of sex or color. His page already luminous in
history will continue to brighten, and when statuary, now and hereafter,
erected to his memory, shall have crumbled "neath the beatings of
time;" the good fame of his name, high purpose and unflinching integrity
to the highest needs of humanity, will remain hallowed "foot prints in
the sands of time." Eminently fit was the naming of an institution in
Philadelphia "The Frederick Douglass Hospital and Freedman's School;"
the assuaging of suffering and the giving of larger opportunity for
technical instruction were cherished ideals with the sage of Anacostia;
also the lives of Harriet Beacher Stowe, Lucretia Mott and Francis E.
Harper, and the noble band of women of which they were the type, who
bravely met social ostracism and insult for devotion to the slave, will
ever have a proud place in our country's history. Of this illustrious
band was Julia Griffith, hitherto referred to, a grand representative of
those renowned women, who at home or abroad, did so much to hasten the
downfall of slavery and encourage the weak and lowly to hope and effort.
Thackery has said that, "Could you see every man's career, you would
find a woman clogging him, or cheering him, or beckoning him on."

Having finished my intended tour with Mr. Douglass, and returned to
Rochester, the outlook for my future, to me, was not promising. The
opportunities for advancement were much, very much less than now. With
me ambition and dejection contended for the mastery, the latter often in
the ascendant. To her friendly inquiry I gave reasons for my
depression. I shall never forget the response; almost imperious in
manner, you could already anticipate the magnitude of an idea that
seemed to struggle for utterance. "What! discouraged? Go do some great
thing." It was an inspiration, the result of which she may never have
known. We are assured, however, that a kind act or helpful word is
inseparably connected with a blessing for the giver. To earnest youth I
would bequeath the excelsior of the "youth mid snow and ice," and the
above injunction, "upward and onward;" "go do some great thing."

The war with Mexico, discovery of gold in California in 1848, the
acquisition of new territory, and the developments of our hitherto
undeveloped Western possessions, stimulated the financial pulse, and
permeated every avenue of industry and speculative life. While in New
York State I met several going and returning gold seeker