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diff --git a/old/69692-0.txt b/old/69692-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 16289b3..0000000 --- a/old/69692-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10165 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Frederick Douglass, by Booker T. -Washington - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Frederick Douglass - -Author: Booker T. Washington - -Release Date: January 3, 2023 [eBook #69692] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from - images generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FREDERICK DOUGLASS *** - - - - - - AMERICAN CRISIS BIOGRAPHIES - - Edited by - Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer, Ph. D. - - - - - “=”The American Crisis Biographies“=” - - -Edited by Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer, Ph.D. With the counsel and advice of -Professor John B. McMaster, of the University of Pennsylvania. - -Each 12mo, cloth, with frontispiece portrait. Price $1.25 net; by mail, -$1.37. - - These biographies will constitute a complete and comprehensive history - of the great American sectional struggle in the form of readable and - authoritative biography. The editor has enlisted the co-operation of - many competent writers, as will be noted from the list given below. An - interesting feature of the undertaking is that the series is to be - impartial, Southern writers having been assigned to Southern subjects - and Northern writers to Northern subjects, but all will belong to the - younger generation of writers, thus assuring freedom from any - suspicion of wartime prejudice. The Civil War will not be treated as a - rebellion, but as the great event in the history of our nation, which, - after forty years, it is now clearly recognized to have been. - - Now ready: - - =Abraham Lincoln.= By ELLIS PAXSON OBERHOLTZER. - - =Thomas H. Benton.= By JOSEPH M. ROGERS. - - =David G. Farragut.= By JOHN R. SPEARS. - - =William T. Sherman.= By EDWARD ROBINS. - - =Frederick Douglass.= By BOOKER T. WASHINGTON. - - =Judah P. Benjamin.= By PIERCE BUTLER. - - =Robert E. Lee.= By PHILIP ALEXANDER BRUCE. - - =Jefferson Davis.= By PROF. W. E. DODD. - - =Alexander H. Stephens.= By LOUIS PENDLETON. - - =John C. Calhoun.= By GAILLARD HUNT. - - In preparation: - - =Daniel Webster.= By PROF. C. H. VAN TYNE. - - =John Quincy Adams.= By BROOKS ADAMS. - - =John Brown.= By W. E. BURGHARDT DUBOIS. - - =William Lloyd Garrison.= By LINDSAY SWIFT. - - =Charles Sumner.= By PROF. GEORGE H. HAYNES. - - =William H. Seward.= By EDWARD EVERETT HALE, Jr. - - =Stephen A. Douglas.= By PROF. HENRY PARKER WILLIS. - - =Thaddeus Stevens.= By PROF. J. A. WOODBURN. - - =Andrew Johnson.= By PROF. WALTER L. FLEMING. - - =Henry Clay.= By THOMAS H. CLAY. - - =Ulysses S. Grant.= By PROF. FRANKLIN S. EDMONDS. - - =Edwin M. Stanton.= By EDWIN S. CORWIN. - - =“Stonewall” Jackson.= By HENRY ALEXANDER WHITE. - - =Jay Cooke.= By ELLIS PAXSON OBERHOLTZER. - -[Illustration: Frederick Douglass] - - AMERICAN CRISIS BIOGRAPHIES - - - - - FREDERICK DOUGLASS - - by - - BOOKER T. WASHINGTON - - Author of “Up from Slavery,” “Working with the Hands,” etc. - -[Illustration] - - PHILADELPHIA - GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY - PUBLISHERS - - - - - Copyright, 1906, by - GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY - _Published, February, 1907_ - - - - - PREFACE - - -The chance or destiny which brought to this land of ours, and placed in -the midst of the most progressive and the most enlightened race that -Christian civilization has produced, some three or four millions of -primitive black people from Africa and their descendants, has created -one of the most interesting and difficult social problems which any -modern people has had to face. The effort to solve this problem has put -to a crucial test the fundamental principles of our political life and -the most widely accepted tenets of our Christian faith. Frederick -Douglass’s career falls almost wholly within the first period of the -struggle in which this problem has involved the people of this -country,—the period of revolution and liberation. That period is now -closed. We are at present in the period of construction and -readjustment. Many of the animosities engendered by the conflicts and -controversies of half a century ago still survive to confuse the -councils of those who are seeking to live in the present and the future, -rather than in the past. But changes are rapidly coming about that will -remove, or at least greatly modify, these lingering animosities. This -book will have failed of its purpose just so far as anything here said -shall serve to revive or keep alive the bitterness of those -controversies of which it gives the history; it will have attained its -purpose just so far as it aids its readers to comprehend the motives of, -and the men who entered with such passionate earnestness into, the -struggle of which it gives in part a picture—particularly the one man, -the story of whose life is here narrated. - -In the succeeding chapters, an effort has been made to present an -account of the life of Frederick Douglass as a slave and as a public man -during the most eventful years of the anti-slavery movement, the Civil -War, the period of reconstruction, and the after years of comparative -freedom from sectional agitation over the “Negro problem.” - -To bring this study within the plan and purposes of the American Crisis -Series of Biographies, such subjects as “The Genesis of the Anti-Slavery -Agitation,” “The Fugitive Slave Law,” “The Underground Railway,” “The -American Colonization Society,” “The Conflict in Kansas for Free Soil,” -“The John Brown Raid,” “The Civil War,” “The Enlistment of Colored -Troops,” and “Reconstruction,” have been given more space than they have -received in earlier biographies. - -While it is true that Frederick Douglass would have been a notable -character in any period, it is also true that in the life of hardly any -other man was there comprehended so great a variety of incidents of what -is perhaps the most memorable epoch in our history. The mere personal -side of Douglass’s life, though romantic and interesting, is here -treated only in outline. - -S. Laing Williams, of Chicago, Ill., and his wife, Fannie Barrier -Williams, have been of incalculable service in the preparation of this -volume. Mr. Williams enjoyed a long and intimate acquaintance with Mr. -Douglass, and I have been privileged to draw heavily upon his fund of -information. He and Mrs. Williams have reviewed this manuscript since -its preparation and have given it their cordial approval. - -In addition to these sources of information, I wish to make grateful -acknowledgment of my indebtedness to Major Charles R. Douglass for the -use of many printed addresses, and for interesting data showing his -father’s work in the Underground Railway. - -I must also acknowledge my sense of gratitude for the opportunity -afforded in this work of getting close to the heart and life of this -great leader of my race. No Negro can read and study the life of -Frederick Douglass without deriving from it courage to look up and -forward. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHRONOLOGY 11 - - I. FREDERICK DOUGLASS, THE SLAVE 15 - - II. BACK TO PLANTATION-LIFE 33 - - III. ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY; LEARNING THE WAYS OF FREEDOM 54 - - IV. BEGINNING OF HIS PUBLIC CAREER 69 - - V. SLAVERY AND ANTI-SLAVERY 83 - - VI. SEEKS REFUGE IN ENGLAND 99 - - VII. HOME AGAIN AS A FREEMAN—NEW PROBLEMS AND NEW TRIUMPHS 116 - - VIII. FREE COLORED PEOPLE AND COLONIZATION 139 - - IX. THE UNDERGROUND RAILWAY AND THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW 157 - - X. DOUGLASS, HARRIET BEECHER STOWE AND JOHN BROWN 174 - - XI. FOREBODINGS OF THE CRISIS 195 - - XII. DOUGLASS’S SERVICES IN THE CIVIL WAR 217 - - XIII. EARLY PROBLEMS OF FREEDOM 245 - - XIV. SHARING THE RESPONSIBILITIES AND HONORS OF FREEDOM 273 - - XV. FURTHER EVIDENCES OF POPULAR ESTEEM, WITH GLIMPSES INTO THE - PAST 302 - - XVI. FINAL HONORS TO THE LIVING AND TRIBUTES TO THE DEAD 334 - - BIBLIOGRAPHY 353 - - INDEX 355 - - - - - CHRONOLOGY - - - 1817— February. Born on a plantation at Tuckahoe, near the town of - Easton, Talbot County, on the eastern shore of Maryland; the - exact date not known. His mother, Harriet Bailey, was the slave - of Captain Aaron Anthony, the manager of the estate of Colonel - Edward Lloyd. - - 1825— Sent to Baltimore to live with Hugh Auld, a relative of his - master. - - 1833— Returns to Maryland and becomes the slave of Thomas Auld, at St. - Michaels, Talbot County; while here he has an encounter with - the Negro slave-breaker, Covey. - - 1836— First attempt to run away results in his being sent back to - Baltimore where he is apprenticed by Thomas Auld to William - Gardiner of Fells Point, to learn the trade of ship-calker. - - 1838— September 3d. Makes his escape from Baltimore, reaching New York - the next day. September 15th, according to the marriage - certificate, possibly a day earlier, he marries a free colored - woman, Anna Murray, who on receiving the news of his escape - follows him to New York. They are directed to New Bedford, - Mass., by Anti-Slavery friends where Douglass begins his life - as a freeman. He changes his name from Frederick Augustus - Washington Bailey, to Frederick Douglass. - - 1841— August 11th. Makes his first speech before an Anti-Slavery - convention and becomes a lecturer in the Anti-Slavery cause. - - 1842— Participates in the campaign for equal rights in Rhode Island - during the “Dorr Rebellion.” - - 1843— Takes part in the campaign of “A Hundred Anti-Slavery - Conventions”; his hand broken in a fight with a mob at - Pendleton, Indiana. - - 1845— Writes, in order to prove that he is what he proclaims himself, - a fugitive slave, _Narrative of Frederick Douglass_, giving - the names of his owners. This book was published by the - Anti-Slavery Society. August 16th, sails for Liverpool, - England, lest the publication of his biography should lead to - his capture and reënslavement. He is received with enthusiasm - in England and his freedom is purchased by two members of the - Society of Friends. - - 1846— August 7th. Addresses the “World’s Temperance Convention” at - Covent Garden Theatre, London. December 5th, the papers are - signed which grant him his freedom. - - 1847— April 20th. Reaches America again. December 3d, the first issue - of the _North Star_, subsequently _Frederick Douglass’s Paper_, - is published, he having first removed to Rochester, N. Y. - Following its establishment came his rupture with Garrison and - the Abolitionist wing of the Anti-Slavery party. - - 1848— September. Delivers an address before a colored convention at - Cleveland, O., on farming and industrial education. - - 1851— Announces his sympathies with the voting Abolitionists. - - 1852— Supports the Free Soil party and is elected a delegate from - Rochester to the Free Soil Convention at Pittsburg, Pa. - - 1853— Visits Harriet Beecher Stowe at Andover, Mass., with reference to - the forming of an industrial school for colored youth. - - 1855— _My Bondage and My Freedom_ published in New York and Auburn. - - 1856— Supports Frémont, the candidate of the Republican party, for - President. - - 1858— _Douglass’s Monthly_ is established. Its publication is continued - until 1864. - - 1859— August 20th. Visits John Brown at Chambersburg, Pa. This was his - last interview with the old Anti-Slavery hero before the attack - on Harper’s Ferry, three weeks later. At this interview John - Brown made a final effort to induce him to join in the - dangerous enterprise. - - 1859— November 12th. Sails from Quebec on his second visit to England. - This trip is undertaken because he is in danger of being - implicated in the plot to cause an uprising of the slaves for - which John Brown had already been executed. - - 1860— Returns to the United States, called home by the death of his - daughter, Anna. - - 1860— December 3d. Attempts to speak in Tremont Temple, Boston, but the - meeting is broken up. - - 1863— Publishes in _Douglass’s Monthly_ his address to colored men - urging them to enlist in the Federal Army. He is instrumental - in forming the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Massachusetts - Regiments of colored soldiers. Subsequently he visits President - Lincoln to secure fair treatment of the colored soldiers and is - promised, by Secretary Stanton, a commission as Assistant - Adjutant to General Thomas, which, however, he does not - receive. - - 1866— February 7th. Interviews President Johnson to urge upon him the - wisdom of granting the suffrage to the freedmen. Issues shortly - afterward an address in reply to President Johnson’s argument - against granting the suffrage to Negroes. In September, is - elected a delegate to the “National Loyalists’ Convention” in - Philadelphia. - - 1869— Becomes editor of the _New National Era_ which he continued to - edit until 1872, at a pecuniary loss of about $10,000. - - 1871— Visits San Domingo as Secretary to the Commission, consisting of - B. F. Wade, Dr. S. G. Howe and Andrew D. White, to determine - the attitude of that country toward annexation to the United - States. He is appointed a member of the upper house of the - territorial legislature of Washington, D. C., but shortly - resigns his position in favor of his son, Lewis. May 30th, he - delivers the Decoration Day address at Arlington National - Cemetery. Becomes president of the “Freedmen’s Savings and - Trust Company.” - - 1872— April. Presides at the National Convention of colored citizens - held in New Orleans. Chosen elector-at-large from the State of - New York on the Presidential ticket which elected General Grant - to a second term and is afterward designated to carry the vote - of the electoral college of New York to Washington. - - 1876— April 14th. Delivers an address at the unveiling of the Lincoln - Monument in Lincoln Park, Washington, D. C. - - 1877— Appointed Marshal of the District of Columbia, which office he - held until 1881. - - 1878— May. Visits St. Michaels and is reconciled to his old master, - Thomas Auld. - - 1879— September 12th. Reads a paper before the American Social Science - Association in which he opposes the Negro exodus to Kansas. - - 1881— May. Appointed Recorder of Deeds in the District of Columbia. - June 12th, visits the Lloyd plantation. - - 1882— January. _Life and Times of Frederick Douglass_ published. August - 4th, his first wife dies: she was the mother of five children. - - 1884— January 24th. Marries Miss Helen Pitts, of New York. - - 1889— Appointed Minister and Consul General to Hayti. - - 1893— Commissioner for the Haytian Republic at the World’s Fair at - Chicago. Makes an address on Negro Day at the Fair. - - 1895— February 20th. Dies at his home at Cedar Hill, Washington. Buried - with honors from the Metropolitan Church (African Methodist - Episcopal); public services being held subsequently in - Rochester. His body finally interred beside those of his wife - and daughter, in Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester, N. Y. - - - - - FREDERICK DOUGLASS - - - - - CHAPTER I - FREDERICK DOUGLASS, THE SLAVE - - -The life of Frederick Douglass is the history of American slavery -epitomized in a single human experience. He saw it all, lived it all, -and overcame it all. What he saw and lived and suffered was not too much -to pay, however, for a great career. “It is something,” as he himself -said, “to couple one’s name with great occasions, and it was a great -thing to me to be permitted to bear some humble part in this, the -greatest that had come thus far to the American people.” - -Tradition says he was of noble lineage, but of this there is no written -record. Frederick Douglass was born in the little town of Tuckahoe in -Talbot County on the eastern shore of Maryland, supposedly in the month -of February, 1817. The exact date of his birth was made the subject of -diligent search by him in the days of his manhood and freedom, but -nothing more definite than the month and year could be established. He -gleaned so much as this, he says, “from certain events, the date of -which I have since learned.” - -In the early life of this child of slave birth, there were several -incidents that seemed to mark him for a high destiny. The very -pretentiousness of the name he bore, Frederick Augustus Washington -Bailey, was a possible indication of something unusual and promising in -his appearance and demeanor. Though it is not known who was his father, -it is fortunate that, out of the many uncertainties of his lowly origin, -a reasonably clear outline of the personality of his mother has come to -light and has been preserved. We cannot know her name or pedigree. The -slave-child saw little of his slave-mother, but he made a great deal of -this little. His references to her were frequent in his writings and -public addresses, and they all indicate the pride and love of a heart -true to its primal instincts. - -While he was a child, his mother was employed on a plantation, a -distance of twelve miles from Tuckahoe. Her only opportunity of seeing -her son was by walking the distance after her day’s work, to return to -the field of her labors by dawn of the next day. To use his own -language: “These little glimpses of my mother obtained under such -circumstances and against such odds, meagre as they were, are indelibly -stamped upon my memory. She was tall and finely proportioned; of dark -and glossy complexion, with regular features; and among slaves she was -remarkably sedate and dignified. She was the only slave in Tuckahoe who -could read.” That she was a woman of marked superiority, and that her -child inherited from her much that raised him above the other slaves -among whom he lived, can be easily believed. When he had grown to -manhood and while reading Prichard’s _Natural History of Man_, he found -in the features of “King Rameses the Great” a strong resemblance to his -mother. There were four other children, one boy named Perry and three -girls. So far as is known, the brother and sisters showed none of the -marks of superiority that distinguished Frederick Augustus Washington -Bailey. - -Whatever training Frederick had up to eight years of age, he received -from his Grandmother Bailey. It was in her cabin that he was born, and -it was by her that he was cared for and nourished. He was very fond of -this grandmother and has paid an affectionate tribute to her memory. She -was a woman of strong character and of unusual intelligence. There were -many things that she could do uncommonly well, such as gardening, and -her good luck in fishing was proverbial. She was also famed as a -fortune-teller and as such was sought far and wide by all classes of -people. Because of her intelligence and natural gifts, she was allowed -many privileges and a great deal of liberty; in her old age she was -amply provided for by her master, and saved from hard toil. Judging from -his frequent and fond references to his grandmother, young Douglass had -better care and more attention than the ordinary slave-child; he -probably had plenty to eat, and was taught good manners. Whatever it was -possible for an impressionable mind to gain from contact with a strong -and vigorous nature, the lad received from this unusual woman. - -Until he was seven years of age, young Fred felt few of the privations -of slavery. In these childhood days, he probably was as happy and -carefree as the white children in the “big house.” At liberty to come -and go and play in the open sunshine, his early life was typical of the -happier side of Negro life in slavery. What he missed of a mother’s -affection and a father’s care, was partly made up to him by the -indulgent kindness of his good grandmother. - -The owner of Fred and of his mother, grandmother, sisters, and brother, -was Captain Aaron Anthony. He was the proprietor of several plantations -and about thirty slaves near Tuckahoe. But Captain Anthony was something -more, and this fact became important in the subsequent history of young -Frederick Bailey; he had the distinction of being the manager of the -vast estate of Colonel Edward Lloyd, who belonged to one of the foremost -families of Maryland, and who owned between twenty and thirty -plantations with over one thousand slaves. His home was on a plantation -situated about thirty-five miles southeast of Baltimore and on the banks -of the Wye River, the mansion and its surroundings being typical of the -splendor and power of the wealthy slave-holder. When young Douglass -first gazed upon all these signs of wealth, he says: “I became impressed -with the baronial splendors of the Lloyd mansion and the princely mode -of living; the vast army of enslaved men, women, and children; the -completeness of the government that made it almost impossible for any of -these slaves to escape; the subordination of my own master; the great -number of mechanics that were skilled in all the trades, and the tutors -from New England that were hired to teach the Lloyd children.” - -Near the mansion stood the plain but commodious home of Fred’s master, -Captain Anthony. The Anthony family consisted of Mrs. Lucretia Anthony, -the wife; Richard and Fred Anthony, sons; and an only daughter, -Lucretia, who became the wife of Captain Thomas Auld. - -When Fred was between seven and eight years of age, his grandmother was -directed by her master to take her grandson to the Lloyd plantation. -After the boy arrived at his new home, he was put in charge of a -slave-woman for whom the only name we know is “Aunt Katy.” This change -brought him the first real hardship of his life. As an early consequence -of it, he lost the care and guidance of his grandmother, his freedom to -play, good food, and that affection which means so much to a child. When -he came under the care of Aunt Katy, he began to feel for the first time -the sting of unkindness. He has given a very disagreeable picture of -this foster-mother. She was a woman of a hateful disposition, and -treated the little stranger from Tuckahoe with extreme harshness. Her -special mode of punishment was to deprive him of food. Indeed he was -forced to go hungry most of the time, and if he complained, was beaten -without mercy. He has described his misery on one particular night. -After being sent supperless to bed, his suffering very soon became more -than he could bear, and when everybody else in the cabin was asleep, he -quietly took some corn and began to parch it before the open fireplace. -While thus trying to appease his hunger by stealth, and feeling dejected -and homesick, “who but my own dear mother should come in?” The -friendless, hungry, and sorrowing little boy found himself suddenly -caught up in her strong and protecting arms. “I shall never forget,” he -says, “the indescribable expression of her countenance when I told her -that Aunt Katy had said that she would starve the life out of me. There -was a deep and tender glance at me, and a fiery look of indignation for -Aunt Katy at the same moment, and when she took the parched corn from me -and gave me, instead, a large ginger-cake, she read Aunt Katy a lecture -which was never forgotten. That night, I learned, as never before, that -I was not only a child but somebody’s child. I was grander on my -mother’s knee than a king upon his throne. But my triumph was short. I -dropped off to sleep and waked in the morning to find my mother gone, -and myself again at the mercy of the virago in my master’s kitchen.” - -There is no record of another meeting between mother and son. She -probably died shortly afterward, because if she had been within walking -distance, he certainly would have seen her again. Her memory in his -child’s mind was always that of a real and near personality. When he -became older, and conscious of his superiority to his fellows, he was -wont to say: “I am proud to attribute my love of letters, such as I may -have, not to my presumed Anglo-Saxon father, but to my sable, -unprotected, and uncultivated mother.” Thus, after his mother died, his -vivid imagination kept before him her image, as she appeared to him that -last time he saw her, through all his struggles for a fuller and freer -life for himself and his race. - -With the loss of his mother and grandmother, he came more and more to -realize the peculiar relation in which he and those about him stood to -Colonel Lloyd and Captain Anthony. His active mind soon grasped the -meaning of “master” and “slave.” While still a lad, longing for a -mother’s care, he began to feel himself within the grasp of the curious -thing that he afterward learned to know as “slavery.” As he grew older -in years and understanding, he came also to see what manner of man his -master was. He described Captain Anthony as a “sad man.” At times he was -very gentle, and almost benevolent. But young Douglass was never able to -forget that this same kindly slave-holder had refused to protect his -cousin from a cruel beating by her overseer. The spectacle he had -witnessed, when this beautiful young slave was whipped, had made a -lasting and painful impression upon him. Vaguely he began to recognize -the outlines of the institution which at once permitted and, to a -certain degree, made necessary these cruelties. It was at this point -that he began to speculate on the origin and nature of slavery. -Meanwhile he became, in the course of his life on the plantation, the -witness of other scenes, quite as harrowing, and the memory mingled with -his reflections, and embittered them. - -During this time an event occurred which gave a new direction and a new -impetus to the thoughts and purposes slowly taking form within him. This -event was the successful escape of his Aunt Jennie and another slave. It -caused a great commotion on the plantation. Nothing could happen in a -Southern community that excited so many and such varied emotions as the -escape of a slave from bondage:—terror and revenge; hope and fear, -mingled with the images of the pursued and the pursuers, with -speculation in regard to the capture of the fugitive, and with prayers -for his success in the minds of the slaves. - -Young Douglass had begun to feel the burden of slavery and already had a -dim consciousness of its fundamental injustice, but up to this point, he -had known no other world than this immense plantation, and no other -people than these masters, overseers, and slaves. His horizon was -further enlarged and his imagination quickened by talking with certain -Negroes on the Lloyd plantation, who could recall the event of their -being brought from far-off Africa in slave-ships. Speaking of his own -state of feeling at this time, he says: “I was already a fugitive from -slavery in spirit and purpose.” - -From now on his quick and comprehending mind saw and suffered things -that formerly never affected him. The hard and sometimes cruel -discipline, toil from sunrise to sunset, scant food, the stifling of -ambitions,—all these began now to be perceived and felt, and the -impression they left sank into the soul of this rebellious boy. He saw a -slave killed by an overseer, on no other charge than that of being -“impudent.” “Crimes” of this nature were committed, as far as he could -see, with impunity, and the memory of them haunted him by day and by -night. - -Thus far Douglass had not felt the overseer’s whip. He was too small for -anything except to run errands and to do light chores. Of course, he had -been cuffed about by Aunt Katy; he says he seldom got enough to eat and -he suffered continually from cold, since his entire wardrobe consisted -of a tow sack. He was fortunate, however, in having two friends, who -often saved him from the pangs of hunger, and who now and then gave him -a word of kindness. One was young Daniel Lloyd, of the “great house,” -and the other, Miss Lucretia, his master’s daughter. This lady seems to -have had a real fondness for the boy, and would often give him something -good to eat and at times caress him in such a way as to recall to his -mind the few blessed moments he had known with his mother. Young Lloyd -also often protected him from the impositions of other boys. - -To show how far the lad had advanced in his thinking, it is well to -quote his own words on this point: “I used to contrast my condition with -that of the blackbirds, in whose world and sweet songs, I fancied them -so happy. Their apparent joy only deepened the shadows of my sorrow. -There are thoughtful days in the lives of children, at least there were -in mine, when they grapple with all the primary subjects of knowledge, -and reach in a moment conclusions which no subsequent experience can -shake. I was just as well convinced of the unjust, unnatural, and -murderous character of slavery when nine years old, as I am now (1881). -Without any appeal to books, to laws, or to authorities of any kind, I -came to regard God as our Father, and condemned slavery as a crime.” - -When Fred became nine years old, the most important event in his life -occurred. His master determined to send him to Baltimore to live with -Hugh Auld, a brother of Thomas Auld. Baltimore at this time was little -more than a name to young Douglass. When he reached the residence of Mr. -and Mrs. Auld and felt the difference between the plantation cabin and -this city home, it was to him, for a time, like living in Paradise. Mrs. -Auld is described as a lady of great kindness of heart, and of a gentle -disposition. She at once took a tender interest in the little servant -from the plantation. He was much petted and well fed, permitted to wear -boy’s clothes and shoes, and for the first time in his life, had a good -soft bed to sleep in. His only duty was to take care of and play with -Tommy Auld, which he found both an easy and an agreeable task. - -Young Douglass yet knew nothing about reading. A book was as much of a -mystery to him as the stars at night. When he heard his mistress read -aloud from the Bible, his curiosity was aroused. He felt so secure in -her kindness that he had the boldness to ask her to teach him. Following -her natural impulse to do kindness to others and without, for a moment, -thinking of the danger, she at once consented. He quickly learned the -alphabet and in a short time could spell words of three syllables. But -alas, for his young ambition! When Mr. Auld discovered what his wife had -done, he was both surprised and pained. He at once stopped the perilous -practice, but it was too late. The precocious young slave had acquired a -taste for book-learning. He quickly understood that these mysterious -characters called letters were the keys to a vast empire from which he -was separated by an enforced ignorance. In discussing the matter with -his wife, Mr. Auld said: “If you teach him to read, he will want to know -how to write, and with this accomplished, he will be running away with -himself.” Mr. Douglass, referring to this conversation in later years, -said: “This was decidedly the first anti-slavery speech to which I had -ever listened. From that moment, I understood the direct pathway from -slavery to freedom.” - -During the subsequent six years that he lived in Baltimore in the home -of Mr. Auld, he was more closely watched than he had been before this -incident, and his liberty to go and come was considerably curtailed. He -declares that he was not allowed to be alone, when this could be helped, -lest he would attempt to teach himself. But these were unwise -precautions since they but whetted his appetite for learning and incited -him to many secret schemes to elude the vigilance of his master and -mistress. Everything now contributed to his enlightenment and prepared -him for that freedom for which he thirsted. His occasional contact with -free colored people, his visit to the wharves where he could watch the -vessels going and coming, and his chance acquaintance with white boys on -the street, all became a part of his education and were made to serve -his plans. He got hold of a blue-back speller and carried it with him -all the time. He would ask his little white friends in the street how to -spell certain words and the meaning of them. In this way he soon learned -to read. The first and most important book owned by him was called the -_Columbian Orator_. He bought it with money secretly earned by blacking -boots on the streets. It contained selected passages from such great -orators as Lord Chatham, William Pitt, Fox, and Sheridan. These speeches -were steeped in the sentiments of liberty, and were full of references -to the “rights of man.” They gave to young Douglass a larger idea of -liberty than was included in his mere dream of freedom for himself, and -in addition they increased his vocabulary of words and phrases. The -reading of this book unfitted him longer for restraint. He became all -ears and all eyes. Everything he saw and read suggested to him a larger -world, lying just beyond his reach. The meaning of the term “Abolition” -came to him by a chance look at a Baltimore newspaper. - -Slavery and Abolition! The distance between these two points of -existence seemed to have lessened greatly, after he had comprehended -their meaning. “When I heard the word ‘Abolition,’ I felt the matter to -be my personal concern. There was hope in this word.” As he afterward -went about the city on his ordinary errands, or when at the wharf, even -performing tasks that were not set for him to do, he was like another -being. That word “Abolition” seemed to sing itself into his very soul, -and when he permitted his thoughts to dwell on the possibilities that it -opened to him, he was buoyed up with joyous expectations. He tried to -find out something from everybody. He learned to write by copying -letters on fences and walls and challenging his white playmates to find -his mistakes; and at night when no one suspected him of being awake, he -copied from an old copy-book of his young friend Tommy. Before he had -formulated any plans for freedom for himself, he learned the important -trick of writing “free passes” for runaway slaves. - -Notwithstanding his progress in gaining knowledge, his considerate -master and kind mistress, his loving companion in Tommy, his good home, -food and clothes, he was not happy or contented. None of these things -could stifle his yearning to be free. He has aptly described his own -feelings at this time in speaking of Mrs. Auld: “Poor lady, she did not -understand my trouble, and I could not tell her. Nature made us friends, -but slavery made us enemies. She aimed to keep me ignorant, but I -resolved to know, although knowledge only increased my misery. My -feelings were not the result of any marked cruelty in the treatment I -received. It was slavery, not its mere incidents, I hated. Their feeding -and clothing me well, could not atone for taking my liberty from me. The -smiles of my master could not remove the deep sorrow that dwelt in my -young bosom. We were both victims of the same overshadowing evil,—she as -mistress, I as slave. I will not censure her too harshly.” - -But if his hopes and aspirations were excited by the vast and vague -horizon which the thought of emancipation opened to him, he was, on the -other hand, driven to something like despair when he considered how -distant and inaccessible was this “land of freedom” of which he dreamed. -The nearer and clearer appeared to him the possibility of this larger -life, the more torturing became the restraints that kept him from -seeking it. It was when thus pursuing in thought this phantom of a -greater world although at the same time in despair of ever attaining it, -that he found peace for a while in the consolation of religion. His -imagination had been aroused by the preaching of a white minister, a -Methodist, named Hanson. Feeling himself wretched and alone, he was in a -state of mind, as so many others have been before and since, to find -comfort in the thought of a kindly and overshadowing Power, a Protector -to whom he might turn, in his great distress, without reserve and -without misgiving. He surrendered himself completely to this new faith -in God. In his search for more light, he met a lasting friend and guide -in the person of a colored preacher to whom he fondly refers as “Uncle -Lawson.” This good and pious old man lived very near the home of Mr. -Auld. Young Douglass said of him: “He was my spiritual father. I loved -him intensely, and was at his house every chance I could get.” - -Douglass’s master and mistress knew that he had become religious, and -though they were at that time but lukewarm in their support of the -church, they respected the piety in the young slave and seem to have -encouraged it. But unfortunately the boy’s interest in religion had -increased his desire to read, in order to become thoroughly acquainted -with the Bible. “I have gathered,” says Mr. Douglass, “scattered pages -of the Bible from the filthy street gutters, and washed and dried them, -that in moments of leisure I might get a word or two of wisdom from -them.” - -Uncle Lawson could read a little and Douglass, who went frequently with -him to prayer meeting, spent much of his spare time on Sunday helping -him decipher its pages. When his master learned what he was doing, he -threatened to whip him if he went to Lawson’s again, but he stole away -whenever he could and got his needed instruction in the simple lessons -of faith. - -Uncle Lawson was probably the first colored person that young Douglass -had met who appreciated his longings and powers. He was also the first -person who awakened in him a dim consciousness that he was destined for -a public career. Speaking of this, Douglass once said: “His words made a -deep impression upon me, and I verily felt that some such work was -before me, though I could not see how I could ever engage in its -performance.” The old preacher could go no further than to give -utterance to the familiar exhortations: “Trust in the Lord, the Lord can -make you free”; “Ask in faith and He will give you what you ask.” The -boy’s great respect for the honesty and piety of Uncle Lawson lent these -words a deep significance, and he never forgot the lessons that he -learned from this simple-minded man. How important was this teaching is -evidenced by Mr. Douglass’s own testimony: “Thus assisted and thus -cheered on under the inspiration of the preacher, I worked and prayed -with a light heart, believing that my life was under the guidance of a -wisdom higher than my own. I always prayed that God would in His great -good mercy and His own good time, deliver me from my bondage.” After -Douglass learned how to write with tolerable ease, he began to copy from -the Bible and the Methodist hymn-books at night, when he was supposed to -be asleep. He always regarded this religious experience as the most -important part of his education; it had the effect, not only of -enlarging his mind, but also of restraining his impatience, and -softening a disposition that was growing hard and bitter with brooding -over the disadvantages suffered by himself and his race. He greatly -needed something that would help him to look beyond his bondage and -encourage him to hope for ultimate freedom. - -While he was undergoing this, to him, novel religious experience, and -while he was gradually being adjusted to the situation in which he found -himself, there came one of those dreaded changes in the fortunes of -slave-masters that made the status of the slave painfully uncertain. His -real master, Captain Anthony, died, and this event, complicated with -some family quarrel, resulted in Douglass being recalled from Baltimore -to the plantation. This was a depressing incident in his slave-life. It -is true that Mr. and Mrs. Auld were not at this time as gentle with him -as when he first came to the city. He was under stricter discipline, was -constantly watched, and his liberties were circumscribed in many ways -that were both inconvenient and irritating. But in spite of all this he -was comparatively free from the usual severities of slavery. He had many -interests and many happy relationships that he was able to cultivate -outside of the Auld household. He had become something of a leader among -the young colored men of the city. He had taught many of them their -letters. Among the white boys of his acquaintance he also had a large -circle of friends, who loved him and were loyal to him. Most important -of all was his affection for his religious teacher, Uncle Lawson. -Through these attachments in the more complex life of the city, and the -opportunities for mental and spiritual growth which they offered, he was -able to throw off to a great degree the gloom and doubt of his earlier -youth. He had begun to feel that he was actually preparing himself for -that larger life of leadership in freedom, that had been hinted to him -by Uncle Lawson. But all these happy relations were rudely severed when -he was recalled to the plantation. - -“It did seem,” he said, “that every time the young tendrils of my -affection became attached, they were rigidly broken off by some -unnatural, outside power, and I was looking away to Heaven for the rest -denied to me on earth.” - - - - - CHAPTER II - BACK TO PLANTATION LIFE - - -When young Douglass left Baltimore to go back to the plantation, he was -about sixteen years of age;—strong, healthy, and fully capable of the -hard work of a field hand. But this was not the most difficult task he -now had to face. Conditions that he met there were to test his character -as it had never been tested before, and the trials he endured during -this period profoundly influenced all his future life. For the first -time in many years, he was to feel the “pitiless pinchings of hunger.” -He says: “So wretchedly starved were we that we were compelled to live -at the expense of our neighbors, or steal from our own larder. This was -a hard thing to do, but after much reflection, I reasoned myself into -the belief that there was no other way to do—and after all there could -be no harm in it, considering that my labor and person were the property -of Master Thomas, and that I was deprived of the necessaries of life. It -was simply appropriating what was my own, since the health and strength -derived from such food were exerted in his service. To be sure, this was -stealing according to the law and gospel I had heard from the pulpit, -but I had begun to attach less importance to what dropped from that -quarter, on certain points.” - -Having found a principle upon which he could justify, against the -precepts of morality, the practice of stealing from his own master, in -order to get enough to eat, it was not difficult to go farther and -discover a warrant based on grounds quite as logical, for the habit of -stealing from others beside his master, when the same necessity seemed -to justify it. - -“I am not only a slave of Master Thomas,” he argued, “but I am also a -slave of society at large. Society at large has bound itself in form and -fact to assist Master Thomas in robbing me of my liberty and the just -reward of my labor; therefore whatever rights I have against Master -Thomas, I have equally against those confederated with him.” It is thus -that Mr. Douglass, writing years afterward, construed the argument with -which the boy solved the doubts and questions arising in his mind when -he found himself following the custom, prevalent among the slaves, of -persistent petty stealing. - -Whatever one may think of this theory as a justification for the -practice, it is interesting as showing in Douglass, even as a boy, the -tendency to get clear ideas in regard to his own conduct and the conduct -of those about him, and to make his actions conform to some fundamental -rule. A boy who was disposed to think thus clearly and to apply the test -of elementary principles to the lives and actions of those about him, -was already a dangerous slave. And so the summer of 1833 found Douglass -more determined than ever to run away. - -Meanwhile he tells us that there were several incidents which served -still further to shape in his mind the view of his master and the class -his master represented. About this time there was a religious revival in -the neighborhood of St. Michaels, where Douglass lived. Master Thomas -became converted and was afterward a devoted member and class-leader in -the Methodist church. Young Douglass attended the camp-meeting, and, -from his position behind the preacher’s stand, where a space had been -marked off for colored people, watched the process of conversion in his -master with great interest and close attention. - -Another episode tended to add to the perplexity in the young slave’s -mind and still further undermine his faith in the moral superiority of -the master-class, and in the religion which based its justification of -slavery on the fact of that superiority. To add further to his -confusion, he had read somewhere, in the Methodist discipline, that “the -slave-holder shall not be eligible to an official station in the -church.” When he saw Mr. Auld making open confession of his sins, and -afterward given official position in the church, he felt sure that a -great change must necessarily come over his disposition and character. -But his master’s face, Douglass said, became more stern with increasing -piety, and the discipline he enforced upon his slaves was even more -rigid. This was a severe test of the religious convictions of the young -slave-boy. He knew that religion had made him better, kinder, and more -appreciative of all that was true and beautiful. It had also given him -comfort during the period of his servitude. He had looked forward, with -sincere faith in the power of religion, to some marked change in Master -Thomas. The resulting experience left him disappointed and confused. - -At the request of an earnest and sincerely pious white man, named -Wilson, Douglass had joined in an attempt to conduct a Sunday-school for -young colored people. During the second meeting of this innocent -company, it was violently broken up by a mob, chief among whom was his -master, Thomas Auld. The men were armed with sticks and other missiles -and drove away both pupils and teachers, warning them never to meet -again. The only explanation given for this violent interruption of what -seemed a harmless and worthy occupation, was the rough remark of one -member of the party, that Douglass wanted to be another Nat Turner. The -fear inspired by his unfortunate slave insurrection was responsible for -much of the hardship which Negroes in the South, free and slave, were at -this period compelled to endure. The memory of it hardened the heart of -many a master against his slaves and made him cruel and suspicious where -he would naturally have been kind and confident. - -But Thomas Auld seems not to have had even this excuse for some of his -acts which still further embittered the young slave, already grown -critical and suspicious of all that his master did. It was not long -after his conversion, Douglass says, that he began to beat the boy’s -crippled and unfortunate cousin, Henny, with unusual barbarity, finally -setting her adrift to care for herself. All these incidents crowded -quickly upon the young slave’s mind at a time when he had already begun -to test and measure the actions of his master and those about him by the -principles of universal right and justice, which his study of the -_Columbian Orator_ had furnished him, and which his reflections and -comparisons were steadily making more clear and definite. The effect was -to render him bold and rebellious to such an extent that he soon became -a fit subject to be “broken in” by some overseer, who knew how to handle -“impudent” slaves. - -A man named Edward Covey, living at Bayside, at no great distance from -the camp-ground where Thomas Auld was converted, had a wide reputation -for “breaking in unruly niggers.” Covey was a “poor white” and a farm -renter. To this man Douglass was hired out for a year. In the month of -January, 1834, he started for his new master, with his little bundle of -clothes. From what we have already seen of this sensitive, thoughtful -young slave of seventeen years, it is not difficult to understand his -state of mind. Up to this time he had had a comparatively easy life. He -had seldom suffered hardships such as fell to the lot of many slaves -whom he knew. To quote his own words: “I was now about to sound -profounder depths in slave-life. Starvation made me glad to leave Thomas -Auld’s, and the cruel lash made me dread to go to Covey’s.” Escape, -however, was impossible. The picture of “the slave-driver,” painted in -the lurid colors that Mr. Douglass’s indignant memories furnished him, -shows the dark side of slavery in the South. During the first six weeks -he was with Covey, he was whipped, either with sticks or cowhides, every -week. With his body one continuous ache from his frequent floggings, he -was kept at work in field or woods from the dawn of day until the -darkness of night. He says: “Mr. Covey succeeded in breaking me in body, -soul, and spirit. The overwork and the cruel chastisements, of which I -was the victim, combined with the ever growing and soul-devouring -thought, ‘I am a slave—a slave for life, a slave with no rational ground -to hope for freedom,’ had done their worst.” - -He confesses that at one time he was strongly tempted to take his own -life and that of Covey. Finally, his sufferings of body and soul became -so great that further endurance seemed impossible. While in this -condition, he determined upon the daring step of returning to his -master, Thomas Auld, in order to lay before him the story of abuse. He -felt sure that, if for no other reason than the protection of property -from serious impairment, his master would interfere in his behalf. He -even expected sympathy and assurances of future protection. In all this -he was grievously disappointed. Auld not only refused sympathy and -protection, but would not even listen to his complaints, and immediately -sent him back to his dreaded master to face the added penalty of running -away. The poor lone boy was plunged into the depths of despair. A -feeling that he had been deserted by both God and man took possession of -him. - -Covey was lying in wait for him, knowing full well that he must return -as defenseless as he went away. As soon as Douglass came near the place -where the white man was hiding, the latter made a leap at Fred for the -purpose of tying him for a flogging. But Douglass escaped and took to -the woods where he concealed himself for a day and a night. His -condition was desperate. He felt that he could not endure another -whipping, and yet there seemed to him no alternative. His first impulse -was to pray, but he remembered that Covey also prayed. Convinced, at -length, that there was no appeal but to his own courage, he resolved to -go back and face whatever must come to him. It so happened that it was a -Sunday morning and, much to his surprise, he met Covey who was on his -way to church, and who, when he saw the runaway, greeted him with a -pleasant smile. “His religion,” says Douglass, “prevented him from -breaking the Sabbath, but not from breaking my bones on any other day in -the week.” - -On Monday morning, Douglass was up early, half hoping that he would be -permitted to resume his work without punishment. Covey was astir -betimes, too, and had laid aside his Sunday mildness of manner. His -first business was to carry out his fixed purpose of whipping the young -runaway. In the meantime Fred had likewise fully decided upon a course -of action. He was ready to submit to any kind of work, however hard or -unreasonable, but determined to defend himself against an attempt at -another flogging. In the cold passion that took possession of him, the -slave-boy became utterly reckless of consequences, reasoning to himself -that the limit of suffering at the hands of this relentless -slave-breaker had already been reached. He was resolved to fight and did -fight. He began his morning work in peace, obeying promptly every order -from his master, and while he was in the act of going up to the -stable-loft for the purpose of pitching down some hay, he was caught and -thrown by Covey, in an attempt to get a slip knot about his legs. -Douglass flew at Covey’s throat recklessly, hurled his antagonist to the -ground, and held him firmly. Blood followed the nails of the infuriated -young slave. He scarcely knew how to account for his fighting strength, -and his dare-devil spirit so dumbfounded the master, that he gaspingly -said: “Are you going to resist me, you young scoundrel?” “Yes, sir,” was -the quick reply. - -Finding himself baffled, Covey called for assistance. His Cousin Hughes -came to aid him, but as he was attempting to put a noose over the unruly -slave’s foot, Douglass promptly gave him a blow in the stomach which at -once put him out of the combat and he fled. After Hughes had been -disabled, Covey called on first one and then another of his slaves, but -each refused to assist him. Finding himself fairly outdone by his angry -antagonist, Covey quit with the discreet remark: “Now, you young -scoundrel, you go to work; I would not have whipped you half so hard, if -you had not resisted.” - -Douglass had thus won his first victory and was never again threatened -or flogged by his master. The effect of this encounter, as far as he -himself was concerned, was to increase his self-respect, and to give him -more courage for the future. He said that, “when a slave cannot be -flogged, he is more than half-free.” To the other slaves he became a -hero, and Covey was not anxious to advertise his complete failure to -break in this “unruly nigger.” It speaks well for the natural dignity -and good sense of young Douglass that he neither boasted of his triumph, -nor did anything rash as a consequence of it, as might have been -expected from a boy of his age and spirit. - -On Christmas Day, 1834, young Douglass’s time with Covey was out. He -then learned that he had been hired to a William Freeland, who owned a -large plantation near St. Michaels, and by January 1st, was with his new -master. Mr. Freeland was a great improvement upon Covey. He was less -direct in his professions, but more humane in his manner toward his -slaves. He was what was called a “kind master.” He did not overwork or -underfeed his slaves and he was sparing of the lash. All this was -Paradise to young Douglass, when compared with the strenuous life he had -led with Covey. The effect of so much kindness was evidenced in the -character of the Freeland slaves. Mr. Douglass describes them as a -superior class of men and women, and he loved, esteemed, and confided in -them, as with real friends, generous and true. - -With these new and better conditions and with these superior companions -in bondage, Douglass felt a renewal of that old impulse to do something -for his fellow slaves. He naturally first turned to the thought of -teaching them to read and write. He found time and spirit again to look -at his library,—the blue-back speller and the _Columbian Orator_. He -first started a Sunday-school under the trees, at a safe distance from -the “big house,” gathering together some thirty young people. They were -making fine progress, when, one Sunday, his former experience was -repeated, and they were rushed upon and scattered. The school was again -started, however, and this time Douglass seems successfully to have -evaded the vigilance of his master. In addition to the Sunday-school, he -devoted three evenings a week to his fellow slaves. - -His leadership among all the Negroes was recognized and respected by -them. This brought with it his first consciousness of that peculiar -power over men, which in after-life made him so conspicuous a figure -among the heroes of the Abolition struggle. The whole year at Freeland’s -was spent in self-development and in the mental and spiritual -improvement of his companions in bonds. - -At the end of this time he learned that his services had been hired for -another twelve months to Mr. Freeland. This seemed to promise good for -him in the future. The Bible, the spelling book, and the _Columbian -Orator_ were read and re-read and, at each new reading, he felt an -enlargement of mind and an increasing thirst for liberty. The kindness -of Mr. Freeland and the pleasant companionship of the Harris brothers -and other slaves, served only to increase his discontent. He liked his -master and would gladly have remained with him as a free man, but he -could never overcome his increasing impatience of the restraints of -slavery, and, with this ambition for liberty, his troubles began. He -made a solemn vow to himself that the year should not close without -witnessing some earnest effort on his part to escape. This vow also -included the freedom of his slave-companions, for whom he had conceived -a lasting attachment. He succeeded in winning to his scheme five trusted -confidants. These were John and Henry Harris, Sandy Jenkins, the -footman; Charles Roberts, and Henry Bailey. Young Douglass impressed -them with the perils of the undertaking. His knowledge of the -difficulties of a successful escape, little as it actually was, -surprised and awed them. - -When he had fully determined upon his plans, he found that it would -perhaps require many weeks to perfect them. His first task was to study -the character, the temperament, and the various personal qualifications -of the men whom he proposed to make his partners in this dangerous -undertaking. He must learn whether they were proof against the sin of -betrayal under all possible circumstances. Each man must cultivate an -unhesitating faith in the others. Each must have unlimited courage, both -physical and moral. All must learn the tricks of self-concealment, and -of assumed indifference and deception. They must understand the various -kinds of perils they were likely to encounter. The kidnapper, the -slave-catcher, the black and white detectives, and the whole range of -restraints that, like a continuous wall, hemmed in a slave, must be -considered and understood. If he had hope in his heart, he must not -betray it by so much as a look, in manner or in speech. Overseers were -all eyes and ears and quick to suspect something was wrong if a slave -seemed unusually thoughtful, sullen, or happy. They were by no means -easily deceived as to the real intention of a slave planning to run -away. To become an object of suspicion was merely to insure that the -suspected slave would be the more closely guarded. Young Douglass fully -realized the severity of the penalty that must follow failure, but he -never wavered in his determination to make a dash for liberty, at any -cost. - -Having satisfied himself that his companions were proof against -treachery and were of the right sort of mettle, he began to study the -practical means of escape. There were no well-marked routes from slavery -to freedom, no highways, byways, or “underground railways,” known to him -at that time. Such knowledge belonged wholly to the region north of the -boundary line of freedom. He had heard of slaves escaping, but how they -got away and by what route was always a mystery. He had heard that there -was a region called North, and that in this far haven, white and black -people alike were free. He had heard of a land called Canada, but its -location on maps and charts was unknown to him. He had no conception of -the physical size of the world. He had seen Baltimore, St. Michaels, and -the adjoining plantations; beyond this all was blank. He knew something -of theology, but nothing of geography. He did not know that there were -states called New York and Massachusetts. New York City was the northern -limit of his knowledge. He had received vague hints that the dominion of -slavery was without boundary and that even in New York, there were -slave-catchers and kidnappers. But it was at this time an unknown land. - -In these difficulties, young Douglass looked steadily North in the -direction of the free-states, seeking some chance guidance. His habit of -reasoning out things that in any way affected his status as a slave and -as a man, has already been noted. Everything that he saw, or heard, or -read enlarged his knowledge of life and its meaning. His stay in -Baltimore had been a sort of school to him. Here for the first time, he -had seen free colored people; the coming and going of ships gave him his -first ideas of direction and distance; the Chesapeake Bay was a thing of -wonder;—all of which awakened in him many thoughts that led him away -from bondage. - -While young Douglass was secretly working out his plans for escape, one -of his confidants, Sandy, the footman, said to him: “I dreamed last -night that I was roused from sleep by strange noises, like a swarm of -angry birds; looking to see what it was, I saw you, Frederick, in the -claws of a large bird surrounded by a large number of birds of all -colors and sizes. They were all picking at you. Now I saw that as plain -as I see you now, and honey, watch the Friday night dream; there is -sump’n in it, sho’s you born, dere is indeed, honey.” Douglass confessed -that the dream related to him by old Sandy disturbed him for awhile. He -felt sure that his plans were seriously handicapped by unseen forces of -some sort, but he soon regained his usual courage and overcame his -superstitious apprehensions. The Saturday night before Easter had been -fixed upon as the time for flight. A large canoe, owned by a Mr. -Hamilton, had been seized and made ready for the confederates. They were -to paddle down the Chesapeake Bay to its head. Douglass had already -written out passes for each of the fugitives in the following form:— - - “This is to certify that I, the undersigned, have given leave to the - bearer, my servant, John, full liberty to go to Baltimore to spend the - Easter holidays.