of America! 'I will not
equivocate; I will not excuse'; I will use the severest language
I can command; and yet not one word shall escape me that any man,
whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at
heart a slaveholder, shall not confess to be right and just."

His speech in England was labored, heavy, and some portions of it
ambitious. But here are measured sentences, graceful transitions,
truth made forcible, and the oratory refined. Thus he went on from
good to better, until the managers of leading lecture-courses of the
land felt that the season would not be a success without Frederick
Douglass. He began to venture into deeper water; to expound problems
not exactly in line with the only theme that he was complete master
of. His attempts at wit usually missed fire. He could not be funny. He
was in earnest from the first moment the light broke into his mind in
Baltimore. He was rarely eloquent except when denouncing slavery. He
was not at his best in abstract thought: too much logic dampened his
enthusiasm; and an attempt at elaborate preparation weakened his
discourse. He was majestic when speaking of the insults he had
received or the wrongs his race were suffering. Martin Luther said
during the religious struggle in Germany for freedom of thought:
"Sorrow has pressed many sweet songs out of me." It was the sorrows of
the child-heart of Douglass the chattel, and the sorrows of the great
man-heart of Douglass the human being, that gave the world such
remarkable eloquence. There were but two chords in his soul that could
yield a rich sound, viz.: sorrow and indignation. Sorrow for the
helpless slave, and indignation against the heartless master, made him
grand, majestic, and eloquent beyond comparison.

Although he was going constantly he saved his means, and raised a
family of two girls--one dying in her teens, an affliction he took
deeply to heart--and three boys. When the war was on at high tide, and
Colored soldiers required, he gave all he had, three stalwart boys,
while he made it very uncomfortable for the Copperheads at home. At
the close of the war he moved to Washington and became deeply
interested in the practical work of reconstruction. He was appointed
one of the Commissioners to visit San Domingo, when General Grant
recommended its annexation to the United States; was a trustee of
Howard University and of the Freedman's Savings Bank and Trust
Company. Unfortunately