St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-08-23
Speech of Fred Douglass.
FRED DOIGLA~>. AT THE RICHMOND.
VIRGINIA. GRANT MEETING.


VIRGINIA. GRANT MEETING.
FriIoT citizens | thank you very sin
cercly for the cordial and hearty wei
come with which you have greeted me.
| attempt 10 speak here with more diff
licultV. with less confidence. than Nou
can imagine. This is the first political
campaign in which | ever took the
stump for amy candidate. | am IL new
hand at the business. And this is the
first time too. that ever took part in IL
public demonstration IN the late capi-
tai of the confederate states of Amcri-
ca. Besides. when invited to partici-
pate in this demonstration. | supposed
that should he called upon merely to
rive color To the occasion to he Il sort
of Il tail To the kite. had no idea of
occupy ing ANY such prominence as il
seems am to occupy to-day. There Is
one thing. however. that consoles me III
venturinw here ON the sacred soil of
Virginia and IN this. the capital and
il > that alt hnugh Il stranger am no
carpet -haggcr. | am to the manner
born it there is amy advantage or merit
in that. 1t i true that ! WIS once adj
Ncrti>cd in IL very Respectable ncwSla-
per under Il little ii"uc. bent over and
apparently i'll Il hurry. with Il pack on
his shoulder. going North. But that
wa> Il long time ago, when | wa> quite
Young. and on the score of my youth |
hope you will pardon that imdl>crctI"n
the indiScrrtion OF my going north.
| WAS Young. and like most Young pco-
pile WAS anxious To see NerNthihg that
! had ever heard OF on read of. and
hence. | went North. Some of my friends
in the south liked me very much at
that time and went after me. They
could not have me 90. They said they
could not endure t" part with me. They
loved me: they wanted I" do me good.
They heard that was going way of to
old Massachusetts that worst of all
the states. that state in which the black
man i supposed tn learn more mischief
in Il daN. than Virginia can unlc;ln him
in Il year and did Z" there. l"u
will excuse me for talking about my
self for " hen Il man has II" other sub
rct he will talk about that. He i the
most familiar with that, and on that
ground am gnin" to talk Il little about
my self. When Il man who has gone
abroad from th">c. hc knew and loved
in his Youth returns. he should tell
>nmrthing about what he has --"n.
heard. felt and learned while abroad.
Was very much disappointed III my
travels nuIIhWard. | Went away from
the south INTO the North. expecting To
find people living III Il very humble
way. in SpaItam-likr simplicity. lnfah-
itimg small hut> and novels for had
never known anything of wealth not
he'd ,nI, seen wealth. in connection
win >l,I,r, Wealth. iut,IIip,uc,.. re
,i,,,,,,.,,,, I,>ur, an has, ,l,.m,.,,ts th,t
Li.,iun,,i,L ,d,.,u,,,.L ,.i\ iIil,tinu. had
n,,I, l,.,r il, ,.,ur,rriu,, with rh. system
,t Lur,.,u .I.,,.r, had an idle, that
r,.,r Lr,v M, uutinus nf ruIiti
,.,I ,,.nun,u, must have. been very crude.
rnuId ;Ir.i,Iirr ,unr,. than a bare sub
~i~trmc. with his two hands knowing
that those states Ncr. free. that there
We're me- slaves there. expected tu see
the people liN iny like poor White ptn-
pie in the South that had II" slaves
lived. include myself with N"u part
II h\ permission and partly hN cirrum-
stances. over Whirh | had NO control. |
went up there, ,Nirctimu To- find them
liz in. IT. uc poor " hitr people used to
live. and Won know some of N"u how
that wa> ont "m the outskirts "t plan
tatinm>. with Il chimney built ont of
doors. not of brick. hut Il little wood. 4
little hay and 4 little clay. Judge of
m, surprise. my auaIrmrut. when al
ter u few ui-ht> and DAYS travel on Il
r,1d of " hich ,ou have heard trctIucut-
Il th,. uudrroround railroad | found
m, self Imnur the granite. hills of New
EuoI,ud in H,,Itnrd. Massachusetts
;,,i,,,. ,t m. .,,r.,l,,,,.ut >,N when