—W. H. - - “_Near St. Michaels, Talbot Co., Md._” - -On the night before the proposed flight, every possible detail had been -rehearsed and arranged. The resolution of each party to the conspiracy -was tested and proved firm, except that of Sandy, who, much to the -disgust of Douglass, backed out. Early Saturday morning, they were all -at work in the usual way. Douglass was the only one who was troubled -with a presentiment of evil. He turned abruptly to Sandy, who was -working near him, and said: “We are betrayed!” Within a short while his -worst fears were being realized. Looking toward the “big house,” he -easily discerned a stranger on horseback and an unusual stir. It was not -long before he was abruptly accused of plotting to run away, and taken -into custody. Thus it turned out that at the very time he had planned to -be on the road to freedom, he was a prisoner bound for Easton, to be -examined by a magistrate. - -His companions, the two Harris brothers, were likewise accused. Henry, -however, was the only one who did not tamely submit to being arrested -and handcuffed. When a revolver was pointed at him by the officer, he -knocked it from the man’s hands and dared any one to shoot him. The -recalcitrant slave was soon overpowered, however, and all were led away. - -The excitement caused by Harris’s daring revolt served one purpose, of -which young Douglass’s alertness enabled him to take advantage. He -adroitly threw his pass, the only incriminating evidence against them, -in the fire, and by some secret sign advised the others to eat theirs -with their bread on the journey, which they did. - -When they were examined, each stoutly disclaimed all knowledge of plans -for running away and denied that they had any intention of doing so. -Notwithstanding the total lack of evidence against them, the officers -and Douglass’s master were thoroughly convinced that they were plotting -some wickedness. There was always something so mysterious, as well as -commanding in the manner of young Douglass, that he was naturally -regarded as the ringleader, when any misconduct of the slaves was -complained of. His fellows in bonds treated him with a deference never -shown toward any but white people. As a slave he worked well and did his -full duty, but his masters always regarded him with suspicion, and -something akin to fear. - -The examination of the four culprits must have afforded an interesting -scene. Young Douglass, though a slave in chains, as well as a prisoner -at the bar, had the temerity to assume the rôle of attorney and to -attempt the defense of his comrades, for whose present predicament he -felt himself responsible. When Thomas Auld insisted that the evidence in -hand, showing the intention to run away, was strong enough to hang in -case of need, Douglass promptly replied: “The cases are not equal. If -murder were committed, the thing is done, but we have not run away. -Where is the evidence against us? We were quietly at work.” Douglass was -confident that the only tangible evidence against them had been -skilfully destroyed, and he knew also that his companions had been slyly -but effectively coached as to what to say and how to act when they came -before the examining magistrate. - -So completely had they failed to make young Douglass and his companions -convict themselves, that very shortly Mr. Freeland came to the jail and -took home his own slaves, leaving Douglass still in confinement. He was -glad to know that his companions had escaped punishment, but by this -last separation from them he seemed to have reached the very depths of -the desolation which it was the lot of a slave to experience. - -Through the bars of his imprisonment, he could watch the slave-traders -from Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana apparently eager to get hold of -him. He could even hear them pass comments upon his size, strength, and -general appearance, and make guesses as to his age. For the first time -since he left Covey’s, he felt both hopeless and helpless. If he should -be sold and sent down into the far South, he well knew that all chances -for escape would be cut off forever. - -While in this condition of dejection and hopelessness, the unexpected -happened. His owner, Thomas Auld, who, in spite of Douglass’s -rebelliousness, always cherished a peculiar fondness for him, ordered -his release from jail, and at once decided to send him back to Baltimore -to live with Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Auld. In telling Fred what he intended to -do, he said that he wanted him to learn a trade, and that if he would -behave himself and give him no more trouble, he would emancipate him -when he became twenty-five years old. - -The happy assurance that he was not to be punished and that he was again -to have the privileges of the city, was at first almost too much to be -believed. All of his hopes for ultimate freedom were revived and his -confidence in himself, which had been severely shaken by his recent -failure and disgrace, was renewed. Under the circumstances, it seems to -have been the only wise and practicable course his master could pursue. -Mr. Freeland would not again allow him to come upon his plantation; -Covey had failed to break his spirit; and his reputation as a would-be -runaway and a “smart nigger” made him a desperate asset in the -slave-market of Talbot County. In sending him to Baltimore to learn a -trade, with a possibility of ultimate freedom, it was thought that he -would be more serviceable and more tractable. Then, again, the most -threatening aspect of young Douglass’s attempted flight was the daring -plot to use the Chesapeake Bay. Heretofore the slaves who had succeeded -in making good their escape were compelled to find a path through deadly -swamps and woods, other avenues being so carefully guarded that a -successful runaway was very rare. Every effort, therefore, must be made -to keep the Douglass venture a secret; he must be removed as far as -possible from his old plantation-life. If he had had a different master, -nothing could have saved him from the slave-traders. The -good-heartedness of Thomas Auld was the only thing that preserved our -young hero for that larger life which he was to make for himself, and -help to make for so many others of his race. - -When, through the kindness of Mr. Auld, Douglass again turned his face -toward Baltimore, he fully realized that the change was fraught with -importance to him. He remembered that it was in this city he had caught -the first suggestion that there was a life to be lived above the low -levels of a slave. There, in the family of Hugh Auld, he had learned to -wear clothes, had acquired good manners and the ability to read, and, -for the first time, had felt, in the person of his teacher and -benefactor, Mrs. Sophia Auld, the civilizing and softening touch of a -superior woman’s kindness. - -To his alert and observing mind, Baltimore again became a real school. -It quickened his perception, and fired his imagination, and was the -place, above all others, short of a free state, where he most longed to -live. Hugh Auld easily succeeded in getting young Douglass apprenticed -to a calker, in the extensive ship-yards of William Gardiner, on Fell’s -Point. The conditions under which he had to work were very trying; he -did not mind the severe labor, but he was much disturbed by the intense -prejudice existing among the white boys and mechanics. During the six -months that he worked with this firm, every one seemed to have license -to make use of and abuse him. He was not a coward, and would quickly -strike back at a man who insulted or attempted to maltreat him. Finally, -however, he was assaulted by a crowd of ruffians and frightfully beaten. -His face was swollen and he was covered with blood. In this condition, -he reported himself to Mr. Auld, who was furious when he beheld the -pitiable state of his slave. Mrs. Auld took pity upon him and kindly -dressed his wounds, and nursed him until they were healed. In the -meantime he was angrily withdrawn from Mr. Gardiner’s employ, and it was -sought to bring to punishment the perpetrators of the assault. Auld -appeared with Douglass before a magistrate, and explaining how his slave -had been attacked without provocation, demanded a warrant for the guilty -parties, but both were surprised and chagrined when the magistrate -replied: “I am sorry, sir, but I cannot move in this matter except upon -the oath of a white man.” This incident made a deep impression on -Douglass. It gave him a new and vivid sense of his helplessness and -dependence, and measurably increased his determination to be free at any -cost. - -Hugh Auld soon after became foreman in the ship-yards of Walter Price, -of Baltimore. He took Douglass with him and, under his protection, Fred -finished learning his trade and within one year became able to command -and receive from seven to nine dollars per week, the largest wages at -that time paid for such labor. All of his earnings, of course, were -turned over to his master. From now onward he had no trouble in securing -work. He was permitted to find his own employment and make his own -arrangements or contracts for pay. This was a distinct advancement over -his former condition of servitude, and was his first experience of -self-direction and self-dependence. - -He was soon known among the colored people of the city as a young man of -singular power. His superiority of mind was recognized and, almost -without being conscious of it, he became a leader. There was at that -time an organization of free colored people, known as the East Baltimore -Improvement Society. Although membership in this exclusive body was -limited to free people, young Douglass was eagerly admitted. This was -the first organization of any kind, outside of the church, to which he -had ever belonged. It is probable that he had here his first opportunity -to exercise his natural gift of eloquence. - -But with all these improvements in his conditions of life, he was not -happy. A sense of bondage, however slight, made him restless and -impatient. “Why should I be a slave?” was the question that went with -him night and day. He has truly said: “To make a contented slave, you -must make him a thoughtless one.” - -Kind treatment, liberty to come and go as he pleased and to make his own -contracts for employment; mingling with freemen, as if he himself were -free; the high esteem in which he was held by fellow workmen and -employers, and by free people; and the promise of emancipation at -twenty-five years of age, were no consolation to the heart that panted -to be its own. He had already become too much of a man to remain a -willing slave! - - - - - CHAPTER III - ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY; LEARNING THE WAYS OF FREEDOM - - -For the second time in his life, Frederick Douglass now began earnestly -to study the possible means of permanently breaking his fetters. At the -end of every week, when he turned his entire earnings over to his -master, his sense of injustice and indignation increased. He was -scarcely able to conceal his discontent. His intense longing to be free -must have betrayed itself in his countenance, for very soon he noticed -that he was being closely watched. The fact that he had at one time made -an attempt to run away caused more or less uneasiness. - -Young Douglass soon found that the difficulties of escape were quite as -great in Baltimore as on the Freeland plantation. The railroads running -from that city to Philadelphia were compelled to enforce the most -stringent regulations with reference to colored people. Even free -Negroes found it difficult to comply with them. Every one applying for a -railway ticket was required to show his “free papers” and to be measured -and carefully examined before he could enter the cars. Besides this, he -was not allowed to travel by night. Similar regulations were enforced by -steamboat companies. In addition to all these difficulties, every road -and turnpike was picketed with kidnappers on the lookout for fugitive -slaves. Douglass found it much easier to learn the obstacles than the -aids to successful escape. The former were many and obvious; the latter -were few and difficult to discover. It was impossible to profit by the -experience of those who had run the gauntlet successfully, and whenever -it was learned that some keen-scented slave had found a pathway to -freedom, the information was carefully concealed from those in bonds. -Every slave preparing to escape his fetters must act without guide or -precedent, and form his own plan of deliverance. - -Douglass was now convinced that he must hereafter be the arbiter of his -own fortunes. He at once decided that his great need was money. The -problem was how to get the necessary sum. His whole time and all of his -earnings belonged to his master, and so long as this was the case the -funds must still be a long way off. He finally determined to propose to -his owner, Master Thomas Auld, that he be allowed to have his own time. -In other words, he would agree to pay him so much a week, and all in -excess of that sum he would keep as his own. This proposition merely -angered Mr. Auld, who accused young Douglass of scheming to run away, -and threatened him with severe punishment, if he ever mentioned such a -thing again. But Douglass had too much at stake to give up. He made the -same proposition to Master Hugh Auld and it was accepted. By the terms -of this agreement young Douglass was to be allowed all of his time, and -to make his own contracts and collect his own wages; while in return for -these privileges, he was to pay his master three dollars each week, -board and clothe himself, and buy his own tools. - -This was a pretty hard bargain, but it meant his first step toward -freedom, so he entered upon it cheerfully. From May until August, 1838, -he worked for himself under the above conditions, kept all his -obligations, and was able to save out of his earnings a neat sum of -money. In the month of August occurred an unfortunate interruption of -his plans. One Saturday night, instead of taking his wages to his -master, he was persuaded to go out of town to a camp-meeting. He -convinced himself that there could be no objection to this, since he had -the money and purposed turning it in early Monday morning. Owing to some -misunderstanding, however, he was compelled to remain one day longer -than he had intended. On coming back to the city, he went directly to -his master and made his payment. Instead of being indifferent to his -absence, Hugh Auld was almost beside himself with rage. Addressing -Douglass, he said: “You rascal, I have a good mind to give you a sound -whipping. How dare you go out of the city without my leave? Now, you -scoundrel, you have done for yourself; you shall have your time no -longer. The next thing I shall hear of you, will be your running away. -Bring home your tools at once; I will teach you how to go off in this -way.” - -Poor Douglass was for the moment dismayed by this very serious -consequence of an innocent error of judgment. He had had his own way so -long, he had begun to feel that his master’s only interest in him was -the regular payment of the three dollars per week which he had been -receiving during the previous four months. All his hopes for liberty had -been staked on the continuance of this arrangement for a few months -longer. Douglass understood the man who was now his master. He had lived -with him long enough not to take his threats too seriously. Mr. Auld -would have been indeed shortsighted if he had not used an occasion of -this kind to impress his slave with the seriousness of taking such a -liberty. Douglass did not, therefore, lose heart and as a result of this -episode, he made two important resolutions. One was to go out in search -of work and return to the old contract; and the other was to fix -September 3, 1838, as the day of his flight from slavery. - -He soon found good employment in the Butler ship-yards. Mr. Butler -thought much of the young slave calker and gave him every opportunity to -earn good wages. At the end of the first week, he presented to his -master the whole of his earnings, amounting to nine dollars, which was -accepted with evident satisfaction. For the moment Master Hugh seemed -entirely to have forgotten the reprehensible conduct of only a few days -before. Having thus shrewdly helped his master to recover his good -temper and natural kindness, Douglass took special pains to keep him -pleased and unsuspicious. The second week of his employment, he again -turned over the whole amount of his wages, nine dollars. Mr. Auld was -overjoyed at this earning capacity of Douglass and as an evidence of it -made him a present of twenty-five cents. In the last week he worked as a -slave, he gave his master six dollars. - -Ever since the first trouble with Auld, he had been pushing his plans to -redeem his pledge to himself that he would run away on Monday, September -3, 1838. These were anxious days and many small details had to be -mastered. He must carefully avoid anything in manner or word which could -excite the slightest suspicion. He had to test the fidelity of a number -of free colored people whose aid, in secret ways, was very essential to -him. Who these persons were, has never been revealed and in fact, it was -not until many years after emancipation that Mr. Douglass disclosed to -the public how he succeeded in making his daring escape. “Murder -itself,” he says, “was not more severely and surely punished in the -state of Maryland than aiding and abetting the escape of a slave.” - -Young Douglass’s flight had not outward semblance of dramatic incident -or thrilling episode and yet, as he modestly says, “the courage that -could risk betrayal and the bravery which was ready to encounter death, -if need be, in pursuit of freedom, were features in the undertaking. My -success was due to address rather than to courage, to good luck rather -than bravery. My means of escape were provided by the very means which -were making laws to hold and bind me more securely to slavery.” - -By the laws of the state of Maryland, every free colored person was -required to have what were called “free papers” which must be renewed -frequently, and, of course, a fee was always charged for renewal. They -contained a full and minute description of the holder, for the purpose -of identification. This device, in some measure, defeated itself, since -more than one man could be found to answer the general description; -hence many slaves could get away by impersonating the real owners of -these passes, which were returned by mail after the borrowers had made -good their escape. To use these papers in this manner was hazardous both -for the fugitives and for the lenders. Not every freeman was willing to -put in jeopardy his own liberty that another might be free. It was, -however, often done and the confidence that it necessitated was seldom -betrayed. Douglass had not many friends among the free colored people in -Baltimore who resembled him sufficiently to make it safe for him to use -their papers. Fortunately, however, he had one who owned a “sailor’s -protection,” a document describing the holder and certifying to the fact -that he was a “free American sailor.” This “protection” did not describe -its bearer very accurately. But, it called for a man very much darker -than himself, and a close examination would have betrayed him at the -start. In the face of all these conditions young Douglass was relying -upon something beside a dubious written passport. This something was his -desperate courage. He had learned to act the part of a freeman so well -that no one suspected him of being a slave. He had early acquired the -habit of studying human nature. As he grew to understand men, he no -longer dreaded them. No one knew better than he the kind of human nature -that he had to deal with in this perilous undertaking. He knew the -speech, manner, and behavior that would excite suspicion; hence he -avoided asking for a ticket at the railway station because this would -subject him to examination. He so managed that just as the train started -he jumped on, his bag being thrown after him by some one in waiting. He -knew that scrutiny of him in a crowded car _en route_ would be less -exacting than at the station. He had borrowed a sailor’s shirt, -tarpaulin, cap and black cravat, tied in true sailor fashion, and he -acted the part of an “old salt” so perfectly that he excited no -suspicion. When the conductor came to collect his fare and inspected his -“free papers,” Douglass, in the most natural manner, said that he had -none but promptly showed his “sailor’s protection,” which the railway -official merely glanced at and passed on without further question. Twice -on the trip he thought he was detected. Once when his car stood opposite -a south-bound train, Douglass observed a well-known citizen of Baltimore -who knew him well, sitting where he could see him distinctly. At another -time, while still in Maryland, he was noticed by a man who had met him -frequently at the ship-yards. In neither of these cases, however, was he -interfered with or molested. When he got into the free state of -Pennsylvania, he felt more joy than he dared express. He had by his cool -temerity and address passed every sentinel undetected and no slave, to -his knowledge, he afterward said, ever got away from bondage on so -narrow a margin of safety. - -After reaching Philadelphia, he hurried on to New York. It took him just -twenty-four hours to make the run from the slave city of Baltimore to -the free city of New York. Measured by his intense anxiety, the distance -and time must have seemed without end. For fifteen years he had been -patiently planning to get his feet upon free soil and breathe the air of -a free state. No one ever did more to free himself or to deserve the -liberty into which he was now about to enter. He came to New York, his -pulses throbbing with high hopes. He soon learned, however, that his -stay there was not safe and that the slave-traders plied their vocation -even in the free-states. - -Douglass’s instinct for right action seldom failed him. Although he was -totally ignorant of New York and its people, and had never heard of a -“Vigilance Committee,” he had managed, in a few days after his arrival, -to put himself under the protection and guidance of such influential -friends of the Negro race as Lewis and Arthur Tappan, Thomas Downing, -and Theodore Wright, who were at that time high officials in that -extensive Underground Railway system which had already safely carried -thousands of passengers from bondage to freedom. - -He retained a keen remembrance of his former experiences in Baltimore -and was conscious of a sense of protection in his Abolition friends; yet -at the age of twenty-one years, in this new environment of freedom, he -was in many respects as ignorant as a child. To what was north, or east, -or west of New York, he was entirely oblivious neither did he know the -kind and the condition of the people among whom he was to live and work -out his destiny. Where to go, what to do, and how to use his freedom, -were questions he could ask, but could not answer. It was enough, now, -just to know that he was free. What was to be his relationship to these -non-slave-holding people was yet to be discovered. - -It is an evidence of his self-reliance and honor, as well as his loyalty -to his past, that, almost the first step in his new life, was to send -for his promised wife. She came to New York at once, and they were -wedded by Rev. J. W. C. Pennington, a Presbyterian minister of that -city. The early marriage of the young man must be regarded as an -important event in his career as a freeman. It was a marriage for love -and, as his wife was a woman of strong character and determination, she -was able actively to assist her husband while he was seeking to -establish himself in a new country. The act also made him at once a -home-builder and the head of a family. Though he was poor almost to the -very limit of poverty, without work, without habitation, and without -friends or relationships, having nothing, in fact, but himself, which -included a sound body and strong will, he went about planning and doing -things as if certain that all must come out as he wished. - -His newly discovered friends decided it was best for him not to stay -longer in New York, and that New Bedford, Mass., was a much safer place. -There he could work at his trade without danger of re-capture. He -cheerfully started on his journey, though he had not enough money to pay -his way. The stage-driver, plying between Newport and New Bedford, held -a part of his baggage as security for his unpaid passage and when he and -his wife arrived at their destination they had nothing to live on except -faith. In this New England town everything was strange to Douglass, but -he was not long in finding a friend, a colored man named Nathan Johnson. -The latter, the first important acquaintance the refugee made among -Northern colored people, had a good home, good standing in the -community, and more than ordinary intelligence. He very soon discovered -that Frederick Douglass was a man of superior fibre and became his firm -friend. - -Johnson’s house was well furnished with books and music, and bore other -evidences of good taste and a cultivated mind. He was in a position to -render just that kind of help which the young fugitive and his new wife -needed at this time. He at once redeemed the baggage held by the -stage-driver, and gave Douglass needed directions and advice as to how -to get work and to establish himself. - -Nathan Johnson had the further distinction of being the man who gave to -the Maryland slave the name he ever afterward bore. Douglass left the -South as Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. His new-found friend had -just been reading Scott’s _Lady of the Lake_, and persuaded the young -man that Douglas was a name of poetic and historical significance; he -was sure it would be further glorified by its new owner. With so -auspicious a beginning, the refugee started out bravely to seek work and -make a living for himself and his wife. - -As he moved about in the New England town, he was much impressed by -Northern civilization, and was greatly surprised to see white people, -who while rich, educated, and powerful, were yet not slave-holders. Up -to this time he had known but two classes of white people, slave-holders -and non-slave-holders. The non-slave-holding white people of the South, -he knew, were generally ignorant, despised, and poor; while those who -owned slaves seemed to own everything else worth having. Here in New -England he observed that white people were high or low according to -their character, ability, and possessions. Life appeared to him larger, -wider, and fuller of possibilities than he had dreamed, even in his more -hopeful days down on the Eastern Shore. These impressions and the better -understanding of his own condition gave him courage and made him feel -equal to any task or problem. His first occupation, as a free man, was -putting away some coal for Ephraim Peabody, for which he was paid two -dollars. He cherished this “free money,” for it was the first he had -ever earned that he could call his own. He cheerfully went from one job -to another, proud as a bank president in the new dignity which freedom -seemed to have conferred upon him. He accepted any kind of task he could -find to do, such as sawing wood, digging cellars, removing rubbish, -helping to load cargoes on ships, scrubbing out ship cabins, and the -rough work in a foundry. The employment was hard and the pay small, yet -it did not seem so to this newly emancipated slave. The right to dispose -of his own labor, and to have and to hold all that he made was a -profound and unceasing satisfaction to him. - -His spare moments were given to studying and reading everything he could -lay hold of. He saw from the first that his freedom could not be -profitably used and protected without knowledge and the mental -discipline that comes with the effort to acquire it. He was liked by -everybody who employed him, because he made it a matter of principle to -do all and more than his full duty in every occupation. He put as much -zeal, intelligence, and cheerful industry into these common tasks as he -later gave to pursuits of a more dignified character. - -Young Douglass was cheered and heartened in this wholesome atmosphere of -freedom,—free schools, free labor, and general fair play, to such a -degree that it was a long time before he began to feel the presence and -trammels of race prejudice as they existed in New Bedford and elsewhere -in the North in that day. That there was a feeling against his color he -learned when he attempted to follow his trade as a calker. When he -sought to hire himself to a certain ship-owner at New Bedford, he was -told to go to work, but when he went to the boat with his tools, the -foreman informed him that every white man would quit if he struck a blow -at his trade. This unexpected _dénouement_ drove Douglass back to common -labor, at which he could earn less than one-half of what he could have -made as a calker. He accepted the situation in good spirit, however, -feeling that the worst possible treatment in freedom was infinitely -better than slavery. - -He met his next rebuff when he attempted to attend one of the lectures -under the auspices of the New Bedford Lyceum Association. He was refused -a ticket on the ground that it was against the policy of the society to -admit colored people to the lecture-room. It was not long, however, -before this discrimination was done away with, since men like Charles -Sumner, Emerson, Horace Mann, and Garrison, refused to speak before the -organization unless the restriction was removed. The privilege of -attending these meetings and hearing some of the great anti-slavery -leaders was a matter of great import to Douglass. Indeed, it was the -very thing he needed as a part of his education in preparation for his -life work. He heard for the first time white men who were taking strong -positions on the question of the abolition of slavery. The existence of -an anti-slavery society and an anti-slavery movement of ever-widening -extent and influence in the nation impressed him as nothing had done -since he came from the South. The things for which he had secretly -dreamed and yearned and struggled in Maryland were now becoming great -national issues, with men of might behind them, pushing them on and -seeking to make them the foremost questions of the day. - -Quite as important as the privilege of hearing slavery discussed was the -chance he obtained of reading William Lloyd Garrison’s paper, _The -Liberator_. Garrison’s direct and uncompromising words came to him like -a trumpet call. He began to cherish each number as second only in -importance to the Bible. Heretofore he had had no one to help him reason -out the philosophy of the question. What the facts of slavery were he -knew by actual and bitter suffering. The words of no one could make him -feel their injustice and pain more than his own experiences had made him -feel them, but here, behold, was a mighty man, a prophet in his moral -earnestness—a sort of Isaiah, who with inspired fervor, predicted the -ultimate downfall of slavery. - -_The Liberator_ and Mr. Garrison’s words were as important to young -Douglass and his intellectual development as was the _Columbian Orator_, -which had inspired him while a slave in Baltimore. Those who knew him at -once recognized his intelligence. The colored people of New Bedford were -the first to discover his fluency as a speaker and to give ear to his -original ideas on the question of freedom for their race. He was often -called upon to speak in meetings held by colored men in the town, and in -colored churches. As far as the masses of the people were concerned, -however, he was still an obscure Negro laborer. There was no one except, -perhaps, Nathan Johnson, who saw in this patient and cheerful toiler the -promise of a public career. No men of African descent had up to this -time achieved anything like distinction. A colored man might now and -then be smart as a freak of nature; no one was prepared to think of his -becoming great by sheer force of mind and character. But the power -within this young fugitive slave and the forces without him were fast -shaping themselves to call him forth and hold him up as an example to -all the world. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - BEGINNING OF HIS PUBLIC CAREER - - -Years had passed and great changes had taken place since Uncle Lawson, -the old colored preacher, who had been Frederick Douglass’s first -spiritual teacher and comforter, had solemnly told him that “the Lord -had a great work for him to do,” and that he must prepare to do it. -These words were spoken at a time when the boy was just beginning to -awaken to the vast possibilities of human life, and, dimly conscious of -his own powers, was groping to find his place in the world. Douglass had -never forgotten this speech. It seemed now that the prophecy of the old -colored man was to be fulfilled. During the first years at New Bedford, -he had been industriously preparing himself to perform the task that -destiny apparently had assigned him. He had no teachers to help him in -his studies, or direct him in his reading. He had no definite notion of -what the future had in store for him, nor of how he was to be used “to -perform the great work,” of which Uncle Lawson had spoken. The latter -believed that his young _protégé_ was to become a preacher of the -Gospel, because that seemed the only possible future of the slave upon -whom unusual gifts had been bestowed. But Douglass had reached the -conclusion that, if any great work had been assigned him, it was in the -direction of securing the freedom of the members of his race in bonds. -He was faithfully preparing himself to meet the emergency that should -call him into the service of that cause. - -In the summer of 1841, the opportunity, long waited for, came. A great -anti-slavery convention was called by William Lloyd Garrison and his -friends, to meet at Nantucket. We have already seen how deeply young -Douglass was impressed with Mr. Garrison’s writings in _The Liberator_, -and it can be easily inferred that the word “anti-slavery” should have -stirred him as no other word in the language of freedom. For the first -time since he came to New Bedford he determined to take a holiday for -the purpose of going to Nantucket and becoming as much as possible a -part of the anti-slavery meeting. However ardent others might be in -their interest for the convention, to him it meant everything worth -living for and dying for to find the white people in a free community -taking hold of the question of abolition as if their own kith and kin -were in chains. - -Douglass went to see, listen, and learn. This was privilege enough for -one occasion. When he was sought out by a citizen of New Bedford, who -had heard of him, and was asked to say a few words, he was quite -startled. So frightened was he, “it was with much difficulty,” he says, -“that I could stand erect or could command or articulate two words -without hesitation and stammering. I trembled in every limb. I am not -sure that my embarrassment was not the most important part of my speech, -if speech it could be called. The audience sympathized with me and at -once, from having been remarkably silent, it became much excited.” - -But his embarrassment soon subsided. Parker Pillsbury, an eye-witness, -says: “When the young man, Douglass, closed late in the evening, none -seemed to know or care for the lateness of the hour. The crowded -congregation had been wrought up almost to enchantment as he turned over -the terrible apocalypse of his experience in slavery.” - -If Abolition was a great cause in the minds of those astonished -auditors, it became more sincerely so after the young fugitive from -bondage had concluded. William Lloyd Garrison followed, and of him -Pillsbury says: “I think that Mr. Garrison never before, nor afterward -felt more profoundly the sacredness of his mission. I surely never saw -him more deeply and divinely inspired. He said among other things, ‘Have -we been listening to a thing—a piece of property, or a man?’ ‘A man,’ -shouted the audience. ‘And should such a man be held a slave in a -republican and Christian land?’ ‘No, no. Never, never!’ was the fervent -response. ‘Shall such a man be sent back to slavery from the soil of old -Massachusetts?’ Almost the whole assembly sprang with one accord to -their feet and shouted, ‘No, no!’ long and loud.” - -Measured by its effect on the audience and by its importance to himself -and the Abolition cause, this first speech was one of the greatest Mr. -Douglass ever made. Only three years out of bondage, never having been -at school, wholly self-taught and coming direct from hard toil to a -platform, he had been invited to speak before an audience of proud and -cultured New Englanders! - -The whole thing seemed so incredible and was so unexpected that those -who heard him never ceased to wonder how such wisdom and eloquence could -come from a slave. It was by far the most dramatic and important -incident that had occurred in the anti-slavery fight up to this time. - -William Lloyd Garrison was quick to discern that the cause needed this -fugitive slave, more than any other man or thing, as an argument and an -illustration in the further work of the anti-slavery society. Others -spoke from knowledge and conviction gained by reading and study; -Douglass spoke from twenty years’ experience of all the phases of -slave-life. His words had the charm born of things seen, felt, and -suffered. His presentation of the subject was more than argument; it was -a transcript from actual life. - -Immediately after the convention, John A. Collins, then the general -agent of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, went to Mr. Douglass -and urged him to accept a position as one of his assistants, publicly to -advocate its principles. This unexpected offer was quite as embarrassing -as was the request for him to speak at the meeting. Acting upon an -impulse of self-mistrust, and a sense of unfitness, he tried to refuse, -but all excuses were swept aside by Mr. Collins, and finally Douglass -decided to make a trial for three months. - -After recovering from his first timidity, he entered the fight with -enthusiasm. No one was more surprised than he at his ability to meet the -expectations of the people. In the early part of his work he was -accompanied by George Foster. They traveled and lectured from the same -platform through the eastern counties of Massachusetts. He was -frequently introduced to the audiences as a “chattel,” a “thing,” a -“piece of property,” and Mr. Collins invariably called their attention -to the fact that the speaker was a “graduate from an institution whose -diploma was written upon his back.” - -A great deal of interest was excited in the meetings that he was invited -to address. Many of those who came out of curiosity to see and hear a -fugitive slave went away convinced and converted to the anti-slavery -cause. Douglass soon persuaded his friends and associates to think that -he was too much of a man to be employed as a mere “exhibit.” At first -his eloquence and success with the public both delighted and alarmed -them. There began to arise a fear that his power as an orator would -prove too great. It seemed well enough for him to tell the story of his -servitude, but when he indulged in logic and flights of fancy and -invective, it was feared that he would be considered an impostor. If -slavery was such a degrading thing as this man said it was, the question -naturally arose, How, then, did he acquire his accomplishments? Besides, -Douglass did not give the name of his master, or the state from which he -came. - -All this was true enough, and the truth was somewhat embarrassing, but -the people did not stop to consider the omission. Douglass was now a -resident of Massachusetts; he was a slave, owned in Maryland. To state -the facts about his identity would be to invite slave-catchers to New -Bedford to reclaim strayed property. There was nothing for him to do but -to keep the dangerous secret securely locked in his own bosom and talk -down the doubts and suspicions that were now and then expressed. George -Foster, Mr. Garrison, Mr. Collins, and other friends, who happened to be -on the same platform with him, were always admonishing him not to appear -too intelligent, too oratorical, or too logical, lest his claim of -having been a slave be discredited. “Give the facts,” they said, “and we -will take care of the philosophy.” “Let us have the facts only.” “Tell -your story, Frederick; people will not believe you were ever a slave, if -you go on in this way.” “Be yourself.” “Better have a little plantation -dialect than not.” “It is not best that you should seem so learned.” - -Such were the complaints and warnings that came to him from those who -most admired him, during the first few months of his career as an -orator. The young man could scarcely curb his impatience, so great was -his moral earnestness. The thoughts which he uttered flowed so -spontaneously and uncontrollably from his lips, that it seemed to him he -could no more limit himself than he could stop the force of gravitation. -Speaking of this embarrassment he says: “It was impossible for me to -repeat the same old story month after month and keep up my interest in -it. I could not follow the injunction of my friends, for I was now -reading and thinking. New views of the subject were being presented to -my mind: I could not always curb my moral indignation.” - -In order to remove all doubts as to whether he was a slave, he put the -facts, including the name of his master, in the possession of the -Anti-Slavery Society. As soon as Phillips and Garrison knew the truth, -they advised him to go on as before, for if he gave his name and that of -his master, he would be in danger of re-capture,—even in Massachusetts. -When he showed to Wendell Phillips a manuscript detailing the facts of -his slave-life, he was advised “to throw it in the fire”; but so -straightforward and earnest and effective was his work, and so rapid his -development as an orator, that he soon overcame all doubts, and those -who had once urged him to curb his intellectual flights learned to -admire his courage, and to put a higher value on his services to the -cause of Abolition. Whenever there was serious work to be done, and the -best men and women were needed to combat pro-slavery policies and -measures, he was eagerly sought. His name now began to be announced with -those of the foremost advocates of freedom. - -In the latter part of the year 1841, and in the early months of 1842, -the Abolitionists were called upon for a show of strength. The appeal -came from Rhode Island. The people of that state were aroused to a high -pitch of interest in an effort to adopt a new constitution in place of -the old colonial charter that had been in use since the Revolution. -Making a new constitution was a political question and every political -contest, however local in concern, afforded occasion for the pro-slavery -and anti-slavery people to clash. In this Rhode Island contest, interest -centred on the proposition to restrict the right of suffrage to white -citizens only. The pro-slavery sentiment of this, as of other Northern -states, was so strong, that there seemed to be a great likelihood of the -“color line” being fixed in the supreme law of the commonwealth. To -combat this danger, the anti-slavery societies massed their forces and -went into the little state to dispute every inch of the ground. Stephen -S. Foster, Parker Pillsbury, Abby Kelley, James Monroe, and Frederick -Douglass were the advance guard. The contest here was somewhat different -from the more or less peaceful work of holding public meetings in -Massachusetts to create public opinion. Here was a clean-cut issue in -which was involved the right of free Negroes to be full citizens in a -Northern state. Under the leadership of Thomas W. Dorr, the pro-slavery -forces had to be opposed by strong arguments and not by mere sentiment. -There was also a decided feeling against “intermeddlers,” as Douglass -and his associates were called. Meetings were held all over the state, -and soon it was plain to be seen that the anti-slavery people were -making progress in overcoming the “Dorrites.” It was a picturesque and -dramatic campaign, the chief features of which were the conspicuous -parts taken by Frederick Douglass, the fugitive slave, and Abby Kelley. -Mr. Douglass says that she “was perhaps the most successful of any of -us. Her youth and simple Quaker beauty, combined with her wonderful -earnestness, her large knowledge and great logical powers bore down all -opposition to the end, wherever she spoke, though she was before pelted -with foul eggs, and no less foul words, from the noisy mobs which -attended us.” - -Mr. Douglass speaks in generous praise of the effectiveness of other -anti-slavery advocates, who were associated with him in this campaign. -He himself made a multitude of friends and added immensely to his -prestige as an orator. He was received by many of the leading citizens -of the state, almost as a brother. Among these new friends he gratefully -mentions the Clarks, Keltons, Chases, Adamses, Greens, Eldridges, -Mitchells, Anthonys, Goulds, Fairbanks, and many others. - -Yet it was not all smooth sailing for the colored orator. He was -frequently dragged from the cars by mobs, though his associates were -always loyal to him, many of them refusing to go where he could not. -This was especially the case with Wendell Phillips, James Monroe, and -William A. White. - -The result of the battle in Rhode Island was a complete triumph over -those who had sought to abridge the suffrage. The victory was not only -important, as a show of strength of the Abolitionists, but it prevented -the establishment of a dangerous precedent which might have had its -influence upon other states. - -From Rhode Island, Mr. Douglass was called to speak in various places. -At first he was not always well received, but in nearly every case, -after he had once appeared, converts were made and opposition ceased. At -one time when he, with Garrison, Abby Kelley, and Foster, attempted to -speak in Hartford, Conn., the doors of every hall and church were closed -against them, but they spoke under the open sky, to so much effect that -some of their opponents had the grace to confess to a sense of shame for -such action. - -At Grafton, Mass., Douglass was advertised to speak alone. There was no -house, church, or market-place in which he was permitted to appear. Not -to be outdone, he went up and down the streets ringing a dinner-bell -that he had borrowed, announcing that “Frederick Douglass, recently a -slave, will lecture on Grafton Common this evening at seven o’clock.” As -a result of this notice, he spoke to a great concourse of people, and as -usual advanced the cause of Abolition. - -In the year 1843, the movement had so far progressed that a great -undertaking was announced. It was proposed to hold one hundred -conventions under the auspices of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society -in such states as New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Ohio, Indiana, and -Pennsylvania. Mr. Douglass was selected as one of the agents to assist -in the work. This was regarded as an ambitious scheme on the part of Mr. -Garrison, and attracted a great deal of public attention. Among the -speakers associated with Mr. Douglass in this tour were George Bradburn, -John A. Collins, James Monroe, Sidney Howard Gay, and Charles Lennox -Remond, the last-named a colored man of unusual eloquence. - -Mr. Douglass felt very proud, as well he might, of being given so -prominent a part in this important enterprise, and of being associated -with men of such distinction. The wisdom of holding these conventions -was soon made manifest, when it was discovered how ill-informed were the -masses of the people as to the nature of the issue the Abolitionists -were seeking to force upon the attention of the country. - -The crusade received rather a chilly reception in the Green Mountain -State. Along the Erie Canal, from Albany to Buffalo, it was more than -difficult to excite any interest or to make converts. In Syracuse, the -home of Rev. Samuel J. May, and where such men as Gerrit Smith, Beriah -Green, and William Goodell lived, Douglass and his friends could not -obtain a hall, church, or market-place to hold a meeting. Everybody was -discouraged and favored “shaking the dust from off their feet,” and -going to other parts. But Frederick Douglass did not believe in -surrender. He was determined to speak his word for the gospel of -Abolition here, even if he must do so under the open sky, as in -Connecticut and Massachusetts. In the morning he began in a grove with -five people present. So powerful was his appeal that in the afternoon he -had an audience of five hundred and in the evening he was tendered the -use of an old building that had done service as a Congregational church. -In this house the convention was organized and carried on for three -days. The seeds of Abolition were so well sown in Syracuse, that -thereafter it was always hospitable ground for anti-slavery advocates. -Mr. Douglass had a more friendly reception in Rochester, which was to be -his future home. Here he found a goodly number of Abolitionists and his -words made a lasting impression. - -The next meeting of importance was in Buffalo. The outlook for a -convention in this western New York city was so discouraging that Mr. -Douglass’s associates turned on their heels and left him to “do Buffalo -alone.” The place appointed was a dilapidated old room that had once -been used as a post-office. No one was there at first except a few -hack-drivers who sauntered in from curiosity. But Mr. Douglass went at -them with great earnestness, as if they could settle all the problems -that were overburdening his heart. Out of this small and unsympathetic -beginning, grew a great convention. Every day for nearly a week, in the -old building, he spoke to constantly increasing crowds of people who -were worth talking to, until finally a large Baptist church was thrown -open to him. Here the size and character of the audience were -flattering. So great was the eagerness to hear him that on Sunday -evening he addressed an outdoor meeting of five thousand people in the -park. - -At this Buffalo meeting Mr. Douglass called to his assistance a number -of prominent colored speakers, such as Henry Highland Garnet, Theodore -S. Wright, Amos G. Bearman, Charles M. Ray, and Charles Lennox Remond, -all of powerful speech and growing influence, who held a convention of -their own, at which the ex-slave made an eloquent address. - -From this city Douglass continued on his way into Ohio and Indiana. The -Ohio meeting, held in Clinton County, was a notable event. This was the -farthest west Mr. Douglass had been as yet and he now went into the -state of Indiana. This was dangerous ground, as he soon learned when he -attempted to deliver his message. Here he found a mob-spirit harder to -resist than any he had encountered in the East. In attempting to speak -at Richmond, Ind., where Henry Clay had been heard shortly before, he -received a shower of “evil-smelling eggs.” From this place he went to -Pendleton, where he could find no hall or church in which to speak; but, -not to be outdone, he attempted what he had successfully accomplished at -Syracuse, and at other places. He had a platform erected in the woods. A -large assembly of people came out to hear the colored orator, but the -Hoosiers, in this part of the state, were determined not to be -persuaded. - -It was, as one of them rudely expressed it, a case of “no nigger speaker -for us.” As soon as the meeting began, a mob of fifty or sixty -rough-looking men ordered Douglass to stop. An attempt to disregard this -threatening command, maddened the rioters. They tore down the platform -and violently assaulted the orator and his associate, Mr. White. Seeing -the danger, Douglass began to fight his way through the crowd with a -club. The sight of a weapon in the hands of a Negro angered the mob -still more, and they set upon him with such fury that he was felled to -the ground, being beaten so fiercely that he was left for dead. Having -dispersed the meeting, the men mounted their horses and rode away. Mr. -Douglass’s right hand was broken, and he was in a state of -unconsciousness for some time. He was unable to speak for several days, -being tenderly cared for by a Mrs. Neal Hardy, a member of the Society -of Friends, until his wounds were healed, but he never recovered the -full use of his right hand. - -Notwithstanding this rough treatment, Mr. Douglass would not allow -himself to be frightened out of the state. He continued his work for a -long time, and compelled a respectful and peaceful hearing. He was no -coward and was not afraid of mobs. He did not stop until, according to -the plans determined upon by the Anti-Slavery Society of Massachusetts, -the one hundred conventions had been held. The work was accomplished, in -spite of indifference, contemptuous criticism, and sometimes violent and -bloody opposition. - -Although it seemed at the time that not much had been achieved, the seed -sown was to bear fruit when a few years later the South and North were -arrayed against each other in the great struggle for the preservation of -the Union. - - - - - CHAPTER V - SLAVERY AND ANTI-SLAVERY - - -Frederick Douglass was so much a part of the Abolition movement from -1838 to the final overthrow of slavery in the United States, that his -career will be the better understood after a brief review of the -condition of the country as affected by the evil during those years. - -At the time of Douglass’s escape from bondage in 1838, slavery was the -one great and overshadowing fact in our national life. According to the -census of 1840, the number of slaves in the United States was about -2,500,000 and the number of free colored people about 300,000. The value -of slave-property was upward of two billions of dollars. No other -interest in the United States at that time approximated in the amount of -its invested capital the sum represented in these human chattels. The -labor of these slaves was to a very considerable extent the basis of -American commerce and credit. Not the South alone, but the entire -nation, was interested directly or indirectly, in preserving the -integrity and maintaining the economic value of slave-labor. The mining, -the manufacturing, and the great grain interests of the present time -were unknown and scarcely dreamed of in those early days of the nation’s -industries. Cotton was “king,” and its dominion affected in some way, -and to some degree, the social, political, and economic life of the -republic. - -The results of Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin were such as to -check the current of sentiment in favor of emancipation, which had found -expression in the sayings of Thomas Jefferson, Madison, and other -Revolutionary leaders. In his great speech of March 7, 1850, Daniel -Webster said: “In 1791 the first parcel of cotton of the growth of the -United States was exported and amounted to 19,200 pounds. It has gone on -increasing rapidly until the whole crop may now, perhaps, in a season of -great product and great prices, amount to $100,000,000.” According to -the estimates of the United States Census Bureau in its census of 1900, -cotton production increased from 2,000,025 pounds in 1790 to 987,637,200 -pounds in 1849, and 2,397,238,140 pounds in 1859. The enormous capital -invested in this industry created a close community of interest between -the planters of the South and the capitalists of the North; hence the -influence of the cotton trade was felt in both sections. - -This enormous interest easily dominated the politics of the times, North -and South. The most prominent statesmen of the nation, after 1850, were -either openly committed to policies and measures to protect and extend -the power of slavery, or were silent, since to oppose these policies and -measures meant, in many instances, political extinction. The trend of -all legislation in our national government at this period was directly -opposed to emancipation. Meanwhile, the evil flourished and became more -and more a part of the spirit and blood of our national life. If there -were no slavery in the Northern states, one reason was that slave-labor -had proven unprofitable. In the early days of the institution, the North -was quite as willing to legalize and protect slavery as the South, and -continued to do so as long as it paid and was practicable. The mere fact -that slavery was profitable where climatic conditions were congenial to -cotton raising, increased the demand for both slaves and territory. The -pressure for more slaves and more territory for slavery, was so -persistent, that it constantly became easier to ignore moral and -religious precepts, to set aside the national maxims, and to override -the laws that stood in the way of its extension and power. For example, -the slave-trade was prohibited by national law, yet so little effort was -made to enforce this law, that importations kept the market well -supplied. The acts of Congress, the messages of our presidents, the -utterances of our cabinet ministers, and correspondence with the -representatives of the nation at foreign courts, contain abundant -evidences of the constant concern of our government that nothing should -be done to impair the security of slave-property in the United States. -The acts of Congress by which every addition to our national domain -south of the Ohio River became slave-territory, clearly show this. When -in 1855, a “slaver” was driven by storm to seek refuge in Bermuda, our -Minister at the Court of St. James was instructed that, “in the present -state of diplomatic relations with the government of his British -Majesty, the most immediately pressing of the matters with which the -United States Legation at London is now charged, is the claim of certain -American citizens against Great Britain, for a number of slaves wrecked -on the island in the Atlantic.” The message contains a polite hint that -“neglect to satisfy these demands might possibly tend to disturb and -weaken the kind and amicable relations that now so happily subsist -between the two countries.” - -By sanction of the national government, slavery was legalized and -protected at the national capital. The war with Mexico, which resulted -in the annexation of Texas, was followed by the establishment of slavery -in the territory so acquired. It was fostered and defended as a national -institution not only by numerous acts of the government, but by public -sentiment in the Northern states. It had existed before the foundation -of the Union. It had been accepted as a fact by the framers of the -Constitution. As such, it had a legitimate claim, it was urged, to the -protection of the government. It was generally assumed that, on the -whole, the Negro was better off in slavery than as a free man. Though -the Northern people did not favor the extension of slavery, they were -disposed to meet in a spirit of conciliation every demand for more -protection, more power, and more territory for this traffic. - -When opposition, not on grounds of expediency but of fundamental right, -began to manifest itself in Northern states by the circulation of -Abolition papers, the alarm of slave-owners was expressed in no -uncertain tones. Some of the governors of slave-states and their -legislatures made urgent demands that such publications be suppressed. -The following is a sample of some of the resolutions passed by the -legislatures: “Resolved that our sister states are respectfully -requested to enact penal laws prohibiting the printing, within their -respective limits, of all such publications as may have a tendency to -make our slaves discontented.” - -The messages of the governors of two Northern states, William L. Marcy -of New York, and Edward Everett of Massachusetts, aptly illustrate -sentiment in the North at this time. Governor Marcy said: “Without the -power to pass such laws, the states would not possess all the necessary -means for preserving their external relations of peace among -themselves.” Governor Everett said: “Whatever by direct and necessary -operation is calculated to excite an insurrection among slaves, has been -held by highly respectable legal authority an offense against the peace -of this commonwealth, which may be prosecuted as a misdemeanor at common -law.” - -In the same year, 1836, the Rhode Island legislature reported on a bill -in conformity with the demands of the slave-states. The significance of -this action is that it was taken fully two months prior to the request -of the Southern states. Thus it appears that the idea of the suppression -of free speech and free publication against slavery was first broached -in a Northern state. - -President Jackson, in his annual message to Congress, in 1835 suggested -“the propriety of passing such laws as will prohibit, under severe -penalties, the circulation in the Southern states, through the mail, of -incendiary publications, intended to instigate the slaves to -insurrection.” - -The Postmaster-General, a Northern man, serving under Jackson, refused -to “sanction” or condemn the acts of certain postmasters in arresting -the circulation of Abolition circulars, characterized as “incendiary -matter.” - -The state of public feeling at this time fully justified the government -and its officials in everything they did to protect slavery, since their -action was sanctioned by a sentiment national in extent and character. -Just how strong was this public opinion in the North may be further -illustrated by the spirit of mob-violence that forms one of the darkest -chapters in the struggle to make this country, in deed as well as in -name, “the home of the free.” William Lloyd Garrison and Benjamin Lundy, -were repeatedly assaulted while they were running a paper in Baltimore -in 1827. The gentle and pious young Quakeress, Prudence Crandall, of -Canterbury, Conn., was arrested and sent to jail for allowing colored -children to attend her school. Her brother, Dr. Reuben Crandall, was -arrested in the city of Washington, thrown into prison on August 11, -1833, and held there for eight months on the charge of circulating -incendiary publications with the intent of inciting slaves to -insurrection. The only evidence against him was that he had in his trunk -some anti-slavery circulars. He died from the effects of his -imprisonment soon after his release. - -On the 4th day of July, 1834, an anti-slavery meeting in New York was -made the occasion of a frightful riot. At Worcester, Mass., in 1835, an -anti-slavery speaker, Rev. O. Scott, son of an ex-governor, was forcibly -prevented from delivering a lecture, and his notes were torn up. On the -same day at Canaan, N. H., an academy was demolished, for the reason -that it was designed for the instruction of colored youth. At Boston, on -October 21, 1835, a mob of “five thousand gentlemen” attacked the Boston -Female Anti-Slavery Society and dispersed one of its meetings while its -president was at prayers. At Syracuse, N. Y., in October, 1833, a crowd -of “prominent” citizens broke up a meeting called by Gerrit Smith to -form an anti-slavery society; and in December, 1836, an anti-slavery -meeting at New Haven, Conn., was dispersed by students of Yale College. -At Alton, Ill., on the 7th day of November, 1837, Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy -was shot and killed and his printing press destroyed by a mob. At -Cincinnati, O., in 1836, and again in 1840, mobs of citizens demolished -the printing press of the _Philanthropist_, owned by James G. Birney, an -ex-slave-holder from Kentucky. Pennsylvania Hall, in Philadelphia, built -for the free discussion of all questions interesting to the American -people, was burned by a mob in May, 1838, because Abolitionists had been -allowed to hold a meeting there. - -But what was perhaps the most heartless of all instances of violence -occurred on the 1st of August, 1842, at Philadelphia. The colored people -of that city had built a fine church and hall in which they were holding -a temperance celebration on the day of the anniversary of British -emancipation. A mob was formed which burned the building, demolished the -homes of the participants, and in a most savage and brutal manner, beat -and maltreated its innocent victims. This riot lasted two days and the -city authorities offered but feeble protection. - -Many other incidents of violence directed against attempts to discuss -the slavery question might be recited, but enough have been mentioned to -indicate public feeling in almost every community in the -non-slave-holding States. All these manifestations of opposition to -anti-slavery agitation and action were at first and for a long time very -generally sanctioned by the churches, the schools and colleges, and by -the politicians of the free North. All the forces of conservatism in the -country were, as might have been expected, in favor of preserving the -_status quo_, and scarcely any cause in the whole history of our country -has ever been so unpopular as this Abolition movement. It seemed that -the slave-holders might rest perfectly secure in the assurance that -their interests would be well guarded by their friends in the -free-states, assisted by the natural inertia of the great mass of the -Northern people, who were instinctively opposed to any sudden or violent -change such as the agitation of the Abolitionists seemed to portend. - -The inherent weakness of slavery in this country appeared when the very -laws that were passed to sustain and support it served merely to arouse -the public to a real comprehension of its evils. Gradually it became -clear to an ever-increasing number of citizens that it had no place in a -republic. It was out of harmony with the doctrines and principles fought -for in the Revolutionary War, and it did violence to the consciences of -large numbers of men and women, North and South, who, uncontrolled by -prejudice, were free to think and act for themselves. Thousands of -Southern people who felt that slavery was a wrong, emancipated their -slaves; others were moved to treat them with unusual kindness, and still -others held them because they could not help themselves. - -Many influences were at work to arouse and quicken the moral sense of -the public and to make it conscious of the issues involved in the -question. Such agencies as the missionary movement, in its effort to -“evangelize” the world; the work of the Bible, tract and educational -societies, the religious awakening of the masses, in response to the -appeals of such eloquent preachers as Beecher, Rice, and Summerfield; -and the new interest in the former teachings of Hopkins and Edwards:—all -these forces, along with the new enthusiasm for social and political -reform, which found expression in the work of temperance and peace -societies and the fight against the cruel treatment of the Indians, -especially the Cherokees, aroused the people and prepared them to take -part in the discussion of public questions, giving them a new sense of -the significance and the responsibility of self-government. This revived -public spirit was aided and advanced by the growing influence of the -modern newspaper press, and of journals dealing with a variety of -subjects other than politics. Each moral and social question came to -have an organ to spread its views. Every one who had a gift for writing -had the opportunity to impress his opinions upon the public, if he could -but get hold of a press and printing outfit. A noted author of that -period says: “No one can comprehend in their real and distinctive -characteristics, the existing agitations of America, if he does not take -into account the new power and changed direction of the public press -constituting a new era in human history.” - -With these agencies for the education of the masses, there came into -being the lecture platform. Any man or woman with a talent for fluent -speech and a “cause,” was at liberty to take the rostrum and attempt to -get a hearing. The same writer, above quoted, says: “The railway car of -1838, and the electric telegraph ten years after, were scarcely greater -innovations or greater curiosities than were the voluntary lectures, -free public conventions, and the moral and religious weekly journals -with their correspondence from 1825 to 1830.” - -The development of these moral and religious agencies furnished the -masses of the American people with the means of creating a more active -interest in public affairs. Out of these grew that broader knowledge and -more acute moral sense which led them to inquire into the sanctions that -seemed to hedge about and protect the institution of slavery. - -It was in such an atmosphere, in which religious enthusiasm touched and -quickened the sense of responsibility of the people in social and -political conditions, that the Abolition spirit grew and became a power -in public affairs. The question of slavery was definitely put before the -people as a political issue in the Missouri Compromise in 1820. During -the debate that followed they heard for the first time, the doctrine of -“immediate and unconditional emancipation of the slave.” Interest in -this new and radical doctrine was immediate and wide-spread. To those -who owned slaves, and indeed to the vast majority of the people, North -and South, who accepted slavery as an established institution with a -legitimate claim to protection from attack, this new doctrine seemed at -once revolutionary and dangerous. - -The cry at once went up, “Put down the discussion and silence the -agitation!” It was indeed a question that could not survive debate. As a -matter of fact, the opposition which Abolition aroused was the one thing -that insured its final triumph. Men felt instinctively—it was the -republican habit of mind—that there must be something essentially -unsound in a system that could not tolerate open and free discussion. -Hence it was that every attempt to suppress the agitation defeated its -own purposes. The characters who now began to push to the front in the -ranks of the Abolitionists were men of stern American fibre. Facts, -figures, and arguments began to pile up which showed that this country -could not long exist “half-slave and half-free.” The terms “pro-slavery” -and “anti-slavery” came into the vocabulary of political discussion -during this new conflict. The breach between the forces represented by -these names grew wider and wider as the strife continued. The very -nature of the issue caused a degree of bitterness that has never before -or since been equaled in political argument in the United States. There -could be no such thing as compromise. A test of moral and physical -strength was sooner or later inevitable. - -The issues of the contest may be summarized with advantage. - - - PRO-SLAVERY - -The powers and privileges the conservative party sought to maintain and -defend were: - -The unlimited authority of the master or owner of slaves. - -Abrogation of marriage and the family relation among slaves. - -The power to enforce labor without wages. - -Incapacity of the slaves to acquire and hold property. - -Incapacity to enjoy civil, domestic, and political rights. - -Incapacity to make contracts or bargains. - -The liability of the slave to be sold like other chattels, and separated -from relatives. - -The authorized prosecution of the inter-state slave-trade. - -The power of the master to forbid education, and to permit religious -gatherings at his own discretion. - -The power of the legislatures of slave-states to prohibit education of -slaves by their masters. - - - ANTI-SLAVERY - -The principles for which the Abolitionists contended were the following: - -All men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain -inalienable rights among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of -happiness. - -Slavery, or more properly, the practice of slave-holding, is a crime -against human nature and a sin against God. - -Like all other sins, slavery should be abolished unconditionally, -repented of, and abandoned. It is always safe to leave off doing wrong -and never safe to continue in wrong-doing. - -It is the duty of all men to bear testimony against wrong-doing, and -consequently to bear testimony against slave-holding. - -Immediate and unconditional emancipation, is preëminently safe and -beneficial to all parties concerned. - -No compensation is due to the slave-holder for emancipating his slaves; -and emancipation creates no necessity for such compensation because it -is of itself a pecuniary benefit, not only to slaves, but to masters. - -There should be no compromise in legislation, jurisprudence, or the -executive action of the government, any more than in the activities and -responsibilities of private life. - -No wicked enactments can be morally binding. There are at the present -time the highest obligations resting upon the people of the free-states -to remove slavery, by moral and political action, as prescribed in the -Constitution of the United States.