfere by word or deed for the enforcement of the constitution and for the protection of the ballot, and let the Southern question drift whither-
138 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASSo
soever it will, to ?. port of safety or to a rock of disaster. He will probably be counseled to pur- sue the course of President Hayes, but I hope he vdll refuse to follow it. The reasons v/hich sup- ported that policy do not exist in the case of a Democratic president. Mr. Hayes made a virtue of necessity. He had fair warning that not a dollar or a dime vv^ould be voted by a Democratic Congress if the army w^ere kept in the South, The cry of the country was ag;ainst what was called ba3^onet rule.
" Secondly, the president may pursue a tem- porizing policy ; keep the word of promise to the ear and break it to the heart, a half-hearted, a neither hot nor cold, a good Lord and a good devil policy. He may seek to avoid giving offense to any, and thus succeed in pleasing none ; a policy which no man or party can pursue without invit- ing and earning the scorn and contempt of all honest men, and of all honest parties.
" Thirdly, he may decide to accept the Mis- sissippi plan of conducting elections 3± the South; encourage violence and crime ; elevate to ofHce the men whose hands are reddest v/ith innocent blood ; force the negroes out of Southern politics by the shotgun and the bulldozer's whip ; cheat them out of the elective franchise ; suppress the Republican vote ; kill off their v/hite leaders, and keep tlie South solid; and keep its one hundred
iJFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 1 39
and fifty-three electoral votes — obtained thus by force, fraud, and red-handed violence — ready to be cast for a Democratic candidate in 1888. This might be acceptable to a certain class of Demo- crats at the South, but the Democrats at the North would abhor and denounce it as a bloody and hell-black policy. It would hurl the party from power in spite of the solid South, and keep it out of power another four and twenty years.
" Fourthly, he may sustain a policy of absolute fidelity to ail the requirements of the constitution as it is, and, as John Adams said of the Declara- tion of Independence, he miay bravely sa.y to the South and to the nation : ' Sink or svv^im, sur- vive or perish, I am for the constitution in all its parts ! I will be true to my oath, and I will, to the best of my ability, and to the fullest extent of my power, defend, protect, and maintain the rights of all citizens, w^ithout respect to race or color.'
" There can be no doubt as to which of these methods of treating the Southern question is the most honest and safe one. There may be many wrong ways for individuals or nations to pursue, but there is but one right way, and it remains to be seen if this is the one the present administra- tion will adopt and pursue. Left to the prompt- ings of his own heart and his own view of his constitutional duties, and to his own sense of the requirements of consistency and even expediency,
140 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
I firmly believe that President Cleveland would do his utmost to protect and defend the constitutional rights of all classes of citizens. But he is not left to himself, and may adopt a different policy.
"One thing seems plain, which it is well for all parties to know and consider. It is this : There are seven million of colored citizens now in this republic. They stand between the two great parties — the Republican party and the Dem- ocratic party — and whichever of these two parties shall be most just and true to these seven million may safely count upon a long lease of power in this republic. It is not their votes alone that will tell. There is deep down among the people of this country a love of justice and fair pla)', and that fact will tell. It is now as it was in the time of war, and it will be so in all time. The party which takes the negro on its side will triumph. The world moves, and the conditions of success and failure have changed."
At another place in the same address, he boldly and truthfully assigns as the chief reason which caused the defeat of the Republican party in the presidential campaign of 1S84, the subordination of the principle of protection to the rights of citi- zens in the issues presented lo the country.
The words to which we refer are as follows : —
" The great mistake made by the leaders of the Republican party during the late canvass was the
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. I4I
failure to recognize the facts now stated, and their refusal to act upon them. They had become tired of the old issues and wanted new ones. They made their appeal to the pocket of the nation, and not to the heart of the nation. They attended to the mint, anise, and cummin of poli- tics, but omitted the weightier matters of the law — judgment, mercy, and faith. They were loud for the protection of things, but silent for the pro- tection of men. These things they ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone.
