Frederick Douglass, the Orator - Monroe County Library System

Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 183
"Great hearted men both ! Though three centuries
stretch away like an ocean, between your
space in life and work, ye were cast in the same
generous mold, ye were co-workers in the same
great cause, and paid the same extreme penalty
for your devotion, and together shall your memories
be cherished forever."
At Baltimore, in 1876, Mr. Douglass for the
first time delivered his celebrated lecture on
The National Capital. Such sentences as would
cause criticism when read apart from the lecture
and out of their connection were telegraphed to
Washington by prejudiced persons, and immediately
he became a target of abuse for the entire
press of the District. When the lecture was
read and understood, it became a subject of
praise rather than of abuse. The humor that
runs through the description which Mr. Douglass
gives of the ofHce-holding and office-seeking classes
will be appreciated by the reader.
The passage is as follows:—
" But I would do injustice in the matter of the
population of Washington, if I failed to say a
word of another element in the social composition
of the capital, in no degree more agreeable
and commendable than those already referred to.
" They are the spoilsmen of every grade and
description. They are the office holders, office
seekers, contract buyers, pension agents, lobbyists,