The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-02-19
WAS A MEMORABLE EVENT
Touching "reminiscences of Lincoln bI
"His Friend" Fred Douglass.
New York Union League Club Listens and Ap.
plauds Interesting Stories, Related with
All the Speakers Native Elcquence.


coins birth was that picturesque figuu
Fred Douglass. who spoke as follows
"Gentlemen-I beg TO remind You at the
outset thatreminiscences are generally ted.
ious. hope you may find mine an excep-
ton to the general rule, though | fear
the contrary. for speakers are often more
interesting and eloquent about what they
do not know than about what they rdo
know. IApplause. 1t is impossible for
me and, perhaps, for any body else. to say
any thing new about Abraham Lincoln.
lApplause.l He is in the minds and hearts
of all of us. We know him and know of
him. as we know of no other great man of
our century. Applause
IL had the good fortune to know Abrs-
ham Lincoln personally and peculiarly. I
knew him, not on the side visible to the
free. rich and powerful, but on the side
the defenseless. the oppressed and the en-
shaved. lApplause.l It is something to
know how man VIII deport himself to his
admitted equals. but more TO know how he
will bear himself TO those who are recog>
nized as his interiors Applause. It is
this knowledge of Mr.. Lincoln upon which
i depend for any interest, value or signif-
canoe of my story to you this evening
''Of course. and on general principles. it
is great thing for any man of whatever
condition to know q great man. For q
truly great man is ever a rebuke to pride
and selfishness IN the strong, and source
of strength TO the weak and unfortunate.
The memory OF such great man 10 en-
nobling TO men already noble, and we shall
oil feel better for revivIng and keeping
alive the memory of such man tonight
Applause.
Gentlemen. let me be somewhat conf
Dental and photographer l have
sometimes been held up as a man without
friends or associates. but really have been
very fortunate man during most of my
life. Few men have had chance To get
a Io n Ia a linn III 81
this life than II. / have seen both sides of
this great world. have seen men of all
conditions. l have seen men high and low,
rich and poor. slave and free white and
black, and hence ought to be a broader.
If not q better man. than most other men.
l certainly have no excuse for narrowness
or for race and color prejudice. / feel 10
more to be man and member of the
great human family than to be q member
Of any one of the many varieties of the
human race, whether Anglo-S Saxon, Anglo
African. OF any other.
Among the circumstances in which I
deem myself most fortunate, is that of hav.
ing seen many great men. They have not
been of one country or of one continent
alone. l have seen such men In England,
and have seen them In this Repu blic. /
have seen men of whom we have all heard;
men who stood only q little lower than
the angels.
LINCOLN'S GoDLIKE NATURE.
They were great and godlike men, di-
vinely equipped and commissioned from on
high to serve the highest needs of mani kind
They were not only upllfted men, but they
were uplifting men-men whose range was
far above all that is little, low and mean
but have met with no such man. at home
or abroad, who made upon my mind the i'm.
preston of possessing O more godllke nature
than did Abraham Lincoln. ICheers and
applause
Greater men than he intellectually there
may have been. but, to my mind. measuring
him in the direction of the highest quality,
of human goodness and nobility of charac-
ter. no better man than he has ever stood
or walked upon this continent. lCheers. 1
But you did not ask me for my opinion OF
MIR. Lincoln. You asked me for my reeol.
lections of him, and these i shall proceed
to give you.
1T may be that the conditions surround.
ing Mr.. Lincoln when 1 first met him had
something TO do with the exalted impress.
sion / received of him. 1t is one thing tc
see man In prosperity and another thing
to see him in adversely. 1t is one thing 10
see him surrounded by hardshIps, difficult
ties and dangers. and il Is another thing to
see him in his hours OF ease and prosperity.
The time TO see great captain Is not
when the wind Is fair and the sea IL
smooth and the man In the cross
trees or round-top can safely sing
ont, All is WELL At such time
q pigmy may seem a giant and q pol
trOon hero. You must see him under other
conditions. You must see him when the
sky Is dark; see him In rough weather; see
him In the hour of danger. when he is far
from land In midocean, when his ship 10 in
ablod, rudder gone. sails blown away,
staunchions STAYED in, mountain pillows
dashing over his deck. lie IS then, if ever
that you may know the true mettle of the
a
fearless and faithful. manly and undis-
mayed, with no thought in his soul but the
one thought of absolute and overmaster-
ing duty, and determined to do that duty
at whatever cost 20 himself or others.
] say that you may then know that
you are in the presence of hero
worthy OF your highest human wor.
ship. and such captain was ours-
THE sea was not smooth, the sky was
not bright. the wind was not fair when 1
first met and measured Abraham Lincoln.
IL was In the darkest hours of the late war.
There was much in the situation to make
men anxious. 1t was q time 10 make the
b0ldest hold his breath. No man could tell,
at that time, whether the cause Of the
country would be saved or lost. certainly
was concerned not only for the cause OF the
country. but for the cause of tie slaves
cause for which had given the best ener.
Gies of my soul. the best years Of my life.
and the deepest longings of my heart lAp-
plause.
The leaders of the rebellion were. ut
this time. especially fierce, bold and defiant.
They had, in the pride of their power.
scorned TO accept the terms Of peace that
Mr.. Lincoln had o few months before
offered them. whereby they might have
saved the lives of many men on both sides.
North and South. and their slavery in the
bargain.
BLACK HOUR FOR AMERICA.
But it was not only the rebels in arms
at the South, but also the disloyal men at
the North. who complicated the problem,
and gave Mr.. Lincoln much cause for anx-
iety. Our forces in the field were dimin-
fishing. Recruiting was becoming difficult
and well-nigh impossible. The draft was
being resisted. Loyal black men were be-
ing murdered in the streets of New York.
Asylums and houses of black people were
being bnrned resentment OF the draft
and of the continuance of the war. Be.
sides. the administration was being fiercely
assailed By the press. the platform and the
pulpit of the North. Out of this darkness
and storm the soul of Lincoln shone with q
light all the more clear. calm and steady.
Applause.
II first saw Mr. Lincoln in the early sum-
mer of 1863. had a ~neoiai object In see-
ing HIM at this 9. had been
engaged in raisInP regiments of COL
ored men in Mass .erts. the Fifty
sons were in thOs. regiments. Jefferson
Davis had taken notice of those col
ored soldiers, and had notified the country
that colored men taken IN arms would not
be treated as prisoners of war by the con-
federate armies. but would be shot or