" The idea that righteousness exalteth a nation, and that sin is a reproach to any people, was, for a time, lost sight of. The all engrossing thought of the cainpaign was a judicious, discriminating, protective tariff. The great thing was protection to the wool of Ohio ; to the iron of Pennsylvania, and to American m.anufacturers generally. Lit- tle was said, thought, or felt about national integ- rity, the importance of maintaining good faith with the f reedmen or the Indian, or the protection of the constitutional rights of American citizens, except where such rights were in no danger.
" The great thing to be protected was American industry against competition with the pauper labor of Europe — not protection of the starving labor of the South. The body of the nation was everything; the soul of the nation was nothing. It did not appear from the campaign speeches
142 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
that It was important to protect and preserve both, or that the body was not more dependent upon bread for Kfe than was the soul dependent upon truth, justice, benevolence, and good faith for health and life. In the absence of these, the soul of the nation starves, sickens, and dies. It may not fall at once upon the withdrav/al of these, but persistent injustice will, in the end, do its cer- tain work of moral destruction. No nation, no party, no man, can live long and flourish on false- hood, deceit, injustice, and broken pledges. Loy- alty will perish where protection and good faith are denied and withheld, and nothing other than this should be expected, either by a party, a man, or by a government. On the other hand, where good faith is maintained, where justice is upheld, where truth and right prevail, the government v/ill be like the wise man's house in scripture — the winds may blow, the rains may descend, the floods may come and beat upon it, but it will stand, be- cause it is founded upon the solid rock of princi- ple. I speak this, not only for the Republican party, but for all parties. Though I am a party man, to me parties are valuable only as they sub- serve the ends of good government. When they persistently violate the fundamental rights of the humblest and weakest in the land I scout them, despise them, and leave them."
The third address was delivered in the Israel
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 1 43
Methodist Church, April i6, 1886. The orator speaks of the rapid growth of Washington under freedom, and in the following passage vividly pictures wha.t it would have become, if slavery had continued :—
" Fellovz-citizens, v/e are proud to-day, and justly proud, of the prosperity and the increasing liber- ality of Washington, With all our fellow-citizens v/e behold it with pride and pleasure rising and spreading noiselessly around us, almost like the temple of Solomon, without the sound of a ham- mer. New faces meet us at the corners of the streets and greet us in the m.arket plaxes. Con- veniences and irn'orovements are multiplying on every hand. We walk in the shade of its beauti- ful trees by day, and in the rays of its soft electric lights by night. We make it warm where it is cool, and cool where it is warm, and healthy where it is noxious. Our magnificence fills the stranger and sojourner with admiration and wonder. The contrast between the old time of slavery and the nev^^ dispensation of liberty looms upon us on every hand. We feel it in the very air v/e breathe, and in the friendly aspect of all around us. But time Vvould fail to tell of the vast and v/onderful advancem^ent in civilization made in this city by the abolition of slavery.
Perhaps a better idea could be formed of what has been done for Washington and for us by
144 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
imagining what would be the case in a return to the old condition of things. Imagine the wheels of progress reversed ; imagine that by some strange and mysterious freak of fortune slavery, with all its horrid concomitants, was revived ; imagine that under the dome of yonder Capitol legislation was carried on, as formerly, by men with pistols in their belts and bullets in their pock- ets ; imagine the right of speech denied, the right of petition stamped out, the press of the District muzzled, and a word in the streets against slavery the sign for a mob ; imagine a lone woman like Miss Myrtilla Miner, having to defend her right to teach colored girls to read and write, with a pistol in her hand, here in this very city, now dotted all over with colored schools, which rival in magnif- icence the white schools of any other city of the Union ; imagine this, and more, and ask your- selves the question : What progress has been made in liberty and civilization within the borders of this capital ? Further on let us ask : Of what avail would be our cloud-capped towers, our gor- geous palaces, and our solemn temples if slavery again held sway here ? Of what avail would be our marble halls if once more they resounded with the crack of the slave whip, the clank of the fetter, and the rattle of chains ; if slave auctions were held in front of the halls of justice, and chain- gangs were marched over Pennsylvania avenue to
FREDERICK DOUGLASS, JR.
