Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1930-08-30


him in the crowd, came to meet him.
Here comes my friend, Douglass"
cried Lincoln. Taking him by the
hand he inquired: What did you
think of my speech?"
"Mr. Lincoln" replied Douglass, Il
must not detain you with my poor
opinion. There are thousands wait
ing to shake your hand"
mo, no." answered Lincoln, you
must stop little. There S no man
in the country whose opinion I value
more than yours. I want to know
what you think of it,
'Mr. Lincoln" responded Douglass,
that was sacred effort"
But for Douglass also, the Negro
might not have become citizen at
least when he did. President john
sons idea was to get The South back
into the Union by giving it as free
a hand as possible with the freed
men. Douglass saw where this would
lead to, and demanded the ballot.
The liberty of America, he said, de-
pended on three boxes: the Ballot
box, the Jury-box, and the Cartridge
box.
From the first" said Douglass.
II saw no chance of lettering the
condition of the freedman until e
should cease to be a freedman and
become a citizen. I insisted that
there was no safety for him or any
body else in America outside the
American government. -.
II set myself to work with what
ever force possessed to secure this
power for the recently emancipated
millions"
This proposition was received as
ridiculous even by most of the aboli-
tionists. Even Garrison, himself,
had to be won over to the idea by
Wendell Phillips.
With the winning of the ballot,
Douglasss greatest task was done.
But there were honors, such as they
were, in store for him. He served in
the following posts: US. Commits
sioner to San Domingo; Minister to
Haiti; Member of the Legislative
Council of the District of Columbia;
presidential elector of New York and
bore the vote of that state for Grant
to Washington; and Marshal of the
District of Columb' in which post
he officiated at the Inauguration of
President Garfield. At one Republi-
can convention he was one of those
named for the Presidency.
Later, he gave lectures on Self
Made Men," that thrilled black and
white alike. In 1871 he delivered an
address at Arlington Cemetery at
which President Grant was present;
in 1876 at the unwilling of the Freed
mems Monument in Washington, he
was the orator of the occasion. PreSi-
dent Grant, his cabinet, and other
dignitarieS were present. This speech
was printed and sold over the nation.
In 1886 he toured Europe and visit
ed Egypt. Himself and Mrs. Doug
lass were invited to all public func-
tions at the White House by Presi-
dent Cleveland.
His declining years were spent on
his property, Cedar Hill, at Anacostia,
DC, on land formerly owned by an
aristecrat who had decreed that
neither mulatto, Negro, nor Irish
man, should own foot of his land.
Here, surrounded by his books and
souvenirs, he devoted himself to the
study of music, of which he was pas
sionately fond. Here, also, national
and international personages visited
him. He became known as "Tfae
Sage of Anacostia."
Many other interesting stories
could be told of him, but the follow
ing deserves mention. After the war,
he longed to visit his friends in
Maryland but he was regarded as
an outlaw. Many years later. how
ever, he was permitted to do SO.
Among those he saw was his cruel
master, Thomas Aud. Aud, poverty
stricken, lay on his death-bed VITA