The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-06-07
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Frederick DOUGLASS Lecture at Cooper


Frederick Douglass Lecture at Cooper
2gS Institute. " 20 rx 81
An immense audience filed the large hall OF
Cooper Institute to hsten-to the Grafton OF
Frederick Douglass on the death Of Abraham
Lincoln. The, -colored vdepuiation on. The
platform Represented numerous hocietiess who
were intended TO have participated in the re-
cent funeral ceremonies Of President Lincoln
In the 1netroppHs while the musical exercises
were excellentay rendered by the colored pu-
pills of the public schools
The Committees statement in connection
with htherefusal Of the Common Council Com:
mites to assign colored societiess &C., place
In the funeral procession was then read. 1t
was Astroualy, written document ,denouucipgl
the action of the Common Council, eulogising
the press which had exposed the outrage, and
entering into the details Of the insult which
had been perpetrated upon the eolored citi-
Mr.Douelass, upon being introducedto ID the
meeting, was received with vociferous ap-
plause. He said that he felt more than his
usual degree Of embarrassment this evening.
The highest genius which this nation has pro-
duced might be evoked now, and yet fail to
meet the requirements of the occasopD Ev-.
erything connected with the death Of the de-
ceased President was remarkable Had he
died by any of the ills which flesh is heir ton
had he seen fhe end Of the great work which
1t was his privilege to inaugurate, our task
would be simple; but dying as he did, assassi-
nated-pot by any me. i've of hatred,Tfor no.
man who knew him could .ha1e him-sthe casel
was different. II was for this that We pay
homage to his memory as a martyr to good
government and human rights. The most
any man can do with q subject like this is 20
give back to the country In some measure,
the thoughts and feelings derived from the
country on an occasion like this. oxoa Soh {
To-dayail loyal men have been thinking Of
their martyred President. 1t Is well, it Is
proper, all deserved on his part, and grateful
and beautiful on ours. / think one thing will
be conceded. No class of people have more
reason to do honor to the death of President
Lincoln than have the eolored people Of this
nation. The attempt 10 exclude the cOl0red
people Of N6w York from the funeral process
cion, will not here denounce, but If l were
to denounce it / should characterize it as
about the meanest, smallestp piece OF business
ever perpetrated upon ciEiizsd community.
Abraham Lincoln was emphaticaly the black
mans friend. For the white people would
say, Follow him, therefore. to his grave; do
all the homage possible to his memory; but
give eb1nee space 70 the love and enthusiasm
entertained by the. colored people for the
dead President The colored people through
ALL. believedV in abraham Lincoln; even
WucAy Hb tiL1cS, uc dppcoIcu w etuitc tucli3
they still believed in him thoroughly. They
regarded him not In regard to certain words
whiehYmay have occasionally dropped from
him, but they believed In him as whole, in
his great statesmanship and manhood. They
saw themselves being gradually lifted to free
dom; under his rule tney saw the Rebellion.
ground to powder; under his rule they saw
the independence OF Hayti and Liberia recog-
gnized, and In that the general progress OF the
Fl l.
Henceforth there is TO be no North no East,
no South, but Weare to have country for all.
[Applause.F Henceforth an American citizen
may be able to defend his country without de-
fendihE Slavery III HencsfoftA the aAmerican
Republic is to stand an acknowledged power
thing that the crash has come, M. iriendsl
We behold from side TO aide the Abew. full df
promises for the future of our country. We
have seen great sorrow and suffering, but yet
repented not of our wrong doing against the
oppressed. But such national self knowledge
has seenippe5tea b5 t4is var T. lthsd =, been g9
government was ship which wonld go down
in the ,viislppol Of Fevplutlon. The cost Al
the experiment In blood and treasure has been
vast, but already we are enjoying its blessing
Writhine under the Aeelo Of altyfant, Mexico
to-day lifts up her head hopefully at our sue
cess, and the iovefbs or lierty Throughout the
world, are rejoiced at the success Of our dem
ocratic instituti0ns. ascH nof3o9 e1ldW is9L
We should never forget that this war sprung
out of the fundamental principle of our ma
tional structure. Where we sowed, we have
sown. When the spirit of Slavery was 2diffpk'
ed across this land, then the seeds of treason
and assassination were sown, and we are now
reaping the bloody fruits. The lesson of this
war is that If we have Incorporated into any
ofthe new States the seeds Qf that old curse, b
sure thatiWe have bequeathed the curse te
our children. The evils that we are now suit
ferinR we're proRi5ed5 for By oprselvess w
planted, we watered, we titled 1t, until II
grew up to this tree, with its bloody fruit
Slavery and Freedom were here side BY side
and being here, they have brought about the
collision.
The history of the war will have nothing
to equal In interest the changes ef.Slavery du-
ring the past seven years. The hateful crime
so long upheld In the name of the law and
order had been suddenly struck dead by a
crime which ID felt III every quarter Of the
globe. Hereafter, when men think of Slav-
cry, they will think Of murder: when they
think of Shareholders, they will thiLk of az
sassirs, when they think OF Southern chival-
nv, they will think of the mean towards who
starved our prisoners Andersonville and
other Southern strongholds. Jefferson Davis
was the very express image Of the rebellion,
Booth, the assassin was of the South ;he nred
there Is nothing in his morals and manners t.
separate him from the South, or the Soutl
from him.y The same South which so gen
eralEe applauded the attempted assassination
of Charles Sumner will always applaud the
assassination of abraham Lincoln. Take tn
Union soldiers away from the South, and yo
will have the Southern elite drinking tn
health Of j. Wilkes Booth tomorrow. Butthi
spirit accords well with the attempt to bur-
up sleeping women and children 10, our north
ern cities IL aecords well with the attempt {
import the yellow fever to our households;
accords with men who whip women with the
hands tied-but bring something more tha
Southern words0f honor to show thattbey
not svmpathze with ]. Wilkes Booth! Gres
as was the crime of Booth, still thinkshe gf
his fun deserts. S me have been regretft
that he was not caught, tried and executed
but have no regrets of the kind. His friend
claim that he was a brave, man. II grant tht
he was braver than his captain--JeH. Davis
but his courage was that Of the thief and rol
Der. The intense anguish which he suffere
in those ten days of his flight was unspeal
able. We need not follow him ia that avn
flight to imagine bis terrible suffering, nor I
that last moment when he, cowardlike, begge
that his captors would kill him as mercy.
Assassination finds no encouragement
the career Of Booth, nor does treason an
any In the career OF Jefferson Davis. On th
other hand was there ever man momned ~
President LincolnY Our arms were triumph
ant In the field, and the loyal press of th
North was appealing for leniency toward tll
rebels, when this. terrible catastrophe fell ~