Frederick Douglass, the Orator - Monroe County Library System

Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection
132 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
attempted to scourge us beyond the range of
human brotherhood, we may calmly point to the
monument we have this day erected to the memory
of Abraham Lincoln."
An eminent divine at the unveiling of the
monument here referred to, after congratulating
the orator of the day upon his masterly portrayal
of the character of the martyr president, turned
to General Grant, who was present, and said:
" There is but one Frederick Douglass."
On the anniversary celebration of the emancipation
of slaves in the District of Columbia, Mr.
Douglass was the orator in the years 1883, 1885,,
and 1886, respectively. The speeches delivered
at the time here referred to, are discourses on
the relations subsisting between the white and
colored people of the United States, in which
the orator clearly shows that, though the negro
possesses personal freedom and the ballot, he
is still a victim of prejudice and injustice.
Here is an extract from the first of these
addresses, delivered in the First Congregational
Church, April 16, 1883.
" Let any man now claim for the negro, or, worse
still, let the negro now claim for himself, any
right, privilege, or immunity which has hitherto
been denied by law or custom, and he will at once
open a fountain of bitterness, and call forth over,-,
whelming wrath.