[1] - -Footnote 1: - - See William Lloyd Garrison—“The Story of His Life Told by His - Children,” vol. 1, p. 408, _et. seq._, where the full text of the - Declaration of Sentiments of the Anti-Slavery Convention of 1833 is - given. - -Societies were formed on all sides. On the 10th day of January, 1832, -the New England Anti-Slavery Society was established in Boston. In 1833, -another society was organized in New York City. A call was issued for a -national anti-slavery convention, to be held in Philadelphia, December -4th, 5th, and 6th, in 1833, for the purpose of forming a National -Anti-Slavery Society. Upward of sixty delegates came to this meeting -from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, -Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. This was the -beginning of the national anti-slavery movement. Arthur Tappan, a -well-known merchant of New York City, was chosen president. Among the -delegates in attendance were such distinguished men as John G. Whittier, -the poet; Beriah Green, William Lloyd Garrison, Elizur Wright, A. L. -Cox, and William Goodell. After this time anti-slavery societies were -formed in every Northern state, men and women alike being eligible to -membership. - -The Quaker element in this anti-slavery movement was strong and -important. Benjamin Lundy was the pioneer Abolitionist and no single -American ever did more for emancipation. In an appeal to the public in -1830, he said: “In a period of ten years prior to 1830, I have -sacrificed several thousand dollars of my own hard earnings; have -traveled upward of five thousand miles on foot and more than twenty -thousand miles in other ways; have visited nineteen states of this Union -and held more than two hundred public meetings, and have performed two -voyages to the West Indies, by which means the liberation of a -considerable number of slaves has been effected.” - -The anti-slavery movement was a warfare, but its weapons were those of -peace. Appeal to the people by public addresses and through the medium -of the press, constituted the only method of fighting. Agitators in -behalf of this cause flooded the country with facts, figures, and -arguments. They brought the republic back to the principles of liberty -and justice upon which it was founded. They urged this issue so -persistently that no other question was permitted to equal it in public -interest. They set out with the determination that there was to be no -peace, no ease of conscience, no further prosperity, no national glory -until this question of slavery was settled and settled right. As the -subject grew in interest and importance, it attracted to itself some of -the brightest minds of the country; men who afterward became -distinguished as statesmen, poets, authors, orators. Even men of wealth, -whose natural interest would have inclined them to aid in preserving -existing conditions, joined the ranks. They gave to the movement a -character for respectability and made it a power that must be reckoned -with. The new party demanded a new dispensation, and with such -persistency, upon grounds which appealed so directly to the fundamental -political beliefs of the people, that finally there was not enough -inertia in the nation to oppose its demands. - -While these revolutionary forces were gathering strength, the great mass -of the Negro people in the United States were dumb. In the plantation -states, the black man was a chattel; in the Northern states, he was a -good deal of an outlaw. - -He was not permitted to share in the responsibilities and benefits of -citizenship sufficiently to be able to make his abilities known and his -purposes respected. “A man without force,” to use Mr. Douglass’s words, -“is without the essential dignity of humanity. Human nature is so -constituted that it cannot honor a helpless man, though it can pity him, -and even this it cannot do long, if signs of power do not arise; you can -put a man so far beneath the level of his kind that he loses all just -ideals of his natural position.” - - - - - CHAPTER VI - SEEKS REFUGE IN ENGLAND - - -When Frederick Douglass had concluded his remarkable tour from Vermont -to Indiana in the interest of the anti-slavery conventions, he was one -of the most popular and widely talked of men on the American platform. -The public everywhere was eager to learn everything possible about the -“runaway slave” who was winning his place among the foremost of American -orators. Interest in him was farther enhanced by the publication of his -“Narrative,” in 1845. Its issue was made necessary by the demand for -something definite concerning the antecedents of this “alleged slave.” -His accomplishments as a speaker and as a reasoner seemed inconsistent -with the representation made by him, that he had had no schooling, and -that he had been a slave until he was twenty-one years of age. There was -a desire for the exact facts. Yet to give them was dangerous. His -growing popularity was likewise a peril. The possibility of his capture -and return to slavery increased with his influence as an orator and -agitator. - -After this publication, Douglass’s personal friends and the leaders of -the anti-slavery cause became more and more apprehensive. It would have -been regarded as little less than a calamity to have had Frederick -Douglass, the incomparable orator, the man in whom almost for the first -time, the silent, toiling slaves had found a voice, dragged back into -bondage. Under the circumstances it was deemed expedient for him to go -to England. Douglass himself was less anxious than his associates. He -was willing to continue to run any risk, if thereby he might serve the -cause of emancipation. His objections, however, were overruled, and he -was obliged to depart. He sailed on the steamer _Cambria_ of the Cunard -Line, Saturday, August 16, 1845, and James N. Buffum, of Lynn, Mass., -accompanied him. - -Though an English boat, Douglass was not allowed cabin accommodations -upon it. This aroused the indignation of a large number of the -passengers, among whom were many anti-slavery people,—notably the -Hutchinson family, the sweet singers of the Abolition cause. Mr. -Douglass by this time had become so used to such humiliations that he -easily made himself at home in the steerage. Within a few days, however, -he was the most popular person on the boat. Cabin passengers came into -his dirty quarters to see and talk with him. And presently all -restrictions were removed and he was welcomed and honored in every part -of the great steamer. A short speech which he delivered _en route_ -aroused the resentment of some who were on the ship and a group of young -men threatened to throw him overboard. It was only by the interference -of the captain that Mr. Douglass was saved from violence. On reaching -Liverpool Thursday, August 28, 1845, these young men attempted to -forestall any possible influence he might try to exert, by the -publication of statements derogatory to his character and standing; but -such statements, instead of having the desired effect, served but to -arouse great interest in him. - -In going to Great Britain, Mr. Douglass had no fixed plan or program. He -was merely fleeing to a land of safety to escape capture and a return -into slavery. He soon found, however, that he was almost as well-known -in England, as he was in New England. The remarkable story of his life -had been widely read by the British public, especially by those -interested in the anti-slavery cause. They had just passed through an -anti-slavery agitation which had resulted in emancipation in the West -Indies. Many of the most distinguished men in public life in Great -Britain were Abolitionists, and they took an active and eager interest -in the question. All attention was now centred upon America, and the men -and women there who were leaders in the Abolition movement, were -well-known. Douglass found a hospitable public awaiting him. It was the -time of the great political struggle for the repeal of the Corn Laws and -the dissolution of the union between England and Ireland. Some of the -greatest orators and statesmen in English history were on the stage of -action at this period. The black leader was stirred and inspired by the -debates in which such men as Cobden, Bright, Disraeli, Lord Brougham, -Sir Robert Peel, Daniel O’Connell and Lord John Russell took part. He -met all of them personally, was received cordially by them, and treated -with much deference. He dined with Bright and O’Connell, and in Belfast -was tendered a breakfast, at which a member of parliament presided. -While in Edinburgh he was entertained by the eminent philosopher, George -Combe. Thomas Clarkson, who had assisted in inaugurating the -anti-slavery movement in England, and who was at that time the most -distinguished Abolitionist in the world, was deeply affected by meeting -Mr. Douglass, of whom he had heard much. Taking both of his hands he -feelingly said: “God bless you, Frederick Douglass; I have given sixty -years of my life to the emancipation of your people, and if I had sixty -more, they should all be given in the same way.” - -Mr. Douglass cherished a peculiar liking for Daniel O’Connell at that -time the incomparable orator and leader of the Irish people. He had a -genuine and lovable personality and was a powerful advocate. He had an -intense hatred for slavery, as for all forms of oppression and -injustice. He introduced Mr. Douglass always as the “Black O’Connell.” -His fondness for the “Maryland slave” made the latter’s tour through -Ireland a continuous ovation. At Cork, a public breakfast was tendered -him and the mayor presided at the first meeting he addressed. On October -4th, Father Mathew devoted an evening to him and Mr. Buffum. The British -and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society presented Douglass with a Bible -splendidly bound in gold. In response to this gracious act, he made the -following acknowledgment: - -“I accept thankfully this Bible, and while it shall have the best place -in my home, I trust also to give its precepts a place in my heart. -Twenty years ago while lying, not unlike a dog, at the feet of my -mistress, I was roused from the sweet sleep of childhood to hear the -narrative of Job. A few years afterward found me searching for the -Scriptures in the muddy street gutters to rescue its pages from the -filth. A few years later, I escaped from my chains; gained partial -freedom, and became an advocate for the emancipation of my race. During -this advocacy, a suspicion obtains that I am not what I profess to be, -to silence which, it is necessary for me to write out my experiences in -slavery and give the names of my enslavers. This endangers my liberty; -persecuted, hunted and outraged in America, I have come to England, and -behold the change. The chattel becomes a man. I breathe: I am free! -Instead of culling the Scriptures from the mud, they come to me dressed -in polished gold, as the free and unsolicited gift of devoted hearts.” - -Shortly after this happy occurrence, Douglass, with his associate, Mr. -Buffum, left Ireland. He had spoken about fifty times to the people in -various parts of the island. Everywhere he had made a deep impression -and intensified the interest in the American struggle for emancipation. - -In carrying the campaign into Scotland, he met for the first time -something in the nature of an opposition or pro-slavery sentiment. -William Lloyd Garrison had already arrived there. It was during the -great excitement, in consequence of the position taken by the “Free -Church” of Scotland in accepting money from slave-holders to be used in -spreading the Gospel. In the cities of Glasgow, Greenock, Edinburgh, and -other places were seen such sensational placards, as, “Send Back the -Money.” These posters fairly indicated the state of public feeling upon -this subject, which was intensified by the presence of Frederick -Douglass, J. N. Buffum, William Lloyd Garrison, and George Thompson, and -by their terrible arraignment of slavery. At one of the great meetings -held at Cannon Mills, Edinburgh, Mr. Douglass was a speaker. It seemed -to be a test of strength between the friends and foes of the policy of -the “Free Church.” Doctors Cunningham and Candlish, men powerful in -influence, learning, and eloquence, championed the cause of the “Free -Church.” Mr. Douglass’s part in the meeting, was, as usual, a striking -one. His facts and figures and actual experiences as a slave, silenced -all arguments of a mere academic sort. - -In one of his addresses in Scotland, when he was charged with being in -the pay of some rival religious sect, he said: “I am not here alone: I -have with me the learned, wise and revered heads of the church. But with -or without their sanction, I should stand just where I do now, -maintaining that man-stealing is incompatible with Christianity; that -slave-holding and true religion are at war with each other, and that a -Free Church should have no fellowship with a slave church. The Free -Church, in vindicating their fellowship of slave-holders, have acted on -a damning heresy that a man may be a Christian, whatever may be his -practice, so his creed is right. It is this heresy that holds in chains -three millions of men, women, and children in the United States.” - -Each of his Scotch addresses was of this uncompromising and stirring -character. It was a matter of surprise and wonder to his associates to -witness his resourcefulness and readiness to meet all arguments and to -sweep aside all half-truths, uttered in behalf of slavery. Summing up -his work in Scotland, one who had followed him and studied its effects, -wrote: “He has divided the Free Church against itself on account of -slavery. He has gained the admiration and esteem of all the friends of -the slave in this country. He has always kept an open platform, yet none -of the rabbis have been found gallant enough to break lance with him. He -completely exposed their miserable attempts to reconcile slavery with -Christianity.” - -While in England and Scotland a man named Thompson, who formerly lived -in St. Michaels, and who pretended to have known Douglass on the -Freeland and Covey plantations, published a letter that tended to -discredit some of his assertions. The ex-slave met these charges in a -straightforward manner, which must have left no doubt of his -truthfulness. In his reply to the Thompson letter, he said: “You have -completely tripped up the heels of your slave-holding friends and laid -them flat at my feet. You have done a piece of anti-slavery work which -no anti-slavery man could do again. If I could see you now, amid the -free hills of Scotland, where the ancient ‘black Douglas’ once met his -foes, I presume I might summon sufficient courage to look you in the -face; and were you to attempt to make a slave of me, it is possible you -might find me almost as disagreeable a subject as was the Douglas to -whom I have just referred.” - -The several months spent by the traveler in England were filled with -interesting incidents. His oratorical triumph was complete, and the -attentions accorded him by many prominent people, unusually flattering. -Indeed, it can be said that he was positively lionized in London, but he -bore it with becoming dignity and the grace of a man born to high -conditions. - -Perhaps special mention should be made of his address at the World’s -Temperance Convention, held in Covent Garden, August 7, 1846. A large -delegation from the United States was present and some prominent -Americans were on the program. The meeting was an immense affair and, in -point of interest, the number of delegates, and the countries -represented, genuinely international in character. Mr. Douglass was -asked to address the convention and his speech was looked forward to -with great interest. He rather anticipated a sensational outcome of his -attempt to make himself heard, because he was not called upon until the -delegates had spoken, and what they had said furnished him with the very -text that appealed most strongly to his convictions and feelings. As he -rose, the convention was in a quiver of excitement, for it was the first -time that this much-talked-of fugitive from slavery had had a chance to -stand up in the presence of men and women representing all shades of -party opinion, and say the word that concerned the destiny of himself -and his people. He began: - - “Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen—I am not a delegate to this - convention. Those who would have been most likely to elect me as a - delegate could not, because they are to-night held in abject slavery - in the United States. Sir, I regret, that I cannot fully unite with - the American delegates in their patriotic eulogies of America and - American societies. I cannot do so for this good reason: there are at - this moment three millions of the American population, by slavery and - prejudice, placed entirely beyond the pale of American temperance - societies. The three million slaves are completely excluded by - slavery, and four hundred thousand free colored people are almost as - completely excluded by an inveterate prejudice against them on account - of their color. [Cries of “Shame! Shame!”] - - “I do not say these things to wound the feelings of the American - delegates; I simply mention them in their presence and before this - audience that, seeing how you regard this hatred and neglect of the - colored people, they may be inclined, on their return home, to enlarge - the field of their temperance operations and embrace within the scope - of their influence my long-neglected race. [Great cheering, and some - confusion on the platform.] - - “Sir, to give you some idea of the difficulties and obstacles in the - way of the temperance reformation of the colored population of the - United States, allow me to state a few facts. About the year 1840, a - few intelligent, sober, and benevolent colored people of Philadelphia, - being acquainted with the alarming ravages of intemperance among a - numerous class of colored people in that city, and finding themselves - neglected and excluded from white societies, organized societies among - themselves, appointed committees, sent out agents, built temperance - halls, and were earnestly and successfully rescuing many from the - fangs of intemperance. - - “The cause went on nobly, until August 1, 1842, the day when England - gave liberty to one hundred thousand souls in the West Indies. The - colored temperance societies selected this day to march in procession - through the city, in the hope that such a demonstration would have the - effect of bringing others into their ranks. They formed their - procession, unfolded their teetotal banners, and proceeded to the - accomplishment of their purpose. It was a delightful sight. But, sir, - they had not proceeded down two streets before they were brutally - assailed by a ruthless mob; their ranks broken up; their persons - beaten and pelted with stones and brickbats. One of their churches was - burned to the ground, and their best temperance hall utterly - demolished.” [“Shame! Shame! Shame!” from the audience and cries of - “Sit down” from the Americans on the platform.] - -A tremendous commotion was caused by this speech. The American -delegation was alarmed and indignant. One member wrote an account of the -event for the New York _Evangelist_, from which the following extracts -will serve to gauge the feeling: - - “They all advocated the same cause, showed a glorious union of thought - and feeling, and the effect was constantly being raised—the moral - scene was superb and glorious—when Frederick Douglass, the colored - Abolitionist, agitator and ultraist, came to the platform and so spoke - _á la mode_ as to ruin the influence almost of all that preceded! He - lugged in anti-slavery or Abolition, no doubt prompted to it by some - of the politic ones who used him to do what they would not themselves - venture to do in person. He is supposed to have been well paid for - this abomination. - - “What a perversion, an abuse, an iniquity against the law of - reciprocal righteousness, to call thousands together and get them, - some certain ones, to seem conspicuous and devoted for one sole and - grand object, and then all at once, with obliquity, open an avalanche - on them for some imputed evil or monstrosity, for which, whatever be - the wound or injury inflicted, they were both too fatigued and hurried - with surprise, and too straitened for time, to be properly prepared. I - say it is a streak of meanness; it is abominable. On this occasion Mr. - Douglass allowed himself to denounce America and all its temperance - societies together as a grinding community of the enemies of his - people; said evil with no alloy of good concerning the whole of us; - was perfectly indiscriminate in his severities; talked of the American - delegates and to them as if he had been our schoolmaster, and we his - docile and devoted pupils; and launched his revengeful missiles at our - country without one palliative word, and as if not a Christian or a - true anti-slavery man lived in the whole United States. - - “We all wanted to reply, but it was too late. The whole theatre seemed - taken with the spirit of the Ephesian uproar; they were furious and - boisterous in the extreme, and Mr. Kirk could hardly obtain a moment, - though many were desirous in his behalf, to say a few words, as he - did, very calmly and properly, that the cause of temperance was not at - all responsible for slavery, and had no connection with it.” - -At a Peace Convention held in London, Douglass made an address from -which the following excerpt is given to show to what an extent he at -this time shared the illusions of the Abolitionists, who, while -preaching the doctrine of non-resistance, were steadily feeding the -passions that made war eventually inevitable: - -“You may think it somewhat singular, that I, a slave, an American slave, -should stand forth at this time as an advocate of peace between two -countries situated as this and the United States are, when it is -universally believed that the war between them would result in the -emancipation of three millions of my brethren, who are now held in the -most cruel bonds in that country. I believe this would be the result; -but such is my regard for the principle of peace; such is my deep, firm -conviction that nothing can be attained for liberty universally by war, -that were I to be asked the question whether I would have my -emancipation by the shedding of one single drop of blood, my answer -would be in the negative.” - -Thus he spoke in 1846, but by the time Lincoln was nominated for -President, and war was actually impending, Douglass was prepared to -welcome it as a part of the price to be paid for justice, progress, and -freedom. - -His ability to discuss any of the live questions of the day was a matter -of genuine surprise to the English people. At a farewell entertainment, -given to him, March 30, 1847, just before leaving London, William -Howitt, the author, said: “He [Douglass] has appeared in this country -before the most accomplished audiences, who were surprised, not only at -his talents, but at his extraordinary information; and all I can say is, -I hope Americans will continue to send such men as Frederick Douglass, -and slavery will soon be abolished.” - -Mr. Douglass had now spent about twenty-three months in England, -Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. Like every other new experience, this -opportunity for travel in foreign lands was an education, and those who -had watched and heard him most often in his lecture-tours and in social -intercourse, could easily note his progress in breadth of sympathy and -intellectual grasp. He learned some things in England that he never -could have learned in his own country. The possibility of a perfect -comradeship between people of differing nationalities, creeds, and -colors was a fact that deeply impressed him. He learned that the great -men of the times, who had the power to make and unmake international law -as well as to mould and express public opinion, all regarded slavery as -a blight on civilization. He learned to have a new and stronger faith in -the ability and disposition of the white race to deal fairly with his -race. If he hated slavery more because of what he had seen, heard, and -experienced in England, he had gained a new strength of heart and mind -to battle for its extinction in America. - -It would have been pleasant for him to have remained abroad and have -become a citizen of free Britain. No colored man had ever been more -flattered and fêted by the public. His friends and admirers multiplied -everywhere. Many of his oversea friends urged him to surrender his -American allegiance, but no inducement, however alluring, could cause -him to desert his fellow-men in bonds. In fact, when it was given out in -the United States that an attempt would be made by his old masters, the -Aulds, to arrest him on his return and carry him back to a Maryland -plantation, Douglass wrote: “No inducement could be offered, strong -enough to make me quit my hold upon America as my home. Whether a slave -or a freeman, America is my home, and there I mean to spend and be spent -in the cause of my outraged fellow countrymen.” - -As the time approached for him to leave England, a deep concern for his -safety began to be felt and expressed by his British friends. As an -outcome of this feeling, a proposition was made by Mrs. Ellen -Richardson, belonging to the Society of Friends, that a fund be raised -to purchase his freedom and thus remove all possibility of danger of -re-enslavement. The proposition was at once accepted, and gladly acted -upon by Mrs. Richardson and her sister-in-law, Mrs. Henry Richardson. As -the result of correspondence, the purchase price, £150, was named and -the sum was raised. The following is a true copy of the legal papers by -force of which Frederick Douglass became free: - - “Know all men by these presents, that I, Thomas Auld, of Talbot County - and State of Maryland, for and in consideration of the sum of one - hundred dollars[2] current money, to me paid by Hugh Auld of the city - of Baltimore, in the said state, at and before the sealing and - delivery of these presents, the receipt whereof I, the said Thomas - Auld, do hereby acknowledge, have granted, bargained, and sold, and by - these presents do grant, bargain, and sell unto the said Hugh Auld, - his executors, administrators, and assigns, one Negro man, by the name - of Frederick Bailey or Douglass, as he calls himself—he is now about - twenty-eight years of age—to have and to hold the said Negro man for - life. And I, the said Thomas Auld, for myself, my heirs, executors and - administrators, all and singular, the said Frederick Bailey, alias - Douglass, unto the said Hugh Auld, his executors, and administrators, - and against all and every person or persons whatsoever, shall and will - warrant and forever defend by these presents. In witness whereof, I - set my hand and seal this thirteenth day of November, eighteen hundred - and forty-six. (1846.) - - THOMAS AULD. - - “Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of Wrightson Jones, John C. - Lear.” - -Footnote 2: - - The £150 were paid to Hugh Auld who had previously obtained his $100, - which seems to have been a sort of quit claim deed from his brother - Thomas. - - “To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, Hugh Auld of the city - of Baltimore, in Baltimore County, in the State of Maryland, for - divers good causes and considerations me thereunto moving, have - released from slavery, liberated, manumitted, and set free, and by - these presents do hereby release from slavery, liberate, manumit, and - set free, my Negro man, named Frederick Bailey, otherwise called - Douglass, being of the age of twenty-eight years or thereabouts, and - able to work and gain a sufficient livelihood and maintenance; and - him, the said Negro man named Frederick Douglass, I do declare to be - henceforth free, manumitted and discharged from all manner of - servitude to me, my executors and administrators forever. - - “In witness whereof, I, the said Hugh Auld, have hereunto set my hand - and seal the fifth of December, in the year one thousand eight hundred - and forty-six. - - HUGH AULD. - - “Sealed and delivered in presence of T. Hanson Belt, James N. S. T. - Wright.” - -This purchase of Mr. Douglass’s freedom was not approved by some of the -ultra-Abolitionists in the United States. A contributor to _The -Liberator_ said: “Let us beg of you never to publish another word in -your paper about the ransom of Douglass. I am quite ashamed that our -American Abolitionists should expose their narrowness in expressing so -many regrets at their loss of slave-property in Douglass. They seem to -feel that he was their property, and not his man.” - -Many Abolitionists thought it a violation of anti-slavery principles and -a waste of money. Mr. Douglass’s own feelings in the matter are stated -by himself in the following language: “For myself, viewing it in the -light of a ransom or as money extorted by a robber, and regarding my -liberty of more value than one hundred and fifty pounds sterling, I -could not see in it either a violation of the law of morality or -economy.” - -In still another practical way did his English friends show their -affection for Douglass before he left them. Having learned upon his -return to America that it was his desire to publish a newspaper, in the -interest of his people, the sum of $2,500 was without difficulty raised -and presented to him for that purpose. - -The contrast between the conditions of his coming to England and those -of his returning to the United States affords an interesting evidence of -his power of conquest. He went to England knowing no one, and personally -known by no one; he returned to his own country carrying with him the -friendships of men and women whose acquaintance but few Americans, at -that time, could have obtained. He went to Great Britain a slave in -danger of re-capture and re-subjugation; he returned, freed from his -master by the bounty of English friends. He was empowered and equipped -to publish the gospel of immediate and unconditional emancipation. - -Douglass arrived home in the spring of 1847. He sailed early Sunday, -April 4th. The last night of his stay abroad was spent as the guest of -John Bright and his sisters. From no one in England could Douglass have -received a more gracious welcome and friendly benediction than from this -great commoner. The only incident that in any way clouded his departure -was the act of the officers of the steamer _Cambria_ in refusing to let -him have the berth previously engaged for him. When the English people -heard of this, great indignation was voiced in the press and from the -platform, in every part of the United Kingdom. The result was that Mr. -Cunard in an open letter expressed his regrets, and Mr. Douglass was -given a stateroom; but he was not permitted to leave it or to place -himself in view of the other passengers during the sixteen days he was -upon the sea. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - HOME AGAIN AS A FREEMAN—NEW PROBLEMS AND NEW TRIUMPHS - - -Frederick Douglass returned to American shores on the 20th day of April, -1847. The date and fact of his coming marked the beginning of a new -chapter in his career. To be free and feel free was a great source of -strength both to himself and to his friends, in renewing the struggle -for emancipation. He had not only a bracing sense of security against -the dangers of capture and return to slavery, but he had gained -wonderfully in mental and spiritual equipment. The two years in England -were years of education and inspiration. During that time he had met and -mingled freely with large men who were dealing successfully with large -problems. Emancipation had acquired a broader meaning for him as a -consequence of his visit. In America he had not been able to free -himself from the conviction that emancipation, confused as it was with -all the interests of daily life, was a sectional or at most, a national -question. Looking back, from this distance, upon his own life and the -great struggle of which it had become a part, he was able to realize -more fully than before the truth of what Garrison long had taught, that -slavery was a world question,—a question not of national or sectional -expediency, but of fundamental human right. - -With this larger vision gained by European experience and study, he was -the better prepared to take up the old battle-cry of “Unconditional -Emancipation.” His trip abroad had not merely widened his vision and -deepened his sense of the moral significance of the struggle in which he -was engaged; it had measurably increased his prestige with the American -public. The fact that Europe had recognized his talents and had honored, -in him, the race and the cause he represented, strengthened his position -as a speaker, and lent a new importance to the things he had to say. -Before he went to England, he was seldom noticed or referred to in any -of the great pro-slavery newspapers of the country, except as a -“runaway-nigger” and a “freak,” “preternaturally clever.” After his -return, allusions to him were frequent and more abusive. In giving -notice of a public anti-slavery meeting in Boston, one of these papers -said: “The Abolitionists headed by William Lloyd Garrison, and tailed by -Mr. Frederick Douglass, the fugitive slave, are in full blast. He, -Douglass, elaborates very eloquently and fearfully, and is a good deal -of a demagogue in black.” - -These newspaper attacks on Mr. Douglass were largely due to the -resentment aroused in this country because of the way in which he had, -in England, denounced America for its slave-holding policy. This feeling -was not confined to the newspapers, but was shown at several large -gatherings that Mr. Douglass addressed in company with William Lloyd -Garrison. - -In Boston an attempt was made to “silence” him. Stones were thrown in -the meeting at Norristown, Pa., and at a very large assembly held in the -court house at Harrisburg, Pa., on the 9th of August, 1847, after Mr. -Garrison had spoken without molestation, Douglass was violently -interrupted when he tried to speak, and was not allowed to continue. But -such disturbances were not general, nor did they have the effect of -shaking the eloquent apostle’s determination to be heard. During the -same month he and Garrison held numerous anti-slavery meetings in -Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. There was in these meetings -abundant evidence that the cause of Abolition was gaining ground. The -gatherings in Oberlin and Cleveland were especially notable for the -interest manifested. One of the Cleveland papers had the following -notice of the meeting: “The Menagerie Company, Garrison, Douglass, -Foster (and we expect Satan) are to be here on Saturday next and open at -seven o’ clock in the evening in the big tent, and continue their -harangues over the Sabbath. This trio has made sale for a great many -unmerchantable eggs in other places.” It was evident, from the size of -the Cleveland meeting, and from the interest aroused in the addresses of -Douglass, Garrison, and Foster that this newspaper did not reflect the -popular feeling. - -In the early part of September, 1847, Mr. Douglass was the presiding -officer of a colored convention held in Cleveland. His address upon this -occasion was a notable departure from all former models. It showed that -he had been giving a great deal of thought to the needs of his people. -It was a powerful plea, “that the doors of the schoolhouse, the -workshop, the church, and the college shall be open as freely to our -children as to the children of other members of the community.” The -following extract is especially important, and prophetic of the -present-day needs of the colored race: “Try to get your sons into -mechanical trades; press them into blacksmith-shops, the machine-shops, -the joiner’s-shops, the wheelwright-shops, the cooper-shops, and the -tailor-shops. Every blow of the sledge-hammer wielded by a sable arm is -a powerful blow in support of our career. Every colored mechanic is, by -virtue of circumstances, an elevator of his race. Every house built by -black men is a strong tower against the allied hosts of prejudice. It is -impossible for us to attach too much importance to this aspect of the -subject. Trades are important. Wherever a man may be thrown by -misfortune, if he have in his hands a useful trade, he is useful to his -fellow-men, and will be esteemed accordingly, and, of all men who need -trades, we are the most needy.” - -It was advice of this kind, in which the passionate controversialist -displayed from time to time something of the foresight and the -constructive ability of the statesman, as well as his growing popularity -with the wiser and more influential class of the white people, that gave -Douglass high place, and made him the undisputed leader of the free -colored element of the country. - -Two things, above all others, were at this time pressing themselves upon -his thought and attention: one was his cherished project of establishing -a newspaper of his own; and the other, the preservation of his friendly -relations with William Lloyd Garrison. - -He had long looked to Garrison and his associates for advice and -direction in everything of importance, and in an enterprise of such -moment as this newspaper, he naturally felt that their opinion was -indispensable. The money was raised, as we have already seen, by English -friends, and sent over to Mr. Douglass within three months after he -reached America, with the understanding that the use of it was to be -left wholly to his discretion. It was clearly stated that, if he thought -it inexpedient to invest the funds in a newspaper, he could use them, -under trustees of his personal choosing, for the benefit of himself and -his children. But he wanted an “organ” of his own. As time went on he -believed that he perceived the need of it more and more. - -“I already saw myself,” he said, “wielding my pen as well as my voice in -the great work of renovating the public mind and building up a public -sentiment which should send slavery to the grave, and restore to -‘liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ the people with whom I suffered.” - -Among other considerations that moved him to establish his own paper was -the conviction that the example of a well-managed and ably edited organ -would be a powerful evidence that the Negro was too much of a man to be -held a chattel. - -Another side to this question had not occurred to him until this time. -His attention was called to the fact that he was more than Frederick -Douglass, the individual. What he did and said, and what he was and was -to be, were of so much concern to his associates and co-workers that, -when it became known that he intended to start a newspaper, difficulties -of all kinds arose. Douglass knew that Garrison opposed his enterprise. -Could he ignore that leader’s advice? Clearly, his first impression was -that he could not. He felt then and ever afterward that he owed -everything to Mr. Garrison. It was the latter who had discovered and -brought him to the attention of the people. The word of such a man must -be law to him. Garrison’s philosophy of this whole slavery question was -accepted by Douglass without an “if.” He was so completely under the -spell of the great Abolitionist’s personality that, when he learned of -the opposition to the newspaper project, he was overwhelmed with -surprise and disappointment. - -Various reasons were given for this attitude. Mr. Garrison thought it -quite “impractical to combine the editor and the lecturer without either -causing the paper to be more or less neglected, or the sphere of -lecturing to be seriously circumscribed.” It was further urged that the -publication was not needed, that it would diminish the support of the -papers already in existence, and that it could not succeed. Some of -Douglass’s other friends advised him, that being a man without any -education and without any literary training, he would make himself -ridiculous as an editor. These counselors wished to save him from the -humiliation of an ignominious failure, and cautioned him against the -mistake of allowing his ambition to bring him into ridicule and -contempt. This opposition coming from his former advisers and associates -caused him to hesitate, and, for a time, to give up the scheme; so, -instead of starting the paper as soon as he received the money to be -devoted to that purpose, he postponed the project for nearly a year, out -of deference to the judgment of these wise and close friends. - -During the interval, Mr. Douglass had time to examine into the merits of -the advice against his becoming an editor. He had a further opportunity -to feel the public pulse and learn something more definite in regard to -the prospects for good or evil of a newspaper, such as he had in mind. -He was much in demand on the lecture platform. His vogue was growing all -the time, and with increasing popularity and power, he saw the -possibility of a reading constituency large enough to support his -publication and widen his influence. - -But other considerations intervened to widen the breach between himself -and Garrison. The Abolition movement, as planned and carried on by the -outspoken leader and his followers, was non-political. It sought to -effect a revolution, but by the moral regeneration of the people. -Slavery, as Garrison conceived it, was a national sin which could be -reached only by an appeal to the national conscience; but the effect of -the anti-slavery agitation had not been confined to those who accepted -his revolutionary doctrines. Many persons who were unable to follow the -relentless logic of Mr. Garrison to its revolutionary conclusions were -roused to opposition to slavery by the sting and fire of his sermons. -The number of people who were disposed to do something to check its -extension was rapidly increasing. This wider anti-slavery movement was -fast drifting from a mere unorganized sentiment, without force -sufficient to compel resistance, into a political party with a definite -platform. Those who could not follow the “disunion” and “non-resistance” -principles of Garrison, but began to fear the aggression of the -slave-power, joined the “Free Soil” and “Liberty” parties. The issue -raised by the Abolitionists was daily becoming less a question of the -right or wrong of slavery and more a question of how, under the actual -circumstances in which the institution existed, it might best be gotten -rid of. - -Garrison and his followers, supported by the infallible logic of their -leader, still clung to the disunion policy, which was primarily a -discharge of conscience from all complicity with slavery and only -secondarily a means to the abolition of slavery. - -Frederick Douglass, with less consistency, perhaps, and a keener sense -for the practical exigencies of the situation, was undoubtedly -influenced by a desire to get into close touch with this larger -audience. The sequence of events, and Douglass’s position in relation to -them, tended to convince him that he was justified in his desire to -found a newspaper. A colored periodical would be no new thing. As early -as 1827 the _Ram’s Horn_, published by and for Negroes, had been started -in the North. Other papers conducted by colored men were, _The Mystery_, -_The Disfranchised American_, _The Northern Star_, and _The Colored -Farmer_. Opportunity and duty seemed to combine in urging him to do the -thing that he had abandoned in deference to the advice of Mr. Garrison -and at length he reached the point where he no longer feared failure, -every objection urged against his purpose seeming to be overcome. - -Being thus convinced, he heroically set himself to the task. The first -duty was to select a field sufficiently removed from New England not to -compete with _The Liberator_ and _The Anti-Slavery Standard_. Rochester, -N. Y., was the place chosen. This was good anti-slavery territory, but -it was of the Gerrit Smith kind as distinguished from the Garrison kind. -Both of these men were towers of strength in the cause of Abolition, and -both were lavish in the expenditure of time and means for the cause of -freedom. - -On the 3d day of December, 1847, appeared the first issue of the _North -Star_. The name was afterwards changed to _Frederick Douglass’s Paper_, -in order to avoid all possible confusion with other anti-slavery organs -with similar names. It was issued weekly, and had an average circulation -of 3,000 subscribers, with a maximum of 4,000. A colored man named -Delaney, who afterward distinguished himself as a Union soldier in the -Civil War, had had some experience in newspaper work and aided Mr. -Douglass in the publication. Financially the paper soon proved to be -more of a sacrifice than a money-making venture, but in this there was -no disappointment, for its purpose was to make public opinion rather -than money. It took everything that Mr. Douglass had and could obtain to -keep the _North Star_ in the newspaper firmament. He became deeply in -debt and was compelled to mortgage his home to meet the heavy demands -upon him. His old friends and many new ones came repeatedly to his -rescue. The most important of these was Mrs. Julia Griffith Crofts, a -gracious woman who took hold of the business management herself. After a -year’s effort the circulation increased from 2,000 to 4,000, and enough -money was realized to pay off all indebtedness and lift the mortgage -from Mr. Douglass’s home. The paper grew in popularity and influence, -and its patrons and financial helpers included such men as Gerrit Smith, -Horace Mann, Salmon P. Chase, Joshua R. Giddings, Charles Sumner, -William H. Seward, and John G. Palfrey. Support came from these leaders, -not in a patronizing way to help a “poor, struggling colored man’s -paper,” but rather as a tribute to the high merit of the publication. -Those who were sure that Mr. Douglass could never write as well as he -could speak were surprised at this new evidence of his versatility and -resourcefulness. - -In an issue of Mr. Garrison’s paper, dated January 28, 1848, these -flattering words appeared: “The facility with which Mr. Douglass has -adapted himself to his new and responsible position is another proof of -his genius and is worthy of especial praise. His editorial articles are -exceedingly well written; and the typographical, orthographical, and -grammatical accuracy with which the _North Star_ is printed surpasses -that of any other paper ever published by a colored man.” Edmund Quincy, -commenting on the _North Star_, paid a high tribute to the new editor -and said that its “literary and mechanical execution would do honor to -any paper, new or old, anti-slavery or pro-slavery, in the country.” The -ease with which Mr. Douglass adapted himself to his new responsibility, -and the high praise that came to him from all parts, added immensely to -his influence and prestige. What the _North Star_ said editorially on -the many live questions of the day was liberally quoted and widely -discussed. - -The successful carrying out of this enterprise was a distinct advantage -to Mr. Douglass as a vindication of his own individuality. It is a good -thing for a man to have an idea, but it is a better thing for him to -have sufficient force of character to put his idea into effect. A man -stands or falls by what he is able to do rather than by what he is able -to say. Mr. Douglass was told that the responsibility was too great. It -is always at this point that the strength of a man is tested. Frederick -Douglass rose above the fears of his friends and took the first step -that led him to a more commanding position. The determination to have -his own way in this newspaper enterprise was his first “declaration of -independence.” While Mr. Douglass tells us that he felt an abiding -gratitude toward William Lloyd Garrison for what that man had done in -giving him a start in his upward career, he had reached the point where -he must cease to rely upon the initiative of others. He must begin to -trust himself and his own powers, and cease to be a burden upon those -who had been his guides and teachers. - -The anti-slavery cause was assuming large proportions. Every event in -the social, economic, and political life of the nation pushed this -question into prominence. All sorts of people were becoming interested -in the slavery issues, but there were so many sides to the problem that -it was not always easy to see the right. There was for a time a growing -confusion of ideas, policies, doctrines, and a puzzling division and -subdivision of forces, both in the pro-slavery and anti-slavery ranks. -There were those who thought and asserted that the Federal Constitution -was a “pro-slavery instrument,” and others who were equally insistent -that it was anti-slavery. There were those who were Abolitionists in -doctrine, but in politics voted with one or the other of the old -parties, both of which were pro-slavery in their policies. There were -those who, while believing in the equality of the Negro, were extreme in -their opposition to the admission of women into membership in -anti-slavery societies. A large number of liberty-loving people could go -no further in their hostility to slavery than to oppose its extension -into new territory. These made a partial trial of their anti-slavery -feelings in the Free Soil and the Liberty parties. - -Only two classes of people in the country occupied fixed positions on -the great question. These were William Lloyd Garrison and his -associates, and the slave-holders and their followers. Mr. Garrison’s -famous utterance that “the United States Constitution was a covenant -with death and an agreement with hell,” and his declaration of “no union -with slave-holders,” constituted his unvarying platform. The -slave-holding interests were equally tenacious of their creed and quite -as fixed in their determination to risk everything rather than yield an -inch to the anti-slavery clamor. - -Enough has been said to show that the time had come when the man who -wished to be respected, believed in, and followed, must be strong enough -to have convictions of his own and be responsible to himself and the -public for these convictions. It was now incumbent upon Mr. Douglass to -find solid ground on which, amidst so many conflicting opinions, to -oppose slavery. The conclusions of his studies and thinking had the -disagreeable effect of leading him away from Garrison’s doctrine of -“non-resistance” and “disunion.” From his first reading of _The -Liberator_ he held firmly to Garrison. What that leader said or believed -on the question, Mr. Douglass accepted without reservation. It is well -that he did. No one could be a weakling who lived and labored under so -stimulating a guide. There was something sublime in his moral courage, -and something extraordinary in the steadiness with which, unswerved by -the changing circumstances about him, he pursued his fixed purposes. It -was this quality of soul in him that made him always the dominant figure -and influence in the contest. Abolition had become so closely identified -with his name that the question could scarcely be discussed without some -reference to him. It is no wonder that Frederick Douglass was so -completely under his spell, but it must certainly be counted an evidence -of the ex-slave’s intellectual sincerity and strength of mind that when -he could in practice no longer follow the disunion theory, he had the -courage and ability to frame a clear and logical statement of the -grounds for his own action. - -His explanation of his change of position is best told in his own words: - - “My first opinions were naturally derived and honestly entertained. - Brought directly, when I escaped from slavery, into contact with - Abolitionists, who regarded the Constitution as a slave-holding - instrument and finding their views supported by the united and entire - history of every department of the government, it is not strange that - I assumed the Constitution to be just what these friends made it seem - to be. I was bound, not only by their superior knowledge, to take - their opinions in respect to this subject, as the true ones, but also - because I had no means of showing this unsoundness. - - “But for the responsibility of conducting a public journal, and the - necessity imposed upon me of meeting opposite views from Abolitionists - outside of New England, I should in all probability have remained firm - in my disunion views. My new circumstances compelled me to re-think - the whole subject, and to study with some care, not only the just and - proper rules of legal interpretation, but the origin, design, nature, - rights, powers, and duties of civil government, and also the relations - which human beings sustain to it. By such a course of thought and - reading, I was brought to the conclusion that the Constitution of the - United States, inaugurated ‘to form a more perfect union, establish - justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, - promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty,’ - could not well have been designed at the same time to maintain and - perpetuate a system of rapine and murder like slavery, especially as - not one word can be found in the Constitution to authorize such a - belief. Then again, if the declared purposes of an instrument are to - govern the meaning of all its parts and details, as they clearly - should, the Constitution of our country is pure warrant for the - abolition of slavery in every state of the Union.” - -Having thus, and by other reasonings convinced himself of the -unconstitutionality of slavery, the editor of the _North Star_ voiced -the conviction in and out of season, until it was overthrown. In thus -separating from the Garrisonian Abolitionists, there was much -heart-burning on both sides, but nothing of the nature of rivalry or -jealousy, as some writers have attempted to show. Both Garrison and -Douglass were manly in their attitude toward friend and foe, and too -sincere in their convictions to be otherwise than high-minded in their -differences on matters of principle. - -It has been charged against Mr. Douglass, and not without reason, that -he was ungrateful in turning upon the men who had made him what he was; -that it was ambition and the desire for success in a wider field which -prompted him to independent action. No doubt there were, and are, those -to whom his course during this period seemed then and still seems -unwise, mistaken, and directed rather by selfish interests than by the -lofty idealism that guided the labors of the Abolitionists, from whom he -at this time parted company. However this may be, it is likely that the -differences which sprang up between Garrison and Douglass at this period -were due, in great part, to certain fundamental differences of mind and -temperament making this divergence of views inevitable. - -The power which Garrison exercised over his contemporaries was due, to a -considerable degree, to the clearness and vigor of his intellect and the -unflinching fidelity with which he followed its decrees. The first thing -that he demanded of himself and of others was that they should think and -feel rightly in regard to this question of slavery. The revolution he -sought to effect was a purely spiritual one: he aimed to change men’s -minds and hearts. The power he desired to overthrow was a state of -mind—a state of mind which permitted slavery to exist. - -Douglass, on the contrary, was destined, by natural disposition, for a -different field of action. He was by temperament a politician, and, like -all politicians, more or less of an opportunist. He was less interested -in the theory upon which slavery should be abolished than he was in the -means by which freedom could be achieved. No doubt he was influenced to -a considerable degree, in the formulation of his views in regard to the -Constitution, by his practical sense of what the situation demanded, -and, even if these views have not been upheld by subsequent -interpretation of that document, they still appeal strongly to common -sense. - -Whatever motives may have influenced Douglass in taking the position -that he did, there seems to be no reason for doubting their sincerity. -Though drawn into different fields of endeavor in the cause of -anti-slavery, the importance of Garrison and his work was in no wise -diminished in Douglass’s eyes. In 1860 he wrote to _The Liberator_ -concerning the anti-slavery society: “So far from working for the -annihilation of that society, I never failed, even in the worst times of -my controversy with it, to recognize that organization as the most -efficient generator of anti-slavery sentiment in the country.” And in -September, 1890, he said in Boston: “It was they [Garrison and Phillips] -who made Abraham Lincoln and the Republican party possible. What -abolished slavery was the moral sentiment which had been created, not by -the pulpit, but by the Garrisonian platform.” - -Finally, it seems clear that, through all this controversy, Douglass -retained his affection for William Lloyd Garrison, and that this feeling -was honestly reciprocal. There is, in the life of the great -Abolitionist, as told by his children, a bit of correspondence that -reveals the tender side of these two robust human natures. It was at a -time when Mr. Garrison was very much disturbed on account of the Negro -newspaper project. Mr. Douglass had accompanied him on a lecture tour as -far west as Cleveland, where Garrison became ill and his colored -colleague was compelled to leave him to meet other engagements. Letters -were frequently exchanged, but for some reason they were not received. -This mutual failure to hear from each other gave rise to many unpleasant -misgivings. Samuel J. May, the friend of both, writing to Garrison under -date of October 8, 1847, says: “Frederick Douglass was very much -troubled that he did not get any tidings from you when he reached -Syracuse on the 24th of September. He left reluctantly, yet thinking -that you would be following in a day or two, and as he did not get any -word from you at Waterloo, nor at Auburn, he was almost sure he should -meet you at my house. His countenance fell and his heart failed him when -he found me likewise in suspense about you. Not until he arrived at West -Winfield did he get any relief, and then through _The Liberator_ of the -23d.” - -Some days afterward, Mr. Garrison wrote as follows: “Is it not strange -that Douglass has not written a single line to me or any one else in -this place, inquiring after my health, since he left me on a bed of -illness? It will also greatly surprise our friends in Boston to hear -that, in regard to his project for establishing the _North Star_, he -never opened his lips to me on the subject, nor asked my advice in any -particular whatever! Such conduct grieves me to the heart. His conduct -about the paper has been impulsive, inconsiderate, and highly -inconsistent with his decision in Boston. What will his English friends -say of such a strange somerset? I am sorry that friend Quincy did not -express himself more strongly against the project in _The Liberator_. It -is a delicate matter, I know, but it must be met with firmness.” - -True to his own high sense of gratitude to Mr. Garrison, and always -deferential to the latter’s position in the anti-slavery fight, Mr. -Douglass never permitted himself to utter a single word of criticism or -complaint. The field was large enough and the work was great enough for -each to display the full measure of his respective powers toward the one -great object, the abolition of slavery. During this period, Mr. Douglass -always found time and opportunity for platform work. Every great -gathering of the anti-slavery forces was enlivened in interest by his -presence. His power as an orator did not diminish, as was predicted, by -his continued ascendency as an editor. On the contrary, his words gained -force as he became more confident of himself, and more clear in regard -to his convictions. In the great anti-slavery convention held in New -York, he made a speech which revealed remarkable strength. The following -extract from a report of the meeting is worth quoting in proof of the -stirring quality of his address:— - -“Frederick Douglass now takes the platform, and is welcomed with -applause. The assembly is now fixed in its close attention, and -Frederick is going on to show up the cowardly and sneaking conduct of -John P. Hale in bringing in a bill to protect property, and not daring -to stand up and fearlessly advocate the right of slaves to run away, and -the right and duty of Abolitionists to protect them. Frederick is -describing _Punch’s_ portraits of Brother Jonathan, with the devil -hovering over him, eyeing with satisfaction passing events. The audience -give him great applause. He is speaking to great effect, portraying the -wrongs of the colored population of this nation. His eloquence sways the -great assembly with him. He denounces the Northerners, who swear to -support the Constitution, as the real slave-holders of the country. It -is good to listen to him. He shows up the Northern apologists of slavery -as those whose smiles he does not want. He pledges himself to denounce -those enemies of God and man, who swear to support the Constitution, as -his enemies. Frederick has got the audience into a great state of -glorification; and he is now showing that there is no way to abolish -slavery except by the dissolution of the Union. There, he is done, and -the meeting is breaking up. It has been a pleasant and profitable time.” - -In the course of his career as a public speaker, Douglass developed a -capacity for repartee that made him the dread of any one who had the -temerity to interrupt him in a public discussion. At the convention to -which I have just referred, he was described as “with brows knit, fiery -eyes like daggers, scorn upon his thick lips, and lurking in his sable -woe-begone visage the traces of malignity, disappointment, and despair.” -By another paper, when speaking on the same platform with Garrison, -Phillips, and Lucretia Mott, he was called the “master-genius of the -crowd.” - -In 1848, Mr. Douglass took another step forward, and became an advocate -of female suffrage. He had had opportunity to judge of the worth of -woman in the anti-slavery movement. The work done by Lucretia Mott, the -Grimké sisters, Frances Wright, Ernestine L. Rose, and other forceful -leaders, strongly impressed him with what seemed to him the great -injustice of excluding such women from the benefits of those rights by -means of which citizenship could be protected. On the 19th day of July -of that year the Seneca Falls convention was held. The following extract -from the _North Star_ shows Mr. Douglass’s position: - -“We are free to say that in respect to political rights, we hold women -to be justly entitled to all we claim for man. We go further and express -our conviction that all political rights, which it is expedient for man -to exercise, it is equally so for women. All that distinguishes man as -an intelligent and accountable being is equally true of woman; and if -that government only is just which governs only by the free consent of -the governed, there can be no reason in the world for denying to woman -the exercise of the elective franchise, or a hand in making and -administering the laws of the land. Our doctrine is that ‘Right is of no -sex.’ We, therefore, bid the women engaged in this movement our humble -Godspeed.” - -Mr. Douglass consistently held to these views ever afterward. He was one -of the first of all prominent Americans to champion the cause of female -suffrage, and the women in return esteemed him and accorded to him more -honor than has been shown to most men by their organizations. He was -always a guest in any large gathering of woman suffragists. - -In connection with the labor of running his newspaper and keeping up a -strenuous interest in the many public questions that appealed to his -heart and conscience, it is fitting to make some mention of his early -experiences in Rochester, N. Y., his home, and the scene of his most -important activities for twenty-five years. He became deeply attached to -the city and its people. He said: “I know of no place in the Union where -I could have located at the time with less resistance, or received a -larger measure of sympathy and coöperation, and I now look back to my -life and labor with unalloyed satisfaction, having spent a quarter of a -century among its people. I shall always feel more at home there than -anywhere else in this country.” - -When Mr. Douglass began the publication of the _North Star_, there were -people in the city who felt it a sort of disgrace that a Negro paper -should be established in their midst. This was not surprising. It is -doubtful if, at that time, any inhabited spot in the United States could -have been found entirely free from race prejudice. So far as the Negro -was concerned, wherever he wished and tried to be a good citizen, he -found himself in the “enemy’s country.” The most troublesome of -Douglass’s early experiences in Rochester was the attempt to educate his -children. They were not allowed to attend the public school in the -district in which he lived and owned property; and his young daughter, -who was the “apple of his eye,” was so unkindly treated in Tracy -Seminary, a school for girls, that she had to leave it. This difficulty, -like every other that he encountered in his career, served only to -embolden him; it encouraged him to fight. He went at the question with -his characteristic force, and before long every barrier was removed and -the children of black parents were freely admitted to all the schools of -the city. Indeed he conducted himself so well and was personally so -interesting that he soon became a popular citizen of Rochester, and his -friends were as numerous and cordial in pro-slavery as in anti-slavery -circles. Among those mentioned in his biography, for whom he had a -special fondness, are Isaac Post, William Hallowell, Samuel D. Porter, -William C. Bliss, Benjamin Fish, Asa Anthony, and Myron Holley. From -time to time he addressed the citizens in Corinthian Hall. His audiences -were always composed of the best people in Rochester, and in this way he -did much to break down the prejudice against his race. This hall was -built and owned by a prominent pro-slavery man, but so great was his -respect for Mr. Douglass that he cheerfully allowed it to be used for -the propaganda of emancipation. Thus the black leader became proud of -Rochester and in more ways than can well be recited, the city honored -him as no other colored man has ever been honored by an American -municipality. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - FREE COLORED PEOPLE AND COLONIZATION - - -The recognized leadership of Frederick Douglass among the colored people -of the country may be dated from the publication of the _North Star_. -Prior to that time he was regarded as an Abolition orator and a -conspicuous example of the possibilities of the Negro race. He had not -yet established his relationship with the free colored people of the -North. - -Douglass came from the South. His hardest experiences and bitterest -memories were those of the Southern plantations. It was the toiling -black masses, whose fortunes he had shared, that claimed his first and -profoundest sympathy and interest. “Freedom first and rights afterward,” -was the precept that had thus far guided his efforts in behalf of his -race. His position as the publisher of a colored newspaper brought him -into closer touch with the interests and aspirations of the free colored -people of the North. They had obtained freedom, but they were thus far -in practice, to a large degree, without rights. Douglass seemed to feel -that the work he was doing and the position he occupied gave him some -special claim to the support and loyalty of these people. He sometimes -complained of and took deeply to heart the criticism and petty -fault-finding with which a few of his fellow freedmen followed his -movements. But, on the whole, they gave him generous support, and -accorded him grateful recognition for his services. The leading colored -men of the period who, in various ways, were helping the cause of -emancipation, rallied around him and lived and labored in intimate -association with him. - -At this time the free Negroes formed a considerable portion of the -American population. In 1850 there were about 230,000 of them in the -slave-states and about 200,000 in the free-states. The liberation from -bondage of this nearly half-million of colored persons had been brought -about in various ways. The larger portion of them in the Northern states -became free through their emancipation by Northern slave-holders. Those -in the slave-states were either manumitted by their former masters or -had by personal enterprise bought their own freedom. Here and there were -a few West Indian colored people who had come to the United States to -find a home. An ever-increasing number in the North were runaway slaves -who had gained their freedom in some such way as Frederick Douglass had -gained his. These were for the most part a superior class of men and -women. The fact that they had the courage and enterprise to win their -own liberty is good evidence that they had personal initiative and -ambition. Among their number were many who, like Douglass, had secretly -learned to read and write while they were still slaves. Others were -first-rate mechanics who, in spite of opposition, found good employment. - -The attitude of the white citizens of the North toward the free people -of color was, in almost every way, hostile. The slave-holders of the -South were angered by the loss of their property and the Northern people -were annoyed by the presence, in their midst, in ever-increasing -numbers, of this class. In fact, prejudice against the free blacks in -the Northern states came to be of the most uncompromising sort. In many -sections the status of the free Negro was often little better than that -of an outlaw. It was literally true that he had “no rights that a white -man was bound to respect.” Wherever the Negro turned his face for -encouragement or for opportunity, he met with opposition and -discouragement. His children were generally shut out of the public and -private schools. In many instances those which would admit colored -pupils, in defiance of public sentiment, were burned down or mobbed and -the teachers ostracized. The case of Miss Prudence Crandall, in -Canterbury, Conn., in 1833, is fairly illustrative of the public feeling -in regard to Negro education. Miss Crandall was a beautiful young -Quakeress of tender heart and great courage, who had opened a school for -young women in the village of Canterbury. A chance admission of a -colored girl raised such a storm of indignation among her neighbors that -she was assailed by a mob and an attempt was made to burn the building. -When she still persisted in having her way, she was arrested and sent to -jail. - -Other instances of this kind might be cited. In nothing were the -Northern people more bitterly intolerant than in their opposition to the -education of the children of free colored families. The same spirit that -in the slave-holding states accounted it a crime to teach colored people -to read and write, made it very dangerous for any man or woman to do, or -attempt to do, the same thing in the free-states. - -In some of the Northern commonwealths, as Illinois, for example, the -term “black laws” was given to a code of special regulations which were -applied to men and women of a dark complexion. In nearly all of the -states north of the Ohio, the Negro was disfranchised either by -constitution, statute, or public sentiment. In practice, he was not -regarded as a member of political society and was, consequently, almost -wholly without the guarantee of civil rights. The Christian people were -often as hostile as non-church people. Mr. Garrison mentions “a certain -Baptist church in Hartford, Conn., where the ‘Negro pews’ were boarded -up in front so that only peep-holes gave an outlook; truly a human -menagerie.” In a Massachusetts town, the floor was cut out from under a -colored member’s pew by the church authorities, so that he could not -occupy it. In all means of travel, either by rail or stage-coach, the -Negro passenger was rigidly quarantined. His presence was everywhere -frowned upon unless he appeared as a servant or a slave. - -This anti-Negro feeling in the North was not a passing whim or -sentiment; it was deeply rooted and constitutional. People, noble and -ignoble, were alike influenced by race prejudice. Abolitionists found -themselves swayed to such an extent by the sentiment about them that -they often did not have the courage to act consistently with their -principles. Mr. Douglass gives a very interesting incident in the early -part of his career, which aptly illustrates how at times race feeling -manifested itself in the most unexpected places. He had been invited to -speak at Concord, N. H., by a subscriber of _The Liberator_. Arriving in -the town, he went directly to the home of the Abolitionist, where it was -expected he would be entirely welcome. He was received with anything but -enthusiasm. When the good man got ready to go to the church, where the -meeting was to take place, he drove off alone and left the orator of the -occasion to walk and find the way—a distance of two miles—as best he -could. Upon reaching the church, Mr. Douglass was obliged to introduce -himself, as no one was willing to risk his reputation by standing -sponsor for a Negro. After the address, the Abolitionists went to their -several homes for lunch, but no one invited Mr. Douglass to eat, and the -hotel did not entertain Negroes. Hungry, chilly, and desolate, he found -his way to the graveyard, and while roaming among the graves and -contemplating the equality of men in death, he was approached by a -gentleman who proved to be a Democratic senator from New Hampshire. He -took Mr. Douglass to his home and treated him with the greatest -courtesy. - -Another cause of racial antagonism was the dread, on the part of -slave-owners, that the presence of an increasing number of free colored -people in the free-states would be an incentive to the more enterprising -slaves to run away. This fear was certainly justified by the constantly -enlarging stream of fugitives. The Negro’s growing desire for freedom -was the fundamental weakness of the slave-system. When the veterans of -the War of 1812 returned to the Southern states and told of the land of -Canada which was consecrated to free men, the seed of discontent took -root in slavery’s soil. The good news was passed along, and, as a -result, thousands of slaves learned to associate the words Canada and -freedom. Many a one, ignorant of everything except his master and the -plantation, had received tidings of the Haytian struggle for liberty; of -the Nat Turner uprising in Virginia; and of the success of those who had -the courage and enterprise to flee to Massachusetts, New York, and -elsewhere north of the Ohio River. Negroes who had dared to emancipate -themselves in the way Frederick Douglass had done were a direct menace -to the security of slavery. Every man who succeeded in making his escape -began at once to plan and plot for the escape of those he had left -behind. On the border-land of freedom there was continuous skirmishing -for friends in chains. - -In spite of the humble position they occupied, the free Negroes, in one -way or another, helped to make sentiment against the slave-power. Like -Douglass, they became “human arguments,” at once offering evidence as to -the capacity of the race and the limitations that slavery imposed upon -it. They were quickeners of the public conscience. - -Since the Negroes were escaping from Southern plantations, in spite of -all precautions and every kind of threat and punishment, an organized -effort was made to send all free colored people out of the country and -deposit them on the west shore of Africa. This movement found expression -in the American Colonization Society, which was organized in 1817. Its -declared purposes were: - -(1) “To colonize the blacks on the West Coast of Africa.” - -(2) “To discourage manumission by slave-holders.” - -(3) “To avoid insurrection.” - -An attempt was put forth to make this colonization scheme a national -policy, and the general government, as well as the several states, was -appealed to for its support. In many of the slave-holding states there -were direct appropriations of money to forward this enterprise. -Ministers, statesmen, educators, slave-holders, and many who were not -slave-holders, endorsed the plan of the Colonization Society as a most -happy solution of the difficult problem of dealing with the Negro -question. It met with popular favor throughout the country. The Southern -people saw in it the removal of a great menace to slavery; it appealed -to the humane sentiments of the North, for it seemed to say to the free -people, “Now we are going to give you an opportunity, and will -materially aid you to found a government of your own on the soil of -Africa.” To some of the Negroes this policy appeared fair and generous, -especially when they considered the extent to which, by popular -prejudice, they were shut out from the rights and benefits supposed to -be the natural heritage of all American citizens. Certain it is that -nothing concerning the Negro had, up to this time, been proposed in -which men of the North and South met so nearly on common ground. In -1834, such names as James Madison, Chief Justice Marshall, General -Lafayette, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and Gerrit Smith were enrolled -among the officers of the society. But in spite of the distinguished -character of those who were associated with the movement, it was thought -by many that the propaganda carried on by the Colonization Society did -much to increase the prejudice against the colored people. The following -extracts from some of the speeches of its members and friends, and from -its documents and publications, show the pro-slavery spirit of the -society: - -Henry Clay said: “The emancipated slave should be removed. This is a -condition indispensable. Expense of expatriation is to be defrayed by a -fund to be derived from the labor of each freedman.” - -Judge Bullock of Kentucky said: “He [the colored man] is an exotic that -does not and cannot flourish on American soil. There is no place for him -in this country. It is not their land, and they cannot be made at home -here.” - -_The Colonization Journal_ said: “You cannot abolish slavery, for God is -pledged to sustain it.” - -“Policy, and even the voice of humanity, forbid the progress of -manumission. It would be as humane to throw them from the decks in the -Middle Passage as to set them free in this country. Free blacks are a -greater nuisance than slaves. This class of persons is a curse and a -contagion where they reside.”