Frederick Douglass, the Orator - Monroe County Library System

Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection
CHAPTER XVI.
ON Sunday, March 10, 1895, a large congregation
assembled in the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian
Church, Washington, D. C, to hear the
obituary tribute paid by the pastor, the Rev. F J.
Grimke, D. D., to the memory of Mr. Douglass.
Dr. Grimke, in his discourse, gave a complete
and splendid philosophical analysis of the life
and character of the deceased. A study of
this sermon will be instructive and inspiring.
SERMON BY FRANCIS J. GRIMKE, D.D.
"And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that
there is a prince and a great man fallen this day ? "—II. Sam.
iii. 38.
On the evening of the 20th of February there
passed from the stage of action the greatest negro
that this country has yet produced; one of the
most illustrious citizens of the Republic, and
one of the most remarkable men of the century
now drawing to a close. The shock which the
announcement of his death produced was all the
more startling, inasmuch as it was entirely unexpected.
There was nothing to indicate that the
end was near. Suddenly, unexpectedly, the
summons came, and in a moment the noble form