Frederick Douglass, the Orator - Monroe County Library System

Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 159
Prof. J. M. Gregory presided, and in introducing
Hon. Frederick Douglass, said :—
" It is our good fortune to have with us one who
needs no extended introduction to an American
audience ; a man whose fame, not confined to the
borders of his own country, has gone throughout
the civilized world, and whose utterances at the
late Louisville convention, fresh in the minds of
all, were compared by the press of the country
with the great speeches of England's statesmen,
John Bright and William Gladstone. This eminent
man, whom it is my privilege to introduce, is
the acknowledged leader of the negro race in
America, and that people look to him, more than
to any other, for advice and guidance at this particular
crisis in their history. The Honorable
Frederick Douglass will now address you."
Mr. Douglass came forward amid deafening
applause and delivered one of the ablest speeches
of his life. We quote a few passages to show his
style cf vehement eloquence and invective, and to
give some idea of his exhaustive argument.
" The cause which has brought us here to-night
is neither common nor trivial. Few events in
our national history have surpassed it in magnitude,
importance, and significance. It has swept
over the land like a moral cyclone, leaving moral
desolation in its track.
" We feel it as we felt the furious attempt,