—_Colonization Report_, iv, 261. - -“An anomalous race of beings, the most depraved on earth.” - -“They constitute a class by themselves, out of which no individual can -be elevated and below which none can be depressed. Even necessity places -them in a class of degraded beings.” - -“Christianity cannot do for them here what it will do for them in -Africa. This is no fault of the colored man, nor the white man, but an -ordinance of Providence, and no more to be changed than the laws of -motion.” - -“If the free people of color were generally taught to read, it might be -an inducement for them to remain in this country. We should offer them -no such inducement.” - -“It must appear evident to all ... that measures calculated to bind the -colored people to this country and seeking to raise them to a level with -the whites, whether by founding colleges or in any other way, tends -directly to counteract and thwart the whole plan of colonization.” - -Such were the teachings and spirit of the American Colonization Society -at that time. The effect was naturally and necessarily brought home, in -some form or other, to every colored man, woman, and child in the -free-states. Justifying, as it did, an already existing prejudice, its -tendency was, everywhere and in every direction, to bring about a -narrowing of opportunities. Thus, there soon sprang up an active -opposition to the society and its purposes. The anti-slavery members -withdrew their support when they saw that the organization was almost -wholly pro-slavery in spirit and purpose. - -Meanwhile, the colored people began to show themselves worthy of respect -in the efforts they were making to improve their own condition. It could -not be denied that, in those Northern states where he was given an -opportunity to work, the Negro was, on the whole, a peaceful, loyal, -law-abiding, and industrious citizen. In spite of the might of all the -forces against him, he doggedly persisted in his determination to be a -man, to win a right to remain in this country, and to deserve the -privileges of citizenship therein. No race under like conditions ever -exhibited greater patience and faith in the ultimate triumph of right -over wrong. - -In times of war the Negro was instantly ready to sacrifice himself for -the good of his country. As sailor or soldier, no commander ever had -occasion to complain of his courage or lack of soldierly qualities. Just -before the battle of New Orleans, in the winter of 1814, General -Jackson, through his Adjutant General, made the following stirring -address to his black soldiers: - - “To the Men of Color—Soldiers: From the shores of Mobile I called you - to arms, I invited you to share the perils, and to divide the glory - with your white countrymen. I expected much from you, for I was not - unmindful of those qualities which must render you so formidable to an - invading foe. I knew that you could endure hunger and thirst and all - the hardships of war. I knew that you loved the land of your nativity, - and that, like ourselves, you had to defend all that was most dear to - man, but you surpassed my hopes. I have found in you, united to these - qualities, that noble enthusiasm which impels to great deeds. - - “Soldiers! The President of the United States shall be informed of - your conduct on the present occasion and the voice of the - representatives of the American nation shall applaud your valor, as - your general now praises your valor.” - -The black heroes of New Orleans nobly won a place on the roll of honor, -among those who strove for the protection and preservation of the -American republic. - -In the arts of peace and in the every-day struggles to live and survive -the forces that made for his degradation, the Negro showed a courage and -a disposition altogether creditable. While many were thinking that the -black people were hopelessly incapable of absorbing American -civilization, the latter were building churches of their own and -organizing the great African Methodist Episcopal Zion, and the Colored -Methodist Episcopal Church. These have steadily grown in membership -until they have come to be numbered among the great religious bodies of -the Christian world. They also founded and developed a Baptist -organization which, with its schools, colleges, and missions, is -regarded as one of the important civilizing agencies of the country. - -What the colored people accomplished for themselves, in their great -religious associations and under so many hindering influences, is of far -greater importance than is generally understood, or recognized by the -American people. To the restraining and humanizing forces of these -religious bodies, is largely due the peaceful and law-abiding character -of the Negro population. In those critical periods of our history a race -with passions less in restraint might have caused no end of trouble and -bloodshed. These efforts of the free colored people of the North to -improve their condition by means of religious training, were accompanied -by endeavors to provide themselves with the facilities for secular -education. There was never a time in the history of the American Negro -when he did not show an eagerness to learn. Whether on the plantation in -the far South, where ignorance in the slave was slavery’s only security, -or in the northern states, where schools were closed against him by -popular prejudice, he was always struggling, by night and by day, to -obtain an education. The most important and creditable thing in his -career as slave or freeman, and the most striking thing in his -achievements, is his passion and struggle to lift from himself and his -race the dark mantle of ignorance. This persistent determination to be -educated has won for him more consideration and more friends among the -white race, than any other one trait. - -When practically every school, public and private, closed its doors -against the admission of a Negro child, these courageous people tried to -establish schools of their own. In every Northern community where there -were colored persons some way was provided for their education. -Sometimes classes would meet in a private house, like that of Primus -Hall in Boston; at other times in a Negro church, and often in a barn. -In these early efforts to furnish means of education, in spite of the -protest of white neighbors, there was exhibited fine courage, impressive -sacrifice, and rare consecration. Here the Negro was always at his best. -Such men as Primus Hall and the Ruffins in Massachusetts; Nelson Wells -in Maryland; John F. Ganes and Peter H. Clark in Ohio; John F. Cook in -Washington; John Peterson in New York; Thomas and Fannie Jackson Coppin -in Pennsylvania, all noble types of men and women, saw to it that ways -and means for the education of the children of their day and generation -should be provided. Hundreds of the best types of white men and women -became interested in the education of the Negro as a result of his own -persistent efforts in this direction. Some of these friends gave -themselves as teachers, while others gave money for the founding and -sustaining of schools and colleges. A few of those started at this early -period, still live, many colored men and women, who have since become -prominent in public affairs, having received their education in these -establishments. - -One of the most interesting of these schools that have survived the -revolution of conditions is the “Institute for Colored Youth,” founded -in Philadelphia in 1837, from funds bequeathed for that purpose by -Richard Humphrey. The trustees were instructed to establish an -institution “for the education of the descendants of the African race in -school learning, in the various branches of the mechanical arts and -trades and agriculture.” - -In the preamble of the constitution, the following language is used: - -“We believe that the most successful method of elevating the moral and -intellectual character of the descendants of Africa, as well as -improving their social condition, is to extend to them the benefits of a -good education, and instruct them in the knowledge of some useful trade -or business whereby they may be enabled to obtain a comfortable -livelihood by their own industry; and through these means to prepare -themselves for fulfilling the various duties of domestic and social life -with reputation and fidelity, as good citizens and pious men.” - -This school has recently been reorganized and considerably enlarged, and -removed to Cheyney, Pa., near Philadelphia, the work being entrusted to -Hugh M. Browne, an educator of proved worth and responsibility. It -starts out upon a career of increased usefulness, with the express -purpose of fitting teachers for their appointed work. - -The men and women who have graduated from the Institute have more than -justified the generosity of its founder, and they have likewise -reflected the unexampled excellence as a teacher of Mrs. Fannie Jackson -Coppin, an early graduate of Oberlin, and one of the first principals of -this famous school in Philadelphia. Her influence on the lives and -careers of many prominent men and women of the Negro race is quite -beyond comparison with that of any other of our early Negro educators. - -Charlotte L. Fortin, now Mrs. Frank J. Grimké, Frances Ellen Watkins -Harper, and Mary Ann Shadd Carey must always be mentioned among the men -and women whose devotion to the education of the members of their race -has made the American people recognize the justice and the usefulness of -giving the Negro the teaching he so earnestly desires. - -The lack of economic and industrial opportunities of the free colored -people, prior to the Civil War, can be easily inferred from what has -already been said concerning the general sentiment of proscription that -prevailed. As a general rule, they were not allowed to work at any of -the trades and their children were not accepted as apprentices. It has -already been noticed how impossible it was for Mr. Douglass, even in -Massachusetts, to follow his occupation as a ship-calker, although, as -we have seen, he had no trouble in obtaining good employment in -Baltimore. - -But the Negro, in this as in matters of education, persisted in his -effort to learn trades and to work at them. There were in the -free-states a considerable number of colored mechanics. Many of them had -fitted themselves for their work while in slavery, and either by -self-purchase or as runaways, had obtained their freedom. From these -mechanics the trades were passed along to others by apprenticeships. In -this way colored men entered and maintained themselves in many -employments. There were always some people who were willing to hire -skilled Negro mechanics. In cities like Philadelphia, they were, for a -time, important factors in the industrial life. Indeed, long before -slavery was abolished, every large northern city had a certain number of -enterprising individuals who had succeeded in establishing themselves in -some of the trades. In many communities they were making commendable -headway as contractors, caterers, shopkeepers, tailors, shoemakers, and -barbers. Not a few of them accumulated small fortunes. A number too had -built up enviable reputations in the professions, especially in -medicine, the ministry, and journalism. Some obtained their education in -England, but most of them managed to get their training in this country. - -In all this activity and enterprise they were not without leaders of -force and intelligence. In the period covered by the anti-slavery -movement, there was a remarkable group of aggressive and influential -colored agitators. Without attempting to name all the prominent men who -coöperated with Mr. Douglass in the anti-slavery warfare, we should -mention a few, in order to make complete any account of the struggle in -which their leader was so heroically engaged. Henry Highland Garnet of -New York, was a gifted and thoroughly educated man. He was a -Presbyterian minister and as such held an influential position, being -elected at one time as a delegate to a Peace Conference at Frankfort, -Germany. Charles Lennox Remond, Dr. James McCune Smith, Samuel R. Ward, -H. Ford Douglass, Martin R. Delaney, John M. Langston, J. Howard Day, -and Mifflin W. Gibbs, were men of rare oratorical gifts and were heard -and admired on every great anti-slavery occasion. Robert Purvis, of -Philadelphia, would have held a high place in any age, and the cause of -freedom would have suffered without his aid. He was a man of patrician -manners and had all the instincts of an aristocrat. He was for many -years, vice-president of the National Anti-Slavery Society, and he -enjoyed the intimate acquaintance and association of some of the most -eminent men of his time. - -It would scarcely be possible to write a history of the anti-slavery -movement without mentioning the work of William Still. He had the rare -powers of heart and mind that gave him an interest in and a large grasp -of affairs. He was one of the original stockholders of _The Nation_, and -a close friend of John Brown’s. It was at his house that the latter’s -family were concealed after the Harper’s Ferry tragedy. Mr. Still’s -contribution to the literature of the anti-slavery cause has a special -value and is nowhere duplicated. - -These colored men, who were associated with Mr. Douglass, got their -training in the school of adversity. They were permitted to share few of -the joys of life. Men of strong faith, they spent themselves in the -service of their people. When the history of the Negro in America comes -finally to be written and scholars seek to tell the story of the curious -problem in civilization which his presence here creates, these -dark-skinned heroes of an unpopular race may find their place in the -ranks of those who helped to benefit the world. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - THE UNDERGROUND RAILWAY AND THE FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW - - -Pro-slavery and anti-slavery were at this time the names of two sets of -ideas and two states of mind that no longer admitted of compromise. The -words meant immeasurably more in 1850 than they had in 1830. If they had -ever been mere academic terms, they were fast becoming fighting -terms,—the standards of two hostile camps. In the minds of the people, -they stood, respectively, for irreconcilable principles. With every -fresh event affecting either one side or the other, new and more intense -animosities were engendered, and the two forces were driven farther and -farther apart. Those who believed in the institution, became more and -more firmly fixed in their determination not only to resist every attack -upon it, but to give it the widest possible extension. Those who stood -opposed to slavery were equally fixed in their determination that it -should be destroyed. - -The anti-slavery movement was fast becoming something more than a -sentiment or an opinion with which one might try conclusions in the -forum. It was fast becoming a revolutionary movement which meant force, -more force, and, finally, the utmost force. All the time Frederick -Douglass, like William Lloyd Garrison, was in the forward ranks. The -tone of “no compromise” rang out with increasing insistence. - -“Come what will,” said Douglass, “I hold it to be morally certain that -sooner or later, by fair means or foul means, in peace or in blood, in -judgment or in mercy, slavery is doomed to cease out of this otherwise -goodly land, and liberty is destined to become the settled law of the -republic.” - -“I am in earnest,” said Garrison, “I will not equivocate, I will not -excuse, I will not retract a single inch, and I will be heard.” - -These declarations by these two conspicuous Abolitionists are aptly -expressive of the growing intensity of the anti-slavery feeling. Such -words called more loudly for action than for argument. What was known in -the United States during the anti-slavery struggle as the “Underground -Railway,” best represents all that was aggressive and militant in that -contest. This so-called “railway system” was constituted and operated in -defiance of law by the Abolitionists. It was Abolition in action. - -But if the Underground Railway was conducted in defiance of law, it -should be said that the law in its terms, spirit, and effects seemed to -them who were engaged in operating the road to be in defiance of those -principles of liberty and the rights of man, which they had been taught -to think were higher than any positive enactment of a legislature. - -The Underground Railway had none of the features of the modern railway, -except the carrying of passengers, and these were limited in kind and in -the direction of the travel. No one could obtain passage on this road, -unless he or she were a slave, and wanted to be free. The trains ran in -but one direction, and that was Northward. There were no “Jim Crow” -cars, no sleepers and no smokers, and all passengers were carried free -of charge. It was a railroad without stockholders, but it had -innumerable directors. No dividends were paid except to passengers, and -such dividends were in the form of certificates of freedom from bondage. - -To be more explicit, the Underground Railway was a system of clandestine -travel, extending from the borders of “Mason and Dixon’s Line” through -the North and West to Canada. The residence of Mr. Douglass was one of -the last stations on the line before reaching British soil. Much has -been written about this mysterious railway, but the details of its -activities have never been told. From September 26, 1850, to the -breaking out of the Civil War, the new and rigid Fugitive Slave Law was -in active operation, and it was in open violation of this measure that -the Underground Railway was conducted. A slave, and sometimes an entire -family or body of slaves, would make the dash for liberty, escaping -across the borders of Maryland into Pennsylvania. There they found -themselves in the hands of friendly Quakers, who piloted them by night -to other stations, where they were secreted until a favorable -opportunity presented itself to push them along farther north. - -Mr. Douglass’s house in Rochester was a large three-story frame -structure, situated in the centre of four acres of land on South Avenue, -two miles from the business portion of the city. It stood out by itself, -the nearest residence being fully five hundred feet away to the north. -This was the objective point, before reaching Canada, for many slaves -fleeing from the South. The tales of privation and suffering told by -these men, women, and children who escaped half-clad, encountering in -the wintertime snow-drifts and zero weather, made a profound impression -on the people of the North through whose towns they passed and in whose -homes they constantly sought protection. Thus it was that many a -Northern farmer, convinced, it may be, of the right or expediency of -slavery, found himself compelled, from motives of common humanity, to -open his doors to these refugees, and grant their appeals for food and -shelter. Many a cold winter night has a knock come to Mr. Douglass’s -door, when a white-faced stranger, covered with frost and snow, would -announce in whispered tones that he had a sleigh full of runaway Negroes -_en route_ for Canada. Mr. Douglass, or Mrs. Douglass in her husband’s -absence, calling the boys, Lewis, Fred and Charles, would have fires -started in that part of the house where fugitives were hidden away, and -at an opportune time they were taken to Charlotte, seven miles from -Rochester, and placed aboard a Lake Ontario steamer for Canada. These -friendly white farmers had to hasten on for fear of detection, which -meant terrible penalties. Thus it will be seen that the risks which -their sympathy for the slave led them to take were very serious. - -It required large sums of money to keep this Underground Railway system -in motion. The runaways must be fed, clothed, and their passage paid -across the lake to Canada. Mr. Douglass was in the lecture-field most of -the time to raise money to do his part. The Female Anti-Slavery Society, -with its branches throughout the North, solicited funds and clothing, -and, as these unfortunate fugitives were invariably destitute, means had -to be supplied them until they could secure employment under the British -flag. - -Besides William Still of Philadelphia, among colored people, Mr. -Douglass had the active coöperation of Dr. James McCune Smith, of New -York; Stephen J. Myers, of Albany; William Rich, of Troy, and Rev. J. W. -Loguen, of Syracuse. Many others actively assisted in the work, -including Charles Lennox Remond, William Whipper, of Philadelphia; -Thomas L. Dorsey, Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, Anthony Barrier, of -Brockport, N. Y., and Thomas Downing, of New York. There were not a few -clashes with the law in efforts to capture and return escaping slaves, -but only two or three such attempts were successful. - -Mr. Douglass’s home was always considered an asylum for runaways, and -was constantly under the surveillance of the United States marshals; -nevertheless, not a single fugitive, after reaching him, was ever -apprehended and carried back. The majority of the escapes were made in -winter, when the oversight on the plantation was less rigid than in the -working-season, and many who were given passes during the Christmas -holidays to visit neighboring towns or plantations, seized that -opportunity for a longer journey. - -The western and southwestern branch of the Underground Railway was -operated from Cincinnati, O., and through Michigan to Canada. Fugitive -slaves from Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana -took this latter route. The whole number of slaves who successfully made -their escape through the system has never been ascertained. - -The thousands of men, women, and children, white and black, who had a -hand in conducting this Underground Railway were less concerned about -the statistics of their dangerous work than they were with results. That -the number of slaves set free by the operation of the system ran up into -the thousands, was evident from the vast army of people in all parts of -the North engaged in the work, and the constantly increasing colored -population in the free-states and Canada. There was scarcely a day or -night when some black man or woman did not defy the perils of the -journey and elude the vigilance of the law to find free soil. So -persistent were these enslaved people in running away from bondage that -they excited not merely the sympathy but often the admiration of those -not otherwise interested in their cause. The perils and adventures of -these sombre fugitives stirred the blood and touched the heart. William -Still’s volume of nearly eight hundred pages, contains a carefully kept -record of the experiences of those runaways who came under the immediate -observation and direction of the “Vigilance Committee” of the -Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society. Their resourcefulness, cleverness, -and daring revealed to the Northern people an unsuspected quality in the -Negro character. - -The stories of these fugitives, told in their own simple-hearted way, -and attested by the hardships that they had undergone, were, to those -who heard them, a revelation of conditions in the South, of which they -had hitherto known only at secondhand. They might still doubt the -expediency of granting freedom to the slave but they could no longer -question the sincerity of his desire for liberty and with that desire -they were compelled to sympathize. As Douglass said: “Men were better -than their theology, and truer to humanity than their politics or their -offices.” - -The manner of Douglass’s flight—riding out of Baltimore and Maryland in -daylight and in sight of those who knew that he was a slave—is a good -illustration of the boldness and ingenuity of some of the escapes. Among -the hundreds of interesting cases cited by Mr. Still is that of William -Crafts, who gained his liberty by acting the part of a valet or -body-servant of his wife. She was of light brown complexion, and for -this adventure wore men’s clothing. Another case is that of a -slave-woman who hitched up her master’s horse and carriage and, taking -her family of five children and several others, drove off to liberty. -Box Brown was the name of a slave, who permitted himself to be nailed up -in a box and sent by express to Baltimore. Two colored women dressed -themselves in deep mourning and rode Northward to freedom in the same -coach as their masters, who did not know them. In some cases slaves -secreted themselves for several months and, when search for them had -ceased, crept off unsuspected. In hundreds of instances, the parts were -as cleverly played as if the fugitives had had special training in the -drama of running away from their masters. In nearly all cases these -black men and women took desperate chances. The conductors of the -Underground Railway were everywhere, and at all times on the alert. They -knew every path, the byways and highways in which slaves might hide or -on which they might travel to reach freedom. The stations were always -ready and open to receive them. It was never too late, or too early, or -too difficult, or too perilous to be on the lookout to welcome, protect, -and pass on fugitives to the next place of safety. Clothing, food, -shoes, carriages, wagons, horses, and mules were always at hand. No -secret society has ever veiled its proceedings in deeper mystery than -this widely separated army of determined conspirators and emancipators. -The secret service men of the government tried to locate the stations -and the station-agents, but the more they searched, the less they found. -It is a curious fact that the United States secret service men seem to -have had just as little success in uncovering the systematic plans for -aiding slaves to escape to the Northern states as in preventing the -smuggling of slaves from Africa into the Southern states. The traffic of -the Underground Railroad continued to increase in volume and the slave -once off United States soil was beyond reach or recall. - -Some of the men and women who were carrying on this clandestine work of -delivering fugitives were people of much prominence. Among them were -members of Congress, distinguished clergymen, editors, prominent -merchants, doctors, lawyers, farmers, and tradesmen. From the -slave-holders’ standpoint, the situation was not encouraging. They -rightly felt that unless something effective were done to stop this -increasing loss, slave-labor would cease to be profitable. This -condition of things required a remedy, a remedy more far-reaching than -any guaranteed the slave-holding system under the law then existing. To -meet these attempts of the Abolitionists to undermine the system, the -pro-slavery leaders deemed it just and necessary to extend the arm of -national power to reclaim and carry back to bondage every slave who -reached a free state in quest of liberty. The government that sanctioned -slavery as a national institution; that acquired new territory for the -extension of slavery; that derived a goodly part of its revenue from it, -was bound, they believed, to do what was necessary to make slavery more -secure. Until the Underground Railway began to do so large a business, -there was thought to be enough law in the Constitution of the United -States.[3] - -Footnote 3: - - As provided in Article IV, Section 2: “No person held to service in - one state, under the laws thereof, escaping to another state, in - consequence of any law or regulation therein, shall be discharged from - such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on the claim of the - party to whom such service or labor may be due,” supplemented by the - statute giving force to its provisions in 1793. - -The constitutionality of this law had been fully upheld by the Supreme -Court in what was known as the “Prigg case,” wherein Justice Story -declared that it was self-executing, so that an owner could seize and -carry away his runaway slave wherever he found him, providing he could -do so without breach of the public peace. Those who desired and demanded -more legal provisions for the better protection of slavery were in -absolute power North and South. Daniel Webster of Massachusetts was as -much in favor of it as Henry Clay of Kentucky and Calhoun of South -Carolina; and in response to popular demand, the new Fugitive Slave Law -was passed on September 10, 1850, as a part of the great Compromise -Measures of that year. - -The instrument was most carefully drawn, and covered ten sections. Those -who worked out its carefully-worded provisions had evidently studied the -Underground System with considerable care, and this law was framed to -meet the conditions that the railroad had created. Some of its main -features were as follows:— - - A United States Commission and a United States court should have - concurrent jurisdiction in disposing of cases of fugitive slaves - brought before them. - - Any postmaster or clerk could be appointed a commissioner to hear - cases under the law. - - A United States marshal was under penalty of $1,000 for refusing or - neglecting to make an arrest when called upon to do so. - - Fugitive slaves could be arrested, with or without warrant and taken - before a commissioner or judge, who was empowered to dispose of the - case forthwith. - - If a fugitive escaped from a United States marshal, the latter could - be sued on his bond and the full value of the slave recovered. - - There was a penalty of five years in prison or a fine of $5,000 for - aiding or abetting a slave’s escape. - - The only proof needed was an affidavit by the alleged owner or some - one acting in his behalf alleging right of property, escape or service - due on escape, and a description of the person arrested, certified to - by the magistrate. - - There were provisions for military aid for the United States marshal - in case of resistance. - - The commissioner received a larger fee in case of extradition than he - would obtain in case of discharge. - - The slave thus arrested could not testify in his own behalf and was - not allowed a jury trial. - -The first effect of the law was to create a panic and stampede among the -colored people of the free-states. It looked for awhile as if every -Negro resident north of the Ohio had lost faith in the tenure of his own -title to himself. There was wholesale emigration to Canada of colored -people from every part of the United States. In his Life of Frederick -Douglass, Mr. Holland gives an account of forty Negroes of Boston, who -left home within three days after the Fugitive Slave Law was passed. The -pastor of a colored church and his entire membership of 112 persons fled -to British soil. A number of talented men who had done service in the -anti-slavery cause, went to England. Mr. Douglass, who was in close -touch with every movement, every fear, and every secret purpose of his -people, says: - -“I was compelled to witness the terribly distressing effects of this -cruel enactment; fugitive slaves, who had lived for many years safely -and securely in western New York and elsewhere, some of whom by industry -and economy had saved some money and bought little homes for themselves -and their children, were suddenly alarmed and compelled to flee to -Canada. Even colored people who had been free all their lives felt very -insecure in their freedom, for under this law the oaths of any two -villains were sufficient to confine a free man to slavery for life.... -Although I was now free myself, I was not without apprehension. My -pardon was of doubtful validity, having been bought when out of -possession of my owner, and when he must take what was given or not at -all.... From rumors that reached me, my house was guarded by my friends -several nights.” - -A much more serious consequence of the Fugitive Slave Law was the -altogether unexpected feeling of resentment aroused in the North by its -enforcement. There was abundant willingness among the Northern people -that the slave-holders should have their slaves and that they should -have everything needed to protect and make secure their property rights -in them; but when it came to pressing unwilling citizens into the -service of men who were hunting slaves, there was a very natural -revulsion of sentiment. Just how intense was this feeling may best be -illustrated in the history of three different cases that created -wide-spread interest at the time. These were known respectively as the -Burns, Shadrach, and Thomas Sims cases. - -Anthony Burns had made his escape from his master in Virginia and in -1854 was living in Boston. In the month of May he was arrested under the -provisions of the Fugitive Slave Law. At this particular time, Boston -was aroused because of the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, -repealing the Missouri Compromise, and thereby permitting the extension -of slavery in the western territories. Burns was confined in the Boston -court-house under strong guard. The people were in a mood to become -profoundly interested in his case, which presented itself to them as an -illustration of the cruelties of slavery and of the Fugitive Slave Law. -Wendell Phillips, Theodore Parker, Richard A. Davis, Charles M. Ellis, -Thomas Wentworth Higginson, and many others equally prominent, gave -practical effect to this interest by securing a postponement of the -hearing for a few days. In the meantime, a meeting was called in Faneuil -Hall in which feeling ran high. While it was in progress, Colonel -Higginson led in an attempt to rescue Burns. The door of the jail was -battered in, the deputy was killed, and the Colonel and others were -wounded. When the case came up for a hearing before Commissioner Loring, -Burns had the best counsel that Boston could afford, but like all cases -under the Fugitive Slave Law, there was no escape. After the formalities -were complied with, he was ordered back to his master. When this -decision became known, many houses were draped in black and so intense -was the public feeling against it, that the government directed that -Burns should be returned in a United States revenue cutter. He was -escorted to the wharf by a strong guard and the streets were thronged -with Boston citizens in a great state of excitement. There seemed to be -no possible escape from a bloody riot. When the water-side was reached -and an outbreak was imminent, a minister named Foster cried out, “Let us -pray,” and with this call for prayer silence fell upon the excited -throng; but the law had its way and Burns was sent back. - -The case of Shadrach was less exciting, but is interesting as presenting -another and different view of the sentiment excited by the Fugitive -Slave Law. He was a fugitive and a resident of Boston. He had been -arrested in February, 1851, and during a postponement of his hearing -before the United States Commissioner, the Boston Abolitionists rescued -him and got him into Canada, the land of safety. The government -officials in Washington took serious notice of this rescue of a United -States prisoner and the uproar that followed seemed altogether out of -proportion to the incident. Commenting on the excitement at the capital -at this apparent determination of Boston to defy the national -government, Mr. Garrison wrote: - -“The head and front of the offending in this instance—what is it? A -sudden rush of a score or two of unarmed friends of equal liberty—an -uninjurious deliverance of the oppressed out of the hands of the -oppressor—the quiet transportation of a slave out of this slavery-ruled -land to the free soil of Upper Canada ... a solitary slave in Boston is -plucked as a brand from the burning, and forthwith a Cabinet Council is -held and behold a menacing proclamation!” - -Senator Henry Clay was “horrified” and proposed an inquiry as to the -expediency of passing an additional law making it a penal offense in the -nature of treason for any one to interfere with the smooth and peaceful -exercise of his pet measure in the Compromise Bill. Mr. Webster declared -that the rescue of Shadrach was “strictly speaking” treason. - -Scarcely had the United States grand jury finished its examination of -the Shadrach case when Boston was again in the midst of an excitement -over the arrest and extradition of another fugitive slave, Thomas Sims. -Profiting by the failure to send Shadrach back to his master, the -officials had taken extraordinary precautions to prevent a rescue by mob -or otherwise. The court-house where Sims was imprisoned was surrounded -by chains and guarded by a large part of the city police force. As a -further precaution, the state militia was called out and kept in -readiness to quell a possible riot. A part of this soldiery furnished an -escort all the way to Savannah, where the prisoner-slave was delivered -safely. - -The bloody resistance on the part of runaways at Christiana, Pa., did -more than anything else, in the opinion of Mr. Douglass, to put a check -on the execution of the law. At this place three colored men were -pursued by officers, and, when hard-pressed, turned about, shot, and -killed a Mr. Gorsuch, wounded his son, drove back the officers, and then -made their escape to Rochester, where they were rescued and given -shelter in Mr. Douglass’s house. The latter, with his assistants, -finally smuggled these fugitives to the Canadian shores, but in doing so -he imperiled his own safety to a greater extent than ever before, -because he was not only harboring fugitives from slavery, but fugitives -from justice. After this experience, the law became a dead letter. It -not only intended to put an end to the business of the Underground -Railroad, but to make every community in some degree responsible for the -return of runaway slaves, and it proved to be one of the most unpopular -and irritating pieces of legislation enacted by the Federal Government. -This act, more than any other one thing, increased opposition to -slavery. Thousands of people who were either indifferent or hostile to -the anti-slavery cause, flocked to the ranks of the Abolitionists when -they saw what it meant and whither it was leading the nation. The -language used by the leaders, both in their publications and on the -stump, became more bitter and defiant. - -Mr. Douglass was always in the storm-centre of every movement to thwart -the execution of this measure. He was in Boston, and in continuous -conference with Theodore Parker, Higginson, Garrison, and others -belonging to the “vigilance” committees. It was in these meetings that -Douglass says he “got a peep into Parker’s soul.” He characterized him -as “a man who shrank from no opportunity to do his full duty when man’s -liberty was threatened.” Mr. Douglass’s thorough and comprehensive -understanding of each succeeding change in the development of the -slavery question was generally recognized by friend and foe. When he was -invited by the members of the New York state legislature to address them -on the subject, he was selected because no man then living could speak -with a fuller knowledge of the great issue. - -Belonging to this period of increasing antagonism between pro-slavery -and anti-slavery parties was the decision in the Dred Scott case. This, -the Fugitive Slave Law, and the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, taken together, -represent the sum of the conservative forces in the nation opposed to -the Abolitionists and their cause. Douglass’s opinion of the situation, -as it concerned himself and his people, is voiced in the following -extract from an address delivered at New York in May, 1857: - -“I am myself not insensible to the many difficulties that beset us on -every hand. They fling their broad and gloomy shadows across the pathway -of every thoughtful colored man in this country. For one, I see them -clearly and feel them sadly. Standing, as it were, barefoot, and -treading upon the sharp and flinty rocks of the present, and looking out -upon the boundless sea of the future, I have sought in my humble way to -penetrate the intervening mists and clouds, and, perchance, to descry in -the dim and shadowy distance the white flag of freedom.” - - - - - CHAPTER X - DOUGLASS, HARRIET BEECHER STOWE AND JOHN BROWN - - -The anti-slavery agitation made and revealed some of the most notable -characters in American history. As it grew in extent and intensity, it -attracted to itself men and women gifted with the powers needed to force -great issues to a conclusion. Those who were already in the struggle, -like Mr. Douglass, became more strongly committed to it, and those who -were not yet enlisted, but belonged to it by right of individual -temperament and spiritual inheritance, hurriedly took their places in -the foremost ranks of responsibility and action. - -There was no such thing as indifference in this matter. For those who -understood the vast issue there were grave questions involved, and in -some form or other the right or wrong of it knocked at the door of every -one’s mind and conscience. - -To those who were sufficiently gifted to say and do anything great -concerning this cause, the opportunity was now at hand. In the midst of -the confusion and controversy, the public was ready to listen to some -clear voice that would tell it the facts in regard to American slavery. - -Harriet Beecher Stowe responded to this need and was inspired to recite -the story of the Negro in America. This she did with a mastery and a -fascination that commanded the widest reading ever yet given to an -American book. She so stirred the hearts of the Northern people that a -large part of them were ready either to vote, or, in the last extremity, -to fight for the suppression of slavery. The value of _Uncle Tom’s -Cabin_ to the cause of Abolition can never be justly estimated. - -Mrs. Stowe was a member of the great Beecher family, and was by -inheritance, as well as by special inspiration, peculiarly fitted to -perform this service. She developed a concern in the slavery question in -the natural course of her interest in all questions of the time. She -lived for awhile in Cincinnati, where she was brought into close touch -with some of the most cruel incidents of slavery,—the flight and capture -of fugitives. Her sensitive nature was stung by seeing men hunted -through the streets of the city, and carried back into bondage. She was -near the scene when Birney’s anti-slavery press was destroyed by the -mob. The whole atmosphere about her was surcharged with the spirit of -the controversy, and the more she learned of the issue, the deeper -became her interest in it. Stirred by sympathy for those whom she had -come to regard as the victims of a bad system, she determined to know -everything that was possible to be known about it. - -Crossing the Ohio River, Mrs. Stowe went down into the land of slavery, -to study the institution at first hand. When she left the South and -returned to New England with her husband, she saw and felt the evil as -few in the North had ever seen and felt it. - -She soon discovered that the great mass of the Northern people were not -able to share her views. She found most of them either indifferent or -incredulous, and concluded that if they had had her experiences, they -would also have her convictions. The immediate incentive to the writing -of _Uncle Tom’s Cabin_ was the desire to arouse the national conscience -and bring the people to a sense of their responsibility. This remarkable -story first appeared in an anti-slavery newspaper, and proved so popular -that it was soon issued in book form. The rapidity with which one -edition after another was published and consumed at home and abroad, was -without precedent. The Abolitionists were quick to recognize the story -as the most powerful engine that had yet been employed against slavery. -Frederick Douglass thus speaks of its influence: - -“Nothing could have better suited the moral and humane requirements of -the hour. Its effect was amazing, instantaneous, and universal. She -[Mrs. Stowe] at once became the object of interest and admiration the -world over.” - -The author was not only concerned for the well-being of those who were -enslaved in the South, but was also intensely interested in those who -were already free in the North. She looked to Mr. Douglass as the most -eminent representative of the Negro race in the free-states, and before -sailing for England, whither she had been invited by the people, who -were anxious to show her some honors for what she had done, asked him to -her home in Andover, Mass. He gladly accepted the invitation, and, in -his _Life and Times_, gives the following account of his visit: - -“I was received at her home with genuine cordiality. There was no -contradiction between the author and her book. Mrs. Stowe appeared in -conversation equally well as she appeared in her writing. She made to me -a nice little speech in announcing her object in sending for me: ‘I have -invited you here,’ she said, ‘because I wish to confer with you as to -what can be done for the free colored people of the country. I am going -to England and expect to have a considerable sum of money placed in my -hands, and I intend to use it in some way for the permanent good of the -colored people and especially for that class which has become free by -their own exertions. In what way to do this most successfully is the -subject which I wish to talk with you about. In any event I desire to -have some monument rise after _Uncle Tom’s Cabin_, which shall show that -it produced more than a transient influence.’” - -They discussed at some length the condition of his people in the -Northern states, and as a result both concluded that there should be -established an “Industrial College,” where colored people could learn -some of the useful handicrafts,—to work in iron, wood and leather—and -where a good plain English education could also be obtained. Their -poverty kept them ignorant, and ignorance kept them degraded. Mrs. Stowe -became so much interested in Mr. Douglass’s educational purposes that -she asked him to submit his plans in writing, so that she could take -them to England with her and show them to her friends. On his return to -Rochester he elaborated his views, as she had requested. The plans were -then shown to many of the leading Negroes who worked with him, and they -very heartily approved. Later they were submitted to a convention of -representative colored people in Rochester to receive the endorsement of -that body. In this educational scheme, Mr. Douglass has given evidence -of his understanding of the needs of the Negro in our generation, as -well as of those in his own. The following is an extract from the -statement which he sent to Mrs. Stowe in 1853: - - “The plan which I humbly submit in answer to this query is the - establishment in Rochester, N. Y., or in some other part of the United - States, equally favorable to such an enterprise, of an Industrial - College in which shall be taught several important branches of the - mechanic arts. This college shall be open to colored youth. I will - pass over the details of such an institution as I propose.... Never - having had a day’s schooling in all my life, I may not be expected to - map out the details of a plan so comprehensive as that involved in the - idea of a college. The argument in favor of an Industrial College, a - college to be conducted by the best men and the best workmen which the - mechanic arts can afford; where the colored youth can be instructed to - use their hands, as well as their heads; where they can be put in - possession of the means of getting a living, whether their lot in - after-life may be cast among civilized or uncivilized men, whether - they choose to stay here, or prefer to return to the land of their - fathers, is briefly this: Prejudice against the free colored people in - the North has nowhere shown itself so invincible as among mechanics. - The farmer and the professional man cherish no feeling so bitter as - that cherished by these. The latter would starve us out of the country - entirely. At this moment I can more easily get my son into a lawyer’s - office to study law than I can into a blacksmith’s shop to blow the - bellows and to wield the sledge-hammer. Denied the means of learning - the useful trades, we are pressed into the narrowest limits to obtain - a livelihood. In times past we have been the hewers of wood and - drawers of water for American society, and we once enjoyed a monopoly - in menial employments, but this is so no longer. Even these - employments are rapidly passing out of our hands. The fact is, that - colored men must learn trades; must find new employments new modes of - usefulness to society; or they must decay under the pressing wants to - which their condition is rapidly bringing them. - - “We must become mechanics; we must build as well as live in houses; we - must make as well as use furniture; we must construct bridges as well - as pass over them, before we can properly live or be respected by our - fellow-men. We need mechanics as well as ministers. We need workers in - iron, clay, and leather. We have orators, authors, and other - professional men, but these reach only a certain class, and get - respect for our race in certain select circles. To live here as we - ought, we must fasten ourselves to our countrymen through their - every-day cardinal wants. We must not only be able to black boots, but - to make them. At present, in the Northern states, we are unknown as - mechanics. We give no proof of genius or skill at the county, state, - or national fairs. - - “The fact that we make no show of our ability is held conclusive of - _our inability to make any_, hence all the indifference and contempt - with which incapacity is regarded fall upon us, and that too when we - have had no means of disproving the infamous opinion of our natural - inferiority. I have during the last dozen years denied before - Americans that we are an inferior race, but this has been done by - arguments based upon admitted principles rather than by the - presentation of facts. Now, firmly believing as I do, that there are - skill, invention, power, industry, and real mechanical genius among - the colored people, which will bear favorable testimony for them, and - which only need the means to develop them, I am decidedly in favor of - the establishment of such a college as I have mentioned. The benefits - of such an institution will not be confined to the Northern states nor - to the free colored people. They would extend over the whole Union. - The slave, not less than the freeman, would be benefited by such an - institution. It must be confessed that the most powerful argument now - used by the Southern slave-holder, and the one most soothing to his - conscience, is that derived from the low condition of the free colored - people of the North. I have long felt that too little attention has - been given by our truest friends in this country, to removing this - stumbling block out of the way of the slave’s liberation. - - “The most telling, the most killing refutation of slavery is the - presentation of an industrious, enterprising, thrifty and intelligent - free black population. Such a population I believe would rise in the - Northern states under the fostering care of such a college as that - proposed. - - “Allow me to say in conclusion that I believe every intelligent - colored man in America will approve and rejoice at the establishment - of some such institution as that now suggested. There are many - respectable colored men, fathers of large families, having boys nearly - grown, whose minds are tossed by night and by day with the anxious - query, What shall I do with my boys? Such an institution would meet - the wants of such persons. Then, too, the establishment of such an - institution would be in character with the eminently practical - philanthropy of your trans-Atlantic friends. America could scarcely - object to it as an attempt to agitate the public mind on the subject - of slavery, or to dissolve the Union. It could not be tortured into a - cause for hard words by the American people, but the noble and good of - all classes would see in the effort an excellent motive, a benevolent - object temperately, wisely and practically manifested.” - -It would hardly be possible to show in any better way the far-reaching -and prophetic character of the mind of Frederick Douglass. This letter -indicates very plainly that even before General Armstrong had formulated -his plan of academic and industrial education, before Hampton Institute, -and long before Tuskegee Institute was thought of, Frederick Douglass -saw the necessity for just such work as many of the industrial schools -are doing in the South at the present time. - -It is thus most pleasant to have the name of Douglass linked with the -cause of industrial education. He believed not only in academic and -college training but also in agricultural and mechanical education. -Hampton, Tuskegee and many other institutions are now putting his -teachings into practice. - -While in England, Mrs. Stowe was made the object of much abuse by -certain American newspapers, which accused her of obtaining British gold -for her own use. Douglass, through the _North Star_, defended her -vigorously against these charges, and the malicious were silenced. For -reasons which he could not ascertain, the plans for the industrial -school were never carried out, and, so far as is known, Mrs. Stowe never -again took up the project with him. - -The period that discovered to America and the world Harriet Beecher -Stowe, the writer of the Abolition movement, also revealed John Brown, -the man of action. What Mrs. Stowe felt and wrote, John Brown attempted -to carry into effect. - -Mr. Douglass’s relations with this man were more intimate and continuous -than his associations with the author of _Uncle Tom’s Cabin_. No one -could be a part of the anti-slavery movement between 1849 and 1859 -without knowing and being more or less influenced by the personality of -John Brown. His opposition to slavery was like that of no other person. -It was scarcely a compliment to him to say that he was highly regarded -by the Abolitionists; their feeling toward him had in it more of awe -than admiration. At all times he would rather fight than discuss -slavery. He began to dislike it when he was twelve years of age. His -business, his family, his patriotism were all subordinated to the one -dominant purpose of hurling himself, and everybody else who would follow -him, against the system. He would judge and estimate all persons by what -they thought and felt about slavery. John Brown early formed an -attachment for Douglass, being, in the beginning of his career, better -known by the Negroes than by the white people. He mingled with them -continually, hearing over and over again the stories, sometimes -thrilling, sometimes pathetic, of a dawning desire for freedom, and soon -learned to know almost everything about their condition. He became one -of the most active conductors of the Underground Railway system. -Douglass says that when the slaves mentioned the name of John Brown, -they dropped their voices to a whisper, as if it were a sort of -profanity to speak of him as they would of any one else. - -In 1847, Douglass received an urgent invitation from Brown to visit him -at his home in Springfield, Mass. He responded to the call as if to a -command, and he has given the following account of that visit:— - - “At the time to which I now refer, this man was a respectable merchant - in a populous and thriving city, and our first place of meeting was at - his store. A glance at the interior, as well as at the massive walls - without, gave me the impression that the owner must be a man of - considerable wealth. My welcome was all that I could have asked. Every - member of the family, young and old, seemed glad to see me, and I was - made at home in a very little while. I was, however, a little - disappointed with the appearance of the house and its location. After - seeing the fine store I was prepared to see a fine residence in an - eligible locality, but this conclusion was completely dispelled by - actual observation. It was a small wooden building on a back street, - in a neighborhood chiefly occupied by laboring men and mechanics, - respectable enough, to be sure, but not quite the place, I thought, - one would look for the residence of a flourishing and successful - merchant. Plain as was the outside of this man’s house, the inside was - plainer. There was an air of plainness about it which almost suggested - destitution. My first meal passed under the misnomer of tea, though - there was nothing about it resembling the usual significance of that - term. It consisted of beef-soup, cabbage and potatoes—a meal such as a - man might relish after following the plough all day or performing a - forced march, of a dozen miles, over a rough road in frosty weather. - Innocent of paint, veneering, varnish, or table-cloth, the table - announced itself unmistakably of pine and of the plainest workmanship. - There was no hired help visible. The mother, daughters and sons did - the serving, and did it well. They were evidently used to it, and had - no thought of any impropriety or degradation in being their own - servants. Everything implied stern truth, solid purpose, and rigid - economy. I was not long in company with the master of this house - before I discovered that he was indeed the master of it, and was - likely to become mine too, if I stayed long enough with him. He - fulfilled St. Paul’s idea of the head of the family. His wife believed - in him, and his children obeyed him with reverence. Whenever he spoke, - his words commanded earnest attention. His arguments, which I ventured - at some points to oppose, seemed to convince all; his appeals touched - all, and his will impressed all. Certainly I never felt myself in the - presence of a stronger religious influence than while in this man’s - house. - - “In person he was lean, strong, and sinewy, of the best New England - mold, built for times of trouble, and fitted to grapple with the - flintiest hardships. 