Frederick Douglass, the Orator - Monroe County Library System

Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 257
A profusion of floral tributes from Rochester
friends and from other cities were placed upon
the casket and around the altar. Palms and
potted plants decorated the front of the pulpit,
above which were draped large flags and mourning
emblems.
The funeral services were opened with the
hymn, " Remember now Thy Creator," sung by
a quartette composed of Messrs. Bowman, Hays,
Millham, and Learned, after which the Rev. Dr.
William R. Taylor, of the Brick Church, offered
this prayer:—
" Unto Thee, O Lord, do we lift up our souls.
" We are in the presence of a dread reality
and a solemn mystery — the reality and mystery
of death.
" But we are also face to face with a greater
reality and a greater mystery—the reality and
mystery of a human life that was full of divine
goodness, divine feeling, and divine power.
" Only Thou who dost still continue to make
men and women in Thine own image and share
with them Thine own divine nature ; only Thou
who by Thy Providence dost rule in their affairs,
bringing liberty and peace out of their bloody
conflicts and a higher righteousness from their
very sins ; only Thou who didst kindle a divine
fire within the soul of this man whose mortal
body we are this day to bury in the earth, who