New-York tribune., 1880-02-29
Nrw WORK DAILY TRIBUNE, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY %, 1851

favored class 1t was nv good fortune 10 listen "
the earliest rhetorical efforts of man VINO ls sico
won wide fame rs public speaker; ana qucSt'on
whether any Of his later speeches nave suipnSSeu
in natural vigor and a certain lnuesct'oao'e i'oo
those which Frederick Douglass made while he was
still day-laborcr upon the piers. or was engaged
in the still humber occupation of white-washng IN
Nev-Bedford Mass. lie became the most notaoe VI
all the fugitive slaves who souCht that well-kno"h
osv,rrn Of the oppressed Wehad hundreds OF these
seIf-emancpated people in the town; and thriity
and wel-behaved class thoy were; but none Oh
them won the celebrity of Mr.. Douglass. II nc
could read and write at all, when ne came TO u.s. !"
was very little Of either; but he worked nara to
make up for his lack of early culture, ana ne soon
won the confidence and respect not only OF HIS
neghbors, but of tho anti-slavery men ana women
throughout the State. 1t was with some difhcuity
that he was persuaded to address meeting calieu
10 consider the case of the fugitive, George Latmer
which was then exciting the whole commonwealth;
but he had not spoken twenty words Deiore
saw that he was an uncommon man. AS
he went on, warming with his topic he not only eA-
bibitsd no hesitation but poured forth choice and
unIque words with skill and copiousness which
left hardly ANYTHING to be desired; and when he
described the Door runaway cingng to the base OF
Bnnler Hill VI Monument shrieking in vain for sue
cor TO the God of Liberty upon the free soil OF
Massachusetts, he evoked from the audience re-
snons. which was perfect storm of applause. His
was pure natural oratory, requiring no allowances,
and MS free from turqGity and bad taste as IL he
had been trained in the school of Webster, or
had studied to good purpose the classical Oralons or
Edward Everett. could almost fancy that heard
some wel-booted Grecian arguing OF the Lacquer OF
Troy. Mr. Douglass had native quickness which
even then he frequently exhibited and which, II he
had been called TO the duties of legislation, must
have won for him high reputation as debater
His presence Of mind was perfect Antl-slavery
speeches were then frequently interrupted. but the
sharpest of snch intruders never meddled with MT
Douglass without being sorry for such temerlty
| recall an instance of his qulckness' lie
had been speakng with moro plainnoss than
urbanity of Northern dOugh-faces and dlrt-eaters
and had quoted against them the text: "And the
Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou mast
done this. thou art cursed above all cattle, and
above every beast of the field upon thy belly shalt
thou 20 and dast shalt thou eat all the days OF thy
lfen Pretty soon Mr. Douglass said something
which provoked the inevitable hiss. Drawing him
self m TO his full height and pointing to the place
from which the sibilant sound had proceeded 10
exclaimed: 81 told you so! Upon thy belly shaIt
thou co. dust shalt thou eat, and hiss all the days OF
thy lfeV The interpolatcd words gave the text an
additional point and the gentlemen who had hissed'
Kissed no more that night. This reminds me
Of what Door Harry Clapp said in his abolition days
when he too was hissed, as, am bound 70 say he
delighted to be- There is always that sound
when the waters Of truth drop into the fires OF hell
a remark which secured quiet and good order ior
ot least fifteen minutes The AbolitoDists of
those DAYS liked to say startling things, and
did not always exhibit the best taste. l
suppose that they would bave argued that
truth was better than taste but it never seemed to
occur TO them that Ovcrstltement of truth might
be substantial falschood. One might be pretty
GOOD islavery man. but il he saw fit to vote and
did not see fit to shrek for n dlssou ton OF the
Union lie was usually sot down a no better than
man-owner. with the unpleasant aggravation OF
bcinr hvpocrte. have long ago forgotten tho
harsh judgments of those days nobody can be
more Wiling to admit than am the extraordinary
services of Mr.. Garrison and his friends; but | am
sorry that they should 40 long have thought us IN
the Sa of bitterness and the bond OF nequity. and
that they should not better have comprehendod
that they had no monopoly of beneyolence. OF phil
anthropy and Of political wisdom.