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 150 pounds in weight, aged - about fifty years, he presented a figure straight and symmetrical as a - mountain pine. His bearing was singularly impressive. His head was not - large but compact and high. His hair was coarse, his strong spare - mouth, supported by a broad and prominent chin. His eyes were bluish - gray, and in conversation they were full of light and fire. When on - the street, he moved with a long springing race-horse step, absorbed - by his own reflections, neither seeking nor shunning observation. Such - was the man whose name I heard in whispers; such was the spirit of his - house and family; such was the house in which he lived; and such was - Captain John Brown, whose name has now passed into history, as that of - one of the most marked characters and greatest heroes known to - American fame. - - “After the strong meal described, Brown cautiously approached the - subject which he wished to bring to my attention; for he seemed to - apprehend opposition to his views. He denounced slavery in look and - language fierce and bitter; he thought that slave-holders had - forfeited their right to live, that the slaves had a right to gain - their liberty in any way they could; did not believe that moral - suasion would ever liberate a slave, or that political action would - abolish the system. He said that he had long had a plan which could - accomplish this end, and he had invited me to his house to lay that - plan before me. He said that he had been for some time looking for - colored men to whom he could safely reveal his secret, and at times he - had almost despaired of finding such men; but that now he was - encouraged, because he saw heads of such rising in all directions. He - had observed my course at home and abroad, and he wanted my - coöperation. His plan, as it then lay in his mind, had much to commend - it. It did not, as some suppose, contemplate a general rising among - the slaves, and a general slaughter of the slave-masters. An - insurrection, he thought, would only defeat the object; but his plan - did contemplate the creating of an armed force which should act in the - very heart of the South. He was not averse to the shedding of blood, - and thought the carrying of firearms would be a good rule for the - colored people to adopt, as it would give them a sense of their - manhood. No people, he said, could have self-respect, or be respected, - who would not fight for their freedom. He called my attention to the - map of the United States. ‘These mountains,’ he said, ‘are the basis - of my plan. God has given the strength of the hills to freedom; they - were placed here for the emancipation of the Negro race; they are full - of natural forts, where one man for defense will be equal to a hundred - for attack; they are full also of good hiding places, where large - numbers of brave men could be concealed, and baffle and elude pursuit - for a long time. I know these mountains well, and could take a body of - men into them and keep them there, in spite of all the efforts of - Virginia to dislodge them. The true object to be sought is first of - all to destroy the money value of slave-property; and that can only be - done by rendering such property insecure. My plan, then, is to take, - at first, about twenty-five picked men, and begin on a small scale; - supply them with arms and ammunition and post them in squads of fives - on a line of twenty-five miles. The most persuasive and judicious of - these shall go down to the fields from time to time, as opportunity - offers, and induce the slaves to join them, seeking and selecting the - most reckless and daring.’” - -From this time on the relationship between these two Abolitionists grew -in intimacy and thereafter Mr. Douglass’s Rochester home was John -Brown’s headquarters whenever he was in that part of the country. - -In the Springfield conference, he related his daring plans for the -rescue of the slaves in Virginia. Mr. Douglass readily saw how -impracticable and certain of disastrous failure this project must be, -but John Brown could never be made to understand the peril of anything -that he thought it was right to do. The possibility of failure seemed -never to enter into his calculations. Mr. Douglass said to him at -Springfield: - -“Suppose you succeed in running off a few slaves, and thus impress the -Virginia slave-holders with a sense of insecurity in their slaves, the -effect will be only to make them sell their slaves further South.” - -Whereupon Captain Brown replied: “That will be just what I want first to -do; then I would follow them up. If we could drive them out of one -county it would be a great gain; it would weaken the system throughout -the state.” - -“But,” said Douglass, “they would employ blood-hounds to hunt you out of -the mountains.” - -“That they might attempt,” was the answer, “but the chances are that we -should whip them, and when we should have whipped one squad, they would -be careful how they pursued us.” - -Thus would Brown confidently meet all possible obstacles to his plan of -invasion. If any other man had urged such views about freeing the slaves -with a force of less than one hundred men in the Virginia mountains, he -would have been regarded as ridiculous; but John Brown was an advocate -of such intensity of faith and readiness to put himself in front of -every danger, that it required no little courage to oppose him. - -Mr. Douglass was evidently much affected by this interview. He had never -before seen courage and self-confidence so imperious, or a determination -to do something large and terrible so absolutely regardless of -consequences. After this conference he admits that his own “utterances -became more and more tinged by the color of this man’s strong -impressions,” and his conviction grew “that slavery could only end in -blood.” - -Brown’s influence was easily traceable in Mr. Douglass’s subsequent -utterances, both in the _North Star_ and in his public addresses. During -the fight for free soil and free men in Kansas, after the -Kansas-Nebraska bill became a law, Mr. Douglass probably did more than -any one to supply the militant captain with money and munitions. The -full size of Brown as a man was revealed in Kansas when the struggle -between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces became actual war. His -daring deeds in going into the state of Missouri, bringing out dozens of -slaves and conducting them safely to the North; and his fight to keep -Kansas free, could not have succeeded, but for the support of such men -as Frederick Douglass. Captain Brown’s experiences and adventures here -strengthened his conviction that his plans for the invasion of Virginia -were right. He had studied the mountain ranges and was satisfied in his -own mind that the “Almighty had raised those mountains for the very -purpose of aiding him to strike a death blow to slavery.” The -correspondence between the two men continued and the black leader was -well informed of every movement. Brown never ceased to urge the ex-slave -to join him, both in drawing up a constitution for future use and in the -actual fighting. Indeed he had so exalted an opinion of Douglass’s -influence that it was believed the slaves in Virginia and other parts of -the South would rise _en masse_ if they knew that he was a part of this -rescuing army. - -About three weeks before the assault at Harper’s Ferry, while John Brown -was at Chambersburg, making final arrangements for his attack, he sent -an urgent letter to Douglass, begging a conference. The latter knew that -this was a perilous step and would certainly implicate him in the -conspiracy when the crash of failure came; yet he ignored the danger and -responded. He speaks of this last visit to the old warrior, in part, as -follows: - -“I approached the old quarry with a good deal of caution, for John Brown -was generally armed and regarded strangers with suspicion. He was there -under ban of the government and heavy rewards were offered for his -arrest for several offenses which he is said to have committed in -Kansas. He was then passing under the name of John Smith. As I came near -him, he regarded me rather suspiciously, but soon recognized me and -received me cordially. He had in his hand, when I met him, fishing -tackle, with which he had been fishing in a stream hard by, but I saw no -fish.... The fishing was simply a disguise and was certainly a good one. -He looked in 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 quarry itself, -his present dwelling-place. His face wore an anxious expression and he -was much worn by exposure. I felt that I was on a dangerous mission and -was as little desirous of discovery as himself.” - -Captains Brown, Kage, Shields Green and Mr. Douglass sat down to hold a -council of war. The whole scheme of the proposed attack on Harper’s -Ferry and its capture was gone over without the slightest hint of -possible failure. Douglass opposed the plan as wholly impracticable and -fatal to all who might engage in it, but his arguments were promptly set -aside by Brown. “He was not to be shaken by anything I could say, but -treated my views respectfully. The debate continued during Saturday and -Sunday. Brown was for striking a blow that would arouse the country, and -I, for the policy of gradually and secretly drawing off the slaves to -the mountains, as at first suggested by Brown himself.” In the most -fervent manner he urged Mr. Douglass to remain and take part in the -fight. Just before the latter’s departure, Brown threw his arm around -the black man’s neck 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 will begin to swarm, and I shall want you to help hive them.” - -The colored leader did not yield to the entreaty. Brown was incapable of -seeing the death-trap that he had set for himself and his followers, and -even if he could have seen it, he would not have been moved from his -determination. A thousand men might have followed him and all have -perished, but there could have been but one martyr, and that was -himself. Mr. Douglass’s death would have been a wanton sacrifice, -because it would have meant nothing to the cause for which he had -contributed so much of his life during the previous twenty-five years. -He had a right to feel, as his subsequent career so abundantly proved, -that his work was not finished. Of all the Abolitionists he was the only -one who followed Brown to the last with advice, money, and other -assistance. Because of what he had already done, and especially in this -final conference at Chambersburg, he became amenable, as afterward -appeared, to the charge of treason. - -When the news was flashed over the land that John Brown was captured, -the whole country was thrown into a state of great excitement. In -Virginia the conclusion was quickly reached that the raid was backed by -a wide-spread conspiracy and that men high in rank were implicated. Mr. -Douglass at the time was addressing a large audience in Philadelphia. If -he had any fear for himself, he did not show it. By lingering in the -state so near the borders of slavery, where he had just been in -conference with the head and front of the movement, he was in imminent -danger. Brown’s satchel, now in the hands of the officials, contained -much of Douglass’s correspondence. His friends were apprehensive and -insisted upon his immediate flight from Philadelphia to his home in -Rochester, and thence to Canada. As a matter of precaution, the -following telegram was sent by his friend, Miss Assing, to Rochester: - -“B. F. Blackall, Esq.: Tell Lewis [Douglass’s eldest son] to secure all -the important papers in my desk.” - -All the newspapers stated that the Federal Government would spare no -pains to run down and arrest every one who was in any way connected with -the conspiracy. It would have been gratifying to those in power to have -laid hands on Frederick Douglass and to have made an example of him, -because he was regarded as one of the most offensive of those who fought -slavery. That his friends were not unduly anxious for his safety is also -proven by the following copy of a letter signed by the Governor of -Virginia and sent to the President: - - “(Confidential.) - - “RICHMOND, VA., NOV. 13, 1859. - - “_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 -affidavits, 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 reclamation of the person so charged, are Benjamin M. Morris and -William N. Kelly. The latter has the requisition and will wait on you to -the end of obtaining nominal authority as post-office agents. They need -to be very secretive in this matter, and some pretext for traveling -through this dangerous section for the execution of the laws in this -behalf, and some protection against obtrusive, unruly, or lawless -violence. If it be proper to do so, 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 repass without question, delay, or hindrance? - - “Respectfully submitted, - “By your obedient servant, - “HENRY A. WISE.” - -Mr. Douglass was fairly pushed into Canada by his friends, but the -determination to get hold of him was so strong that he was not regarded -as safe even there. It would not have been impossible to effect some -plan for arresting him so long as he remained so close to his native -land. It was decided therefore that he must again go to England. He had -already planned this trip, but the interesting events that culminated in -the Harper’s Ferry tragedy had delayed his departure. - -Mr. Douglass stated publicly that he would be perfectly willing to be -tried anywhere in New York State, but not elsewhere. He took passage for -England from Quebec on the 12th day of November, 1859, and was -everywhere received with the old-time cordiality. As he was fresh from -the scenes and events that had stirred the English almost as much as the -American people, he was in great demand for more complete information. -He had occasion to deliver many addresses and it was everywhere manifest -that he had lost none of his former prestige. The only setback he -suffered was when he applied to George M. Dallas, the American Minister -to the Court of St. James, for a passport for the purpose of visiting -Paris. He was refused on the ground that he was not a citizen of the -United States. His visit was cut short by the distressing news of the -death of his beloved little daughter, Anna, the delight and life of his -home, his absence having covered only five months. He returned to find -the public temper toward him mollified by the swift happenings of a -season which was marked by incessant change in the currents of popular -feeling. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - FOREBODINGS OF THE CRISIS - - -The ten years from 1850 to 1860 were years of cumulative danger to the -republic and to the principles of liberty and democracy upon which it -was founded. For the Negro these years contained more of perils than of -hopes. The great historical events growing out of the conflict between -the pro-slavery and the anti-slavery parties appeared to have set the -goal of emancipation ever farther out of the range of practical -possibilities. The Fugitive Slave Law seemed for a time to put an end to -all hopes for further rescues from bondage. The Dred Scott Decision made -every Negro, free or slave, an outlaw. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill -threatened to render slavery so thoroughly national that Abolition would -be forever impossible. Finally, the John Brown raid intensified, for a -time, the hatred toward the colored people and their friends in the -North. - -But the success of the pro-slavery party was more apparent than real. It -had gained merely a tactical victory. All the deeper currents of the -nation’s life were running counter to it. The raid excited the horror of -the people. Even men active as Abolitionists denounced the acts of John -Brown as both foolhardy and wicked. It seemed for a time that every one -prominent in social and political life in the North was anxious publicly -to disavow all share in what was described as a “reckless and fanatical” -deed. But John Brown’s raid did not bring the people of the North and -South any nearer together. On the contrary, it merely widened the breach -between them. The North might disclaim this act, but the people of the -opposite section were not satisfied with these disclaimers. It seemed to -them that behind John Brown was a great conspiracy, and that the North, -having determined to make a nullity of the Fugitive Slave Law, was -preparing to follow it up with still more daring efforts to free the -slaves at any cost. - -Brown was hurried to the gallows, but not before an effort was made to -implicate in his crime men who were prominent as Abolitionists. It has -already been shown what steps were taken to capture Frederick Douglass. -A Congressional committee was appointed for the purpose of thoroughly -investigating the whole matter, but it accomplished nothing. It is -scarcely necessary to say that the death of Brown produced an impression -throughout the country quite as profound as that already created by his -“raid.” The execution changed public sentiment at once. People now began -to feel and to say that the cause, and not the man, had been on trial -when he was found guilty. The sentence of death passed by the Virginia -court transformed Brown in the eyes of a great many Northern people into -a martyr and shed a halo over the cause for which he gave his life. -Emerson compared the gallows of Virginia to the cross in Palestine. All -through the North the people began to sing the song that continued to be -a favorite throughout the Civil War: - - “John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave, - But his soul is marching on.” - -The panic-stricken friends of freedom recovered their spirits and -renewed their attacks with increased vigor. To quote from Frederick -Douglass: “John Brown’s defeat was already assuming the form of victory, -and his death was giving new life and power to the principles of justice -and liberty. What he had lost by the sword, he had more than gained by -the truth.” - -The people of the South all through this controversy had shown -themselves correct interpreters of public sentiment. They clearly saw -that the execution of John Brown did not put an end to the cause of -Abolition. This reckless act of invasion was merely typical of what was -possible on a scale of vaster proportions. In spite of everything that -had been achieved by law and by decisions of the Supreme Court, the -trend of feeling in the North was steadily against slavery. In spite of -the Fugitive Slave Law and an increasing vigilance on the part of -masters and their agents, the Underground Railroad continued its -business of carrying slave-property to free soil. Charles Sumner’s -speech in the Senate added fresh interest to the cause of emancipation, -and the continued popularity of _Uncle Tom’s Cabin_ was ominous. All -these disquieting circumstances boded some dreadful issue of the -controversy. The drift of events is best exhibited in the effects of the -Kansas-Nebraska Bill, already referred to. When this bill became a law, -as the consummation of the policy of Senator Stephen A. Douglas of -Illinois, the physical boundary between slavery and freedom, which many -had supposed to be fixed as firmly as the Declaration of Independence, -was swept away and all the vast empire of the west and northwest became -disputed ground between the forces of free soil and slavery. This act -gave effect to the new doctrines of state sovereignty. Whatever may have -been its purpose, the result was to unite the forces of the North and -South, pitting the two sections against each other in a struggle for -supremacy in the new territory. In outward appearance this new doctrine -was peaceful and sound, but it held dreadful possibilities. Expressed -plainly, the Kansas-Nebraska Law said that whether these new states -should be free or slave-states must be left to the people. It was for -them to vote slavery “up” or “down.” In other words, if the majority of -the people of these territories voted for slavery, it became, by their -sovereign will, an institution fixed and irrevocable; if not, slavery -was forever to be shut out, just as it was excluded from Massachusetts. - -The intensity of public interest in and anxiety for the future status of -these new states was shown in the instant rush into Kansas from New -England of colonists favorable to the cause of free soil, and from the -South of colonists favorable to the cause of slavery. Each side -appreciated how momentous was the issue. The people of Missouri and -other neighboring slave-states knew that it would be difficult, with a -free state adjoining them to hold their bond-servants in security. The -people of New England and other Northern states understood that the -political supremacy of the free-states would be forever lost if the -South were able to make slave-ground out of the western territory. - -It was an exciting contest and soon proved a gory one. Men from both -sections were expecting that the struggle would be attended with -bloodshed and they went out armed and prepared for it. Kansas, “bleeding -Kansas,” was a battle-ground. It is not necessary here to recount the -sanguinary incidents between the cohorts of emancipation and slavery in -this neutral territory. Suffice it to say that in the end the cause of -free soil triumphed and the contest was merely preliminary to a vaster -conflict of which it was a premonitory token. - -Before and during these stormy events in Kansas, there was in progress -an intellectual conflict which was destined to have a more serious -ending. This was the historic debates between Abraham Lincoln and -Stephen A. Douglas, both of Illinois. More clearly, perhaps than any -other one event, this round of speeches formulated the issue which -divided the American people politically on the question of slavery. It -revealed to the nation a man who gave to them, for the first time, a -frank and clear-cut definition of the issue to which it had been brought -by the struggle. Lincoln said in effect: “The Union cannot long endure, -half-slave and half-free. It must be all one or all the other, and the -public mind can find no resting-place but in the ultimate extinction of -slavery.” - -Of course, this was but a reiteration of what had been repeatedly said -by the Abolitionists during the past twenty-five years, but coming now -at a time when there was an unconscious groping of the popular mind -toward a definite issue for public action, these clear words seemed to -be charged with meaning of tremendous importance. The people of the -whole country listened to these Illinois debaters with an interest that -seemed prescient of coming events. As the debate progressed, Mr. Lincoln -seemed to rise visibly and steadily from the western provincial -obscurity he had lived in up to this point, to a prominence in which he -appeared for the time to overshadow every one else who had spoken on the -great question. The immediate prize to be won in the debate was a seat -in the United States Senate; but before its close, this sank into -insignificance, and the presidency of the United States, the -preservation of the Union, and the fate of slavery, had become the -stakes of the contest. - -The issues in the coming election already began to shape themselves -along the lines enunciated by Mr. Lincoln and Senator Douglas. In due -time new political alignments were completed as follows: - -(1) The pro-slavery and Union Democrats of the North stood for state -sovereignty, or the right of the people of a territory to admit or bar -slavery as they saw fit. Senator Douglas was the unquestioned leader of -this wing of the Democratic party. - -(2) The pro-slavery people of the South stood for the bold declaration -that the Constitution of its own force gave the right to carry slaves -into any territory of the United States and to hold them there, with or -without the consent of the people of the territory. John C. Breckinridge -was the leader of the Southern wing of the Democracy. - -(3) Abraham Lincoln was chosen to bear the standard of all the people -who were opposed to both varieties of pro-slavery Democrats. His -doctrine was that the Federal Government had the right to exclude -slavery from the territories of the United States, and that this right -and power ought to be exercised to keep slavery within the confines of -the then existing slave-states. - -It will be seen that emancipation was not an issue on the surface of -these declarations of principles. The whole question appeared to be: -Shall slavery have the power of expansion? If this power were denied, -could there be any doubt as to what must ultimately follow? If the -people feared the power of slavery to such an extent that they would or -could keep it within a restricted territory, would not this principle, -when successful, be the first step toward its extirpation? The South -more clearly than the North understood that the triumph of Mr. Lincoln -would settle nothing. Beneath these platform utterances was the -unwritten issue: Slavery’s security of expansion, or its “ultimate -extinction.” If the South won in the impending contest, not only would -slavery be secured by the right of its extension into the undivided -territory west of the Mississippi, but political supremacy might pass -permanently from the free-states. - -The position of Stephen A. Douglas and his followers was rather -anomalous. As the Senator at one time expressed it, he cared not whether -the question of extending slavery into the territories was “voted up or -voted down”; with him the important thing seemed to be that the people -of the new territory should have the opportunity to vote on the question -and decide for themselves the character of their institutions. - -Mr. Lincoln’s followers represented nearly everything left of the spirit -that was glorified in the Declaration of Independence and the Revolution -of 1776. Those who would preserve the soil of the West free; those who -would not only restrict, but abolish slavery altogether; and those who -would endow the Negro with all the proclaimed natural rights of man, -supported Lincoln. - -The situation was complicated as well as perilous. Heretofore, when the -only question between the North and the South was slavery or the right -to hold slaves, the people of the North were governed as much by their -racial prejudices as the Southern people. Now, however, when other -questions, incidental to slavery, as, for instance, the future political -supremacy, were involved with the main issue, many men and women, who -had heretofore been indifferent or silent, became actively concerned, -and felt impelled to take a definite stand. There seems never to have -been any possibility of the North and South going to war on account of -Negro slavery. It was at this time clear from the whole history of the -controversy that if the Negro were ever to be free, his freedom must -come as a consequence and not as the cause of a conflict. - -Probably no man in public life saw this more clearly than Frederick -Douglass. He was just as much a part of the history in the process of -making, all about him, as he was permitted to be. He had his say and was -heard. He understood the trend of events and he was not swept away by -merely transitory incidents. In all this controversy he sought -constantly, in his speeches, and in his paper, _Douglass’s Monthly_, to -lift into clear view the paramount issue. The following extract from one -of his speeches indicates the clearness with which he saw, and the -definiteness with which he was able to foreshadow the events of the next -succeeding years: - -“The only choice left to this nation is abolition or destruction. You -must abolish slavery or abandon the Union. It is plain that there can -never be any union between the North and South, while the South values -slavery more than nationality. A union of interests is essential to a -union of ideas and without this union of ideas, the outer form of union -will be but as a rope of sand.” - -During the Illinois debates, Frederick Douglass did all he could to -enforce the arguments and extend the steadily growing influence of Mr. -Lincoln. He made an extensive campaign in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa. -His audiences were large and interested, being eager to hear any man who -could speak with the distinction, clearness, and frankness that -characterized his public utterances. He had grown in esteem and the -mob-spirit that tried to harass him in his earlier campaigns in the West -had given way before his increasing influence and popularity. Once in -Illinois he met Senator Douglas, who treated him with marked courtesy. - -In 1854, Frederick Douglass delivered an address in Chicago which ranks -as one of his greatest orations. Frederick May Holland, who has already -been referred to as the author of a valuable biography of the Negro -leader, has given to the public, for the first time, I believe, nearly -all of this interesting speech. The reproduction of at least a part of -it seems essential to this chapter: - - “The Constitution knows no man by the color of his skin. The men who - made it were too noble for any such limitation of humanity and human - rights. The term ‘white’ is a modern term in the legislation of this - country. It was never used in the better days of our republic, but has - sprung up within the period of our national degeneracy. - - “I am here simply as an American citizen, having a stake in the weal - or woe of the nation in common with other citizens. I am not here as - the agent of any sect or party. Parties are too politic and sects are - too sectarian, to select one of my odious class and of my radical - opinions, at this important time and place, to represent them. - Nevertheless, I do not stand alone here. There are noble-minded men in - Illinois who are neither ashamed of their cause nor their company. - Some of them are here to-night, and I expect to meet them in every - part of the state where I may travel. - - “But, I pray, hold no man or party responsible for my words, for I am - no man’s agent, and I am no party’s agent.... It is alleged that I - came here in this state to insult Senator Douglas. Among gentlemen - that is only an insult that is intended to be such, and I disavow all - such intention. I am here precisely as I was in this state one year - ago—with no other change in my relations to you, or the great question - of human freedom, than time and circumstances have brought about. I - shall deal with the same subject with the same spirit now as then, - approving such men and such measures as look to the security of - liberty in the land and with my whole heart condemning such men and - measures as serve to subvert or endanger it. If Hon. S. A. Douglas, - your beloved and highly gifted senator, has designedly or through - mistaken notions of public policy, ranged himself on the side of - oppressors, and the deadliest enemies of liberty, I know of no reason, - either in this world or in any other world, which should prevent me or - any one else, from thinking so or saying so. - - “The people in whose cause I came here to-night are not among those - whose right to regulate their own domestic concerns is so feelingly, - and earnestly, and eloquently contended for in certain quarters. They - have no Stephen A. Douglas, no General Cass, to contend at North - Market Hall for their popular sovereignty. They have no national - purse, no offices, no reputation with which to corrupt Congress, or to - tempt men, mighty in eloquence and influence into their service. Oh, - no! They have nothing to commend them, but their unadorned humanity. - They are human—that’s all—only human. Nature owns them as human; but - men own them as property, and only as property. Every right of human - nature, as such, is denied them; they are dumb in their chains. To - utter one groan or scream for freedom in the presence of the Southern - advocate of popular sovereignty, is to bring down the frightful lash - upon their quivering flesh. I know this suffering people; I am - acquainted with their sorrows; I am one with them in experience; I - have felt the lash of the slave-driver, and stand up here with all the - bitter recollections of its horrors vividly upon me. - - “There are special reasons why I should speak and speak freely. The - right of speech is a very precious one. I understand that Mr. Douglas - regards himself as the most abused man in the United States; and that - the greatest outrage ever committed upon him was in the case in which - your indignation raised your voices so high that he could not be - heard. No personal violence, as I understand, was offered him. It - seems to have been a trial of vocal powers between the individual and - the multitude; and as might have been expected, the voice of one man - was not equal in volume to the voices of five thousand. I do not - mention this circumstance to approve it; I do not approve it. I am for - free speech, as well as free men and free soil; but how ineffably - insignificant is this wrong done in a single instance, compared to the - stupendous iniquity perpetrated against more than three millions of - the American people, who are struck dumb by the very men in whose - cause Mr. Senator Douglas was here to plead! While I would not approve - the silencing of Mr. Douglas, may we not hope that this slight - abridgment of his rights, may lead him to respect in some degree the - rights of other men, as good in the eye of Heaven as himself? - - “Let us now consider the great question of the age, the only great - national question which seriously agitates the public mind at this - hour. It is called the vexed question, and excites alarm in every - quarter of the country. - - “The proposition to repeal the Missouri Compromise, was a stunning - one. It fell upon the nation like a bolt from a cloudless sky. The - thing was too startling for belief. You believed in the South and you - believed in the North; and you knew that the repeal of the Missouri - Compromise was a breach of honor; and therefore, you said that the - thing could not be done. Besides both parties had pledged themselves - directly, positively, and solemnly against reopening in Congress the - agitation on the subject of slavery; and the President himself had - declared his intention to maintain the national quiet. Upon these - assurances you rested and rested fatally. But you should have learned - long ago that men do not gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles. - It is folly to put faith in men who have broken faith with God. When a - man has brought himself to enslave a child of God, to put fetters on - his brother, he has qualified himself to disregard the most sacred of - compacts; beneath the sky there is nothing more sacred than man, and - nothing can be properly respected when manhood is despised and - trampled upon. - - “It is said that slavery is the creature of positive law, and that it - can only exist where it is sustained by positive law—that neither in - Kansas nor Nebraska is there any law establishing slavery, and that - therefore, the moment a slave-holder carries his slaves into these - territories, he is free and restored to the rights of human nature. - This is the ground taken by General Cass. He contended for it in the - North Market Hall, with much eloquence and skill. I thought, while I - was hearing him on this point, that slave-holders would not be likely - to thank him for the argument. It is not true that slavery cannot - exist without being established by positive law. The instance cannot - be shown where a law was ever made establishing slavery, where the - relation of master and slave did not previously exist. The law is - always an after-coming consideration. Wicked men first overpower and - subdue their fellow-men to slavery, and then call in the law to - sanction the deed. Even in the slave-states of America, slavery has - never been established by law. It was not established under the - colonial charters of the original states, nor the Constitution of the - United States. It is now and has always been a system of lawless - violence. On this proposition I hold myself ready and willing to meet - any defender of the Nebraska bill. I would not hesitate to meet even - the author of that bill himself. - - “He says he wants no broad, black line across this continent. Such a - line is odious, and begets unkind feelings between the citizens of a - common country. Now, fellow citizens, why is the line of thirty-six - degrees, thirty minutes, a broad black line? What is it that entitles - it to be called a black line? It is the fashion to call whatever is - odious in this country, black. You call the devil black, and he may - be; but what is there in the line of thirty-six degrees, thirty - minutes, which makes it blacker than the line which separates Illinois - from Missouri or Michigan from Indiana? I can see nothing in the line - itself which should make it black or odious. It is a line, that’s all. - It is black, black and odious, not because it is a line, but because - of the things it separates. If it keep asunder what God has joined - together, or separate what God intended should be fused, then it may - be called an odious line, a black line; but if, on the other hand, it - marks only a distinction natural and eternal, a distinction fixed in - the nature of things by the eternal God, then I say, withered be the - arm and blasted be the hand that would blot it out. - - “Nothing could be further from the truth, then, to say that popular - sovereignty is accorded to the people who may settle the territories - of Kansas and Nebraska. The three great cardinal powers of government - are the executive, legislative and judicial. Are these powers sacred - to the people of Kansas and Nebraska? You know they are not. That bill - places the people of that territory, as completely under the powers of - the Federal government as Canada is under British rule. By this - Kansas-Nebraska Bill, the Federal government has the substance of all - governing power, while the people have the shadow. The judicial power - of the territories is not from the people of the territories, who are - so bathed in the sunlight of popular sovereignty by stump eloquence, - but from the Federal government. The executive power of the - territories derives its existence, not from the overflowing fountain - of popular sovereignty, but from the Federal government. The - secretaries of the territories are not appointed by the sovereign - people of the territories, but are appointed independent of popular - sovereignty. - - “But is there nothing in this bill that justifies the supposition that - it contains the principle of popular sovereignty? No, not one word. - Even the territorial councils, elected, not by the people of the - territory, but only by certain descriptions of people, are subject to - a double veto power, vested, first in the governor, whom they did not - elect, and second in the President of the United States. The only - shadow of popular sovereignty is the power given to the people of the - territories by this bill to have, hold, buy, and sell human beings. - The sovereign right to make slaves of their fellow-men, if they - choose, is the only sovereignty that the bill secures. - - “But it may be said that Congress has the right to allow the people of - the territories to hold slaves. The answer is, that Congress is made - up of men, and possesses only the rights of men; and unless it can be - shown that some men have a right to hold their fellow-men as property, - Congress has no such right. There is not a man within the sound of my - voice, who has not as good a right to enslave a brother man, as - Congress has. This will not be denied, even by slave-holders. - - “Error may be new, or it may be old, since it is founded in a - misapprehension of what truth is. It has its beginnings; and its - endings. But not so truth. Truth is eternal. Like the great God, from - whose throne it emanates, it is from everlasting to everlasting, and - can never pass away. Such a truth is man’s right to freedom. He was - born with it. It was his before he comprehended it. The title deed to - it was written by the Almighty on His heart; and the record of it is - in the bosom of the Eternal; and never can Stephen A. Douglas efface - it, unless he can tear from the great heart of God this truth; and - this mighty government of ours will never be at peace with God, unless - it shall practically and universally embrace this great truth as the - fountain of all its institutions, and the rule of its entire - administration.... - - “Now, gentlemen—I have done. I have no fear for the ultimate triumph - of free principles in this country. The signs of the times are - propitious. Victories have been won by slavery; but they have never - been won against the onward march of anti-slavery principles. The - progress of these principles has been constant, steady, strong and - certain. Every victory won by slavery has had the effect to fling our - principles more widely and favorably among the people. The annexation - of Texas, the Florida war, the war with Mexico, the Compromise - Measures, and the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, have all signally - vindicated the wisdom of the great God, who has promised to override - the wickedness of men for His own glory—to confound the wisdom of the - crafty and bring to naught the counsels of the ungodly.” - -The nomination, in 1860, of Mr. Lincoln by the Republican party, of -Stephen A. Douglas by the Northern Democracy, and of John C. -Breckinridge by the Southern Democracy, brought on that memorable -campaign which preceded the final collision between the North and the -South. - -“Into the fight,” says Frederick Douglass, “I threw myself, with a firm -faith and more ardent hope than ever before, and what I could do by pen -and voice was done with a will. The most memorable feature of the -canvass, was that it was prosecuted under the shadow of a threat.” - -The followers of Breckinridge had boldly announced that if they were -defeated, they would not submit to the rule of Abraham Lincoln, but -would proceed to take the slave-states out of the Union. This threat of -secession was not a new one, but, coming, as it did, after the failure -to make Kansas a slave-state, it created something like a panic in the -North. It served for the moment to divert public opinion from political -issues to the very grave possibility of national disruption. - -In spite of this openly declared purpose on the part of the Southern -Democracy, the Republican party, made up in part of Whigs, the old -“Liberty” and “Free Soil” parties, and a large number of the -Abolitionists, elected Abraham Lincoln as President of the United -States. - -It was a signal victory, but it brought with it little comfort, more -anxiety, and many grave responsibilities. The people of the North were -desirous of peace, and so were the people of the South; but to agree on -terms was difficult. While the North, in the presence of a great triumph -was worried and anxious, the South openly and resolutely began to -prepare for secession and war. When, in the early part of the -presidential canvass, the South notified the nation what it would do in -case of defeat, the threat was generally accepted as mere bluster. No -sooner was the result of the election known than there began to -accumulate evidence which indicated that this threat was backed by a -very positive determination to carry it out. The states south of the -Ohio prepared to leave the Union in orderly procession, as if secession -were a familiar and undisputed custom. The administration, under -President Buchanan, saw the process of national dismemberment go on and -merely declared that it could find no power in the Constitution to -coerce a state. In the presence of this unchallenged dissolution of the -Union, the North fairly quaked with fear. An opinion which favored -almost any kind of compromise that would save the country from the -horrors of civil war gained wide influence. While the South was -confident of its strength to maintain itself in its present course, it -did finally and with apparent reluctance, indicate a few of the -conditions on which it would agree to remain in the Union. Among these -were the following: - -Each Northern state, through its legislature or in convention assembled, -should repeal all laws which tended to impair the constitutional rights -of the South. - -It should pass laws for the easy and prompt execution of the Fugitive -Slave Law. - -Laws should be passed imposing penalties on all malefactors, who should -hereafter encourage the escape of fugitive slaves. - -Laws should be passed declaring and protecting the rights of -slave-holders to travel and sojourn in Northern states, accompanied by -their slaves. - -Every state should instruct its representatives and senators in Congress -to repeal the law prohibiting the sale of slaves in the District of -Columbia, and pass laws sufficient for the full protection of slave -property in the territories of the Union. - -These conditions, offered by the South, could not be heartily approved -by the people who had just won such a decided victory on an issue -involving these very conditions. Yet there was a decided wave of popular -feeling in favor of peace upon any terms. Men of positive convictions -and eminent in all walks of life—William H. Seward, H. B. Anthony, and -Joshua R. Giddings—were now ready to purchase it at almost any price. -The enthusiasm for emancipation and free soil that had so stirred the -North during the presidential campaign, began to wane, and so serious a -reaction set in that, for a time, it seemed likely to make barren the -Republican victory. Not only so, but the mob-spirit of the ’30’s was -reawakened, and Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick -Douglass, and their supporters were assaulted on the streets of Boston. -The people of the North refused to tolerate further agitation against -slavery, and were desirous, in every possible way, to appease the anger -of the other section. Committees were appointed to confer with -representatives of the South for the purpose of obtaining a better -understanding of their grievances. - -Thus, while the North seemed anxious to recede from almost every -position it had won in the recent election, the South was too confident -of its strength and of the justice of its cause to give much -encouragement to the messengers of peace from the other side. The -situation just described is an interesting illustration of the -characteristic difference between the people of the North and the South -on every question in which the Negro was involved. The North was very -reluctant to make slavery an issue; the South was always willing to be -challenged on that issue. In the North, the Negro was a problem; in the -South, he was property. It is always easier to deal with property than -to deal with a problem. For example: In the Kansas and Nebraska -controversy, the South wanted territory for slave-property, and the -North wanted it as an outlet for New England emigrants. If the only -question involved had been to save the black man from further -enslavement, the South would very possibly have won. In other words, -interest in the Negro as a human being, deserving a chance to live and -grow, was not the only and perhaps not the immediate motive behind the -men who fought for free soil. Slavery was fundamental and therefore, -from the point of view of party politics, a dangerous issue. There were -men in the North and also in the South who for conscience’ sake would -like to have seen the Negro emancipated, but the nation was not yet -ready for it. It involved consequences so vast and so far-reaching that -the mass of the people hesitated and were afraid. In the state of the -country at that time, the political parties of the North were anxious to -make it appear to the South that they had little or no concern about the -Negro, either as a freeman or a slave. Their great anxiety was to save -the Union. Mr. Lincoln was politically wise enough to state that his -administration was in no way committed to emancipation or to anything -else that looked to a change in the condition of the Negro people. He -would save the Union with or without slavery. He would very likely have -found himself lacking in national confidence or support, had he failed -to make this declaration. - -When the South decided to go out of the Union, it furnished the -President with the one thing needed and that was a platform on which he -could unite the people of the North. When his policy was distinctly the -preservation of the government, Free Soil Democrats, Abolitionists, and -all believers in an undivided country, came at his call. All sentiment -in favor of emancipation served only to swell the passionate appeal to -the national feeling to save the Union. The Negro’s only hope was that, -in this threatened conflict to preserve intact the federation of the -states, his emancipation might become an inevitable necessity. - -Frederick Douglass expressed this hope in the following language: “I -confess to a feeling allied to satisfaction at the prospect of a -conflict between the North and South. Standing outside of the pale of -American humanity, denied citizenship, unable to call this land of my -birth my country, and adjudged by the Supreme Court to have no rights -which a white man was bound to respect, and longing for the end of -bondage for my people, I was ready for any political upheaval that would -bring about an end to the existing condition of things.” - - - - - CHAPTER XII - DOUGLASS’S SERVICES IN THE CIVIL WAR - - -The Civil War came on as the direct result of the irreconcilable -sentiments of the North and the South on the question of slavery and the -political conflicts already mentioned. On the part of the South, it was -begun and waged with marvelous courage and intelligence to preserve -slavery and to establish the right of secession; and on the part of the -North, to preserve the Union, and the right of Congress to deal with -slavery as a national issue. During the first two years of the war, the -Federal Government did and said everything possible to convince the -people of the South that the new Republican party had no intention, near -or remote, of interfering with slavery. At the very beginning of -hostilities, William H. Seward, Secretary of State, declared to the -nations of the world that “terminate however it might, the status of no -class of people of the United States would be changed by the Rebellion; -that the slaves would be slaves still and that the masters would be -masters still.” This policy was consistently followed in the field of -military operations, as well as in the civil administration of the -government. - -General McClellan, Commander-in-Chief of the Union Army, early in the -conflict, warned the slaves that “if any attempt was made by them to -gain their freedom, it would be suppressed by an iron hand.” In many -places Union soldiers were detailed to guard the plantations of Southern -slave-owners. In parts of the South in possession of the Federal army, -black fugitives, who had found their way into the lines, were returned -to their masters by order of the commanding officers. The following is a -copy of the proclamation issued by General T. W. Sherman at Port Royal -in November, 1861: - -“In obedience to the order of the President of these United States of -America, I have landed on your shores with a small force of national -troops. The dictates of duty which, under the Constitution, I owe to a -great sovereign state, and to a proud and hospitable people, among whom -I have passed some of the pleasantest days of my life, prompt me to -proclaim that we have come among you with no feelings of personal -animosity; no desire to harm your citizens, destroy your property or -interfere with your lawful rights or your social and local institutions -beyond what the cause herein briefly attended to, may render -unavoidable.” - -This proclamation is typical of those issued by General John A. Dix, -General Burnside, and other Union commanders in different parts of the -South. All this was in perfect accord with President Lincoln’s -oft-repeated declaration, that his paramount object was to save the -Union and not to save or destroy slavery. “If I could save the Union, -without freeing the slaves, I would do it,” said he. “If I could do it -by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I -do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps -to save the Union, and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not -believe it would help to save the Union.... I have here stated my -purpose according to my views of official duty, and I intend no -modification of my oft-expressed wish that all men everywhere could be -free.” - -This declaration of President Lincoln was reflected in every act of -every agency of his administration. It gave the cause of the Union a -spirit and character wholly apart from the cause of Emancipation. It is -needless to say that this attitude of the Federal government was not -pleasing to the Abolitionists, and the colored people in the free-states -were much disheartened. Horace Greeley voiced the impatience of this -element when, in a letter of complaint to the President, he said: “Every -hour of defense of slavery is an hour of added and deepened peril to the -Union;” and asked, “if the seeming subserviency of your policy to the -slave-holding, slavery-upholding interests, is not the perplexity and -the despair of statesmen of all parties?” - -In spite of the seeming pro-slavery policy of the national -administration, Frederick Douglass was earnestly consecrating every -energy of his being to the President’s support. He was wise enough to -understand that if Lincoln in the beginning, had stated his policy to -be, not only to save the Union, but also to free the slaves, all would -have been lost. While other Abolitionists were impatient and doubtful of -Mr. Lincoln’s course, Douglass declared himself convinced that the war, -even though it be called a “white man’s war,” was nevertheless the -beginning of the end of the nation’s great evil. He still believed, and -so declared in his public speeches, that “the mission of the war was the -liberation of the slaves as well as the salvation of the Union.” “I -reproached the North,” he said, “that they fought with one hand, while -they might strike more effectively with two; that they fought with the -soft white hand, while they kept the black iron hand chained and -helpless behind them; that they fought the effect, while they protected -the cause; and said that the Union cause would never prosper until the -war assumed an anti-slavery attitude and the Negro was enlisted on the -side of the Union.” - -It required time and the cumulation of events to bring about a state of -feeling that would tolerate the suggestion of using colored men in the -Union army. Mr. Douglass more than any other one man, helped to bring -about this change. It finally became evident that if the Negroes were -good enough to be employed in the Confederate ranks, as laborers, they -ought to be good enough for like service in the Union lines. In the -South, thousands of Negroes were at home, protecting the families of the -men who fought in the field, and raising crops as subsistence for the -Confederate soldiers and their wives and children; thousands more were -employed in building fortifications, digging trenches, and doing work -which otherwise would have had to be done by the men who were needed at -the front; and, anomalous as it may seem, a few colored men, it is said, -were actually enrolled and enlisted as soldiers in the Confederate army, -fighting for their own continued enslavement. The following account was -published of a procession of Southern troops in New Orleans in November, -1861: “Over 28,000 troops were reviewed by Governor Moore, Major-General -Scoville, and Brigadier-General Ruggles. The line was over seven miles -long. One regiment comprised 1,400 free colored men.”[4] - -Footnote 4: - - Greeley: _The American Conflict_, Vol. II, p. 522. - -It was expedient that the government, in enlisting Negroes, should move -with extreme caution, not only to prevent undue irritation of Southern -feeling, but what was more serious, to avoid offending the deep-seated -prejudice against colored people in the North. It was rightly believed -that thousands of white men would refuse to enlist if Negroes were to -serve in the army on an even footing with them. Then again, the border -states, which were more or less favorable to the Union, would be -irrevocably lost to it. In due time, however, all objections were swept -aside by the pressure of black men themselves and by the needs of the -government. - -Correspondents from the seat of war began to tell how a Negro regiment -at Port Royal, and certain Negro companies in Louisiana had conducted -themselves in battles for the Union, and these accounts dispelled all -doubts as to their fighting capacity. The early orders by the government -to return all fugitive slaves to their masters were no longer issued. -General Benjamin P. Butler announced that he would regard all fugitive -slaves, finding their way into his lines, as “contraband of war.” -Colored men were being employed extensively as laborers in building -fortifications, roads, entrenchments, and as cooks and other necessary -workers in support of the army. Their usefulness was so manifest that -prejudice gradually gave way to a more kindly feeling of respect. When -the white Union troops thus recognized the services, kindness, and -faithfulness of these black men, they were soon willing to tolerate them -in their ranks. - -Mr. Douglass eagerly assisted in the formation of the first regularly -organized regiments of United States colored troops, the Fifty-fourth -and Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Infantry Volunteers. Governor Andrew, an -ardent Abolitionist, was justly proud of this important experiment, and -said: “I stand or fall as a man and a magistrate with the rise or fall -in the history of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts.” Colonel Robert Gould -Shaw, who commanded the regiment, was one of the noblest sons of this -freedom-loving commonwealth. - -In order to satisfy any lingering misgivings that the people might have -concerning this step by the government, it was stated that the regiments -to be enlisted would not be put into active service, being held for -garrison duty in districts where yellow fever was prevalent. It was also -decided not to give them the same pay as that allowed to the white -troops. Negro soldiers were to receive only seven dollars per month. At -Fort Wagner the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts soon had an opportunity to -show what it could do. The conduct of the men was so brave that it put -an end to all further opposition to Negro enlistment. These colored -soldiers refused to accept any reward for their services until the -government was ready to pay them what it gave to other troops. They -continued to serve and fight for the honor of the flag and the -preservation of the Union until in the following year the country voted -full pay to its black defenders. The Massachusetts volunteers, and all -Negro regiments subsequently enlisted, were officered by white men. - -Mr. Douglass rendered valuable aid in getting together enough fit men -for the two New England regiments. His two sons, Lewis H. and Charles R. -Douglass, who are still living in Washington and are honored citizens, -were among the first to enlist. Their father’s influence with the -colored people of the country was so great that his services were almost -indispensable. He was distressed by the restrictions placed on these -soldiers, but said: “While I, of course, was deeply pained and saddened -by the estimate thus put upon my race, and grieved at the slowness of -heart which marked the conduct of the loyal government, I was not -discouraged, and urged every man who could enlist to get an eagle on his -button, a musket on his shoulder, and the star and spangle over his -head.” On March 2, 1863, he issued an appeal to his people which was in -part as follows: - - “Men of Color, To Arms. - - “When first the rebel cannon shattered the walls of Sumter and drove - away its starving garrison, I predicted that the war then and there - inaugurated would not be fought out entirely by white men. Every - month’s experience during these dreary years has confirmed that - opinion. I have implored the imperiled nation to unchain against her - foes her powerful black hand. Slowly and reluctantly that appeal is - beginning to be heeded. Stop not now to complain that it was not - heeded sooner. That it should not, may or may not have been best. This - is not the time to discuss that question. Leave it to the future. When - the war is over, the country saved, peace established, and the black - man’s rights are secured, as they will be, history with an impartial - hand will dispose of that and sundry other questions. Action! action! - not criticism, is the plain duty of this hour. Words are now useful - only as they stimulate to blows. The office of speech now is only to - point out when, where and how to strike to the best advantage. From - East to West, from North to South, the sky is written all over, ‘Now - or Never.’ Liberty won only by white men will lose half its lustre. - ‘Who would be free, must themselves strike the blow.’ ‘Better, even to - die free, than to live slaves.’ This is the sentiment of every brave - colored man amongst us. There are weak and cowardly men in all races. - We have them amongst us. They tell you this is a ‘white man’s war’; - that you will ‘be no better off after the war, than you were before - the war’; that the ‘getting of you into the army is to sacrifice you - on the first opportunity.’ Believe them not. Cowards themselves, they - do not wish to have their cowardice shamed by your example. Leave them - to their timidity, or to whatever motive may hold them back. I have - not thought lightly of the words I am now addressing to you. The - counsel I give comes of close observation of the great struggle now in - progress, and of the deep conviction that this is your hour and mine. - In good earnest, then, and after the best deliberation, I now, for the - first time during this war, feel at liberty to call and counsel you to - arms. By every consideration which binds you to your enslaved fellow - countrymen, and to the peace and welfare of your country; by every - aspiration which you cherish for the freedom and equality of - yourselves and your children; by all the ties of blood and identity - which make us one with the brave black men now fighting our battles in - Louisiana and in South Carolina, I urge you to fly to arms, and smite - with death the power that would bury the government and your liberty - in the same hopeless grave. I wish I could tell you that the state of - New York calls you to this high honor. For the moment her constituted - authorities are silent on the subject. They will speak by and by, and - doubtless on the right side, but we are not compelled to wait for her. - We can get at the throat of treason and slavery through the state of - Massachusetts. She was first in the War of Independence; first to - break the chains of her slaves; first to make the black man equal - before the law; first to admit colored children to her common schools; - and she was first to answer with her blood the alarm-cry of the - nation, when its capital was menaced by rebels. You know her patriotic - governor, and you know Charles Sumner. I need not add more. - - “Massachusetts now welcomes you to arms as soldiers. She has but a - small colored population from which to recruit. She has full leave of - the general government to send one regiment to the war, and she has - undertaken to do it. Go quickly and help fill up the first colored - regiment from the North. I am authorized to assure you that you will - receive the same wages, the same rations, the same equipments, the - same protection, the same treatment, and the same bounty, secured to - white soldiers. You will be led by able and skilful officers, men who - will take special pride in your efficiency and success. They will be - quick to accord to you all the honor you shall merit by your valor, - and to see that your rights and feelings are respected by other - soldiers. I have assured myself on these points. More than twenty - years of unswerving devotion to our common cause may give me some - humble claim to be trusted at this momentous crisis. I will not argue. - To do so implies hesitation and doubt, and you do not hesitate; you do - not doubt. The day dawns. The morning star is bright upon the horizon. - The iron gate of our prison stands half open. One gallant rush from - the North will fling it wide open, while four millions of our brothers - and sisters shall march out into liberty. - - “The chance is now given you to end in a day the bondage of centuries - and to rise in one bound from social degradation to the place of - common equality with all other varieties of men. Remember Denmark - Vesey, of Charleston; remember Shields Green, and Copeland, who - followed noble John Brown, and fell as glorious martyrs for the cause - of the slave. Remember that in a contest with oppression, the Almighty - has no attribute which can take sides with the oppressors. The case is - before you. This is our golden opportunity. Let us accept it and - forever wipe out the dark reproaches unsparingly hurled against us by - our enemies. Let us win for ourselves the gratitude of our country, - and the best blessings of our posterity through all time. The nucleus - of this first regiment is now in camp at Readville, a short distance - from Boston. I will undertake to forward to Boston all persons - adjudged fit to be mustered into the regiment, who shall apply to me - at once, or at any time within the next two weeks.” - -The immediate effect of the enlistment of colored troops in the Union -army was to call forth a feeling of resentment on the part of the white -soldiers of the South. It is asking too much of human nature to have -expected anything else. The prejudice instantly found official -expression in the proclamation by the Confederate government that it -would treat white officers of colored troops and colored soldiers when -captured, as felons; Negro Union prisoners would be shot or sent back to -slavery. This threat was literally carried out in several instances. For -nearly a year the Confederate armies pursued this course toward black -men who were caught wearing the uniform of a Union soldier. - -During all this time the Federal government was silent: no word of -protest and no threat of retaliation. Horace Greeley in the _Tribune_ -put the matter in strong terms when he stated that “every black soldier -now goes to battle with a halter about his neck.... The simple question -is, Shall we protect and insure to our Negro soldiers the ordinary -treatment of a prisoner of war? Every Negro yet captured has suffered -death or been sent back to the hell of slavery, from which he had -escaped.” - -The colored people in the North were for a time thoroughly discouraged. -The government, it seemed to them, put a low estimate upon them as -soldiers. When Mr. Douglass was appealed to by Major George L. Stearns, -an Abolitionist, and friend of John Brown, he expressed himself in part -as follows: - - “I am free to say, dear sir, that the case looks as if the confiding - colored soldiers had been betrayed into bloody hands by the government - in whose defense they had been so heroically fighting.... If the - President is ever to demand justice and humanity for black soldiers, - is not this the time for him to do it? How many Fifty-fourth men must - be cut to pieces, its mutilated prisoners killed and the living sold - into slavery or tortured to death by inches, before Mr. Lincoln shall - say, ‘Hold! Enough’?” - -Appeals of this kind finally had the effect of moving the government to -action. In order himself to be sure as to just what it intended to do, -and before inducing any other colored men to go to the front, Mr. -Douglass made up his mind to see the President personally. It was, at -this time, an unheard-of thing for a colored man to go to the White -House with a grievance, but he had many influential friends and admirers -in Washington, who assured him that he would be well treated. Senators -Sumner, Wilson, and Pomeroy; Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase, -Assistant Secretary of War Dana, all guaranteed him a safe passage into -Mr. Lincoln’s presence. Senator Pomeroy introduced Mr. Douglass, and -they soon found that they had much in common. The one had traveled a -long hard journey from the slave-cabin of Maryland, and the other a -thorny road from the scant and rugged life in Kentucky, to the high -position of President. The one was too great to be a slave, and the -other too noble to remain, in such a national crisis, a private citizen. -Mr. Douglass’s account of this historic interview with the President, -the first instance of the kind, I believe, in the history of the -country, is worth reproducing: - - “I was accompanied to the Executive Mansion and introduced to - President Lincoln by Senator Pomeroy. Long lines of care were already - deeply written on Mr. Lincoln’s brow, and his strong face lighted up - as soon as my name was mentioned. As I approached and was introduced - to him, he arose and extended his hand and bade me welcome. I at once - felt that I was 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 - 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 getting 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, in several respects, deal fairly with them. Mr. - Lincoln asked me to state particulars. I replied that there were three - particulars which I wished to bring to his attention. First, that - colored soldiers ought to receive the same wages as those paid to - white soldiers. Second, that colored soldiers ought to receive the - same protection when taken prisoners, and be exchanged as readily and - on the same terms as any other prisoners, and that, if Jefferson Davis - should shoot or hang colored soldiers in cold blood, the United States - government should, without delay, retaliate in kind and degree upon - Confederate soldiers in its hands as prisoners. Third, when colored - soldiers, seeking ‘the bubble reputation, at the cannon’s mouth’ - performed great and uncommon service on the battle-field, they should - be rewarded by distinction and promotion precisely as white soldiers - are rewarded for like services. - - “Mr. Lincoln listened with patience and silence to all I had to say. - He was serious and even troubled by what I had said and by what he - himself had evidently before thought upon the same points. He, by his - silent listening, not less than by his earnest reply to my words, - impressed me with the solid gravity of his character. - - “He began by saying that the employment of colored troops at all was a - great gain to the colored people; that the measure could not have been - successfully adopted at the beginning of the war; that the wisdom of - making colored men soldiers was still doubted; that their enlistment - was a serious offense to popular prejudice; that they had larger - motives for being soldiers than white men; that they ought to be - willing to enter the service upon condition; that the fact that they - were not to receive the same pay as white soldiers seemed a necessary - concession to smooth the way to their employment at all as soldiers, - but that ultimately they would receive the same. On the second point, - in respect to equal protection he said the case was more difficult. - Retaliation was a terrible remedy, and one which it was very difficult - to apply; that, if once begun, there was no telling where it would - end; that if he could get hold of the Confederate soldiers who had - been guilty of treating colored soldiers as felons he could easily - retaliate, but the thought of hanging men for a crime perpetrated by - others was revolting to his feelings. He thought that the rebels - themselves would stop such barbarous warfare; that less evil would be - done if retaliation were not resorted to and that he had already - received information that colored soldiers were being treated as - prisoners of war. In all this I saw the tender heart of the man rather - than the stern warrior and commander-in-chief of the American army and - navy, and while I could not agree with him, I could but respect his - humane spirit. - - “On the third point he seemed to have less difficulty, though he did - not absolutely commit himself. He simply said that he would sign any - commission to colored soldiers whom his Secretary of War should - commend to him. Though I was not entirely satisfied with his views, I - was so well satisfied with the man and with the educating tendency of - the conflict that I determined to go on with the recruiting.” - -From the White House, Mr. Douglass went directly to the War Department -and had an interview with Stanton. Contrary to his expectation, he found -the Secretary most cordial, listening to the complaints with interest -and patience. Douglass says that Stanton made “the best defense that I -had heard from any one of the treatment of colored soldiers by the -government. I was not satisfied, yet I left in the full belief that the -true course to the black man’s freedom and citizenship was over the -battle-field and that my business was to get every black man I could -into the Union army. - -“Both the President and Secretary assured me that justice would -ultimately be done to my race and,” he adds, “I gave full credit and -faith to these promises.” He was now better than ever prepared to say to -his people that, if they would be free, they must not be afraid to -suffer injustice and, if need be, cruelty. - -In his interview with Mr. Stanton, the question came up as to the -advisability of commissioning colored men as officers of colored -regiments. The Secretary expressed his willingness and readiness to -issue a commission to Mr. Douglass, if he would accept. On being assured -that he would, Stanton promised to make him assistant adjutant to -General Thomas, who was recruiting and organizing troops in Mississippi. -He returned to his home in Rochester, N. Y., confidently expecting that -the commission would be sent him, but for some reason, not explained, it -was never issued. Mr. Douglass’s only comment on this lapse of the -Secretary of War was: “The government, I fear, was still clinging to the -idea that positions of honor in the service should be occupied by white -men and that it would not do to inaugurate the policy of perfect -equality.” - -At length the outlook improved. Signs appeared of better treatment of -the colored soldiers by the Confederate armies. On July 30, 1863, -President Lincoln issued an order “that for every soldier of the United -States killed in violation of the laws of war, a rebel soldier shall be -executed; and for every one enslaved by the enemy or sold into slavery, -a rebel soldier shall be placed at hard labor on the public works.” All -the Union generals readily coöperated with the President’s efforts to -have his black troops receive equal consideration. General Grant was -especially interested in this matter and gave instructions to the white -men in his ranks to treat the colored soldiers as comrades. - -The Negro troops, by their soldierly qualities, displayed at Fort -Wagner, Vicksburg, Port Hudson, Morris Island, and other places, had -fully earned the right to honorable treatment, and such deserving had -its good effects. When the government finally recognized the services of -its black defenders, there was no trouble in getting the colored men to -enlist. From each state and territory in and out of the Union, they -offered themselves to the Federal government with as much eagerness as -if they were already in possession of every right they hoped to receive. - -The following table of figures will show how largely black men responded -to President Lincoln’s call to the defense of the Union: - - Connecticut 1,764 - Maine 104 - Massachusetts 3,966 - New Hampshire 125 - Rhode Island 1,837 - Vermont 120 - New Jersey 1,185 - New York 4,125 - Pennsylvania 8,612 - Colorado 95 - Illinois 1,811 - Indiana 1,537 - Iowa 440 - Kansas 2,080 - Minnesota 104 - Michigan 1,387 - Ohio 5,092 - Wisconsin 165 - Delaware 954 - District of Columbia 3,269 - Kentucky 23,703 - Maryland 8,718 - Missouri 8,344 - West Virginia 196 - Alabama 4,969 - Arkansas 5,526 - Florida 1,044 - Louisiana 3,480 - Mississippi 17,869 - North Carolina 5,035 - South Carolina 5,462 - Tennessee 20,123 - Texas 47 - At large 733 - Not accounted for 5,083 - Officers 7,122 - ——————— - Total 186,017[5] - -Footnote 5: - - _History of the Negro Race in America_, George W. Williams, Vol. II, - p. 299. - -In addition to this impressive total it is estimated that there were -about 92,576 colored men serving with regiments in other capacities. -That the Negroes proved to be good soldiers, whenever or wherever their -fibre was put to trial, is the unvarying testimony of every officer and -commander who had any opportunity to know their conduct in the field. -The exigencies of the war were such that the troops thus furnished were -sorely needed. The whole fighting strength of the North was none too -great to cope with the Southern armies, and the enlistment of black men -was effected at a critical moment in the struggle. - -From another point of view, this employment of colored troops with their -good conduct on the field was an important event in the history of the -Negro. It was the first opportunity given to him to demonstrate, on a -large scale, that he was superior to the estimate put upon him at that -time by the American people. The current of popular feeling against the -race rapidly changed. The Southern soldiers also altered their attitude -when they discovered in black skin courage and character worthy of honor -and respect. - -On both sides of the firing-line the colored men proved themselves to be -friends of the white race. They shrank from no danger, however great; -they refused no task, however difficult; but worked, and fought, and -died without complaint. Negro men and women, as non-combatants, secretly -fed, hid, and protected thousands of Union soldiers who were in perilous -positions and without a friend or hope of favor in a hostile country. -Many a man in blue owed life and liberty to the nursing and protection -of some tender-hearted slave. It was to the care and devotion of these -same humble folk that the Southern masters, when summoned to war, -entrusted the cultivation of their lands and the lives and property of -their families. The Negro was the “good Samaritan” in those terrible -days, when white men were savagely bent upon destroying one another. - -The armies on both sides of the conflict were indebted to the black man -as friend and as fighter. In the South, he fought against himself; in -the North, he fought for himself. In helping to save the Union by his -service and by his death on battlefields, he put himself in a position -to claim a share in the fruits of reëstablished peace, and in the -good-will of a reunited country. In view of his recorded part in this -civil contest, it can never be said that the Negro was a mere passive -recipient of the freedom that came to all the members of his race. - -After the government had fully committed itself to the policy of -enlisting colored men in the Union army, the struggle began to assume -the character of a war for liberty. It became so as a military -necessity. President Lincoln’s Proclamation of Emancipation, issued on -the first day of January, 1863, sounded the death-knell of slavery, and -was an expression of a changed attitude on the part of the government -and of the people generally, foretelling the end of the war. - -The President had been criticised by the Abolitionists, because he chose -to fight battles for the preservation of the Union, rather than for the -extirpation of slavery. If Douglass had ever faltered in his faith in -Mr. Lincoln’s desire for Abolition, he was reassured by an incident -which occurred at this time. Shortly after the Proclamation was issued, -the President summoned him to the White House. He reports that Mr. -Lincoln was somewhat anxious because the slaves in the South were not -coming into the Union lines as fast as he expected and wished. He said -that he might be forced into arrangements for peace before his purposes -could be realized, and if so, he wanted the greatest possible number of -slaves within the territory of freedom. The President thought that -Douglass could, in some way, bring his Proclamation to the knowledge of -the Negroes, and organize raiding parties, which would aid them to -escape from bondage and reach Union ground. Referring to this interview -Mr. Douglass said: - - “Mr. Lincoln saw the danger of premature peace, and like a thoughtful - and sagacious man, he wished to provide means of rendering such - consummation as harmless as possible. I was most impressed by this - benevolent consideration because he had before said, in answer to the - peace clamor, that his object was to save the Union.... What he said - on this day showed a deeper moral conviction against slavery than I - had ever seen before in anything spoken or written by him. I listened - with the deepest interest and profoundest satisfaction and at his - suggestion agreed to undertake the organization of a band of - scouts, ... and urge the slaves to come within our boundaries.” - -This plan, however, was soon rendered unnecessary by Union victories in -the field and a better military outlook. - -Two incidents occurred at this meeting which showed the President’s -strong and almost affectionate regard for Frederick Douglass. What these -were are best told by Douglass himself. He says: “While in conversation -with him, his secretary twice announced Governor Buckingham of -Connecticut, one of the noblest and most patriotic of the loyal -governors. Mr. Lincoln said: ‘Tell Governor Buckingham to wait, for I -want to have a long talk with my friend, Frederick Douglass.’ I -interposed and begged him to see the governor at once, as I could wait, -but no, he persisted that he wanted to talk with me and that Governor -Buckingham could wait.... In his company I was never in any way reminded -of my humble origin, or of my unpopular color.” - -The other pleasing incident of this visit is likewise best told in -Douglass’s own words: “At the door of my friend, John A. Gray, where I -was stopping in Washington, I found one afternoon the carriage of -Secretary Dole, and a messenger from President Lincoln with an -invitation for me to take tea with him at the Soldiers’ Home, where he -then passed his nights, riding out after the business of the day was -over at the Executive Mansion. Unfortunately, I had an engagement to -speak that evening and having made it one of the rules of my conduct in -life never to break an engagement if possible to keep it, I felt obliged -to decline the honor. I have often regretted that I did not make this an -exception to my general rule. Could I have known that no such -opportunity could come to me again, I should have justified myself in -disappointing a large audience for the sake of a visit with Abraham -Lincoln.” - -The Emancipation Proclamation, as Mr. Douglass at the time said, was -“the turning point in the conflict between freedom and slavery.” He and -his race lived through the first two years of the administration of the -“party of liberty,” in a kind of agony of hope and doubt. What the -colored race, North and South, wanted in a hurry came with slowness. As -the time approached for the word of deliverance, the country was in a -state of feverish excitement. For those who had been connected with the -movement for Abolition, everything else, for the moment, seemed to lose -its interest, its importance, and its value in the presence of this -impending event. Indeed, the whole country vibrated with expectation. - -In Tremont Temple, in Boston, on the day when Mr. Lincoln’s Proclamation -was looked for, there was gathered a memorable company. Many of the most -notable men in New England were present to join with the colored people -in the song of jubilee. To quote Mr. Douglass: “A line of messengers was -established between the telegraph office and the platform, and the time -was occupied with brief speeches from Hon. Thomas Russell, Anna -Dickinson, J. Sella Martin, William Wells Brown, and myself.... At last -when patience was well-nigh exhausted and suspense was becoming agony, a -man, I think Judge Russell, with hasty step advanced through the crowd -and with a face fairly illumined with the news he bore, exclaimed, in -tones that thrilled all hearts: ‘It is coming, it is on the wires.’ The -effect of this announcement was startling beyond description, and the -scene was wild and grand.” - -When the message finally came and was read, there was a scene of -indescribable rejoicing. The crowd was so crazy with excitement that -midnight came upon them before they were aware of it and they adjourned -to a colored Baptist church where the jubilation did not fully exhaust -itself until morning. Mr. Douglass described it as “the most affecting -and thrilling occasion I ever witnessed and a worthy celebration of the -first step on the part of the nation in its departure from the thraldom -of ages.” - -The Proclamation put new energy into all war measures and as the four -years of Mr. Lincoln’s first administration approached the end, there -was no one to oppose him for a renomination. His reëlection seemed to be -an overwhelming vindication of his policy. Frederick Douglass was a -prominent figure at the inauguration ceremonies and was looking -gratefully and joyously up into the kindly face of the great President -when he uttered these noble words: “Fondly do we hope, and fervently do -we pray that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet if -God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsmen’s -two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until -every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid for by another -drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it -must be said, that ‘the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous -altogether.’” - -Speaking of this event Mr. Douglass said: - - “In the evening of the day of the inauguration, another new experience - awaited me. The usual reception was given at the Executive Mansion, - and though no colored person had ever ventured to present himself on - such an occasion, it seemed, now that freedom had become the law of - the republic, and colored men were on the battle-field mingling their - blood with that of white men in one common effort to save the country, - that it was not too great an assumption for a colored man to offer his - congratulations to the President with those of other citizens. It is - never an agreeable experience to go where there can be any doubt of - welcome, and my colored friends had too often realized discomfiture - from this cause to be willing to subject themselves to such - unhappiness. It was plain, then, that some one must lead the way, and - that if the colored man would have his rights, he must take them; and - now, though it was plainly quite the thing for me to attend President - Lincoln’s reception, they all with one accord began to make excuses. - It was finally agreed that Mrs. Dorsey should bear me company, so - together we joined in the grand procession of citizens from all parts - of the country and moved slowly toward the Executive Mansion. Upon - reaching the door, two policemen stationed there took me rudely by the - arm and ordered me to stand back, for their directions were to admit - no persons of my color. I told the officers I was quite sure there was - some mistake for no such order could have emanated from President - Lincoln; and that if he knew I was at the door, he would desire my - admission. They then, to put an end to the parley, as I suppose, - assumed an air of politeness, and offered to conduct me in. We - followed their lead, and we soon found ourselves walking some planks - out of a window, which had been arranged as a temporary passage for - the exit of visitors. We halted as soon as we saw the trick, and I - said to the officers, ‘You have deceived me. I shall not go out of - this building till I see President Lincoln.’ At this moment a - gentleman who was passing in, recognized me, and I said to him: ‘Be so - kind as to say to Mr. Lincoln that Frederick Douglass is detained by - officers at the door.’ It was not long before Mrs. Dorsey and I walked - into the spacious East Room, amid a scene of elegance such as in this - country I had never before witnessed. Like a mountain pine, high above - all others, Mr. Lincoln stood, in his grand simplicity and home-like - beauty. Recognizing me, even before I reached him, he exclaimed, so - that all around could hear him, ‘Here comes my friend Douglass.’ - Taking me by the hand, he said, ‘I am glad to see you. I saw you in - the crowd to-day listening to my inaugural address. How did you like - it?’ I said, ‘Mr. Lincoln, I must not detain you with my poor opinion, - when there are thousands waiting to shake hands with you.’ ‘No, no,’ - he said, ‘you must stop a little, Douglass; there is no man in the - country whose opinion I value more than yours. I want to know what you - think of it.’ I replied, ‘Mr. Lincoln, that was a sacred effort.’ ‘I - am glad you liked it,’ he said; and I passed on, feeling that any man, - however distinguished, might well regard himself honored by such - expressions from such a man.” - -The events of the war moved rapidly toward the end and to peace. Mr. -Douglass was in Boston when Richmond was captured. New England was more -stirred over the fall of the Confederate capital than by any other -single event of the war, except the Emancipation Proclamation. Faneuil -Hall was again the scene of a great gathering. The victory was to be -celebrated in song and speech. The governor of the state, Senator -Wilson, and Robert C. Winthrop were among the speakers, and with them -was Frederick Douglass. A meeting of this kind anywhere in New England -would at that time have been incomplete without him. His presence on the -platform, sharing honors with the patrician Winthrop, served to -illustrate the change of fortunes that are possible under a democratic -form of government. Less than twenty-five years before, Douglass, a -fugitive from Maryland, had stood behind Mr. Winthrop’s chair at table -as a waiter, at a dinner in his honor in New Bedford. He had won the -position he now occupied by his services to a people whose cause men in -the North had come at length to recognize as their own, because it was -the cause of humanity. - -Mr. Douglass at this time had reason to feel not only joy but gratitude. -It was clear that all he had hoped and struggled for was soon to be -realized. The close of the war and the overthrow of the institution of -slavery was for him a sort of personal victory. But his rejoicing was -soon turned to mourning. At the time of the assassination of President -Lincoln he was in Rochester, and he spoke at a meeting held to give -expression to the sorrow which that event created. The circumstances are -thus related by a friend: - -“Rochester court-house never held a larger crowd than was gathered to -mourn over the martyred President. The meeting was opened by the most -eloquent men at the bar and in the pulpit, with carefully prepared and -earnestly uttered addresses. All the time the people were not aroused. -Douglass, who told me that he would not speak because he was not -invited, sat crowded in the rear. At last the feeling could be -restrained no more; and his name burst upon the air from every side and -filled the house. The dignified gentlemen who directed had to surrender. -Then came the finest appeal in behalf of the father of his people, who -had died for them especially, and would be mourned by them as long as -one remained in America who had been a slave. I have heard Webster and -Clay in their best moments; Channing and Beecher in their highest -inspirations. I never heard truer eloquence; I never saw profounder -impression. When he finished the meeting was done.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - EARLY PROBLEMS OF FREEDOM - - -The close of the Civil War left many of the agencies of emancipation -without a cause. The anti-slavery publications, the state and national -anti-slavery societies, “vigilance committees,” and the vast Underground -Railroad system, saw their purposes accomplished in the terms of peace. -The American Anti-Slavery Society, which had been the longest in -existence, and which, under the leadership of William Lloyd Garrison, -had done more for freedom than any other single agency, was now ready to -wind up its affairs. When a proposition was made for its dissolution, -Frederick Douglass opposed it, giving his reasons in these words: “I -felt that the work of the society was not done, that it had not -fulfilled its mission, which was not merely to emancipate but to elevate -the enslaved class ... that the Negro still had a cause and that he -needed my pen and voice to plead for it.” - -In taking this position, he showed that he had a clear and far-reaching -comprehension of the many and serious problems and obligations that -would in time result from the enforced emancipation of his people. He -clearly foresaw that these problems were of a kind which had never -before come within the range and scope of our national experience, and -that if the country were to make the most of the good results of the -war, and minimize its evils, the machinery of liberation and destruction -must somehow be converted to the service of peace and construction. Two -great questions had been settled, that the United States was to remain -an indivisible nation, and that slavery was henceforth impossible in -this nation. - -The problems growing out of these achievements are still difficult. -Before the Civil War, the people of the United States might have been -classified as non-slave-holding and slave-holding white people; enslaved -and free Negroes. Now, two of these classes, the slave-holders and the -enslaved Negroes, disappeared and in the latter’s stead, a new element -was injected into the population, the freedmen, 4,000,000 souls, utterly -destitute, without learning, without experience, and without traditions; -dependent for their guidance, and almost for bare existence, upon the -direction and good-will of the older elements. If, after the war, the -South and the North could have united to repair the damages and solve -the problems the conflict had left behind it, the history of the colored -people in America, as well as their present condition, might have been -different from what it is. - -In facing the problems of reconstruction, the people of the North had no -precedents and little knowledge of the Negro’s character to guide them. -The men who had the responsibility of providing for the present and -future, of rehabilitating the South on the basis of freedom, were -trained to treat every question, social and political, from the -standpoint of party politics. But reconstruction needed the services of -the sociologist more than of the party leader. There were but few in -public life capable of treating these matters in a non-partisan, a -non-sectional, and a scientific spirit. Men could not so quickly -overcome the animosities engendered by the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln, -who alone seemed to have a spirit large enough to be the President of -all the people, even to the least of them, was gone, and there was none -in public service to take his place. While others acted in the spirit of -war, he acted in the spirit of peace. In managing large questions, he -had a wonderful insight into the things that would aggravate conditions -and a fine courage in avoiding them, until they had spent their force -with as little harm as possible. His penetrative powers, the contagion -of his kindly spirit, his unswerving love for what was just, were needed -quite as much after as before and during the civil strife. Had Mr. -Lincoln lived, his clear vision, it is safe to say, would have avoided -many of the evils to which the country has since fallen heir. As it was, -however much the white people in slavery’s former domain may have -suffered, the Negro has borne the brunt of every mistake of the period -of Reconstruction. - -The Southern people had lost (so it seemed at the time at least) -everything that was worth having and fighting for,—their “cause,” their -property in slaves, their prestige, and their political supremacy. Their -homes were devastated and their plantations ravaged by the conquering -Yankees. Their task was not to build up what had been destroyed, but to -begin anew. It is asking too much to expect that they could have faced -these conditions with a cheerful spirit. The slaves, as property, were -now free, and this freedom was regarded as a punishment visited upon -their former masters. - -Free labor was new, and apart from this there was none of it to take the -place of that of the liberated slaves. Furthermore, the white people had -little or no faith in their possible usefulness. They feared that the -Negro as a free man would not work, would not honor his contracts, and -would use his liberty to commit all sorts of crimes against society. -They could not, at once, rid themselves of the feeling that physical -compulsion was the only way to keep the Negro within the bounds of law -and labor. Carl Schurz, who, under the authority of the President, made -a very thorough and statesman-like investigation of conditions, issued -an official report of his findings, and it is clear from this paper -that, if the Southern people could have overcome their fears of Negro -freedom, the work of reconstruction would have been greatly simplified. -They, however, were in no frame of mind to accept and honor any program -for reconstruction emanating from the North. They insisted that they -alone knew the Negro and what was best to be done for him and with him. - -Between the North and the South, stood the ex-slave, free and that was -all. His situation was anomalous. As Mr. Douglass aptly says, “He was -free from individual masters, but the slave of society.” Yet, because of -his long service to the country, either as a slave or a freeman, he -deserved more than he could possibly have been paid in terms of law, -defining and defending his rights. He was without power and, as Mr. -Douglass in describing him, said, “a man without force, is without the -essential dignity of human nature.” - -In this almost totally helpless condition, the North expected too much -of him and the ex-masters too little. It required more than the shock of -four years of internecine war to change the solidarity of slavery into a -society of organized self-helpfulness. A people who had been so long -enslaved could not help being slavish in habits and instincts. They had -little family life, no society, no institution except the church, a -rudimentary conception of common interests, and very few traditions and -ideals. No race ever came into the domain of freedom, independence, and -democracy so little furnished with the elements of self-protection and -self-determining purpose, as did the emancipated slaves forty years ago. -Yet there were everywhere in the South important exceptions to this -condition of race helplessness. Many free colored people, especially in -the cities, were not hopelessly behind in the procession of progress. -They fully understood the meaning of the war and its results. When the -last gun was fired and they saw emancipation as a reality, their joy was -unbounded. In many of the Southern cities, thousands of them gathered in -the open streets and commons, where they shouted and prayed with full -hearts, voicing in songs of jubilee and thanksgiving their gratitude for -their great deliverance. There has been nothing like these -demonstrations in the history of American liberty. No one who saw them -could have any doubt whatever as to the Negro’s appreciation of his -freedom. It is a notable fact that in none of them was ever heard a word -of hatred or revenge toward those who had been responsible for their -long enslavement. Their gratitude was too great to leave room for -resentment. God, Lincoln, and Freedom formed a mysterious trinity in the -new awakening of these emancipated people. - -All this was perfectly natural and hopeful, so far as it went, but it -was not long before exultation gave way to the consciousness that this -dearly bought liberty was a serious thing. The Negro capacity for -happiness was large, but he could not live and sustain himself by this -alone. Owning nothing, he had no place to live. Having nothing, he could -get nothing. In addition to the ex-slaves, who were still fastened to -the places where slavery left them and freedom found them, a great -multitude, known as refugees, after emancipation made their way into the -Union lines. When the war closed these were still with the Union army -and dependent upon it for rations. It soon became apparent to those in -authority, that something must be done in a large way by the Federal -government itself to provide for this unorganized horde. To meet this -serious condition, Congress, in the spring of 1865, passed an act -establishing the “Freedmen’s Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and -Refugees.” Its main provisions were as follows: - - The Bureau was to have supervision and management of abandoned lands. - - It was to look after all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen. - - It was to be under the control of a commission appointed by the - President and to continue its labors for one year after the close of - the war. - - The Secretary of War was given authority to issue provisions, - clothing, and fuel for the immediate and temporary needs of freedmen - and their wives and children. - - The War Department was to set apart for the use of loyal refugees and - freedmen abandoned lands under the control of the United States Army - and assign to such freedmen, not more than forty acres of land, and to - protect such persons in the possession of such land for at least three - years at an annual rent, not to exceed six per cent. upon the - appraised value of the land. At the end of that time, the tenant was - allowed to purchase it and receive therefor from the government a - certificate of purchase. - -In addition to these provisions, the Freedmen’s Bureau was intended to -be a “friendly intermediary” between the ex-masters and ex-slaves. -Nothing could have been done more surely to smooth the way for a kindly -relationship between the two parties in question, if such a relationship -had been possible. General O. O. Howard was the first commissioner of -that Bureau. He had made a record as a soldier in the Union Army, but, -better still, he was a man of humane impulses, without sectional bias, -and of exalted Christian character. The value of his services in the -work of Reconstruction can be easily seen by a glance at some of his -reports made to Congress in 1865–1870. - -In these five years of work on the part of the Bureau to bring order out -of chaos, there had been established over 4,000 schools, employing 9,000 -teachers and giving instruction to about a quarter of a million pupils -of all ages. In 1870 the school attendance in the old slave-states -amounted to nearly eighty per cent. of the enrollment. The demand for -learning on the part of the colored people, as shown by the Bureau’s -work, was amazing, and afforded a gratifying evidence of their sense of -responsibility as freedmen. The Negroes themselves made a good showing -of what they were able to do by their own efforts in creating the means -for their instruction. They sustained over 1,300 schools and built over -500 school buildings, contributing more than $200,000 out of their -earnings to further the cause of education. - -The value of the Freedmen’s Bureau in thus stimulating an interest in -this important subject and in developing a serious sense of -responsibility on the part of the freedmen cannot well be overestimated. -Carl Schurz in his report says: - -“The Freedmen’s Bureau would have been an institution of the greatest -value, under competent leadership, had not its organization, to some -extent, been invaded by mentally and morally unfit persons.... Nothing -was needed at this time so much as an acknowledged authority, standing -guard between the master and the ex-slave, commanding and possessing the -confidence and respect of both, to aid the emancipated black man to make -the best possible use of his unaccustomed freedom, and to aid the white -man to whom free Negro labor was a well-nigh incurable idea, in meeting -the difficulties, partly real and partly conjured up by the white man’s -prejudiced imagination.” - -The lack of fit men, in sufficient numbers, to continue the good work -inaugurated by the Freedmen’s Bureau was the cause, in great part, of -the failure of Reconstruction methods of helpfulness. There were -employed men of partisan spirit whose vision was clouded by political -aspirations, and thus the future well-being of both races in the South -was not kept paramount. The cause of most of the evils that in a few -years followed and overwhelmed the colored people in the South, was lack -of men strong in character, patriotism, justice, and understanding for -the work in hand. This is true, in spite of the fact that there were -those who were equal to the occasion, but who alone had not the power to -perform the tasks set for them. No greater injury has been done the -colored people of this country than that which resulted from putting -them in a position of political antagonism to their former masters. - -But the purposes of this biography do not require a full statement of -the causes that led to the overthrow of the temporary supremacy held by -the freedmen and their Northern allies. A careful reading of the history -of the Southern states since the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment to -the Constitution of the United States in 1865, must convince the -impartial reader that the Negroes were less the instigators than the -victims of the mistakes of Reconstruction. Many of those who played the -false rôle of friends and leaders left the freedmen to bear the brunt of -the punishment which they have since suffered patiently, heroically, and -alone. The Negroes of the South during the Reconstruction period were -always amenable to wise direction. Those who were on hand to guide them, -easily won their favor. There seems to be no reason to doubt that, had -it been offered, the freedmen would have followed the leadership of the -best elements in the South as willingly, if not more willingly, than -that which they did accept. - -The difficulty was that the Southern people could not in a day, or in a -decade, change their inborn conviction that emancipation was forced upon -them as a punishment. They accepted this punishment in a spirit in which -injured pride, the sense of loss of property, loss of “cause,” and -revenge were elements. But with all these losses and defeats, the -imperious temper of the Southern people suffered no impairment, and they -were in no mood to take hold of the work of Reconstruction in the spirit -of the victorious North. - -The South hesitated to act, and the ex-slave had no power to do so. As a -result, the responsibility for movements for the protection of the -Negroes fell to the North. It sought to accomplish this object by giving -freedmen all the rights of citizenship. Under the presuppositions upon -which our government was founded, this step was logical, even though it -may have been, and indeed seems to have been, at that time unwise. - -What has been said in the foregoing pages indicates what may be called -the new field of labor for Frederick Douglass after emancipation. When -the great war came to an end and the object for which he had so long -labored was indeed an accomplished fact, he confessed that his great joy -was somewhat tinged with a feeling of sadness. He said, “I felt that I -had reached the end of the noblest part of my life.” He was still in his -prime, and all his faculties were clear and ready for action. He had no -occupation, no business, no profession. His training and associations, -during the previous thirty years, had unfitted him for manual labor, and -he had no fortune that would enable him to live without exertion of some -kind. But thoughts and feelings of this sort were soon swept aside by -new interests and anxieties of the most absorbing character. - -In the first place, fresh evidences of his popularity began to manifest -themselves. His struggle for emancipation had been so conspicuous, his -eloquence so stirring, and his participation in all the great questions -of the day so earnest and compelling, that his vogue continued as -before. - -In the great diversity of distinguished men and women who figured in the -history of the quarter of a century immediately preceding the Civil War, -Frederick Douglass was in the fullest sense of the word, a “self-made -man.” All kinds of persons were interested in him. His authority on -every matter that concerned the Negro, North or South, was seldom -questioned. His leadership, up to this time, was not often disputed. The -American people manifested greater desire to hear him than ever before -and invitations to lecture began to pour in upon him from colleges, -lyceums, literary societies, and churches. It is scarcely too much to -say that he was one of the most popular men on the lecture platform, and -at a time when such illustrious personages as Henry Ward Beecher, -Wendell Phillips, Theodore Tilton, Anna Dickinson, and Mary A. Livermore -gave to the American lyceum its highest distinction. His themes were no -longer anti-slavery in character. His new lectures bore such titles as, -“Self-made Men,” “The Races of Men,” “William, the Silent,” “John -Brown,” etc., all of which showed a wide reading, and a mastery of the -art of eloquence. In addition to these lectures, he was called upon from -every direction for informal talks on an almost endless variety of -subjects. - -But whatever might be the theme or the occasion, he could not get away -from the Negro problem. As he said, “I never rise to speak before any -American audience, without a feeling that my failure or success will -bring harm or benefit to my whole race.” When the all-important question -of reconstruction came to be considered, Mr. Douglass was found to be -fully conversant with the progress of events, prepared to say his word, -and play his part. While other men were uncertain, confused, and timid, -Douglass’s stand was bold, direct, and fearless. When it was time for -him to speak and act, his words attracted wide attention and many -persons in and out of Congress were willing to follow his leading. He -had always been frank, honorable, and resourceful on the question of -just treatment for his race and he was so far in advance of most of the -men who had it in their power to make and unmake the laws, that it would -have been a decided misfortune for the colored people to have been -without his guidance. He had a wide acquaintance among men in public -life. No other Negro in this country, at the time, knew political -leaders in and out of Congress so intimately. His qualities of prudence -and sagacity, as well as his great personal charm, made him welcome in -the councils of his party. He was the soul of honor. Being thus gifted, -Douglass was able to be as much for his people in a personal as in a -public capacity. He had a way of getting close to the men in power and -of reaching their hearts and enlisting their sympathies for the objects -in whose service he was engaged. This was most fortunate. His race was -without official connection with the government, without experience, and -with no clearly defined status as citizens. If ever the colored people -needed a strong man capable in every way to represent them, it was now, -when the war was over and the question, what to do with the free Negro, -must be answered in definite terms of law and governmental policy. Aside -from his commanding abilities, and his personal attractiveness to men, -Mr. Douglass had lived through the very experiences that fitted him to -know and feel what the Negro needed and ought to have. He had been a -slave, a fugitive slave, and a freedman, at a time, too, when Negro -freedom was most despaired of. No white man could appreciate, as he -could and did, the sweetness of the terms, Freedom and Liberty. One of -his earliest utterances on this subject indicates his feeling at this -period. “I saw no chance,” he said, “of bettering the condition of the -freedman, until he should cease to be merely a freedman and should -become a citizen, and that there was no safety for him or for anybody -else in America, outside of the American government.” - -At the time when Mr. Douglass publicly took this position, he was far -more radical than some of the most ardent of his anti-slavery -associates. This declaration was then regarded as a challenge to the -sense of justice of the American people. Many earnest friends of the -Negro thought it was asking too much, even though the race deserved the -franchise. Others argued that the Negro was unfit for the suffrage and -that it would aggravate the already strained relations between the two -races in the South. Opposition was expected by Mr. Douglass and he was -ready to meet it. No one understood better than he that his people had -had no training for citizenship, but he was accustomed to say, that “if -the Negro knows enough to fight for his country, he knows enough to -vote; if he knows enough to pay taxes to support the government, he -knows enough to vote; if he knows as much when sober as an Irishman -knows when he is drunk, he knows enough to vote.” He anticipated the -evils that would follow the enfranchisement of the ex-slaves, but -insisted that such evils would be temporary and that the good would be -permanent. He further insisted that it was worth all the suffering -endured by his race to have that principle established; that the right -of suffrage would be an incentive to arouse the latent energies of the -Negro to become worthy of full citizenship, and that such impulse was -imperatively needed. He always declared that political equality was a -widely different thing from social equality. He vigorously protested -that the right of suffrage did not mean Negro domination in the -slave-states, if the best white people would wisely assume the -leadership of the blacks. He believed in the domination of the fittest, -and insisted that the white people of the South, because of their -superiority in intelligence and in all the forces that make for -supremacy, were in no danger of being overwhelmed by the new voters. He -believed in the rule of the competent and that in the long run -intelligent supremacy would be tempered with justice and the true spirit -of democracy. He believed that those who were strong enough, either to -help the ex-slave to get upon his feet or to crush him in his efforts to -rise, would choose the more generous course. - -At any rate, he deemed the time ripe to claim for the freedmen full -citizenship and equality before the law. When the question came forward -for discussion, the people of the North were filled with enthusiasm over -the results of the war and for the great objects they believed to have -been achieved by it. It was the occasion to make a hero of every one who -had taken part in the civil contest on the side of the Union. Even the -Negro, for the first time, became the recipient of more than respectful -consideration. The people of the North were as proud of his freedom as -he was himself. If to give the Negro the franchise, and laws to protect -him in the exercise of it as a citizen, would make more lasting the -results of the war, the North was now in a mood to grant it to him, -since it seemed to add to the significance of the great struggle which -had just been so victoriously concluded. Douglass took advantage of this -condition of things to advocate suffrage for his people. By speech and -print and personal appeals to the leaders of public opinion, he urged -this cause upon them in and out of season. There was no lack of evidence -that it was gaining in every direction. The number of those who thought -the suffrage ought to be granted, because it was right; those who -thought it a good thing from a partisan standpoint, and those who -thought the results of the war would be lost unless the Negro were given -the privilege, increased rapidly. - -What Douglass calls one of the first steps in the direction of popular -favor for universal suffrage, was an interview that he had with -President Johnson on the 7th of March, 1866. He headed a delegation of -prominent colored men, including George T. Downing, Lewis H. Douglass, -William E. Matthews, John Jones, John F. Cook, Joseph E. Otis, A. W. -Ross, William Whipper, John M. Brown, and Alexander Dunlop. The visit of -these black men to the President for the purpose of urging upon the -government the policy of the franchise for the freedmen, attracted the -attention of the entire nation. Nothing better could have been devised -to bring the whole question before the people and obtain a hearing for -it. - -The delegation soon found that Mr. Johnson was not in sympathy with -their plans for Negro enfranchisement. The President had evidently -anticipated their purpose in calling upon him and he was fully prepared -to answer their arguments. He spoke to them at great length and left no -ground for them to doubt his position in the matter. He also gave them -no opportunity to reply. On returning from the White House, his -colleagues empowered Mr. Douglass to prepare an address to the public, -to be printed simultaneously with Mr. Johnson’s address to them. Mr. -Douglass’s paper was in the form of a reply to the President’s arguments -against the suffrage proposition, and was as follows: - - “Mr. President:—In consideration of a delicate sense of propriety as - well as of your own repeated intimations of indisposition to discuss - or listen to a reply to the views and opinions you were pleased to - express to us in your elaborate speech to-day, the undersigned would - respectfully take this method of replying thereto. - - “Believing as we do that the views and opinions you expressed in that - address are entirely unsound and prejudicial to the highest interest - of our race, as well as to our country at large, we cannot do other - than expose the same and, as far as may be in our power, arrest their - dangerous influence. It is not necessary at this time to call - attention to more than two or three features of your remarkable - address. The first point to which we feel especially bound to take - exception, is your attempt to found a policy opposed to our - enfranchisement, upon the alleged ground of an existing hostility on - the part of the former slaves to the poor white people of the South. - We admit the existence of this hostility, and hold that it is entirely - reciprocal. But you obviously commit an error by drawing an argument - from an incident of slavery, and making it a basis for a policy - adapted to a state of freedom. The hostility between the whites and - blacks of the South is easily explained. It has its root and sap in - the relation of slavery, and was incited on both sides by the cunning - of the slave-masters. These masters secured their ascendency over both - the poor whites and blacks by putting enmity between them. - - “They divided both to conquer each. There was no earthly reason why - the blacks should not hate and dread the poor whites when in a state - of slavery, for it was from this class that their masters received - their slave-catchers and slave-drivers and overseers. They were the - men called in upon all occasions by the masters whenever any fiendish - outrage was to be committed upon the slaves. Now, sir, you cannot but - perceive that, the cause of this hatred removed, the effect must be - removed also. Slavery is abolished. The cause of this antagonism is - removed, and you must see that it is altogether illogical to legislate - from slave-holding and slave-driving premises for a people, whom you - have repeatedly declared it your purpose to maintain in freedom. - - “Besides, if it were true, as you allege, that the hostility of the - blacks toward the whites must necessarily project itself into a state - of freedom, and that this enmity between the two races is even more - intense in a state of freedom than in a state of slavery, in the name - of Heaven, we reverently ask, how can you, in view of your proffered - desire to promote the welfare of the black man, deprive him of all - means of defense, and clothe him, whom you regard as his enemy, in the - panoply of political power? Can it be that you recommend a policy - which would arm the strong and cast down the defenseless? Can you, by - any possibility of reasoning, regard this as just, fair, or wise? - Experience proves that those are most abused who can be abused with - the greatest impunity. Men are whipped oftenest who are whipped - easiest. Peace between races is not to be secured by degrading one - race and exalting another, by giving power to one and withholding from - another, but by maintaining a state of equal justice between all - classes. First pure, then peaceable. - - “On the colonization theory you were pleased to broach, very much - could be said. It is impossible to suppose, in view of the usefulness - of the black man in time of peace as a laborer in the South and in - time of war as a soldier in the North, and a growing respect for his - rights among the people and his increasing adaptation to a high state - of civilization in his native land, that there can ever come a time - when he can be removed from this country without a terrible shock to - its prosperity and peace. Besides, the worst enemy of the nation could - not cast upon its fair name a greater infamy than to admit that - Negroes could be tolerated among them in a state of the most degrading - slavery and oppression, and must be cast away, driven to exile, for no - other cause than having been freed from their chains.” - -When the question reached Congress, the Negro was not lacking in friends -who were willing to go the full length of the Frederick Douglass program -of Reconstruction. The first step taken was a report made to the Senate -by a committee having the subject in charge. This report in effect -provided that the whole matter of franchise be left to the option of the -several states concerned. Mr. Douglass believed he saw in this -proposition the continued political enslavement of his people, and he -was on his guard. The following communication written and sent to the -Senate by the delegation which had visited President Johnson speaks for -itself: - - “To the Honorable, the Senate of the United States:—The undersigned, - being a delegation representing the colored people of the several - states, and now sojourning in Washington, charged with the duty to - look after the best interests of the recently emancipated, would most - respectfully, but earnestly, pray your honorable body to favor no - amendment of the Constitution of the United States which will grant - any one or all of the states of this Union to disfranchise any class - of citizens on the ground of race or color, for any consideration - whatever. They would further respectfully represent that the - Constitution as adopted by the Fathers of this Republic in 1789 - evidently contemplated the result which has now happened, to wit, the - abolition of slavery. The men who framed it, and those who adopted it, - framed and adopted it for the people, and the whole people, colored - men being at the time legal voters in most of the states. In that - instrument as it now stands, there is not a sentence or a syllable - conveying any shadow of right or authority by which any State may make - color or race a disqualification for the exercise of the right of - suffrage, and the undersigned will regard as a real calamity the - introduction of any words expressly or by implication, giving any - state or states such power; and we respectfully submit that if the - amendment now pending before your honorable body shall be adopted, it - will enable any state to deprive any class of citizens of the elective - franchise, notwithstanding it was obviously framed with a view to - affect the question of Negro suffrage only. - - “For these and other reasons the undersigned respectfully pray that - the amendment to the Constitution recently passed by the House and now - before your body, be not adopted. And as in duty bound,” etc. - -In addition to this letter addressed to the United States Senate, Mr. -Douglass and his associates saw and argued the matter with every member -of that body who would grant them an audience. The “Option Measure” was -defeated and to a considerable extent through Mr. Douglass’s influence. -By this time the question of Negro suffrage had become a leading issue. -For the purpose of obtaining the sense of the country on this subject, -there was arranged what was known at the time as the “National -Loyalists’ Convention,” to be held at Philadelphia in September, 1866. -It was made up of delegates from all parts of the Union, including many -influential men in and out of public life. Rochester elected Mr. -Douglass as its sole representative, which was a great tribute to him, -giving new recognition to the Negro race. The entire country was quick -to take notice of the city’s action, in so important a gathering, and -there was not only objection but open opposition to Mr. Douglass’s -taking a seat in the convention. Some of the leading delegates united in -an effort to persuade him not to go. - -Speaking of the situation, Mr. Douglass says that at Harrisburg, there -was attached to his train cars loaded with representatives from some of -the western states. - - “When my presence became known to these gentlemen,” he continues, “a - consultation was immediately held among them upon the question of what - was best to be done with me. It seems strange, in view of all the - progress which had been made, that such a question should arise. But - the circumstances of the times made me the Jonah of the Republican - ship, and responsible for the contrary winds and misbehaving weather. - I was duly waited upon by a committee of my brother delegates to - represent to me the undesirableness of my attendance upon the National - Loyalists’ Convention. The spokesman of these sub-delegates was a - gentleman from New Orleans.... He began by telling me that he knew my - history and my works and that he entertained no very slight degree of - respect for me; that both himself and the gentlemen who sent him, as - well as those who accompanied him, regarded me with admiration; that - there was not among them the remotest objection to sitting in the - convention with me, but their personal wishes in the matter they felt - should be set aside for the sake of our common cause; that whether I - should or should not go in the convention was purely a matter of - expediency; that I must know that there was a very strong and bitter - prejudice against my race in the North as well as in the South and - that the cry of social and political equality would not fail to be - raised against the Republican party if I should attend this loyal - National convention.... I listened very attentively to the address, - uttering no word during its delivery; but when it was finished, I said - to the speaker and the committee, with all the emphasis I could throw - into my voice and manner, ‘Gentlemen, with all respect, you might as - well ask me to put a loaded pistol to my head and blow my brains out, - as to ask me to keep out of this convention to which I have been duly - elected. Then, gentlemen, what would you gain by the exclusion? Would - not the charge of cowardice, certain to be brought against you, prove - more damaging than that of amalgamation; would you not be branded all - over the land as dastardly hypocrites, professing principles which you - have no wish or intention of carrying out? As a matter of policy or - expediency, you will be wise to let me in. Everybody knows that I have - been duly elected as a delegate by the city of Rochester. This fact - has been broadly announced and commented upon all over the country. If - I am not admitted, the public will ask, “Where is Douglass? Why is he - not seen in the convention?” and you would find that inquiry more - difficult to answer than any charge brought against you for favoring - political or social equality; but ignoring the question of policy - altogether and looking at it as one of right and wrong, I am bound to - go into that convention; not to do so would be to contradict the - principles and practice of my life.’” - -The delegates withdrew from the car in which Mr. Douglass was riding -without accomplishing their purpose. It was soon made evident to him -that his argument had not changed the prejudices of his visitors. When -he reached Philadelphia and learned of the plans of the convention, he -easily detected a concerted scheme to ignore him altogether. “I was,” he -says, “the ugly and deformed child of the family and to be kept out of -sight as much as possible, while there was company in the house.” - -It had been arranged that the delegates should assemble at Independence -Hall and from there march in a body through the streets to the building -where the convention was to be held. Mr. Douglass was present at -Independence Hall at the appointed time, but he at once realized the -situation. Only a few of the delegates, like General B. F. Butler, had -the courage even to greet him. He was not only snubbed generally, but it -was hinted to him that if he attempted to walk in the procession through -the streets of a city where but a few years ago Negroes had been -assaulted and their houses and schools burned down, he would be jeered -at, insulted, and perhaps mobbed. It required no little courage to act -in the face of these conditions, but Douglass never wavered. He was -strong enough not to falter even at the desertion of men whom he had a -right to regard as his friends. - -When the procession was formed, the delegates were to march two abreast. -By this arrangement, the man who would have the hardihood to walk beside -the only Negro in line would be an easy mark for scorn and contempt if -not bodily attack. It was believed that no white man, under these -conditions, would dare to march with Douglass. One delegate after -another, those who had formerly taken counsel with him, passed him by. -But to use his own words: “There was one man present who was broad -enough to take in the whole situation and brave enough to meet the duty -of the hour; one who was neither afraid nor ashamed to own me as a man -and a brother. One man of the purest Caucasian type, a poet, a scholar, -brilliant as a writer, eloquent as a speaker, and holding a high -influential position, the editor of a weekly journal having the largest -circulation of any weekly paper in the state of New York, and that man -was Theodore Tilton. He came to me in my isolation, seized me by the -hand in a most brotherly way, and proposed to walk with me in the -procession.” - -The delegates marching through the streets of Philadelphia met with a -great ovation, and Mr. Douglass was singled out for special marks of -favor. Along the entire way he was loudly cheered, applauded, and -congratulated by the multitude. Those who had misjudged the sentiments -of the Philadelphians were ashamed of themselves when they saw that he -was apparently the most popular man in the procession. - -A very pleasing incident occurred on the line of march that day which -served to call special attention to him. As his eyes caught a glimpse of -a beautiful young woman among the spectators, he was seen suddenly to -leave his place and fervently greet her. She was a member of the Auld -family, and Mr. Douglass, recognizing her at once, paid her homage -publicly. It appears that she had come to Philadelphia from her home in -Baltimore when she heard that the ex-slave was to be there and walk in -the procession as one of the great men of the occasion, and had been -following the line for over an hour with the hope of catching a view of -the man who, but for his desire for freedom, might still have been a -servant in her family. The newspapers made much of the incident, and -described it as one of the most dramatic features of the day. - -By the time the marchers had reached the hall, the fear of Mr. -Douglass’s presence, as a delegate, had given way to a feeling of -respect, pride, and comradeship. He threw off all restraint, and went in -to win from this body a resolution in favor of the franchise for his -people. He delivered one of those powerful and convincing addresses that -he was well able to make when aroused. As a result, he quite captured -and controlled the sentiment of the convention in favor of his -resolution, and when it adjourned Mr. Douglass was congratulated for -having achieved a personal triumph that was remarkable for its -completeness. - -After the adoption of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth -Amendments, there was some curious speculation as to what place -Frederick Douglass would take in this larger world of citizenship that -he had helped to create. A number of his friends and admirers thought -that he had led his people so successfully out of the wilderness of -slavery that he should now put himself into a position where he could -guide them further in the proper use of their rights and privileges as -citizens of the republic. Many urged that the South was the right place -for one of his power and standing. No colored man in this country had -such training for large responsibilities as Mr. Douglass had had, during -the previous thirty years of service. It was also feared that, without -such leadership as he could bring to the South, small men, of mere -political training and of partisan methods and ambitions, would assume -the direction of the newly-made citizens, and, by their selfishness and -greed, bring down upon these poor people more miseries than could be -cured in many generations. Everything seemed to invite Frederick -Douglass to these new duties and new responsibilities. It was pointed -out to him how easily he could become a pioneer by being elected to the -House of Representatives, or even to the Senate, from some of the -reconstructed states of the South. - -He thought long and seriously over the project, but finally concluded -not to change his habitation for the sake of gaining political power. He -expressed his conclusions on the matter as follows: - - “That I did not yield to this temptation was not entirely due to my - age, but the idea did not entirely square well with my better judgment - and sense of propriety. The thought of going to live among a people in - order to gain their votes and acquire official honors was repugnant to - my sense of self-respect, and I had not lived long enough in the - political atmosphere of Washington to have this feeling blunted so as - to make me indifferent to its suggestions.... I had small faith in my - aptitude as a politician, and could not hope to cope with rival - aspirants. My life and labors in the North had in a measure unfitted - me for such work, and I could not have readily adapted myself to that - peculiar oratory found to be most effective with the newly - enfranchised class. Upon the whole, I have never regretted that I did - not enter the arena of Congressional honors to which I was invited. - Outside of mere personal considerations, I saw, or thought I saw, - that, in the nature of the case, the sceptre of power had passed from - the old slave-states to the free and loyal states, and that hereafter, - at least for some time to come, the loyal North, with its advanced - civilization, must dictate the policy and control the destiny of the - republic. I had an audience ready made in the free-states, one which - the labors of thirty years had prepared for me, and before this - audience the freedmen needed an advocate as much as they needed a - member in Congress. I think that in this I was right, for thus far our - colored members in Congress have not largely made themselves felt in - the legislation of this country, and I have little reason to think - that I could have done better than they.