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 1 45
the Long Bridge, for the New Orleans market ? Of what avail would be our state dinners, our splendid receptions, if, like Babylon of old, our people were making merchandise of God's image, trafficking in human blood and in the souls and bodies of men ? Were this District once more covered with this moral blight and mildew, you would hear of no plans, as now, for celebrating within its borders the centennial anniversary of the adoption of the constitution of the United States. Bold and audacious as were the advo- cates of slavery in the olden time, they would have been ashamed to invite here the representatives of the civilized world to inspect the workings of their slave system. To have done so would have been like inviting a clean man to touch pitch, a humane man to witness an execution, a tender- hearted woman to witness a slaughter. In its boldest days slavery drew in its claws and pre- sented a velvet paw to strangers. They knevv^ it was like Lord Granby's character, which could only pass without reprobation as it passed with- out observation. Emancipation liberated the mas- ter as well as the slave. The fact that our citizens are now loudly proclaiming Washington to be the right place for the celebration of the discovery of the continent by Columbus, and the adoption of the constitution of the United States, is an ac- knowledgment of and attestation of the higher 10
146 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
civilization that has, in their judgment, come here with the abolition of slavery. They no longer dread the gaze of civilized men. They no longer fear lest a word of liberty should fall into the ear of a trembling captive and awaken his manhood. They are no longer required to defend with their lips what they must have condemned in their hearts. When the galling chain dropped from the limbs of the slave, the mantle of shame dropped from the brows of their masters. The emancipation of the one was the deliverance of the other; so that this day, in fact, belongs to the one as truly as it belongs to the other, though it is left to us alone to keep it in memory."
The largest and most representative conven- tion of colored men ever held in the United States was held in Liederkranz Hall, Louisville, Kentucky, September 25-27, 1883. It was, in fact, their first real 7iational convention. There were in attendance nearly three hundred dele- gates from twenty-eight states. Mr. Douglass was chosen permanent president and addressed the convention. His speech on this occasion, for sound reasoning and eloquence of expression, is not surpassed by the most distinguished orators of our time.
The Louisville Courier- Jo2irnal, one of the best known Democratic newspapers in the coun- try, in its issue of September 26, speaking of
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 1 47
the convention and Mr. Douglass' great effort says : —
" The convention was called to order by Hon. Frederick Douglass, the permanent chairman, who called upon Dr. Arnett, of Nashville, to offer prayer. At its close, the New Orleans Jubilee Singers chanted the Lord's prayer in a most exquisite and impressive manner. The chairman then introduced Dr. K. Fitzbutler, who delivered an address of welcome to the delegates. His remarks were well put and were received with applause.
" Mr. Douglass then began his address in a sub- dued tone of voice, but as he warmed up he g^ew louder and soon filled the hall with his utterances. Discovering in the audience Hon. James Speed, President Lincoln's last attorney-general, and Gen. James A. Ekin, the speaker invited them to the stage, where they were seated on the left of the speaker. The hall was filling rapidly, and by the time Douglass began to infuse the audience with the inspiration that he felt, a large number of white citizens were seated in the hall. It was evi- dent from the first that the convention expected something grand, and it is but the truth to say that they were not disappointed in Mr. Douglass. In the language of R. A. Jones, of Cleveland, Ohio, ' It was the grandest effort ever made by a col- ored American.' As he proceeded, he came to
148 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
many places where he seemed to halt in his prog- ress, and, in lofty flights of eloquence and logic, ascend to a plane never visited by speakers en- gaged in the discussion of the questions which he had taken up. It frequently became necessary for him to wait several moments for the enthu- siasm to subside."
