to accept the wreath of national
independence. The voice of your friends, swelling upon the breeze, cries
to you from afar--Raise your standard! Assert your independence! throw
out your banners to the wind! And will the descendants of the mighty
Pharaohs, that awed the world; will the sons of him who drove back the
serried legions of Rome and laid siege to the "eternal city"--will they,
the achievements of whose fathers are yet the wonder and admiration of
the world--will they refuse the proffered boon? Never! never!! never!!!
Shades of the mighty dead! spirits of departed great ones! inspire us,
animate us to the task; nerve us for the battle! Pour into our bosom a
portion of that ardor and patriotism which bore you on to battle, to
victory, and to conquest. Shall Liberia live? Yes; in the generous
emotions now swelling in your bosom; in the high and noble purpose--now
fixing itself in your mind, and referring into the unyieldingness of
indomitable principle, we hear the inspiring response--Liberia shall
live before God and before the nations of the earth!

The night is passing away; the dusky shades are fleeing and even now

"Jocund day stands tiptoe
On the misty mountain top."

WHAT TO THE SLAVE IS THE FOURTH OF JULY?[4]

BY FREDERICK DOUGLASS

[Note 4: Extract from an oration delivered by Frederick Douglass at
Rochester, N. Y., July 5, 1852.]

FREDERICK DOUGLASS, _the greatest of Negro orators, though born and
reared a slave, attained great eminence in the world. After a successful
career as lecturer and editor and author, he held successively the
positions of Secretary to the Santo Domingo Commission, 1871;
Presidential Elector for the State of New York, 1872; United States
Marshal for the District of Columbia, 1876-81; Recorder of Deeds for the
District, 1881-86; Minister to Hayti, 1889-91._

_Fellow Citizens:_

Pardon me, and allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here
to-day? What have I or those I represent to do with your national
independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of
natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended
to us? and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to
the national altar, and to confess the benefits, and express devout
gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?

Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer
could be truthfully returned to t