Frederick Douglass, the Orator - Monroe County Library System

Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection
178 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
hours of American independence, what Toussaint
L'Ouverture was to the black republic of Hayti,
when the armies of Napoleon encamped about it
and attempted its re-enslavement; what Abraham
Lincoln was to this country when James
Buchanan had surrendered it to rebels; what
General Grant was in the Wilderness, * Fighting it
out on that line if it took all summer,'—that and
more was William the Silent to his country, and
to the cause of civil and religious liberty in the
Netherlands.
" But of the illustrious men thus mentioned,
the one who most resembled our hero, you will
easily see, was Abraham Lincoln. In saying this,
I say much for Abraham Lincoln, and for the
American people, for he embodied more of the best
elements of the American character and statesmanship
than any of his long line of predecessors.
" In the matter of his social position and training,
William stands in striking contrast to Abraham
Lincoln. William was highborn, a prince
of the blood, surrounded from the cradle with
the best conditions that great wealth and high
position could purchase. Lincoln, on the contrary,
sprang from the lowest round of the social
ladder, with nothing but his simple manhood to
support him. There was also a marked difference
in the respective mental characteristics of
the two men. William was pre-eminently a