Here are a few passages from the Louisville speech : —
" Why are we here in this national conven- tion ? To this we answer, first, because there is a power in numbers and in union ; because the many are more than the few ; because the voice of a whole people, oppressed by a common injus- tice, is far more likely to command attention and exert an influence on the public mind, than the voice of single individuals and isolated organiza- tions ; because, coming together from all parts of the country, the members of a national conven- tion have the means of a more comprehensive knowledge of the general situation, and may, therefore, fairly be presumed to conceive more clearly and express more fully and wisely the policy it may be necessary for them to pursue in the premises. Because conventions of the people are in themselves harmless, and when made the means of setting forth grievances, whether real or fancied, they are the safety-valves of the re- public, a wise and safe substitute for violence.
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. I49
dynamite, and all sorts of revolutionary action against the peace and good order of society. If they are held without sufficient reason, that fact will be made manifest in their proceedings, and people will only smile at their weakness and pass on to their usual business without troubling themselves about the empty noise they are able to make. But if held with good cause and by wise, sober, and earnest men, that fact will be made apparent and the result will be salutary. That good old maxim, which has come down to us from revolutionary times, that error may be safely tolerated, while truth is left free to combat it, applies here. A bad law is all the sooner re- pealed by being executed, and error is sooner dis- pelled by exposure than by silence. So much we have deemed it fit to say of conventions generally, because our resort to this measure has been treated by many as if there were something radi- cally wrong in the very idea of a convention. It has been treated as if it were some ghastly, secret conclave, sitting in darkness to devise strife and mischief. The fact is, the only serious feature in the argument against us is the one which respects color. We are asked not only why hold a con- vention, but, with emphasis, why hold a colored convention ? Why keep up this odious distinc- tion between citizens of a common country and thus give countenance to the color line ? It is
150 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
argued that, if colored men hold conventions based upon color, white men may hold white con- ventions based upon color, and thus keep open the chasm between one and the other class of citizens, and keep alive a prejudice which we pro- fess to deplore. We state the argument against us fairly and forcibly, and will answer it candidly and, we hope, conclusively. By that answer it will be seen that the force of the objection is, after all, more in sound than in substance. No reasonable man will ever object to white men holding con- ventions in their own interests, when they are once in our condition and we in theirs, when they are the oppressed and we the oppressors. In point of fact, however, white men are already in convention against us in various ways and at many important points. The practical construc- tion of American life is a convention against us. Human law may know no distinction among men in respect of rights, but human practice may. Examples are painfully abundant.
" Civil Rights.
" The right of every American citizen to select his own society, and invite whom he will to his own parlor and table, should be sacredly re- spected. A man's house is his castle, and he has a right to admit or refuse admission to it as he may please, and defend his house from all in-
Life of Frederick Douglass. 151
truders even with force, if need be. This right belongs to the humblest not less than the high- est, and the exercise of it by any of our citizens toward any person or class who may presume to intrude, should cause no complaint, for each and all may exercise the same right toward whom he will.
" When he quits his home and goes upon the public street, enters a public car or a public house, he has no exclusive right of occupancy. He is only a part of the great public, and while he has the right to walk, ride, and be accommodated with food and shelter in a public conveyance or hotel, he has no exclusive right to say that another citi- zen, tall or short, black or white, shall not have the same civil treatment with himself. The argu- ment against equal rights at hotels is very im- properly put upon the ground that the exercise of such rights is social equality. But this ground is unreasonable. It is hard to say what social equality is, but it is certain that going into the same street car, hotel, or steamboat cabin, does , H not make any man society for another any more l} ^ than flying in the same air makes all birds of one feather.
" Two men may be seated at the same table at a hotel, one may be a Webster in intellect, and the other a Guiteau in feebleness of mind and morals, and, of course, socially and intellectually
152 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
they are as wide apart as are the poles of the moral universe, but their civil rights are the same. The distinction between the two sorts of