Frederick Douglass, the Orator - Monroe County Library System

Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection
266 LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
upon the squares of Rochester. Shall the next
be of Frederick Douglass, wonderful orator and
ex-slave? I hope so. If this wish is realized
Frederick Douglass will not only represent an
individual, but something grander. That monument
of bronze already erected in our city not
only represents Abraham Lincoln, but surrounding
the statue of bronze are all of the elements
which contributed to the success of the North.
So the life of this man stands as the representative
of his race. It stands for all that sin of
slavery through which it forced its way, making
that insult to a nation's history bend and break.
" I hope that this monument will stand on the
streets of Rochester before our boys grow up to
be men. A part of the nation's history is this
man's emancipation from slavery and the emancipation
of his race from insult and prejudice.
His life spans the whole distance from the awakening
of the national conscience in the few antislavery
fanatics to the great hallelujah of the
end which saw no shadow of slavery. We cannot
do this man honor without honoring the nation.
" Let me add one great sentence, the greatest
ever uttered by the lips of an American, and
those lips were Frederick Douglass' It is a
sentence of but six words, but they are worthy
of the Bible: —
" * One with God is a majority.'