Frederick Douglass, the Orator - Monroe County Library System

Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection
212 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
mulated a competency, the result of industry and
economy. He has made it a principle of his life
to save something out of his earnings, small
though those earnings be. With all his habits of
economy he has been a generous man, giving
freely to every worthy cause. Numerous instances
could be mentioned which would show how Mr.
Douglass 1 purse has always been open to relieve
misery and distress. He is often sought by persons,
some seeking pecuniary aid and others employment.
He seems always to have a due regard
for the feelings and rights of others, even in the
smallest matters. It is natural for him to be
polite; it is not that artificial politeness which
comes from studying books of etiquette, but it
springs from his soul.
He is frank and fearless in expressing his views
even though they bring him into sharp antagonism
with those who hold different opinions.
This was evidenced by his antagonizing his lifelong
friends, the Garrisonians, upon the interpretation
of the constitution, they holding that the
constitution was pro-slavery in character and he
that it was anti-slavery. Vials of wrath, so to
speak, were poured out upon his head by the
Garrisonian abolitionists when he proclaimed his
views to the country, but Mr. Douglass was not
driven from his position on that question. A
man of ordinary courage would have been utterly