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - SHARING THE RESPONSIBILITIES AND HONORS OF FREEDOM - - -The course of events in the succeeding thirty years proved that -Frederick Douglass was wholly right in his determination not to take up -his residence in one of the Southern states for political purposes. Had -he followed the advice of some of his friends, his career would have -been considerably marred by the exigencies of party and sectional -politics, and his character as a natural leader of his people would, in -all probability, have shrunken to that of a state politician. He did the -wise thing, however, in changing his residence from Rochester to -Washington. This brought him in closer touch with his people, as well as -near to the law-making forces of the nation. - -After he became settled in his new home, he soon found his heart and -hands full of occupations that tried his soul. He was fairly overwhelmed -with all kinds of schemes and propositions that were carried to him, -urging him to do this or that for the protection and elevation of the -race. It required a mind of more than ordinary shrewdness to -discriminate between the practical and impractical. Many of the Negroes -seemed to think him capable of performing miracles in the way of undoing -the effects of slavery. It required a stout spirit to listen unmoved to -the wail that came from the hearts of his sadly distracted people. Those -of us who are living forty years after the close of the war, can little -appreciate to what an extent the glory of emancipation was shadowed by -the miseries of a whole race suddenly set free with no preparation for -freedom. When one studies the history of the years that followed -emancipation, and learns of the many sins and errors of the time, and -the retribution that they brought upon the bewildered people in whose -name they were committed, it must seem strange that the Negro race could -survive and make the progress it has made. Through all the confusion and -clamor of wants, sorrows, sufferings and disappointments, Mr. Douglass -kept his head, and was at all times philosophical, certain that the good -accomplished was more important than the seeming failures; that the -hindrances to progress were transitory, the forces of progress -permanent. After he had settled in Washington, two things at once -engaged his attention: the publication of another paper, _The New -National Era_, and the Freedmen’s Bank. - -There was apparently a pressing need for a national organ to advance the -cause of the Negro, and it was believed that the name of Frederick -Douglass at its head would surely bring it a wide circulation, as well -as a commanding influence. He took hold of the project with -characteristic vigor and invested a large amount of his savings in the -venture. With the assistance of his two sons, both practical printers, -the paper proved to be one of the greatest helps of the hour. Some of -Mr. Douglass’s best utterances are to be found in the _New Era_. Its -columns were open to the leading colored men and women of that time and -it exerted a wide and salutary influence. However, it failed of support. -The enterprise cost Mr. Douglass between nine and ten thousand dollars. -He seems to have anticipated its financial misfortunes, but said of it -afterward: “The journal was valuable, while it lasted, and the -experiment was to me full of instruction which has to some extent been -heeded, for I have kept well out of newspaper undertakings since, so I -have no tears to shed.” - -When Mr. Douglass went to Washington, he found established there the -Freedmen’s Bank. It was chartered by Congress and was run and managed in -connection with the Freedmen’s Bureau. “It was,” as Mr. Douglass says, -“more than a bank. There was something missionary in its composition.” -Its managers were men of character and religion, and were interested in -everything that could point the way of true living to the ex-slave. To -teach the important lesson of thrift was its main object. - -For a time this bank flourished very well. Branches were established in -various parts of the South. The poor freedmen in the bottom lands of -Mississippi and other isolated places quickly learned the use and -meaning of the institution; and eagerly and gratefully committed to its -keeping their small earnings. Thousands of these depositors first came -to know and realize their relationship to the government at Washington -through it. The owners of United States bonds did not feel more secure -than did these trusting new citizens of the republic. - -The bank and its purposes appealed to Mr. Douglass. He felt it his duty -to do anything in his power to help the benevolent enterprise. It was -not long before he was elected one of its trustees. He accepted the post -and, as an earnest of his interest and confidence in it, placed several -thousand dollars in its keeping. He says: “It seemed fitting to cast in -my lot with my brother freedmen and help build up an institution which -represented the thrift and economy of my people to so striking an -advantage, for the more millions accumulated there, I thought, the more -consideration and respect would be shown to the colored people by the -whole country.” - -At first he was not active in his new office. He seldom attended the -board meetings. The men in charge were of so high a character and had -brought the bank up to such rank that his faith in it was well-nigh -absolute. He was surprised when soon notified that he had been elected -president. Before assuming this post, in 1871, he asked for a statement -of the bank’s affairs, not because he was suspicious, but that he might -the more intelligently take hold of his new duties. He received -assurances from the officers that everything was in excellent condition -but he at once began a wholesale policy of retrenchment in the expenses -of management. From the showing made by those in a position to know and -to be believed, Mr. Douglass felt so confident that everything was as it -appeared to be that he loaned the bank $10,000 of his own money, until -it could realize on a part of its securities. Soon afterward several -things connected with the bank’s management excited his distrust. The -money loaned by him was not repaid so promptly as it should have been; -some of the trustees had removed their own deposits and opened accounts -with other banks; and the new president discovered that through -dishonest agents, heavy losses were sustained in the South; that there -was a discrepancy in the accounts amounting to about $40,000; that the -“reserve” which the bank by its charter was obliged to maintain was -entirely exhausted. All this Mr. Douglass learned after he had been -president for only three months. Being convinced that things were -rapidly going from bad to worse, he immediately reported the condition -of the bank to the Finance Committee of the United States Senate. The -trustees upon whose figures and reports Mr. Douglass relied for his -action, now tried to retract their statements and did their utmost to -stay the hand of the government, but the Senate committee accepted his -representations and immediately proceeded to bring the bank to the end -of its remarkable career. - -Mr. Douglass did not take advantage of his private knowledge of its -insolvency to remove his $2,000 on deposit, as some trustees had done. -In this, as in other things, he acted with perfect openness and absolute -honesty. Nevertheless the bank’s troubles brought to him no end of -bitter criticism. The number of open accounts at the time of failure was -over 60,000 and the total amount deposited during the period of its -existence was about $57,000,000. - -Bad management may truthfully be written on the face of this greatest -single setback to the Negro’s progress. Viewed in the light of the -condition of these people, striving by might and main to promote their -own interests, the failure of the Freedmen’s Bank was little less than a -crime. The mischief had all been done before Mr. Douglass took charge of -the institution. As he says: “Not a dollar of its millions was loaned by -me or with my approval. The fact is, and all investigation will show, -that I was married to a corpse. When I became connected with the bank I -had a tolerably fair name for honest dealing. I had expended in the -publication of my paper in Rochester thousands of dollars annually and -had often to depend upon my credit to bridge over immediate wants. But -no man here or elsewhere can say that I ever wronged him out of one -cent.” - -This miserable failure distressed Mr. Douglass more than any other man -in the country, because he saw how wide-spread would be the loss of -confidence in him and in his people. The mere fact that his own -conscience was clear and that his prompt action prevented further losses -did not soften his disappointment. On the contrary, the subject -continued to be a source of public bitterness and suspicion for many -years, but he was large enough to grow out of and beyond any evil -effects arising from it, so far as his own standing and reputation were -concerned. - -Important as was the Freedmen’s Bank, both as a success and as a -failure, it was but a small part of the many evidences that the black -race was everywhere awake to the fact that it was living in a new era. -The transformation of the Negro’s status from that of a quasi-denizen to -that of a full-fledged citizen of America was a revolution of -far-reaching import, but it was accompanied by little demonstration. The -only proof that a great change had been brought about was the eagerness -with which the colored people attempted to realize all the benefits -belonging to full citizenship. Up to this time, of course, they had -never had any part in politics, but it did not take them long to learn -the game. Educated Negroes and those who had but little education, very -quickly mastered its tricks and made the most of their opportunities. In -every Southern state colored men were easily elected to the state -legislatures and to other high offices. - -In Louisiana, Oscar J. Dunn, P. B. S. Pinchback, and C. C. Antoine; in -South Carolina, Alonzo J. Ransier and Robert H. Gleaves; and in -Mississippi, Alexander Davis, were elected Lieutenant-Governors. Colored -men were also chosen for important county and town offices;—there were -Negro sheriffs, county clerks, justices of the peace. To this period -also belongs the election of the only two colored men ever given seats -in the United States Senate, Hiram R. Revels and Blanche K. Bruce, of -Mississippi. In the lower house of Congress, nearly every state in the -South was represented by Negroes. In addition to these elective offices -of honor and distinction, a large number of the leaders of the race held -appointive Federal offices, as postmasters, and as collectors of customs -and internal revenue, and for the first time in the history of the -United States, colored men were appointed to diplomatic positions. - -In recent years, students and writers of the Reconstruction period, have -indulged in a good deal of unmerited abuse of the colored men who, for a -brief season, and without previous training, under the leadership of -white politicians, held political posts. It is a deplorable fact that -too many inferior persons were elected to fill important state and -county offices in the reconstructed states. It is quite true that the -colored citizen voted for unfit men of his own race because there was no -one else to vote for. This same freedman would more willingly have used -his franchise for a white man of character and ability, if he had had -the opportunity. The fact is that democracy does not stand still for -want of fit men, whether in the Bowery district in New York or in the -Black Belt of South Carolina. The Negroes who were elected to Congress, -however, were, with but few exceptions, men of character and superior -intelligence. B. K. Bruce of Mississippi, John R. Lynch, Robert Brown -Elliot, A. J. Ransier, and Robert Smalls were highly creditable -representatives of a race that had just emerged from the night of -slavery. In fact, it is surprising that there were any colored men in -the South who had enough spirit and intelligence even to aspire to the -things that but yesterday were beyond their reach. It is also worthy of -note that among the Negroes holding positions of dignity and trust, -there were only a few cases in which that trust was knowingly betrayed. - -The eagerness with which colored men, of any ability at all, sought -public posts was largely due to the fact that there were few places open -to honorable ambitions, outside of public office, to which they could -aspire. Not many at that time had any training for school-teaching or -the professions. Politics was the one door that opened most widely to -Negroes of ability. The people at large seemed to enjoy the novelty of -seeing these new citizens of the country so quickly take their places in -the civil service of the government, and wear whatever honors they could -win. The same sentiment that forced the Fourteenth and Fifteenth -Amendments into the Constitution of the United States, was gratified -when educated and eloquent ex-slaves took their seats in both branches -of Congress. - -While it lasted, this was all very pleasing, hopeful, and interesting, -but a reaction was bound to come. The constituency behind these -representative leaders lacked the necessary intelligence, knowledge, and -business experience. By such an electorate men may be chosen to power, -but they cannot long be held in power. - -It was an unfortunate thing, too, that the freedmen learned their first -lessons in politics when public morals were at so low an ebb. Many sins -were committed and tolerated in the interest of party success. Many -desperate men in a spirit at once predatory and partisan, invaded the -South and attempted to instruct the colored people in ways that were -dark, but ways that led to party victory. These men were bad models for -a learning race to follow. Although it was unreasonable to expect these -newly emancipated people to be superior to their white leaders, yet, by -recent writers, they have been held accountable for whatever sins were -committed in this office-holding era. - -Mr. Douglass, in the midst of the political prosperity of his race, was -not misled as to the outcome. No one saw more clearly than he the -uncertainty of the position to which it had been elevated by recent -events. While it is true he was at no time a political power in the -South, the colored men who came into office looked to him for counsel -and advice. He rejoiced in the many evidences of personal worth and -talent displayed by Negroes who, for the first time in American history, -were having some real part in the government of the country. Yet -experience made him feel and declare that, after all, “the true basis of -rights is the capacity of the individual.” He urgently pleaded that the -government should give the freedman education that he might have -knowledge to use his suffrage in such a manner as to preserve his own -liberty, and contribute to the public welfare. - -Mr. Douglass enjoyed a full share of the honors and responsibilities of -office-holding. In each succeeding administration after the war, posts -and places came to him almost as a matter of course, because of his -prominence as a representative of the enfranchised race. During the -administration of President Grant, he was appointed one of the -councilmen of the District of Columbia, and afterward was elected a -member of the legislature of the District. He soon resigned the last -position to accept the secretaryship of the commission appointed by -Grant to visit San Domingo for the purpose of negotiating a treaty for -the annexation of that island to the United States. The commission was -composed of Senator B. F. Wade, Dr. S. G. Howe, and Andrew D. White, -President of Cornell University. The country was somewhat startled by -the innovation of placing a colored man in a position to represent the -government on so important a mission. Its purpose failed. Opposition on -the part of Senator Sumner and other influential Republicans was of the -most bitter and uncompromising sort. - -The political feud that arose from General Grant’s San Domingan policy -carried many men out of the Republican party. Mr. Douglass was placed in -an awkward position in accepting the appointment, because his great -friend, Senator Sumner, was the leader of the opposition to the -President’s plan of annexation. He admired and was personally attached -to both because of their heroic services in the cause of freedom and -citizenship for his people. Explaining his attitude, he said: “I am free -to say that, had I been guided only by the promptings of my heart, I -should, in this controversy, have followed Charles Sumner. He was not -only the most clear-sighted, brave, and uncompromising friend of my race -who had ever stood upon the floor of the Senate, but he was to me a -loved, honored, and precious personal friend.” - -After Senator Sumner had arraigned President Grant in a notable speech -in the Senate, Mr. Douglass happened to be a caller at the White House -and was asked by the President what he now thought of his friend from -Massachusetts. True to his feelings, Douglass frankly replied that, in -his opinion, the Senator was sincere in his position, believing that in -opposing annexation he defended the cause of the colored race, as he had -always done. “I saw that my reply was not satisfactory,” Douglass -observes, “and I said, ‘What do you think, Mr. President, of Senator -Sumner?’ He replied with some feeling, ‘I think he is mad.’” - -By his perfect frankness, Mr. Douglass was able to retain the respect -and confidence of both men. He agreed with President Grant in his -annexation policy and had, at the same time, a special fondness for the -Massachusetts Senator. He frequently dined with the latter and they were -often seen walking arm in arm in the corridors of the Capitol, while -Douglass embraced every opportunity to sound the praises of his friend. -In an address delivered at New Orleans before a convention of colored -men, during this Grant-Sumner feud, he said: “There is now at Washington -a man who represents the future and is a majority in himself,—a man at -whose feet Grant learns wisdom. That man is Charles Sumner. I know them -both; they are great men, but Sumner is as steady as the north star; he -is no flickering light. For twenty-five years he has worked for the -Republican party and I hope I may cease forever, if I cease to give all -honor to Charles Sumner.” And later he said: “As a man of integrity and -truth, Charles Sumner was high above suspicion, and not all the Grants -in Christendom will rob him of his well-earned character.” - -Notwithstanding his repeatedly declared loyalty to the Senator, Mr. -Douglass was found in the ranks doing valiant service for the reëlection -of General Grant for a second term. His coöperation was needed in some -quarters, because the colored voters were not a little confused when -such stalwart friends as Sumner, Senator Trumbull, of Illinois; Carl -Schurz, of Missouri; and Horace Greeley, of New York, were found in the -“camp of the enemy,” fighting the Republican party. The National -Convention of Colored Men, held in New Orleans in April, 1872, affords -an interesting example of how puzzling was the split in the Republican -organization to the average Negro voter. This was a very large and -representative body. The members were in a state of grave apprehension, -on account of the division in the ranks of the black man’s party. Many -of the leading delegates in attendance were uncertain to whom their -allegiance should be given. It was difficult for a colored man in those -days not to be with Sumner, right or wrong. - -It was here that Mr. Douglass demonstrated his power as a political -leader. His speech as president of the convention was a notable effort. -It was telegraphed in full to the New York _Herald_, and throughout the -country it was widely circulated and read, as a campaign document. It -did more than any other one thing to hold the colored people in party -lines. In addition to this, Douglass took an active part in the ensuing -struggle, and no orator in the Grant-Greeley contest was more popular -than he. To the black voter, who wanted to follow the Liberal -Republicans led by Senator Sumner, he urged that there was “no path out -of the Republican party that did not lead directly into the camp of the -Democratic party—away from our friends, directly to our enemies.” It was -in this campaign, too, that he made use of the well-known party -aphorism, “The Republican party is the ship, and all else is the sea.” - -What was more important and interesting than any other thing in this -contest, so far as Mr. Douglass was concerned, was the singular -recognition shown him by the Republicans of New York, who placed his -name on the ticket as one of the electors of that state. No other -colored man in the history of the country had ever been so honored. When -the electoral college met in Albany, he was commissioned to carry the -New York vote to the capital of the nation. - -Though he had done valiant service for the reëlection of General Grant, -Mr. Douglass neither asked nor received any reward in the form of an -office. At that time there were but few honors in the gift of the -President that could be considered within the reach of a colored man. -The one diplomatic post which he could have obtained for the asking—as -minister to Hayti—he made no effort to get, but generously supported his -friend E. D. Bassett, of Philadelphia, for it. Mr. Bassett was a man of -fine attainments and exceptionally well qualified for the office. This -act of deference to the claims of others was characteristic of Mr. -Douglass in all of his relationships to the prominent Negroes of his -generation. - -In 1877, and after the election and inauguration of President Hayes, the -whole country was more or less startled by the announcement that -Frederick Douglass had been appointed Marshal of the District of -Columbia. This office was one of much political and social -responsibility, and the appointment of an ex-slave produced a sensation -in Washington. As Mr. Douglass says, “It came upon the people of the -District as a great surprise and almost a punishment, and provoked -something like a scream, I will not say a yell, of popular displeasure.” -This was not an exaggerated statement of the public feeling directed -against the appointment. Plans were set on foot to secure the defeat of -his nomination in the United States Senate. It seemed impossible for the -people at the capital to view the President’s action in any other way -than as the degradation of an exalted office. They were sure that Mr. -Douglass would use his place to “Africanize the District courts”; and -the great social functions of the White House, with a Negro as “Lord -High Chamberlain,” would become the laughing-stock of the enlightened -world. - -If Mr. Douglass had been a man of less tact and intelligence, and had -not occupied so high a place in popular esteem, he could not have -withstood the strength and bitterness of the opposition. His good -standing, in spite of his color, saved him and the Hayes administration -from a humiliating surrender to popular prejudice. When his name reached -the Senate, it was confirmed without serious discussion. Senator -Conkling had charge of the matter, and swept away all opposition in a -perfect storm of eloquent ridicule of the reasons presented for -rejection. Unfortunately, the Senate’s action did not wholly end the -agitation. Every word and act of Mr. Douglass’s was scrutinized for some -proof of his unfitness. Shortly after the confirmation of his -appointment, he delivered an address in the city of Baltimore, taking as -his theme “Our National Capital.” It was an interesting mixture of -praise and criticism, though in no way the result of recent occurrences, -for he had delivered the same speech in Washington some months before -and it provoked no discussion. He was, therefore, greatly surprised to -find, when he returned to the capital, that the old animosity which had -spent itself in attempting to defeat his appointment, was again aroused. -The objectionable portions of his Baltimore lecture were quoted and -commented upon in terms of unqualified bitterness. An effort was made to -induce the sureties on his bond to withdraw, and in this way disqualify -him to act in his official capacity. Strong pressure was brought to bear -on the President to relieve the capital of the nation of the -insufferable offense of an official who had so little sense of the -proprieties as to hold up Washington and its citizens to public -ridicule. All this, however, proved to be of no effect. His bondsmen, -one of whom was a wealthy and prominent Democrat of the District, could -not be persuaded to embarrass the Negro marshal by withdrawing their -names. Hayes was likewise firm in resisting all efforts to remove Mr. -Douglass, who refers gratefully to the President as follows: “When all -Washington was in an uproar, and a wild clamor rent the air for my -removal from the office of marshal, on account of the lecture delivered -by me in Baltimore, and when petitions were flowing in upon him -demanding my degradation, he nobly rebuked the mad spirit of persecution -by openly declaring his purpose to retain me in my place.” - -Douglass’s successful fight in retaining his position of honor was -interesting, not so much because of his personal standing, as because it -was typical of the whole struggle of his race, since emancipation, to -win their way into the confidences of the American people by proving -themselves capable of using their liberty and their citizenship in a -proper manner. - -If Mr. Douglass had been sacrificed to the demands of popular prejudice, -it would have served as a disqualifying precedent in the matter of -future opportunities of colored men with honorable ambitions. In a short -while, all opposition was quieted, and the new marshal pursued the -routine of his duties without hindrance or serious embarrassment. The -judges and attorneys of the District soon learned to treat the Negro -official with respect and courtesy. None of the awful things predicted -came to pass, and the powers that stood behind him and were responsible -for him were wholly vindicated. - -During the trying ordeal from which he had so successfully emerged, Mr. -Douglass complained somewhat petulantly that “no colored man in the city -uttered one public word in defense or extenuation of me or my Baltimore -speech, except Dr. Charles B. Purvis.” He was always sensitive to the -least evidence of opposition or slight on the part of his own people. -For a man who had done so much for his race at a time when it was unable -to do anything for itself, it was, perhaps, quite natural for him to -feel as he did, now that so many voices were lifted against him. -Whatever hostility or indifference the colored people in the District -exhibited toward Mr. Douglass, was probably due to jealousy of his -leadership and a professed chagrin on account of the alleged willingness -on his part to accept the office with the abridgment of the social -privileges enjoyed by previous marshals. - -His answer to these complaints was such as to satisfy any reasonable -person that it meant no surrender of principle. All the functions that -legally belonged to his office he performed. The ornamental duties that -had grown up by custom and usage, he willingly left to others. He had -enjoyed more social opportunities than any colored man in the country -and he possessed infinite tact and a fine sense of discrimination as to -rights and privileges. Frequently while he was marshal, he was called -upon to introduce distinguished strangers to the President. He said: “I -was ever a welcome visitor at the Executive Mansion on state occasions -and on all others while Rutherford B. Hayes was President of the United -States.” - -As time passed, his own people, as well as other men in Washington, came -to admire Douglass’s good sense as well as his fine bearing on all -occasions. The proudest event in his official life was associated with -the inauguration of General James A. Garfield as President of the United -States. The Marshal of the District of Columbia was called upon to act -an important part in the greatest of all national ceremonies. He was -brought into touch with the retiring as well as the incoming President. -He had the honor of escorting them both from the chamber of the United -States Senate to the east front of the Capitol where the oath of office -was to be taken by President Garfield and where he delivered his -inaugural address to a vast concourse of people. - -In speaking of that experience, Douglass says with pardonable pride: - -“I felt myself standing on new ground, on a height never before trodden -by any of my people, one heretofore occupied only by members of the -Caucasian race.... I deemed the event highly important as a new -circumstance in my career, as a new recognition of my class, and as a -new step in the progress of the nation. Personally, it was a striking -contrast to my early condition. Yonder I was an unlettered slave, -toiling under the ‘Negro breaker’; here I was the United States Marshal -of the capital of the nation, having under my care and guidance the -sacred persons of an ex-President and the President-elect of a nation of -sixty millions of people, and was armed with a nation’s power to arrest -any arm raised against them. While I was not insensible or indifferent -to the fact that I was treading the high places of the land, I was not -conscious of any unsteadiness of head or heart. I was a United States -Marshal by accident. I was no less Frederick Douglass, identified with a -proscribed class, whose perfect and practical equality with other -American citizens, was yet far down the steps of time. Yet I was not -sorry to have this brief authority for I rejoiced in the fact that a -colored man could occupy this height and that the precedent was -valuable.” - -Thus it was that Mr. Douglass esteemed every honor or favor earned and -received by him, to mean some fresh recognition of the worth of the -Negro race. He sustained a very close and cordial relationship to Mr. -Garfield. He had done effective service in the campaign that resulted in -the election of the new President, whose fine abilities and robust -Americanism he greatly admired. Shortly after the inauguration, Mr. -Douglass was summoned to the White House. Garfield wished to discuss -with this acknowledged leader of the Negro race his policy in reference -to appointments of colored men to office. He assured Mr. Douglass of his -intention to place capable colored men in a higher grade of positions in -the diplomatic service, and he asked if, in Douglass’s opinion, nations -composed of white people would object to receiving colored men as -representatives of the American government. He also assured Douglass -that Senator Conkling’s wish for his (Douglass’s) reappointment as -Marshal of the District of Columbia would be granted with pleasure. The -Negro leader found the position thoroughly congenial to him, and it was -a matter of satisfaction to realize that he had so successfully lived -down past objections that no one now raised a voice against him. But for -reasons that were never divulged to him, he was displaced, and another -was appointed to the post. - -Though he was keenly disappointed and chagrined, Douglass believed in -Mr. Garfield and was not inclined to censure him because of his broken -promise. He had strong faith that the President was about to carry out a -policy of recognition of the colored race which would be more liberal -than that of any of his predecessors. He felt that the colored people at -this time needed a firm friend. He clearly saw that his race in respect -to its rights of citizenship was slipping back from the high position -occupied by it ten years prior to this time. He feared that the reaction -which began to set in after the withdrawal of Federal troops from the -South in 1876 would carry his people to something like political serfdom -unless some strong hand would come to their aid. - -The assurances now given to him by President Garfield that the Negro and -his cause would receive fair and honest treatment relieved his anxiety -despite his own displacement, and he confidently expected that the -administration of General Garfield would mean much to Negro progress in -all directions. - -Alas for human hopes! Before the big-hearted man could put his good -intentions into effect, the assassin had done his evil work. Mr. -Douglass, like every one else close to the President, was overwhelmed -with grief. He said: “Few men in this country felt more keenly than I -the shock created by the assassination of President Garfield and few men -had better reason for this feeling.” - -When Vice-President Arthur succeeded to the presidency, Mr. Douglass was -appointed Recorder of Deeds of the District of Columbia. This was a -lucrative office and a good deal of patronage was attached to it. Being -the first colored man to be appointed to the post, he had to face the -opposition that usually attaches to an innovation; but the objections -were not of a serious nature and soon subsided. - -He continued in this place for five years. When Mr. Cleveland came to -the presidency he rather expected to be removed summarily; but the -Democratic chief magistrate proved to be less of a party man than either -the Recorder or the average Republican expected. The new President was -too high-minded to be a mere partisan, and to Mr. Douglass’s surprise, -he was treated with much respect and kindness. He and his wife were -invited to all public functions given at the White House and Mr. -Cleveland in every way showed that he shared the public esteem in which -the great Negro was so universally held. He was allowed to occupy the -position for quite a year under the Democratic administration. Then -instead of removing or asking for his resignation in the usually abrupt -way, the President graciously wrote to know when it would be convenient -for him to give up the post. - -Mr. Cleveland further indicated his kindly regard for the colored people -of the country by promising them that his election would not mean a -curtailment of their liberties, as some of them feared. For this -assurance Mr. Douglass made public acknowledgment. The statements of the -President were timely and quieting, because for the first time in twenty -years, the more ignorant of the Negroes were somewhat panic-stricken. -Speaking of their fears, Douglass testified “to the painful apprehension -and distress felt by my people in the South from the return to power of -the old Democratic and slavery party. To many of them, it seemed that -they were left naked to their enemies, in fact, lost; that Mr. -Cleveland’s election meant the revival of the slave-power and that they -would now again be reduced to slavery and the lash. The misery brought -to the South by this wide-spread alarm can hardly be described or -measured. The wail of despair for a time from the late bondsmen was -deep, bitter and heart-rending.... It was well for the poor people in -this condition that Mr. Cleveland himself sent word South to allay their -fear and remove their agony.” - -Mr. Douglass always cherished a very sincere admiration for President -Cleveland, for this and other reasons, and regarded it as highly -fortunate that a man so just and non-partisan should be elected as the -first Democratic President after emancipation. As a result of his fair -treatment, the American Negroes first learned that the term Democratic -did not necessarily mean for them loss of rights and citizenship. In -fact, his liberal policy caused a great many of the more intelligent -colored men very seriously to consider the advisability of a division of -the Negro vote between the two great parties. Men of the high standing -of Archibald H. Grimké, of Boston, Mass., and W. M. E. Matthews, of New -York, argued with great plausibility that one way to convince the -American people of his qualifications for citizenship, would be for the -Negro to learn to vote for principles rather than for party leaders. -They insisted that to take the pith out of the Democratic opposition to -his appearance in politics, a goodly portion of the voters should join -themselves to that party. It was unfortunate that this tendency to -political independence on the part of the enlightened colored men could -not have been encouraged. However natural and human it may be for the -Negro people to be allied wholly to one of two political parties, it is -nevertheless a serious hindrance to the colored man’s political freedom -that he must continue to regard the Republican party as composed wholly -of his friends and the Democratic party as composed wholly of his -enemies. Mr. Douglass openly confessed his inability to take this new -stand in politics, notwithstanding his admiration for Mr. Cleveland and -his respect for the motives of the few colored men in the country who -were independent enough to break away from party control. Though he -personally could not join the movement he regarded it as a sign of -progress for colored men of character and intellect to say that they -cared more for their race than for party, and more for their country -than for their race. - -The last public office held by Mr. Douglass under the United States -government was that of Minister Resident and Consul General to the -Republic of Hayti. This seemed a fitting climax to the long list of -honors that came to him, not so much as a reward of party service as for -his own high deserving. The appointment was made by President Harrison -and was wholly unsought. Douglass had, of course, and as usual, taken an -active part in the campaign of 1888. The tariff was the main subject of -contention and it was more than hinted to him that he was expected to -make the most of this issue. He nevertheless had his own way, and -everywhere he insisted that the paramount issue was the rights of men. - -On the stump he was as popular as ever; on all sides he found the people -deeply interested in his fervent pleas for justice to his race. Speaking -of his efforts in the last political campaign in which he took a -prominent part, he said: “I held that the soul of the nation was in this -question and that the gain of all the gold in the world would not -compensate for the loss of the national soul. National honor is the soul -of the nation and when this is lost all is lost.... As with an -individual, so with a nation. There is a time when it may be properly -asked, What does it profit a nation to gain the whole world and lose its -own soul?” - -In accepting the honor of representing this country in Hayti Frederick -Douglass was about to realize a long cherished wish,—an opportunity to -see and study the only republic established and carried on by black men -in the Western world. In some respects his appointment at another time -would have been more agreeable. Very much to his surprise and chagrin, -and for causes of which he was wholly innocent, it was bitterly opposed. -Antagonism to him came almost wholly from the East and was confined to -interests that were bent upon obtaining valuable concessions from Hayti. -Certain New York newspapers tried to make it appear that he was unfitted -for the place, and insisted that the people wanted a white man to -represent the United States, although every representative from this -government to Hayti since 1869 had been a colored man. It was also urged -that Douglass would not be well received, because at one time he favored -the annexation of San Domingo. - -Even after his appointment was confirmed by the United States Senate, -the opposition still pursued him. For example, it was said that the -captain of the ship designated by the government to convey the new -minister to Port-au-Prince, refused to take him on board because of his -complexion; that after he arrived at the capital of Hayti he was snubbed -by the officials for the same reason; and that it was found he had not -been duly accredited. - -In these statements there was scarcely a grain of truth. There was no -insult to Mr. Douglass by the captain of the boat; there was no lack of -cordiality and respect on the part of the Haytians on account of his -color; and there was no embarrassment of any kind to warrant the -peculiar and insistent opposition that followed him from the moment his -appointment was announced. There were two issues of commanding interest -at this time which made the position of our Minister to Port-au-Prince a -trying one. First in importance was a desire on the part of the United -States to secure by treaty, Môle St. Nicolas as a naval station; and, -second, a desperate determination by the Clyde Steamship Company to -obtain from the Haytian government a subsidy of a half-million dollars -to ply a line of steamers between New York and Hayti. - -As an evidence of the mean spirit of Mr. Douglass’s enemies, he was -grossly misrepresented as being the cause of the failure of the United -States to obtain the Môle. The great perversion of the real facts -surrounding the diplomatic efforts on the part of the government to -procure from Hayti the use of this port, led Mr. Douglass to publish in -the _North American Review_ for September and October, 1891, a full -history of his connection with the affair. In this interesting account -of the negotiations carried on during his official residence in Hayti, -it will be seen that he was in no way responsible for the result. In the -first place, he was not vested with authority to arrange with Hayti for -a United States naval station. He had been there as a representative of -this government over one year before the matter was taken up. When the -United States got ready to negotiate a treaty, the subject was entrusted -wholly to a special agent in the person of Rear-Admiral Gherardi. Mr. -Douglass’s only instructions were to coöperate with and assist the -Admiral in every possible way. The news of the appointment of a special -commissioner by the United States government was viewed by Mr. Douglass -as “sudden and far from flattering.” It placed him in an unenviable -light, both before the community of Port-au-Prince and the government of -Hayti, and made his position very humble, secondary, and subordinate. He -said: “The situation suggested the resignation of my office as due to my -honor, but reflection soon convinced me that such a course would subject -me to misconstruction more hurtful than any which, in the circumstances, -could justly arise from remaining at my post.” - -He cordially and energetically assisted Admiral Gherardi. He secured -audiences with the President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of -Hayti, and did not allow anything like offended dignity to diminish his -zeal and alacrity in carrying out his instructions. - -In the conference, Mr. Douglass supplemented the arguments of the -commissioner in an earnest appeal in behalf of the United States. He -urged that the concession asked for by his government, “was in line with -good neighborhood, and advanced civilization, and in every way -consistent with Haytian autonomy; that such a concession would be a -source of strength to Hayti; that national isolation was a worn-out -policy, and that the true policy of Hayti ought to be to touch the world -at all points that make for civilization and commerce.” - -All arguments, however, failed to overcome the deep-seated suspicion of -the Haytian people of any proposition to yield even one inch of their -national dominion. While in Mr. Douglass’s opinion, the negotiations -were ill-timed, being prejudiced by the previous demands of the agents -of the Clyde Company, and by the apparent threat in the presence of a -part of the United States Navy in the Haytian harbor, he yet gave it as -his deliberate opinion that no earthly power outside of absolute force -could have obtained for the American government a naval station at Môle -St. Nicolas. - -He also found that Hayti was somewhat suspicious of the United States on -account of the national prejudice against the color of its citizens. -While loyal to his own government, Mr. Douglass scarcely blamed them for -this feeling. He believed in the future of the little republic, and -said: “Whatever may happen of peace or war, Hayti will remain in the -firmament of nations and like the north star will shine on, and shine -forever.” - - - - - CHAPTER XV - FURTHER EVIDENCES OF POPULAR ESTEEM, WITH GLIMPSES INTO THE PAST - - -The foregoing chapters contain the important incidents and events in the -life of Frederick Douglass. He lived in a great transitional period, -and, in his struggle to gain his own freedom, he personified the -historic events which took place during that time. His life was so -wholly under the public eye, and what he did and stood for during more -than fifty years, were so much an integral portion of these years, that -it is impossible to obtain an estimate of the man apart from the history -of slavery. Frederick Douglass and Anti-slavery, are almost -interchangeable terms. In himself he was both the argument and -demonstration of the things that gave interest and meaning to his life -and times. Yet he had another side not exhibited in the history of which -he was a part and which he helped to make. Much of a personal nature -that would add interest to his life and partly explain the sources of -his strength as a leader of men, can be added to the portrait. - -The limitations of this volume will permit only a brief outline of some -of the things that Frederick Douglass said and did during the last -thirty years of his life, which chronologically belonged to previous -chapters, but which for the sake of their peculiar significance are -reserved for this. - -As may be inferred from what has appeared in the course of this -narrative, Frederick Douglass was a more than ordinarily interesting -personality. He was a figure to attract attention anywhere, and -especially so during the last twenty-five years of his life. He was over -six feet in height, broad-shouldered, well-proportioned, and his -movements had all the directness and grace of a man who had been bred a -prince rather than a slave. His features were broad, strong, and -impressive. His complexion was that of a mulatto. His head was -strikingly large, and crowned with an abundant crop of white hair of -almost silken fineness. His eyes were brown and mildly animated. His -voice was strong, but of mellow tone. When he was aroused, however, it -would fairly thunder with the passionate earnestness of the man. In -conversation he was delightful. His manner was graceful and wholly free -from personal mannerisms. His mental and moral faculties were well -balanced. He was a man without technical education, yet he had more than -ordinary learning. All that he knew was acquired outside of schoolrooms -and without school teachers. His great library bore witness to his love -of books. In the history of governments and of races, and in mental -philosophy and poetry, he found special delight. No trained elocutionist -could recite verse with better effect. He was especially fond of Byron, -Burns, Coleridge, and Pierpont. - -He was always quick to recognize ability in one of his race, and so had -a peculiar fondness and interest in Paul Laurence Dunbar, who, at his -death, was just beginning to be known as a poet, and who received his -first real encouragement from Frederick Douglass. - -He had an unfailing memory, and consequently a good command of -everything he ever saw, heard, or read. He was liked and honored by men -and women, not only because he was interesting, but also because he was -singularly free from crotchets, idiosyncrasies, and ill-temper. He was -of a lovable disposition, and especially so in the latter days of his -life. The all too common character blemishes of selfishness, envy, and -jealousy were never charged against him. His whole nature was keyed to -high, generous impulses. He loved the right, and hated wrong in any -form. - -No man of his prominence was freer from vices: he was of temperate -habits, clean speech, and personal rectitude. His sense of honor was not -partial, but a controlling force in all of his relationships to men and -things. - -He was also fortunately free from family troubles, except the loss by -death of a beloved little daughter, whose few gentle and beautiful years -had been his delight, a sorrow which deeply shadowed the earlier period -of his public career. His wife, who had helped him to gain his freedom, -devoted her life to his comfort and to the happiness of his home. His -three stalwart sons, Lewis, Charles, and Frederick, Jr., honored him by -lives of usefulness, and there was always the closest intimacy between -him and them. His oldest girl, named Rosa, was very dear to him. She -grew up by his side as a faithful helper in his work as well as a -devoted daughter. She is widely known and loved for her culture and -unselfish disposition. In short, Frederick Douglass’s family was worthy -of him. If by his deeds he brought to them honor and opportunity, he -lived long enough to see his example and precepts honored again in them. - -His home in Cedar Hill, overlooking the Capitol, was a delightful spot. -Everything about it bespoke the character of the man. The broad grounds, -shaded with trees, the well-cultivated garden, all told of his love of -nature. Within the ample house there was a quiet, restful refinement, -revealing the taste and habits of the scholar. Books, busts, and -pictures all bore witness to that instinctive thirst for culture which -no one who knew him well could fail to recognize. He had an -extraordinary passion for the violin, and, although he did not place a -very high estimate upon his own ability, yet he, as well as his nearest -friends, received much enjoyment from his knowledge of the use of this -instrument. - -In later years he found a special delight in the fact that his grandson, -Joseph Douglass, exhibited a decided taste and a real genius for the -violin. A more affecting picture of the power of music could scarcely be -imagined than that of the old man sitting and listening with rapt and -tearful attention when this boy played for him some of his favorite -tunes. - -But perhaps these glimpses of the personality of Frederick Douglass are -sufficient to suggest that, behind the great orator, the active -politician, the anxious leader in a critical period, there was a real -man, whose domestic tastes and disciplined heart give an added value to -his public life. It is not at all surprising that one thus gifted should -have had many intimates among the best people of his generation. The -leading statesmen, educators, and literary men were counted as his close -and personal friends. Behind the respect that was felt for his natural -talents and his unusual achievements was a sincere admiration and even -fondness for the large and warmhearted nature which could laugh and cry -and be touched by the social delights of home and fireside. He was a man -of opinions, of ideals, of imagination, and had the gift of adequate -expression for every thought and emotion. - -After the death of his first wife, Mr. Douglass married again, in 1884, -and for this step he was severely criticised. The fact that his second -wife, Miss Helen Pitts, was a white woman caused something like a -revulsion of feeling throughout the entire country. His own race -especially condemned him, and the notion seemed to be quite general that -he had made the most serious mistake of his life. Just how deep-seated -was the sentiment of white and black people alike against amalgamation -has never been so clearly demonstrated as in this case. Douglass was -sorely hurt by the many unkind things said about his marriage by members -of his own race. - -The woman whom he married he had known and admired for many years. She -had helped him in various ways in his literary work. She belonged to one -of the best families in western New York, and in following the natural -impulse of his attachment, he failed to take into consideration the -offense his act might give to public feeling. The resentment felt by the -people because of his disregard of its unwritten law never entirely died -out in his lifetime, but he himself got over the personal discomfiture -of it. In addressing a large audience of white and colored people in -Springfield, Mo., in the fall of 1893, he referred to this incident in -the following words: “I am strongly of the opinion that you will want me -to say something concerning my second marriage. I will tell you: My -first wife, you see, was the color of my mother, and my second wife the -color of my father; you see I wanted to be perfectly fair to both -races.” This clever bit of raillery on a very delicate subject put him -on good terms with his audience and if any were inclined to think the -less of him because of his marriage the fact did not then appear. - -In the period from 1865 to the Columbian Exposition at Chicago, in 1893, -Mr. Douglass was interested in many things. He made various addresses -outside of the range of politics, and was busy to the limit of his -waning strength. What he wrote found ready acceptance in important -publications, and his absence from any great national gathering was a -matter of regret. - -Among the many tokens of respect that continued to come to him from all -parts of the country, he cherished none so much as the tribute paid to -him by the city of Rochester, his home during the twenty-five formative -years of his career. In the name of the city, some of its leading -citizens caused to be placed in Sibley’s Hall, at Rochester University, -a noble bust of Frederick Douglass. It was a gracious recognition of the -esteem in which he was held by the people who had had the best -opportunity of knowing him. The Rochester _Democrat and Chronicle_ -expressed the sentiment of the city in the following eulogy written at -the time: - - “Frederick Douglass can hardly be said to have risen to greatness on - account of the opportunities which the republic offers to self-made - men, and concerning which we are apt to talk with an abundance of - self-gratulation. It sought to fetter his mind equally with his body. - For him it builded no schoolhouse, and for him it erected no church. - So far as he was concerned, freedom was mockery, and law was the - instrument of tyranny. In spite of law and gospel, despite of statutes - which enthralled him and opportunities which jeered at him, he made - himself, by trampling on the laws and breaking through the thick - darkness that encompassed him. There is no sadder commentary upon - human slavery than the life of Frederick Douglass. He put it under his - feet and stood erect in the majesty of his intellect; but how many - intellects, brilliant and powerful as his, it stamped upon and - crushed, no mortal can tell until the secret of its terrible despotism - is fully revealed. Thanks to the conquering might of American freedom, - such sad beginnings of such illustrious lives as that of Frederick - Douglass are no longer possible; and that they are no longer possible, - is largely due to him, who when his lips were unlocked, became a - deliverer of his people. Not alone did his voice proclaim - emancipation. Eloquent as was that voice, his life in its pathos and - in its grandeur, was more deeply eloquent still; and where shall be - found, in the annals of humanity, a sweeter rendering of poetic - justice than that he, who has passed through such vicissitudes of - degradation and exaltation, has been permitted to behold the - redemption of his race? - - “Rochester is proud to remember that Frederick Douglass was, for many - years, one of her citizens. He who pointed out the house where - Douglass lived, hardly exaggerated when he called it the residence of - the greatest of our citizens, for Douglass must rank as among the - greatest men, not only of this city, but of the nation as well—great - in gifts, greater in utilizing them, great in the persuasion of his - speech, greater in the purpose that informed it. - - “Rochester could do nothing more graceful than to perpetuate in marble - the features of this citizen in her hall of learning; and it is - pleasant for her to know that he so well appreciates the esteem in - which he is held here. It was a thoughtful thing for Rochester to do, - and the response is as heartfelt as the tribute is appropriate.” - -Among his notable addresses during the period under review was one -delivered on Decoration Day in 1871 at Arlington. His theme was “The -Unknown Loyal Dead.” President Grant, the members of the Cabinet, and a -large number of the most prominent people of Washington were present, -and the occasion was unusually impressive. He rose grandly to the need -of the hour. The oration was in his best vein and is in part as -follows:— - - “Friends and Fellow Citizens:—Tarry here for a moment. My words shall - be few and simple. 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 living 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 enduring in human existence. - - “Dark and sad will be the hour to this nation when it forgets to pay - grateful homage to its greatest benefactors. The offering we bring - to-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 in eternity, the loyal soldiers who imperiled all for country and - freedom are one and inseparable. - - “These 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 illustrious 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 - the states was torn and rent asunder at the centre, and the armies of - a gigantic rebellion came forth with broad blades and bloody hands to - destroy the very foundation of American society, the unknown braves - who flung themselves into the yawning chasm, where cannon roared and - bullets whistled, fought and fell. They died for their country. - - “We are sometimes asked, in the name of patriotism, to forget the - merits of this fearful struggle, 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 forget the difference - between the parties to that terrible, protracted and bloody conflict. - - “If we ought to forget a war which 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 armless, 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 hearthstones—I say, if this war is to be forgotten, - I ask in the name of things sacred, what shall men remember?” - -Five years later Mr. Douglass was again honored with an invitation to -deliver the address in memory of Abraham Lincoln, at Lincoln Park, in -Washington. The occasion and the man were happily blended. No orator -ever had a more inspiring theme. The rulers of the nation in the persons -of President Grant and his Cabinet advisers, members of the United -States Senate, Justices of the Supreme Court, and a great many high -officials were present to evidence the importance of the day; and in -such a company of distinguished people Douglass delivered what many call -his supreme effort as an orator. The speech later was printed as a -pamphlet, and extensively read throughout the country. - -His closing words addressed to his own people, prescient, as they seemed -to be of days and dangers as yet but vaguely understood, made an -ineffaceable impression upon men of his color who heard him: - -“We have done a great work for our race to-day. In doing honor to the -memory of our friend and liberator, we have been doing highest honor to -ourselves and those who are to come after us. We have been attaching to -ourselves a name and fame imperishable and immortal. We have also been -defending ourselves from a blighting scandal, when now it shall be said -that the colored man is soulless, that he has no appreciation of -benefits or benefactors; when the foul reproach of ingratitude is hurled -at us, and it is attempted to scourge us beyond the range of human -brotherhood, we may calmly point to this monument we have this day -erected to the memory of Abraham Lincoln.” - -In his address before the Tennessee Colored Agricultural and Mechanical -Association at Nashville, September 18, 1873, he furnished the country -new evidence of his ability to give instruction, to inspire hope and -ambition, and to encourage thrift. Though not an agriculturist by -occupation, his speech can still be used as a manual for the young -farmer. It, like his other addresses, is full of practical and useful -maxims. His quotation from Theodore Parker, “All the space between man’s -mind and God’s mind is crowded with truths which wait to be discovered -and organized into law for the practice of men,” indicates the tone of -high hopefulness that ran through all his appeals to the people. “If we -look abroad over our country and observe the condition of the colored -people,” he said, “we shall find their greatest want to be regular and -lucrative employment for their energies. They have secured their -freedom, it is true, but not the friendship and favor of the people -around them.... On account of bad treatment, great numbers are driven -from the country to the larger cities where they quickly learn to -imitate the vices and follies of the least exemplary whites. Under these -circumstances, I hail agriculture as a refuge for the oppressed.” - -Insisting that the condition of the Negro in this country is -exceptional, he reminded his hearers that “the farm is our last resort, -and if we fail here, I do not see how we can succeed elsewhere. We are -not like the Irish, an organized political power; we are not shrewd like -the Hebrews, capable of making fortunes by buying and selling old -clothes.” - -The address is rich with maxims that are good to remember and to use as -rules of conduct; such as: - - “Emancipation has liberated the land as well as the people.” - - “It is not fertility, but liberty that cultivates a country.” - - “The state of Tennessee is now to be cultivated by liberty, by - knowledge which comes of liberty, by the respectability of labor.” - - “Neither the slave nor his master can abandon all at once the deeply - entrenched errors and habits of centuries.” - - “There is no work that men are required to do, which they cannot - better and more economically do with education than without it.” - - “Muscle is mighty but mind is mightier, and there is no field for the - exercise of mind other than is found in the cultivation of the soul.” - - “As a race we have suffered from two very opposite causes, - disparagement on the one hand and undue praise on the other.” - - “An important question to be answered by evidences of our progress is: - Whether the black man will prove a better master to himself than the - white master was to him.” - - “Accumulate property. This may sound to you like a new gospel. No - people can ever make any social and mental improvement whose exertions - are limited. Poverty is our greatest calamity.... On the other hand, - property, money, if you please, will produce for us the only condition - upon which any people can rise to the dignity of genuine manhood.” - - “Without property there can be no leisure. Without leisure there can - be no invention, without invention there can be no progress.” - - “We can work, and by this means we can retrieve all our losses.” - - “Knowledge, wisdom, culture, refinement, manners, are all founded on - work and the wealth which work brings.” - - “In nine cases out of ten a man’s condition is worse by changing his - location. You would better endeavor to remove the evil from your door - than to move and leave it there.” - - “If you have a few acres, stick to them.” - - “Life is too short, time is too valuable, to waste in the experiment - of seeking new homes. People are about as good in your neighborhood as - anywhere else in the world, and may need you to make them better.” - -The foregoing extracts sufficiently indicate the character and -importance of this Nashville address. It was quite unlike speeches that -had been made by most of the colored leaders to their people. While -emphasizing the importance of hard work, of duties, and patience, he -indulged in no false hopes and made no extravagant claims. The every-day -facts, needs, and responsibilities of the people on the soil were, he -held, the paramount things for men who were beginning their social -development. In short, it was a strong and stirring call to the Negroes -to look about them, and not afar, for the instruments and forces that -must be utilized for their salvation. - -Belonging to this latter period of his life, another address, in -character quite different from the one just referred to, illustrates how -the colored people have been carried from one extreme of hopefulness to -the other of despair and uncertainty by the changes in public sentiment -concerning them. - -In 1883 the Supreme Court of the United States rendered a decision -declaring unconstitutional what was known as the “Civil Rights Bill.” -This was one of the Reconstruction measures, championed by Senator -Sumner, and, when brought forward it was regarded by the colored people -and their friends as a sort of charter of liberty. It undertook to -prevent discriminations against Negroes in hotels, restaurants, and -other places of public accommodation. At the time of its enactment it -was considered a necessary appendage to the Fourteenth and Fifteenth -Amendments, and the colored people everywhere felt a strong sense of -protection in its provisions. - -When the Supreme Court’s opinion declaring the law, outside of the -District of Columbia and other national territory, to be null and void, -was made known, it produced a sensation of alarm and almost despair -among Negroes everywhere. They saw in this decision a complete reversal -of the public sentiment that a few years before was so strongly -favorable to them. They began to lose faith in the potency of the letter -of the law, either to define or protect their rights. It was a sort of -rude reminder that, if they would be secure in their rights, they must -rely upon something else than mere statutes. Here was an apt -illustration of the maxim that what the law gives, the law can take -away. In relying upon only this for his salvation, the Negro had been -suspended between hope and despair, until it seemed to him that there -was no such thing as stability of sentiment toward him. The first -impulse was to protest, in the name of all the colored people, not only -against the letter of the decision, but also against haunting -implications that they had no rights which the law of the land was bound -to respect. - -The spirit of resentment found adequate expression in a great -mass-meeting arranged for and held in the city of Washington in 1883. -Frederick Douglass was selected, as a matter of course, as the one -colored man in the country who could best voice the feelings of the -people affected by the decision. The other speaker was the eloquent -Robert G. Ingersoll. The meeting was a notable one in every respect. The -most distinguished leaders of the race were there, and the audience was -large and earnest. There were present, too, a great number of prominent -white people who sympathized with the colored race. The address of Mr. -Douglass was one of the most interesting ever made by him. In it he -showed his ability to put into the most telling form the arguments with -which it seemed possible at that time to counteract, to some extent, the -moral effect of the decision upon the colored and the white communities. -His speech showed a wide acquaintance with the principles of the law and -more than usually profound knowledge of the philosophy of democracy. The -following extracts will indicate its character, and reflect, no doubt, -the opinions and sentiments of the meeting and the time: - - “It makes us feel as if some one was stamping on the graves of our - mothers, or desecrating our sacred temples.” - - “We have been, as a class, grievously wounded in the house of our - friends.” - - “This decision has swept over the land like a cyclone, leaving moral - desolation in its track.” - - “Inasmuch as the law in question is in favor of liberty and justice, - it ought to have had the benefit of any doubt which could arise as to - its strict constitutionality.” - - “If any man has come in here with his breast heaving with passion and - expecting to hear violent denunciation of the Supreme Court on account - of this decision, he has mistaken the object of this meeting. Its - judges live, and ought to live, an eagle’s flight beyond the reach of - fear or favor, praise or blame, profit or loss.” - - “In humiliating the colored people of this country, this decision has - humbled this nation.” - - “No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow-men without at - least finding the other end of it about his own neck.” - - “Prejudice is a spirit infernal, against which enlightened men should - wage perpetual war.” - - “We want no black Ireland in America. We want no aggrieved class in - America. Strong as we are without the Negro, we are stronger with him - than without him.” - - “Our legislators, our President, and the judges should have a care - lest by forcing these people outside the law, they destroy that love - of country, which in the day of trouble is needful to the nation’s - defense.” - - “Oh, for a Supreme Court of the United States which shall be as true - to the claims of humanity as the Supreme Court formerly was to the - demand of slavery.” - - “What is a state in the absence of the people who compose it?” - - “Land, air, and water do not discriminate. What does it matter to the - colored citizen that a state may not insult him if the citizen of the - state may? The decision is a concession to race pride, selfishness, - and meanness, and will be received with joy by every upholder of caste - in the land, and for this I deplore and denounce the decision.” - -The few addresses just referred to are, in point of the subject-matter -and the occasions that called them forth, the most important and able -made by Frederick Douglass after emancipation. On each occasion there -was a call for the supreme man of the Negro race and there were few, -except a small group of colored people, to question his right to be so -regarded. - -Frederick Douglass, however, was something more than a “race leader”; he -was always an eminent citizen of the republic, and as such his interests -were not wholly rimmed about by the sorrows and aspirations of his own -people. He was a careful student of his times and had an intelligent -concern in all the great questions that arose and called for an opinion. -It was quite in keeping with his cosmopolitan spirit that he should be -opposed to the policy of our government in excluding the Chinese from -American shores because, as he said, “I know of no rights of race -superior to the rights of humanity.” His views on the question, which -twenty-five years ago was an urgent one, are more fully expressed in the -following extract from one of his addresses on the subject of the -“Composite Nation”:— - -“Our republic itself is a strong argument in favor of cosmopolitan -nationality.... Let the Chinaman come; he will help to augment the -national wealth. He will help to develop our boundless resources; he -will help to pay off our national debt. He will help to lighten the -burden of our national taxation. He will give us the benefit of his -skill as a manufacturer, and as a tiller of the soil in which he is -unsurpassed. Even the matter of religious liberty, which has cost the -world more tears, more blood, and more agony than any other interest, -will be helped by his presence. I know of no church more tolerant, of no -priesthood, however enlightened, which could safely be trusted with the -tremendous power which universal conformity would confer. We should -welcome all men of every shade of religious opinion, as among the best -means of checking the arrogance and intolerance which are the almost -inevitable concomitants of general conformity. Liberty always flourishes -best amid the clash and competition of rival religious creeds.” - -Reference has already been made to Douglass’s services to the cause of -female suffrage. His presence at nearly all of the anniversaries and -other important gatherings of those who advocated the enfranchisement of -women was expected and his utterances were warmly received. - -In the matter of religion, Mr. Douglass was not strictly orthodox in his -beliefs, although it will be remembered that during his enslavement he -found much consolation in the Bible, and was for a time a Methodist -exhorter. His religious views, as he grew older, underwent a radical -change. He had no patience with hypocrites. He had seen and heard so -much that was cruel, unjust, and almost fiendish under the name of -religion, that his faith in sectarianism was badly shaken. In his early -anti-slavery addresses, he indulged in many absurd parodies of the pious -frauds whom he had known. However, he was not an atheist. He had a deep -religious sense, but was more fully under the influence of the -theological opinions of Theodore Parker than of any other school of -religious thought. His best friends and associates were among the -Unitarians, the Quakers, and others of liberal faith. His views on -religion are finely expressed in a bit of correspondence published by -Mr. Holland in his biography. In response to a cordial invitation to -speak before the “Free Religious Association” in Boston, in 1874, he -wrote: - - “I cannot be present at your Free Religious Convention in Boston. This - is, of course, of smaller consequence to others than to myself, for I - should come more to hear than to be heard. Freedom is a word of - charming sound, not only to the tasked and tortured slaves, who toil - for an earthly master, but for those who would break the galling - chains of darkness and superstition. Regarding the Free Religious - movement as one for light, love, and liberty, limited only by reason - and human welfare, and opposed to those who convert life and death - into enemies of human happiness, who people the invisible world with - ghastly taskmasters, I give it hearty welcome. Only the truth can make - men free, and I trust that your convention will be guided in all its - utterances by its light and feel its power. I know many of its good - men and women, who are likely to assemble with you, and I would gladly - share with them the burden of reproach which their attacks upon - popular error will be sure to bring upon them.” - -Extracts from letters to friends indicate still more clearly the deeper -currents of his thought. - - “I once had a large stock of hope on hand, but like the sand in the - glass, it has about run out. My present solace is in the cultivation - of religious submission to the inevitable, in teaching myself that I - am but a breath of the infinite, perhaps not so much. I was very sorry - not to be able to attend the Free Religious Convention. I shall, - hereafter, try to know more of these people.... I sometimes, at long - intervals, try my old violin; but after all the music of the past and - of imagination is sweeter than any my unpracticed and unskilled bow - can produce. So I lay my dear old fiddle aside, and listen to the - soft, silent, distant music of other days which, in the hush of my - spirit, I still find lingering somewhere in the mysterious depths of - my soul.” - - “I do not know that I am an evolutionist, but to this extent, I am - one. I certainly have more patience with those who trace mankind - upward from a low condition, even from the lower animals, than with - those who start him at a point of perfection and conduct him to a - level with the brutes. I have no sympathy with a theory that starts - man in Heaven, and stops him in Hell.... An irrepressible conflict, - grander than that described by the late William H. Seward, is - perpetually going on. Two hostile and irreconcilable tendencies, broad - as the world of man, are in the open field; good and evil, truth and - error, enlightenment and superstition.” - -One of the stirring incidents of this post-slavery period was the -“exodus movement.” In the summer of 1879, great numbers of Negroes, as -if by concerted action, began to emigrate from the South and the -southwestern states toward the North and West. This movement was the -first manifestation of discontent ever made by the colored people on a -large scale. It was in no way due to politics, but was rather an effort -to free themselves from the conditions under which they were compelled -to work and live. Their economic state was bad, and there seemed to be -little hope of improvement. The exodus grew to such an extent that it -produced something like national alarm and there were grave -apprehensions that much suffering would attend the efforts of the -Negroes to escape from poverty and dependence. Mr. Douglass has given -the following reasons for the dissatisfaction: - -“Work as hard, faithfully, and constantly as they may, live as plainly -and as sparingly as they may, they are no better off at the end of the -year than at the beginning. They say that they are the dupes and victims -of cunning and fraud in signing contracts which they cannot read and -cannot fully understand; that they are compelled to trade at stores -owned in whole or in part, by their employers; and that they are paid -with orders and not with money. They say that they have to pay double -the value of nearly everything they buy; that they are compelled to pay -a rental of ten dollars a year for an acre of ground that will not bring -thirty dollars under the hammer; that land-owners are in league to -prevent land owning by Negroes; that when they work the land on shares, -they barely make a living; that outside the towns and cities no -provision is made for education, and, ground down as they are, they -cannot themselves employ teachers to instruct their children.” - -As a general rule, the colored people in the North looked upon the -exodus hopefully. To them it was a sign of courage on the part of their -Southern brethren, and a protest against bad treatment. Frederick -Douglass, however, who was always expected to have an opinion and -express it, deplored the “unintelligent and somewhat aimless running -away from the ills they have to others they know not of.” He could see -no salvation for the Negro in the Northern states. “For him, as a -Southern laborer,” he said, “there is no competition or substitute,” and -he insisted that the freedman is always to be “the arbiter” of Southern -“destiny.” He held that the best place for the Negro to work out his -salvation was at home. His arguments are condensed in the following -extracts from his published views: - - “It may well enough be said that the Negro question is not so - desperate as the advocates of this exodus would have the public - believe; that there is still hope that the Negro will ultimately have - his rights as a man, and be fully protected in the South; that in - several of the old slave-states his citizenship and his right to vote - are already respected and protected; that the same, in time, will be - secured by the Negro in other states.... The Fourteenth Amendment - makes him a citizen, and the Fifteenth Amendment makes him a voter. - With power behind him, at work for him, and which cannot be taken from - him, the Negro, at the South may wisely bide his time. - - “As an assertion of power hitherto held in bitter contempt; as an - emphatic and stinging protest against high-handed, greedy, and - shameless injustice to the weak and defenseless; as a means of opening - the blind eyes of oppressors to their folly and peril, the exodus has - done valuable service. Whether it has accomplished all of which it is - capable in this particular direction for the present, is a question - which may well be considered. With a moderate degree of intelligent - leadership among the laboring classes at the South, properly handling - the justice of their cause, and wisely using the exodus example, they - can easily exact better terms for their labor than ever before. Exodus - is medicine, not food; it is for disease, not health; it is not to be - taken from choice, but necessity. In anything like a normal condition - of things, the South is the best place for the Negro. Nowhere else is - there for him a promise of a happier future. - - “Let him stay there if he can, and save both the South and himself to - civilization. The American people are bound, if they are or can be - bound to anything, to keep the north gate of the South open to black - and white and to all people. The time to assert a right, Webster says, - is when it is called into question. If it is attempted by force or - fraud, to compel the colored people to stay, then they should by all - means go; go quickly and die if need be in the attempt. Thus far and - to this extent any man may be an ‘emigrationist.’ In no case must the - Negro be bottled up or caged up. He must be left free like any other - American citizen, to choose his own habitation, and to go where he - shall like. Though it may not be for his interest to leave the South, - his right and power to leave it may be his best means of making it - possible for him to stay there in peace. Woe to the oppressed and - destitute of all countries and races, if the rich and powerful are to - decide when and where they shall go or stay.” - -These sentiments of Mr. Douglass are interesting, not only as having a -bearing on a question still vital to the South, but also as showing the -orator’s secret affection for the land of his birth and early struggles. -In spite of his fifty years of life and triumphs in the North, he was -still a Southerner in spirit and in his primary attachments. His -imagination and memory still traveled back to the associations that -contained more of bitterness than joy,—yet some joy. There seemed to be -in the depths of his soul a living sympathy for those who were enslaved -with himself, and who were still wearing the scars of servitude. The -land that was worked by the toil and sweat of generation after -generation of his people, and the land in which they were still laboring -and hoping on, he loved in spite of himself. He believed in the race in -spite of its apparent helplessness, and he believed in the South in -spite of all that he had suffered. It pained him to see his people flee -from the land of their birth, of their sorrows, but also the land of -their better destiny. He would not have them abandon what would some day -be theirs if they could but endure, and work, and wait. - -With this sort of attachment to the South, it is not strange that, even -after fifty years of complete separation, he still cherished the hope -and eagerly welcomed an opportunity when it was offered him, to return -to Talbot County, Md., his birthplace. - -The time of his visit to the land upon which he had formerly been held -as a slave, was happily chosen so as to heighten the contrast between -the past and present, for he was now United States Marshal of the -District of Columbia. It required a vivid imagination to see anything in -common between the barefooted, half-naked, half-starved, and penniless -slave boy of fifty years ago and the stately-mannered gentleman and high -government official of this day. - -The man whose misfortune it was at that time to have been Douglass’s -master, lay on a bed of sickness with little hope of recovery. Thomas -Auld had passed the allotted three score years and ten. When he learned -that Marshal Douglass was actually on his ground as a visitor, he at -once sent for him. The name of Thomas Auld was made noted all over the -land wherever Douglass had spoken concerning slavery and slave-holders, -and because of this he had for several years harbored a strong -resentment against his one-time runaway slave. Now all was wonderfully -changed, and each was in a mood to make amends for the wrongs he was -impelled to commit against the other. Mr. Douglass feelingly says: - -“Had I been asked, in the days of slavery to visit this man ... it would -have been an invitation to the auction block; now he was to me no longer -a slave-holder, either in fact or spirit, and I regarded him as I did -myself, as a victim of circumstances of birth and education, law and -custom. Our courses had been determined for us and not by us. We had -both been flung by powers that did not ask our consent, upon a mighty -current of life which we could neither resist nor control.... Now as our -lives were verging toward a point where differences disappear, even the -constancy of hate breaks down and the clouds of pride, passion and -selfishness vanish before the brightness of infinite light.” - -The meeting between the ex-master and ex-slave was impressive and -beautiful. They were both so overcome with emotion for some moments that -neither could speak. Tears dimmed their eyes and the silence was more -eloquent than words. As soon as he regained his power of speech, Mr. -Douglass, with that instinctive politeness which was characteristic of -him, made apology to his former master for the many harsh accusations -uttered in the days of slavery, when passion was in the ascendency. The -old master was equally frank and said: “I always thought, though, that -you were too smart to be a slave, and had I been in your place, I should -have done as you did.” - -“Captain Auld,” replied Douglass, “I did not run away from you, but from -slavery. It was not that I loved Cæsar less, but Rome more.” - -With this exchange of apologies and expressions of mutual good-will, the -visit came to an end. If Mr. Douglass had any lingering bitterness in -his soul, on account of the past, this face-to-face meeting, after so -many years and so many changes, had now forever removed it. The laws and -customs that so often made it impossible for good men, standing in the -intimate relation of master and slave, to understand and respect each -other, no longer existed. - -Shortly after this interview Mr. Auld passed away, and the fact that the -Marshal of the District of Columbia had once been the property of the -dead man became a matter of wide comment. - -Two years later, Mr. Douglass was again a visitor to Talbot County. He -now went on the private yacht of John L. Thomas, United States Collector -of Customs at the port of Baltimore. This time he returned to the scenes -of his early life on the Lloyd plantation. It will be remembered that it -was here the boy was separated from his grandmother, and left the only -home he ever had before he became free. His master, Captain Anthony, -lived on the Lloyd estate. It was at this place, too, that he was cuffed -and half-starved by the hated Aunt Katy, and saw his own loving mother -for the last time. Standing amid the scenes of his childhood miseries, -looking in vain for faces that he once saw or knew in the long ago, he -embodied in himself, perhaps, more changes than have been experienced in -the life of any other American. - -Colonel Lloyd was away at the time, but every one on the estate was made -aware of the visit of Marshal Douglass. The place was rich in traditions -concerning this strange visitor, who had come out of a strange past, an -era known to but few now living, and he was treated with marked -deference by all. - -He also visited Easton, which will be remembered as the county-seat of -Talbot County, where young Douglass, with his companions, was locked up -in jail on the charge of conspiracy to escape from slavery. The old -sheriff, who had placed him behind prison-bars, was still living, and -said that he was proud to shake hands across the chasm of nearly fifty -years. White and black crowded into the little court-house and listened -with profound interest to the address he was asked to deliver. The young -people, who belonged to the new era of freedom, wondered at his -eloquence, and the older ones heard with confused and bewildering -emotions. - -There seemed to be more of romance than reality, more of apparition than -of real substance, in this man, for whom, at one time, the jail, and not -the court-house, would have been regarded as a more fitting place. - -In the same year Frederick Douglass had another opportunity to revive -the memories of the days preceding the war. He was asked to deliver an -address on John Brown at Harper’s Ferry. He gladly accepted the -invitation, and spoke to an immense concourse of Virginians, white and -black, on the very spot where, less than twenty years before, he would, -very possibly, have been tried and hanged on the charge of high treason, -had he not escaped those who made efforts to arrest him. On the platform -close beside him sat the man who was the attorney for the commonwealth -of Virginia in the prosecution of Brown. Douglass spoke with boldness in -his eulogy of the old raider, and what he said was heartily cheered. - -In 1859 Douglass had fled to England as a fugitive from justice because -of his presumed complicity in what was then called John Brown’s “crime.” -In less than twenty years he was honored by many of the same people who -had then hated his name and thirsted for his blood. He could rightly -claim to be a part both of the cause and the effect of this remarkable -revolution of public opinion. The possibilities of American life were, -perhaps, never better illustrated than in his person. - -In the fall of 1886, Mr. Douglass, accompanied by his wife, made an -extensive tour of Europe and Egypt. He revisited some of the cities in -Italy, and crossed the Mediterranean to the land of the Pharaohs. He has -written most delightfully of his travels in his _Life and Times_. -Everything of historical value in Europe meant a great deal to him, -because he was so earnest a student of men and events. Of Victor Hugo, -he said, on seeing a memorial to him, that “he was a man whose heart was -broad enough to take in the whole world and to rank among the greatest -of the human race.” - -Upon returning to this country, he had many pleasing evidences that he -was greatly missed in his absence, and that his opinions were as eagerly -sought as ever on any question that came within the range of his -interest. - -One of the first public addresses made by him after his return from -abroad was in behalf of woman’s suffrage, in Washington, at a meeting of -the International Council of Women. He spoke ardently of the progress of -the human mind as evidenced by the unveiling of a statue to Galileo, -which he had witnessed in Rome. He said: - -“Whatever revolutions may have in store for us, one thing is certain: -the new revolution in human thought will never go backward. When a great -truth once gets abroad in the world, no power on earth can imprison or -proscribe its limits, or suppress it. It is bound to go on until it -becomes the thought of the world. Such a truth is woman’s right to equal -liberty with man. She was born with it, it was hers before she -comprehended it. It is inscribed upon all powers and faculties of her -soul, and no custom, law, or usage can ever destroy it. Now that it has -got fairly fixed in the minds of the few, it is bound to become fixed in -the minds of the many, and be supported at last by a great cloud of -witnesses which no man can number and no power can withstand.” - -In the same year, addressing a suffrage association in Boston, he said: -“If the whole is greater than a part; if the sense and sum of human -goodness in man and woman combined are greater than that of either alone -and separate, then this government that excludes women from all -participation in its creation, administration, and perpetuation demeans -itself.” - -In the matter of the education of his people, Mr. Douglass had a deep -and abiding interest. It will be remembered that he believed in the -broadest and best possible schooling of the masses. He regarded it as -important to consider the Negro’s opportunity in planning for his -education. Hence it was that, in addressing the students of Tuskegee in -1892 on the subject of “Self-Made Men,” he laid special stress on the -necessity of the learning of trades in connection with other training. -Hence his saying that “the earth has no prejudice against color; crops -yield as readily to the touch of the black man’s hand as to that of his -white brother.” - -“Go on,” he continued; “I shall not be with you long; you have heights -to ascend and breadths to fill such as I never could and never can. Go -on. When you are working with your hands they grow larger; the same is -true of your heads.... Seek to acquire knowledge as well as property, -and in time you may have the honor of going to Congress. Congress ought -to be able to stand a Negro, if the Negro can stand Congress.” - -In these addresses before students in college or trade-schools, he took -pains to urge that the man with a trade, as well as the man with a -profession should be respected and honored, according to the amount of -character and intelligence he puts into his work. He insisted that there -was no such thing as servility or degradation for one who made his way -through the world with an honest heart and skilled hands. - -His earnestness in this conviction is further evidenced by one of his -last acts in behalf of his people, when he helped to found the -Industrial School at Manassas, Va. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - FINAL HONORS TO THE LIVING AND TRIBUTES TO THE DEAD - - -The last public office held by Frederick Douglass was that of -Commissioner for the Haytian Republic at the World’s Columbian -Exposition in Chicago, in the summer of 1893. The government of Hayti -erected an artistic pavilion on the Fair grounds, and here from May 1st -to November 1st, he was stationed, dispensing the hospitalities demanded -by his position and the occasion. - -Interesting as was the Haytian display, it did not attract as much -public attention as did the Commissioner. No person or exhibit at the -Exposition so illustrated and exemplified human progress as did -Frederick Douglass. In him it was personified. Everywhere his presence -excited interest and admiration. In his movements through the grounds he -was ever a striking figure. His form, towering far above the average -man, and his snow-white hair, hanging in waves about his massive head, -commanded instant attention. People, young and old, crowded about him, -wherever he went. But not all were curiosity seekers. Thousands knew Mr. -Douglass personally, had heard him speak, or were familiar with his -history. Parents brought their children, that they might shake hands -with him. He was sometimes quite embarrassed by these manifestations of -admiration and interest. - -The Exposition officials appreciated the importance of the man, as well -as his position as the Haytian Commissioner. No honors were unshared by -him on account of his race. Whenever the representative men of the -civilized governments met in administrative councils, Frederick Douglass -was an honored guest and participant. His old-time eloquence was aroused -on many interesting occasions, and especially when the cause of the -Negro needed a champion. An official of the Exposition was reported as -saying that Frederick Douglass, more than any other orator there, voiced -the sentiment of the brotherhood of man. While various representatives -would extol the people of this or that government or nationality, this -self-made and self-educated man of a belated race, was always insisting -that the man himself, as God made him, was greater than any geographical -or national label could possibly render him. - -He was constantly sought for addresses on all kinds of occasions, and he -generously responded, whether the call came from some obscure religious -organization, literary society, or one of the great international -parliaments, convened in connection with the Exposition. - -There were two very notable addresses by him in the summer of 1893, that -almost excel the best of his many great speeches. One of these was made -on what was known as “Negro Day” at the Exposition in the month of -August. The vast auditorium in Music Hall was filled by an audience that -was more thoroughly international in the variety of races represented, -than any other gathering assembled during the progress of the Fair. In -voice, gesture, and spirit, he seemed like some great prophet, bearing a -message to the civilized world. No one who listened to this masterful -plea for justice for the Negro race, can ever forget the inspiration of -that hour. - -The other speech was delivered before one of the parliaments on the -subject of “good government.” There were present students of civil -government, sociologists, judges of courts, representatives of the -woman’s suffrage movement, like Susan B. Anthony, and others. Some -striking addresses followed Douglass’s, but he had left the audience -completely under his spell. - -With the closing of the Exposition in the autumn of 1893, ended the last -chapter in his life as a public official. As office-holding, however, -was by no means the most important part of his career, it did not -require an office to keep him in view of the people. His prominence -outlasted that of many of his contemporaries who were more favored than -he in the matter of public service. He remained, up to the very last -hour of his life, one of the few men of the nation of whom it never -tired. This was so, largely because he was more a part of the present -than of the past. Though he compassed in his life over a half-century of -national history, he never got out of touch with current events, -retaining to the end his influence on public opinion in all those -matters in which he was peculiarly interested, and in regard to which -his views had special authority. - -When he closed his official business with the World’s Fair, he yielded -to a strong pressure from the people of the West for a limited course of -lectures. The one thing which induced him to undertake this arduous -task, after the months of exhausting duties at the Exposition, was the -opportunity it would offer him to speak his word of protest and -condemnation of the crime of lynching. Nothing in his long life of -anxiety and struggle for his race so depressed him as did this new -manifestation of contempt for his people. His first itinerary included -Des Moines, Omaha, and other cities. He was cordially received -everywhere and his denunciation of mob law made a deep impression. These -addresses were in the nature of his last message and warning to the -American people against the unchecked lawlessness that spent itself on -those who were not strong enough to protect themselves. - -He returned to his restful and delightful home in Washington with some -apparent fatigue, but no permanent harm in consequence of his long -journey. - -The last two years of his life seem to have been more free from care and -active duties than any previous period. He merited a rest and he had -everything about him to contribute to his ease and enjoyment. Among the -trees and flowers of his ample grounds on Cedar Hill, and surrounded by -his books and the comforts of his classic home, life went on serenely -and happily. - -One of the interesting sights here was the procession of people of all -kinds making pilgrimages every day to the home of “the Sage of -Anacostia,”[6] as he was fondly called by his friends and neighbors. -Thousands of colored persons visited him to pay their respects to the -man whose life had been consecrated to the cause of their emancipation -and citizenship. To all he was kindly and considerate. His mind was as -alert and keen as ever, and thoroughly alive to passing events. He had a -special fondness for the young men of his race, and particularly those -who were educated and progressive. It was always an inspiration to him -to see the numbers of young colored men, who were fitting themselves by -study and application to pass civil service examinations, and gain for -themselves positions of importance in all departments of the government. -He frequently invited them to his home to dine with him, and would -discuss with them the possibilities for their advancement in all lines -of endeavor. He was always hopeful regarding the progress of these young -men in business and in the professions. - -Footnote 6: - - Anacostia is a suburb of Washington, and was Frederick Douglass’s home - so long as he lived in the District of Columbia. - -He was generous, almost to a fault, with his time, money, and services -in behalf of any cause that meant a step forward for his people. His -health was uniformly good. Every day he was either riding or walking -about the streets of Washington, or in conference with those who needed -his advice and assistance in all kinds of helpful enterprises. He had a -part in every civic event of any importance in the District of Columbia. -No one colored man before or since his death has wielded so much -influence in all directions. He had not only won the esteem of the -people of Washington, but he knew how to deserve and retain it. In the -District government, in the public schools, and at Howard University, -his influence was felt and respected. - -What he himself was, he had gained by hard work, consecration, temperate -habits, and God-fearing conduct toward all his fellows. His life and -achievements spoke eloquently to the young men about him and pointed the -way to progress. Mr. Douglass had richly earned everything that he had, -and those who took him as a model were made to realize that success -comes not as a gift, but must be deserved and won as a reward for right -thinking and high living. Poor as were his people in all things, -Frederick Douglass found enough to be proud of in them and urged -continuously upon the younger generation the necessity of cultivating a -spirit of race pride,—of setting before themselves and the race of which -they were members clear and definite ideals. - -In nothing else was the life of Mr. Douglass so important as in the -uplifting influence he exerted, directly and indirectly, upon the young -men of his time. There were many good leaders worthy of emulation, but -none who exercised the authority that he did over the opinions of the -other members of his race. His life was an open book. Naturally there -were those of his color who envied him; who sought to discredit his -worth and work; who felt that so long as he lived and spoke, none other -could be known or heard. The young men of force and intelligence, -however, who had it in them to do something large and important looked -up to and were inspired by the “old man eloquent” of the Negro race. - -It is easily possible to extend observations of this kind concerning the -personality and influence of this great man during those restful years -when he was happily free from care and public responsibilities. How -little he thought of death! Sound of body and sane of mind, and always -thinking and planning for what should come after, he lived as if there -was no claim upon his future existence which he could not adjust. When -death did come on the second day of February, 1895, it found him with no -preparation, in the ordinary sense, for its message. And yet it had -always been his expressed wish that he should go as he did—“to fall as -the leaf in the autumn of life.” - -On that day he had been attending the Council of Women which was meeting -in Metzerott’s Hall in the city of Washington, and was much interested -in the proceedings. He was an honorary member of that body. They were in -quest of larger liberties for themselves, as he so long had been for -himself and his people. When Frederick Douglass appeared at the -convention in the morning, he was greeted with applause and escorted to -the platform by a committee. He remained there nearly the entire day. -When he returned to his home on Cedar Hill for dinner, he was in the -best of spirits, and with a great deal of animation and pleasure, -discussed with Mrs. Douglass the incidents of the meeting. - -After the meal he prepared himself to deliver an address in a colored -Baptist church near by. His carriage was at the door. While passing -through the hall from the dining-room, he seemed to drop slowly upon his -knees, but in such a way that the movement did not excite any alarm in -his wife. His face wore a look of surprise as he exclaimed, “Why, what -does this mean?” Then, straightening his body upon the floor, he was -gone. The men who responded to Mrs. Douglass’s agonized cries for help, -came hurriedly with physicians, but it was too late. Douglass was -dead—without pain, without warning, without fear, and at a time when -life was sweet, full, and complete. His last moment of enthusiasm, like -his first hours of aspiration when a slave-child, was for liberty; if -not for himself, then for some one else. - -The announcement that Frederick Douglass was dead came like a shock to -every one, especially to those who had seen him about the city during -the day, full of animation and apparent physical vigor. The sad news -spread rapidly and produced a profound sense of bereavement among all -classes of people. - -The scene at the Women’s Council, where he had been during the day an -honored guest, was an affecting one. The president, Mrs. May Wright -Sewall, in attempting to voice the sentiment of the members, said: - - “A report, as unwelcome as sad and solemn, has come to us of the - sudden and most unexpected death of Frederick Douglass. The news - cannot be received in silence by the Council. That historic figure - which individually and intellectually was the symbol of the wonderful - transition through which this generation has lived has been with us in - our Council during both of our sessions to-day. When he arrived, an - escort was directed to conduct him to the platform. We felt that this - platform was honored by his presence. I am sure there was no divided - sentiment on this subject, although we have here women whose families - are related to all political parties of our country, and connected by - ancestry with both sides of the great question. It is surely to be - regarded as a historic coincidence that this man, who embodied a - century of struggle between freedom and oppression, spent his last - hours a witness of the united efforts of those who have come from so - many different places and along such various avenues to formulate some - plan for a new expression of freedom in the relation of woman to the - world, society, and the state.” - -The mortuary arrangements at Washington were on the scale and of the -dignity of a state funeral. Throngs of people lined the streets through -which the _cortège_ passed to the Metropolitan Church where the -ceremonies were held. Delegations of prominent colored men and women, -from almost every part of the Union, came to pay their last respects to -the dead statesman. - -Within the spacious church, the scene was such as perhaps had never -before been witnessed in this country. All colors and nationalities were -present, moved by a common sorrow. Men like Senators Hoar and Sherman; -members of the Supreme Court like Justice Harlan; members of the House -of Representatives, officials of the District of Columbia, members of -the National Council of Women, the faculty of Howard University, several -Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and other -distinguished men and women were present and gave to the sad occasion -the character of a national bereavement. - -Floral tributes in profusion were sent by organizations of all kinds as -well as by individuals. There were two that had special significance; -the one sent by the Haytian government, and the other by Colonel B. F. -Auld of Baltimore, the son of Frederick Douglass’s former owner. Fervent -words of appreciation were spoken by Dr. J. T. Jenifer, pastor of the -Metropolitan Church, Rev. F. J. Grimké, Susan B. Anthony, Mrs. May -Wright Sewall, John S. Durham, Bishop W. B. Derrick, and M. J. N. -Nichols, representing Hayti. The city of Washington, where Mr. Douglass -lived so long and was so much esteemed, paid every possible tribute of -respect to his memory in these impressive ceremonies. - -While the fallen Douglass was thus being honored at the national -capital, the city of Rochester was sorrow-stricken at the loss of its -“foremost citizen” and at once set about making “suitable arrangements -to give his remains according to the desire he so often expressed,—a -resting-place in beautiful Mount Hope, the city of the dead.” Rochester -always claimed Frederick Douglass as her son by right of adoption, and -that at a time when many other Northern cities would not have tolerated -his presence. By order of the mayor, a special meeting of the city -council was convened “for the purpose of taking such action as might be -necessary and appropriate in connection with the funeral of Hon. -Frederick Douglass, for many years a respected and beloved citizen of -this city.” - -At the meeting thus called, a memorial, couched in terms at once -touching and flattering, was read and spread upon the records. The -council also passed a resolution that the members attend the funeral in -a body, and it was arranged that the remains should lie in state in the -city hall, and that on the day of the funeral the public schools be -closed, so as to give the pupils an opportunity to view the face of a -man whose life and character were worthy of their remembrance and -emulation. - -Thus all the proceedings partook of a civic nature and were impressive -beyond anything ever witnessed in honor of a Negro citizen. The services -in Rochester were held in the Central Presbyterian Church. The Douglass -League acted as a guard of honor in conducting the remains to the city -hall and to the church. Rev. W. C. Gannett, of the Unitarian Church, -delivered the funeral oration. No other in the United States was better -qualified by natural disposition and breadth of mind to give adequate -estimate of Douglass as a man. The portion of the address here quoted -will afford some notion of the character of the eulogies uttered in all -parts of this country and in England in recognition of the worth of -Frederick Douglass and his work. Mr. Gannett said in part: - - “This is an impressive moment in our city history. There was a man who - lived in one of its humbler homes, whose name barred him from the - doors of the wealthiest mansions of our city. This man has come home - to a little circle of his best beloved ones. He has come, as it were, - alone, and our city has gone forth to meet him at its gates. He has - been welcomed for once in the most impressive way. His remains have - laid in our city hall. Our school children have looked upon his face, - that they may in the future tell their children that they have looked - on the face of Frederick Douglass. What a difference! What a contrast! - What does it all mean? It means two things. It is a personal tribute - and it is an impersonal tribute. It is a personal tribute to the man - who has exemplified before the eyes of all America the inspiring - example of a man who made himself. America is the land of - opportunities. But not all men in this land can use their - opportunities. Here was a man who used to the uttermost all the - opportunities that America held forth to him, and when opportunities - were not at hand he made them. Nature gave him birth, nature deprived - him of father and almost mother. He was born seventy-eight years ago, - forty years before anti-slavery was heard of as a watchword. - - “He is not simply a self-made man, although he was one of the - greatest. A man self-made but large-hearted. Who ever had better - opportunity to be a greater-hearted man than Frederick Douglass? Think - of the results for which he labored almost to the end of his life. - Notwithstanding that the lash had been lifted from his back, still he - encountered shrugs of the shoulders, lifting of the eyebrows, and an - edging away of his fellow-men when he approached them, always under - that opportunity of insult. - - “But that was not all. It is not a simple tribute to the man. The - personal tribute rises and loses itself in a grander and nobler - thought. It becomes transfigured into an impersonal thought. We are in - an era of change on a great subject. White people are here honoring a - black people. An exception? Yes. Great men are always exceptions. An - exception? Yes, but an instance as well, an example of how the world’s - feeling is changing. I like to think over our 140,000 people of - Rochester and pick out the two or three who will be called our first - citizens twenty or thirty years hence. Very few in Rochester are - famous through the North, very few are famous throughout the world. - Yet the papers of two continents had editorials about the man whose - remains lie before us. We have but one bronze monument in our streets. - Will the next be that of Frederick Douglass, the black man, the - ex-slave, the renowned orator, the distinguished American citizen? I - think it will be. In and around our soldiers’ monument we group the - history of the war. It is not only the monument of Lincoln, although - Lincoln’s figure is represented there. It is the monument of the war. - - “The nation to-day, thank God, is not only celebrating the - emancipation of slavery, but also its emancipation from the slavery of - prejudice and from the slavery of caste and color. - - “Let me end with one word. There are but six words in the sentence, - and it is one of the great sentences worthy to be painted on the - church walls and worthy to be included in such a book as the Bible. It - is his word. It is: ‘One with God is a majority.’” - -The vast audience that listened to these words of praise sadly followed -Douglass’s remains to their resting-place in Mount Hope Cemetery, beside -the graves of his little daughter Anna, and his beloved wife, the mother -of his children. Few great citizens of the state of New York were ever -more signally honored than was he in these last funeral rites by the -citizens of Rochester. And this was not all. The suggestion of a -monument by Mr. Gannett in his funeral address found quick and hearty -response from the people of the city in an effort led by John W. -Thompson without regard to race or color. Not only in that place, but -throughout the country, the idea of erecting a bronze statue of -Douglass, at his home, was taken up and acted upon. Generous -contributions began to pour in from every direction. The great state of -New York, that had honored him in so many ways during his lifetime, -appropriated out of the public treasury, the sum of $3,000 for this -purpose. - -The whole amount was soon raised. The ceremonies attending the unveiling -of the monument partook of the character of a state event. Special -excursions brought multitudes of people from all parts of New York. The -Governor, Theodore Roosevelt, and many other state officials, were in -attendance. His address, so impressively delivered, was the climax of -the splendid ceremonies. His tribute to the great Negro was inspired by -a sympathetic appreciation of the man and a profound sense of the -significance of his life. He reminded the vast concourse of people that -the lesson taught by the colored statesman was “the lesson of truth, of -honesty, of fearless courage, of striving for the right; the lesson of -distinguished and fearless performance of civic duty.” The bronze figure -of the great Negro stands in a conspicuous site in the heart of -Rochester, and is as much a monument to the generous spirit of its -citizens, as to the worth and achievements of him whose career it -commemorates. - -Douglass lived long enough to see the triumph of the cause for which he -had dreamed, hoped, and labored. But he had lived long enough, also, to -realize that what slavery had been two hundred years and more in doing -could not be wholly undone in thirty or forty years; could, in fact, -hardly be wholly undone since the Future is always built out of the -materials of the Past. - -In his later years he came to understand that the problem, on the work -of solving which he and others had entered with such high hopes in the -Reconstruction period, was larger and more complicated than it at that -time seemed. If the realization of this fact was a disappointment to -him, it did not cause him to lose courage. His faith in the future -remained unshaken. He was sane and sanguine to the end. Least of all did -he allow himself to feel aggrieved or become embittered by any personal -inconvenience that he encountered because of the color of his skin. At -the conclusion of his Autobiography he says: - -“It may possibly be inferred from what I have said of the prevalence of -prejudice, and the practice of proscription, that I have had a very -miserable sort of life, or that I must be remarkably insensible to -public aversion. Neither inference is true. I have neither been -miserable because of the ill-feeling of those about me, nor indifferent -to popular approval; and I think, upon the whole, I have passed a -tolerably cheerful and even joyful life. I have never felt myself -isolated since I entered the field to plead the cause of the slave, and -demand equal rights for all. In every town and city where it has been my -lot to speak, there have been raised up for me friends of both colors to -cheer and strengthen me in my work. I have always felt, too, that I had -on my side all the invisible forces of the moral government of the -universe.” - -Frederick Douglass’s life fell in the period of war, of controversy, and -of fierce party strife. The task which was assigned to him was, on the -whole, one of destruction and liberation, rather than construction and -reconciliation. Circumstances and his own temperament made him the -aggressive champion of his people, and of all others to whom custom or -law denied the privileges which he had learned to regard as the -inalienable possessions of men. He was for liberty, at all times, and in -all shapes. Seeking the ballot for the Negro, he was ardently in favor -of granting the same privilege to woman. Holding, as he did, that there -were certain rights and dignities that belong to man as man, he was -opposed to discrimination in our immigration laws in favor of the white -races of Europe and against the yellow races of Asia. In religion, also, -he was disposed to unite himself with the extreme liberal movement. In -all this he was at once an American, and a man of his time. - -But Mr. Douglass was not merely an American, sharing the convictions and -aspirations of the most progressive men of his day. He was also a Negro, -and the lesson of his life is addressed in the most particular way to -the members of his own race: “To those who have suffered in slavery, I -can say, I, too, have suffered. To those who have taken some risks and -encountered hardships in the flight from bondage, I can say, I, too, -have endured and risked. To those who have battled for liberty, -brotherhood, and citizenship, I can say, I, too, have battled. And to -those who have lived to enjoy the fruits of liberty I can say, I, too, -live and rejoice. If I have pushed my example too far, I beg them to -remember that I have written in part for the encouragement of a class -whose aspirations need the stimulus of success.” - -And then he ends: “I have aimed to assure them that knowledge may be -obtained under difficulties; that poverty may give place to competency; -that obscurity is not an absolute bar to distinction; and that a way is -open to welfare and happiness to all who will resolutely and wisely -pursue that way; that neither slavery, stripes, imprisonment, nor -proscription need extinguish self-respect, crush manly ambition, or -paralyze effort; that no power outside of himself can prevent a man from -sustaining an honorable character and a useful relation to his day and -generation; that neither institutions nor friends can make a race to -stand unless it has strength in its own legs; that there is no power in -the world which can be relied on to help the weak against the strong, or -the simple against the wise; that races, like individuals, must stand or -fall by their own merits.” - -As has been already indicated in the course of this narrative, Frederick -Douglass never formulated any definite religious creed. But no one who -reads the story of his life and work can doubt that he was guided and -inspired through his whole career by the highest moral and religious -motives. The evidence of this is not merely his steadfast optimism and -faith in the future, but in the sense in which he regarded his personal -mission. From his own point of view, the work he did for his race was -not merely a duty, it was a high privilege: - -“Forty years of my life have been given to the cause of my people, and -if I had forty years more they should all be sacredly given to the same -great cause. If I have done something for that cause, I am, after all, -more a debtor to it than it is a debtor to me.” - - - - - BIBLIOGRAPHY - - - DOUGLASS, FREDERICK. Narrative of Frederick Douglass, 1845. - - —— My Bondage and My Freedom, 1855. - - —— My Escape from Slavery. _Century Magazine_, November, 1881. - - —— Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, 1882. - - HOLLAND, FREDERICK MAY. Frederick Douglass, the Colored Orator, 1891. - - GARRISON, WILLIAM LLOYD. Frederick Douglass as Orator and Reformer, - _Our Day_, August, 1894. - - MAY, SAMUEL J. Recollections of the Anti-Slavery Conflict, 1869. - - JOHNSON, OLIVER. William Lloyd Garrison and His Times, 1881. - - AUSTIN, GEORGE LOWELL. The Life and Times of Wendell Phillips, 1899. - - LIFE AND TIMES OF WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON. By his children, 1889. - - SIEBERT, WILLIAM H. The Underground Railroad, 1898. - - REPORTS of the Anti-Slavery Society. - - GOODELL, W. Slavery and Anti-Slavery, A History of the Struggle in - Both Hemispheres; with a View of the Slavery Question in the - United States, third edition, 1855. - - STILL, WILLIAM. The Underground Railroad, 1872. - - —— Underground Railway Records, New and revised edition with life of - author, 1883. - - GREELEY, HORACE. The American Conflict: Its Causes, Incidents, and - Results, 1864–6. - - WILSON, JOSEPH T. The Black Phalanx; a History of the Negro Soldiers - of the United States in the Wars of 1775, 1812, and - 1861–1865; 1888. - - NICOLAY, JOHN G. AND HAY, JOHN. Abraham Lincoln; a History, 1890. - - RHODES, JAMES FORD. History of the United States from the Compromise - of 1850, 1893. - - WILLIAMS, G. W. Negro Troops in the Rebellion, 1888. - - - - - INDEX - - - Abolition circulars, held up by Southern postmasters, 88. - - Abolition, sweet singers of, 100. - - Abolitionists, resent attitude of government to slavery, 219. - - “Anacostia, the Sage of,” 338. - - Andrew, John A., Governor of Massachusetts, enlists Negro regiments, - 222. - - Anthony, Asa, friend of Douglass, 138. - - Anthony, H. B., favors policy of conciliation toward South, 213. - - Anthony, Lucretia, 19; - her kindness to Douglass, 23. - - Anthony, Susan B., address at Douglass’s funeral, 343. - - Anti-Slavery conventions, 70, 78, 96. - - Anti-Slavery societies; - Massachusetts Society employs Douglass as agent, 72; - New England society organized, 96; - New York society organized, 96; - National society formed, 96; - British and Foreign, presents Douglass with Bible, 102. - - _Anti-Slavery Standard, The_, anti-slavery newspaper, 124. - - Antoine, C. C., Lieutenant-Governor of Louisiana, 279. - - “Aunt Katy,” cruelty of, 19. - - Auld, Colonel B. F., sends floral tribute, Douglass’s funeral, 343. - - Auld, Hugh, apprentices Douglass to a ship-calker, 51; - sells Douglass his own time, 55; - sells Douglass into freedom, 113. - - Auld, Mrs. Sophia, teaches Douglass to read, 24. - - Auld, Thomas, 35; - his fondness for Douglass, 49; - sells Douglass, 113. - - - Bailey, Frederick Augustus Washington, 16. - - Bailey, “Grandmother,” character and influence of, 17. - - Barrier, Anthony, agent for the Underground Railway, 161. - - Bearman, Amos G., assists Douglass at Buffalo anti-slavery meeting, 80. - - Bible societies, effect upon anti-slavery agitation, 91. - - Birney, James G., Abolitionist, printing press destroyed by mob at - Cincinnati, 89. - - Blackall, B. F., Douglass’s telegram to, 192. - - “Black Laws,” in Illinois, 142. - - Bliss, William C., friend of Douglass, 138. - - Breckinridge, John C., leader Southern Wing of the Democracy, 201. - - Bright, John, Douglass guest of, 115. - - Brougham, Lord, Douglass meets, 101. - - Brown, Box, fugitive slave, 163. - - Brown, John, 182; - at Chambersburg, 189; - effect of execution on anti-slavery movement, 197. - - Brown, John M., representative Negro, one of delegation to President - Johnson, 260. - - Brown, William Wells, at Boston celebration Emancipation Proclamation, - 239. - - Browne, Hugh M., head of “Institute for Colored Youth,” 152. - - Bruce, Blanche K., United States Senator from Mississippi, 279. - - Buffum, James N., accompanies Douglass to England, 100; - in Scotland, 104. - - Bullock, Judge, favors colonization, 146. - - Burns, Anthony, fugitive slave, 169. - - Burnside, General A. E., issues proclamation to Southern people, 218. - - Butler, General Benjamin F., declares fugitive slaves “contraband,” - 222; - at National Loyalists’ Convention, 268. - - - Canada, end of the Underground Railway, 160. - - Carey, Mary Ann Shadd, Negro educator, 153. - - Cedar Hill, Douglass’s home, 337. - - Chambersburg, Pa., place of last meeting of Douglass and John Brown, - 189. - - Chase, Salmon P., contributes to support of _North Star_, 125; - encourages Douglass to visit President Lincoln, 228. - - Christiana, Pa., bloody resistance of slave-catchers at, 171. - - Churches, colored, 149. - - Civil War, causes of, 217. - - Clark, Peter H., efforts to establish ante-bellum Negro education, 151. - - Clarkson, Thomas, Douglass’s meeting with, 102. - - Clay, Henry, member of the Colonization Society, 146; - favors Fugitive Slave Law, 166. - - Cobden, Richard, Douglass meets, 101. - - Collins, John A., general agent of Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, - 72; - associated with Douglass in the “one hundred anti-slavery - conventions,” 79. - - Colonization Society, American, objects of, 145. - - Combe, George, Douglass entertained by, 102. - - Constitution of the United States, a “pro-slavery instrument,” 127. - - Cook, John F., efforts to establish ante-bellum Negro education, 151; - representative Negro, one of delegation to President Johnson, 260. - - Coppin, Fannie Jackson, efforts for ante-bellum Negro education, 151. - - Coppin, Thomas, efforts for ante-bellum Negro education, 151. - - Covey, Edward, the “negro breaker,” 38. - - Cox, A. L., delegate National Anti-Slavery Society, 96. - - Crafts, William, fugitive slave, 163. - - Crandall, Prudence, Abolitionist, imprisoned for teaching colored - children, 88, 141. - - Crandall, Doctor Reuben, Abolitionist, imprisoned for circulating - Anti-slavery literature, 88. - - Crofts, Mrs. Julia Griffith, takes business management of _North Star_, - 125. - - - Dallas, George M., Minister to England, refuses Douglass passport, 194. - - Dana, Charles A., Assistant Secretary of War, encourages Douglass to - visit President Lincoln, 228. - - Davis, Alexander, Lieutenant-Governor of Mississippi, 279. - - Davis, Richard A., aids in rescue of Anthony Burns, fugitive slave, - 169. - - Day, J. Howard, colored anti-slavery orator, 155. - - Delaney, Martin R., colored anti-slavery orator, 155. - - Derrick, Bishop W. B., address at Douglass’s funeral, 343. - - Dickinson, Anna, at Boston celebration of Emancipation Proclamation, - 239. - - Discrimination against Negroes at public lectures done away with, 66. - - Disraeli, Benjamin, Douglass meets, 101. - - Dix, General John A., proclamation to Southern people, 218. - - Dorr, Thomas W., leader of pro-slavery forces in Rhode Island contest - over new constitution, 76. - - Dorsey, Thomas L., agent for the Underground Railway, 161. - - Douglass, Charles R., son of Frederick, enlists in army, 223. - - Douglass, Frederick, born at Tuckahoe, 15; - transferred to the Lloyd plantation, 19; - starved by “Aunt Katy,” 20; - sees his mother for the last time, 20; - sees a slave killed by an overseer, 23; - goes to Baltimore to live, 24; - is taught to read, 24; - gains possession of a speller, 26; - buys a copy of the _Columbian Orator_, 26; - learns to write, 27; - thoughts turned to religion, 28; - sent back to the plantation, 31; - justifies pilfering by slaves, 34; - Sunday-school broken up, 36; - sent to a negro breaker, 37; - starts a second Sunday-school, 42; - plans to escape, 44; - plot discovered, 48; - sent back to Baltimore, 50; - apprenticed as a shipcalker, 51; - buys his own time, 56; - makes his escape from Baltimore, 58; - marries in New York, 62; - seeks refuge in New Bedford, Mass., 63; - changes his name, 63; - denied opportunity to work at his trade, 65; - attends anti-slavery convention at Nantucket, 70; - invited to become a speaker for the anti-slavery cause, 72; - takes part in political contest in Rhode Island, 76; - speaks on the common at Grafton, Mass., 78; - takes part in the “one hundred anti-slavery conventions,” 78; - addresses 5,000 people at Buffalo, N. Y., 80; - is mobbed at Richmond, Ind., 81; - publishes “Narrative,” 99; - sails for Europe, 100; - is refused cabin passage on the steamer _Cambria_, 100; - meets Thomas Clarkson, English Abolitionist, 102; - makes a tour through Ireland, 102; - presented with a Bible by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery - Society, 102; - takes part in the anti-slavery agitation in Scotland, 103; - addresses the World’s Temperance Convention at Covent Garden, 106; - speaks at the Peace Convention in London, 110; - freedom purchased, 112; - receives a gift of $2,500 to found an anti-slavery journal, 114; - returns from England to America, 116; - attacked by newspapers, 117; - presides at colored convention in Cleveland, 118; - reasons for founding an independent newspaper, 120; - removes to Rochester, N. Y., 124; - publishes the _North Star_, 125; - parts company with the Garrisonians, 128; - grounds for change of views, 129; - tribute to the anti-slavery society, 132; - personal relations with Garrison, 133; - speaks in behalf of the rights of women, 136; - difficulties in securing an education for children, 138; - connection with the Underground Railway, 158, 161; - describes effects of the Fugitive Slave Law, 168; - shelters fugitive slaves from Christiana, Pa., 172; - reflections upon the Dred Scott Decision, 173; - meeting with Harriet Beecher Stowe, 176; - outlines plan for an industrial school for Free Negroes, 178; - visits John Brown at Springfield, Mass., 183; - visits John Brown at Chambersburg, 189; - opposes John Brown’s plan for capture of Harper’s Ferry, 191; - flees to Canada, 192; - takes passage for England, 193; - recalled to America by death of daughter, 194; - on the effect of John Brown’s death, 197; - supports Lincoln against Douglas, 203; - address in Chicago in 1854, 204; - welcomes the impending conflict, 216; - urges the enlistment of Negro soldiers, 220; - assists in organization of Negro regiments, 222; - issues an appeal to the colored people, 224; - first interview with President Lincoln, 229; - promised position of adjutant, 232; - Lincoln seeks aid to encourage escape of slaves from Southern states, - 236; - invited to take tea with the President, 238; - description of reception of Emancipation Proclamation in Boston, 239; - attends President’s reception, 240; - speaks at Rochester on Lincoln’s assassination, 243; - opposes dissolution of Anti-Slavery Society, 245; - becomes Lyceum lecturer, 256; - favors citizenship for Negro, 258; - interviews President Johnson, 260; - replies to President’s arguments against Negro suffrage, 261; - writes address to Senate, 264; - elected delegate to National Loyalists’ Convention, 265; - removes to Washington, D. C., 273; - publishes _The New National Era_, 274; - becomes President of Freedman’s Bank, 276; - councilman of District of Columbia, 283; - member of legislature of District of Columbia, 283; - member of the San Domingan annexation commission, 283; - addresses colored convention at New Orleans, 284; - marshal of District of Columbia, 1877, 287; - Baltimore address on “Our National Capital,” 288; - Recorder of Deeds, District of Columbia, 294; - Minister to Hayti, 297; - manners and personal character, 303; - marries Miss Helen Pitts, 306; - Decoration Day address at Arlington, 309; - address at Washington, D. C., on Lincoln, 311; - address before Tennessee Colored Agricultural and Mechanical - Association at Nashville, 312; - speech on Supreme Court Decision on Civil Rights Bill, 316; - opposes Chinese exclusion, 320; - views on religion, 321; - opposes the Kansas exodus, 323; - visits Thomas Auld, 327; - visits the Lloyd estate, 329; - address on John Brown at Harper’s Ferry, 330; - address at Tuskegee, 1892, 333; - aids in foundation of Industrial School at Manassas, Va., 333; - Haytian Commissioner at World’s Fair, 1893, 334; - address on Negro Day, World’s Fair, 335; - protests against lynching, 337; - death, 1895, 340; - funeral services, 342; - memorial services at Rochester, 344. - - Douglass, H. Ford, colored anti-slavery orator, 155. - - Douglass, Lewis H., son of Frederick, enlists in army, 223; - visits President Andrew Johnson, 260. - - Douglas, Stephen A., policy in Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 198; - debate with Lincoln, 199; - position of, defined, 202. - - Downing, George T., visits President Johnson, 260. - - Downing, Thomas, agent for Underground Railway, 161. - - Dred Scott Decision, influence on anti-slavery agitation, 173, 195. - - Dunlop, Alexander, representative Negro, one of delegation to visit - President Johnson, 261. - - Dunn, Oscar J., Lieutenant-Governor of Louisiana, 279. - - Durham, John S., address at Douglass’s funeral, 343. - - - Education, Negro, early efforts of, 151. - - Elliott, Robert Brown, Negro member of Congress, 280. - - Ellis, Charles M., aids in rescue of Anthony Burns, fugitive slave, - 169. - - Emerson, Ralph Waldo, uses influence to open public lectures to - Negroes, 66. - - Everett, Edward, Governor of Massachusetts, favors law to prevent - printing of Abolition literature, 87. - - - Fish, Benjamin, friend of Douglass, 138. - - Fortin, Charlotte L., Negro educator, 153. - - Foster, George, anti-slavery speaker, 73; - associated with Douglass in the “one hundred anti-slavery - conventions,” 79. - - Foster, Stephen S., takes part in the Rhode Island contest over new - constitution, 76. - - “Free Church,” of Scotland, anti-slavery agitation in, 104. - - Freeland, William, hires Douglass, 41. - - Free Soil Democrats, rally to support the Union, 215. - - Fugitive Slave Law, 166; - arouses resentment in North, 168. - - - Ganes, John F., efforts to establish ante-bellum Negro education, 151. - - Gannett, Rev. W. C., delivers Douglass’s funeral oration, 344. - - Garnett, Henry Highland, assists Douglass at Buffalo anti-slavery - meeting, 80; - agent for the Underground Railway, 161. - - Garrison, William Lloyd, address at anti-slavery convention at - Nantucket, 71; - assaulted in Baltimore, 88; - delegate National Anti-Slavery Society, 96; - in Scotland, 103; - attacked by papers in Cleveland, 118; - opposes Douglass’s anti-slavery paper, 121; - conception of slavery, 122; - and the slave-holder, 128; - relation to Douglass, 132; - comment on Shadrach case, 170. - - Gay, Sidney Howard, takes part in the “one hundred anti-slavery - conventions,” 79. - - Gibbs, Mifflin W., colored anti-slavery orator, 155. - - Giddings, Joshua R., contributes to support of _North Star_, 125; - favors policy of conciliation to South, 213. - - Gleaves, Robert H., Lieutenant-Governor of South Carolina, 279. - - Goodell, William, delegate National Anti-Slavery Society, 96. - - Gray, John A., friend of Douglass, 138. - - Greeley, Horace, letter to President Lincoln, 219; - protests against treatment of Negro soldiers, 227. - - Green, Beriah, delegate National Anti-Slavery Society, 96. - - Grimké, Rev. F. J., address at Douglass’s funeral, 343. - - - Hale, John P., criticised by Douglass, 134. - - Hall, Primus, ante-bellum Negro teacher, 151. - - Hallowell, William, friend of Douglass, 138. - - Hardy, Mrs. Neal, binds Douglass’s wounds at Richmond, Indiana, 82. - - Harlan, John Marshall, Associate Justice United States Supreme Court, - attends Douglass’s funeral, 343. - - Harper, Frances Ellen Watkins, Negro educator, 153. - - Harper’s Ferry, John Brown’s preparations for assault upon, 189. - - Hayti, at World’s Fair, Chicago, 334. - - Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, aids in rescue of Anthony Burns, fugitive - slave, 169. - - Hoar, Senator George Frisbie, at Douglass’s funeral, 343. - - Holland, Frederick May, describes effect of Fugitive Slave Law, 167; - “Life” of Douglass quoted, 204. - - Holley, Myron, friend of Douglass, 138. - - Howard, General O. O., head of Freedmen’s Bureau, 251. - - Howard University, influence of Douglass at, 339. - - Howitt, William, remarks concerning Douglass, 110. - - Humphrey, Richard, bequeaths funds for Negro education, 152. - - Hutchinson family, lends Douglass support on voyage to England, 100. - - - Improvement Society, East Baltimore, for free colored people, 52. - - Industrial school, Douglass’s plan for, 178. - - - Jackson, President Andrew, proposes Congressional legislation to - prevent circulation of Abolition literature through mails, 88; - address to colored troops, 149. - - Jenifer, Rev. J. T., sermon at Douglass’s funeral, 343. - - Johnson, Andrew, President United States opposes Negro suffrage, 261. - - Johnson, Nathan, gives Douglass a refuge, 63. - - Jones, John, representative Negro, one of delegation to President - Johnson, 260. - - - Kansas-Nebraska Bill, effect on anti-slavery sentiment, 173. - - Kelley, Abby, takes part in contest in Rhode Island over new - constitution, 76. - - - Lafayette, General, member of the Colonization Society, 146. - - Langston, John M., colored anti-slavery orator, 155. - - Lawson, “Uncle,” 29. - - Lecture platform, effect upon anti-slavery agitation, 92. - - _Liberator, The_, Garrison’s paper, 124, 128. - - Lincoln, Abraham, debate with Douglass, 199. - - Lloyd, Colonel Edward, vast estate of, 18. - - Lloyd, Daniel, kindness to Douglass, 23. - - Loguen, Rev. J. W., agent for the Underground Railway, 161. - - Lovejoy, Rev. Elijah P., Abolitionist, killed at Alton, Ill., 89. - - Lundy, Benjamin, Abolitionist, assaulted in Baltimore, 88; - work for emancipation, 97. - - Lynch, John R., member of Congress from Louisiana, 280. - - - Madison, James, member of the Colonization Society, 146. - - Mann, Horace, uses influence to open public lectures to Negroes, 66; - contributes to support of _North Star_, 125. - - Marcy, William L., Governor of New York, favors law to suppress - printing of Abolition literature, 87. - - Marshall, John, Chief Justice, member of the Colonization Society, 146. - - Martin, J. Sella, at Boston celebration Emancipation Proclamation, 239. - - Matthews, William E., visits President Andrew Johnson, 260. - - May, Samuel J., letter to Garrison concerning Douglass, 133. - - McClellan, General George B., warns slaves not to seek protection with - Northern armies, 217. - - Metzerott’s Hall, Douglass’s address at, 340. - - Missionary movement, effect upon anti-slavery agitation, 91. - - Missouri Compromise, puts question of slavery before people, 93. - - Mob, destroys printing press of _The Philanthropist_, 89; - interrupts Rev. O. Scott’s lecture, 89; - demolishes Academy for Negroes at Canaan, N. H., 89; - disperses meeting of female anti-slavery society at Boston, 89; - breaks up an anti-slavery meeting at Syracuse, 89; - of Yale students, 89; - burns Pennsylvania Hall, Philadelphia, 89; - indulges in two days’ riot at Philadelphia, 90. - - Monroe, James, takes part in Rhode Island contest over new - constitution, 76; - associated with Douglass in the “one hundred anti-slavery - conventions,” 79. - - Mott, Lucretia, connection with anti-slavery and woman’s suffrage, 136. - - Myers, Stephen J., agent for the Underground Railway, 161. - - - “Narrative,” Frederick Douglass’s, 99. - - Negroes, free, Douglass’s call to arms of, 223. - - “Negro Pews,” at Hartford, Conn., 142. - - Negro soldiers, at Port Royal, 221; - at Fort Wagner, 222; - proclamation of Confederate Government concerning, 227; - Douglass’s remarks on treatment of, 228; - number enlisted, 233. - - Negro Volunteers, Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Massachusetts Regiments, - 222. - - Newspapers, colored, _Ram’s Horn_, _The Mystery_, _The Disfranchised - American_, _The Northern Star_, _The Colored Farmer_, 124. - - Nichols, M. J. N., address at Douglass’s funeral, 343. - - _North Star_, Douglass’s anti-slavery paper, 125; - Douglass’s early experiences with, 137. - - - O’Connell, Daniel, relation to Douglass, 102. - - _Orator, Columbian_, Douglass’s first book, 26, 42. - - Otis, Joseph E., representative Negro, one of delegation to President - Johnson, 260. - - - Palfrey, John G., contributes to support of _The North Star_, 125. - - Parker, Theodore, aids in rescue of Anthony Burns, fugitive slave, 169. - - Peabody, Ephraim, gives Douglass his first job, 64. - - Peace Convention, London, addressed by Douglass, 107. - - Peel, Sir Robert, Douglass meets, 101. - - Pennington, Rev. J. W. C., 62. - - Peterson, John, efforts to establish ante-bellum Negro education, 151. - - Phillips, Wendell, advises Douglass to throw his “Narrative” in the - fire, 75; - aids in rescue of Anthony Burns, fugitive slave, 169. - - Pillsbury, Parker, takes part in Rhode Island contest over new - constitution, 76. - - Pinchback, P. B. S., Lieutenant-Governor of Louisiana, 279. - - Pomeroy, S. C., United States Senator, introduces Douglass to President - Lincoln, 228. - - Port Royal, proclamation of T. W. Sherman at, 218. - - Porter, Samuel D., friend of Douglass, 138. - - Post, Isaac, friend of Douglass, 138. - - Press, its effect upon anti-slavery agitation, 92. - - Prichard, his _Natural History of Man_, 17. - - “Prigg Case,” in regard to runaway slaves, 166. - - “Protection, Sailor’s,” character of, 59. - - Purvis, Robert, Vice-President of National Anti-Slavery Society, 155. - - - Quincy, Edmund, praises _The North Star_, 126. - - - Raid, John Brown, intensifies hatred of Negro, 195. - - Railroads, regulations enforced against free colored people, 54. - - Railway, Underground, 158; - Western and Southwestern branches, 162. - - _Ram’s Horn_, colored newspaper, 123. - - Ransier, Alonzo J., Lieutenant-Governor of South Carolina, 279. - - Ray, Charles M., assists Douglass at Buffalo anti-slavery meeting, 80. - - Revels, Hiram, United States Senator from Mississippi, 279. - - Remond, Charles Lennox, takes part in the “one hundred anti-slavery - conventions,” 79; - assists at Buffalo anti-slavery meetings, 80; - agent for the Underground Railway, 161. - - Rich, William, agent for the Underground Railway, 161. - - Richardson, Mrs. Ellen, purchases Douglass’s freedom, 112. - - Richardson, Mrs. Henry, purchases Douglass’s freedom, 112. - - Ross, A. W., representative Negro, one of the delegation to President - Johnson, 260. - - Russell, Lord John, 101. - - Russell, Thomas, at Boston celebration of Emancipation Proclamation, - 239. - - - Schurz, Carl, report on Southern conditions, 248. - - Scott, Rev. O., Abolitionist, prevented from delivering Abolitionist - lecture at Worcester, Mass., 1835, 89. - - Sewall, Mrs. May Wright, 341; - address at Douglass’s funeral, 343. - - Seward, William H., contributes to support of _North Star_, 125; - favors policy of conciliation to South, 213; - declaration defining issues of the war, 217. - - Shadrach, fugitive slave, the case of, 171. - - Shaw, Colonel Robert Gould, commands first Negro regiment, 222. - - Sherman, General T. W. proclamation at Port Royal, 218. - - Sherman, Senator, John, at Douglass’s funeral, 343. - - Slavery and anti-slavery, issues defined, 94. - - Smalls, Robert, Negro member of Congress, 280. - - Smith, Gerrit, distinguished from Garrison, 122; - contributes to support the _North Star_, 125; - member of the Colonization Society, 146. - - Smith, Doctor James McCune, colored anti-slavery orator, 155; - agent for the Underground Railway, 161. - - Stanton, Edwin M., Secretary of War, offers Douglass commission in - army, 232. - - Stearns, Major George L., writes to Douglass in behalf of Negro - soldiers, 227. - - St. Michaels, Douglass’s early home, 35. - - Still, William, anti-slavery author, 155; - agent for the Underground Railway, 161. - - Story, Joseph, Justice Supreme Court, decision in the “Prigg Case,” - 166. - - Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 174. - - Sumner, Charles, uses influence to open public lectures for Negroes, - 66; - contributes to support of _North Star_, 125. - - - Tappan, Arthur, 61; - chosen President National Anti-Slavery Society, 96. - - Tappan, Lewis, 61. - - Temperance Convention, World’s, addressed by Douglass, 106. - - Thompson, George, Abolitionist, in Scotland, 104. - - Thompson, John W., plans erection of Douglass statue, 347. - - Tilton, Theodore, marches with Douglass at National Loyalists’ - Convention, 269. - - Tracy Seminary, Douglass’s daughter compelled to leave, 138. - - Tract Society, effect upon anti-slavery agitation, 91. - - Tuskegee, Douglass visits, 333. - - - “Vigilance Committee,” of anti-slavery society, work of in - Pennsylvania, 163. - - - Ward, Samuel R., colored anti-slavery orator, 155. - - Webster, Daniel, remarks on growth of cotton industry, 84; - member of the Colonization Society, 146; - favors Fugitive Slave Law, 166. - - Wells, Nelson, efforts to establish ante-bellum Negro education, 151. - - Whipper, William, agent for the Underground Railway, 161; - one of delegation to President Johnson, 260. - - Whittier, John G., delegate National Anti-Slavery Society, 96. - - Winthrop, Senator Robert C., at Faneuil Hall after fall of Richmond, - 242. - - Wise, Henry A., Governor of Virginia, letter to President Buchanan, - 192. - - Wright, Elizur, delegate National Anti-Slavery Society, 96. - - Wright, Frances, connection with anti-slavery and woman’s suffrage, - 136. - - Wright, Theodore S., assists Douglass at Buffalo anti-slavery meeting, - 80. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. 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