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    Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave
    Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave
    Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave
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    Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave

    By Frederick Douglass

    4.5/5

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    A dramatic autobiography and powerful firsthand account of slavery, written by America’s most influential abolitionist

    First published in 1845, Narrativeof the Life of Frederick Douglass is an eye-opening depiction of American slavery. Part autobiography, part human-rights treatise, it describes the everyday horrors inflicted on captive laborers, as well as the strength and courage needed to survive.
     
    Born into slavery on a Maryland plantation in 1818, Frederick Douglass spent years secretly teaching himself to read and write—a crime for which he risked life and limb. After two failed escapes, Douglass finally, blessedly boarded a train in 1838 that would eventually lead him to New York City, and freedom.
     
    Few books have done more to change America’s notion of African Americans than this seminal work. Beyond its historical and social relevancy, it is admired today for its gripping stories, intensity of spirit, and heartfelt humanity.
     
    This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Media
    Release dateNov 25, 2014
    ISBN9781497691131
    Author

    Frederick Douglass

    Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was an African American abolitionist, writer, statesman, and social reformer. Born in Maryland, he escaped slavery at the age of twenty with the help of his future wife Anna Murray Douglass, a free Black woman from Baltimore. He made his way through Delaware, Philadelphia, and New York City—where he married Murray—before settling in New Bedford, Massachusetts. In New England, he connected with the influential abolitionist community and joined the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, a historically black denomination which counted Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman among its members. In 1839, Douglass became a preacher and began his career as a captivating orator on religious, social, and political matters. He met William Lloyd Garrison, publisher of anti-slavery newspaper The Liberator, in 1841, and was deeply moved by his passionate abolitionism. As Douglass’ reputation and influence grew, he traveled across the country and eventually to Ireland and Great Britain to advocate on behalf of the American abolitionist movement, winning countless people over to the leading moral cause of the nineteenth century. He was often accosted during his speeches and was badly beaten at least once by a violent mob. His autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845) was an immediate bestseller that detailed Douglass’ life in and escape from slavery, providing readers a firsthand description of the cruelties of the southern plantation system. Towards the end of his life, he became a fierce advocate for women’s rights and was the first Black man to be nominated for Vice President on the Equal Rights Party ticket, alongside Presidential candidate Victoria Woodhull. Arguably one of the most influential Americans of all time, Douglass led a life dedicated to democracy and racial equality.

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    Reviews for Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

    4.5/5

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    • 4/5
      What really struck me was how the introductory texts in the preface (written by Douglass's contemporaries and included in the original publication, so I believe they will be in all editions), while sincere and correct, are still fairly inaccessible and overwrought as far as the language is concerned, which has the effect of highlighting the clear, concise wisdom of Frederick Douglass. If you've never read this before and worry it will be dense or inaccessible, don't let that be a stumbling block; the writing is powerful but uncomplicated. Personally, I've read sections of it before in school, but this was my first full read through (even then it's quite short, 122 pages on Kindle). I've always found the idea he presented of slavery itself as a corrupting influence on whites even if they start out with "good" intentions to be really intriguing, so I was hoping for a deeper exploration of that and didn't really find it in the full text. I also completely understand why he omitted the details of how he escaped slavery (the safety of other fleeing slaves who might take the same path), but given that the whole narrative was heading in that direction, it does create an unfortunate disconnect with his story as a narrative at that point. But otherwise the importance of this text is obvious and moving.
    • 4/5
      Interesting story. I only wish there were more details, and that the story went on longer. I especially appreciated Douglass's thoughts on how he changed as a slave, and on how slavery changed individual slaveholders, their society and their religion.
    • 3/5
      A fine book.
    • 5/5
      First-hand account of African American orator Frederick Douglass' early years as an enslaved person. Essential reading for anyone interested in the history of slavery in America.
    • 5/5
      The Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass is a paradigm-shifting autobiography that delivers a firsthand account of the horrific injustices that Douglass experienced while enslaved in the American south. Upon first glance it is possible to miss the significance of the cover text, which states, “written by himself,” but within a few pages it becomes clear that knowledge was the spark that ignited Douglass’ quest for freedom. Douglass’ descriptions of the dehumanizing conditions through which he lived are difficult to read, and furthermore, the narrative poses larger questions about humanity that are impossible to untangle; yet, still there is hope in his story. Somehow, in the midst of the terrors that surrounded him, Douglass continued to find reasons to persevere toward freedom. The major turning point of the book occurs when Douglass refuses to be whipped. “You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall now see how a slave was made a man.” (52). From this moment on, his transformation and influence reaches awe-inspiring peaks. For reasons of safety, the details of his actual escape to freedom are left undocumented, but in many ways, his arrival in New York is just the beginning of his journey. I’m incredibly interested to dig further into his writings as a free abolitionist and would be honored to teach this book in my class someday. This is a critical piece of American literature, and I cannot believe it took me this long to read it.
    • 5/5
      Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas, was AMAZING. I really feel like I missed out in high school because this wasn't required reading along with Uncle Tom's Cabin. Frederick Douglas was incredible articulate and explained, very reasonably, what it was like to grow up a slave in Talbot County, Maryland, to live in Baltimore, and what the social conditions were. His denunciation of empty and hypocritical religiosity in the appendix was spot on and can ring true even today.Frederick Douglas is an example of someone who was able to use adversity as motivation for self-improvement at whatever cost. Efforts to dissuade him from learning to read and write made him that much more committed to not just learning, but to doing so excellently. Efforts to keep him from escaping only made it inevitable that he would do so. Frederick Douglas can serve as an inspiration to so many of us and an example of perseverance and discipline. He was smart enough to recognize that when something wrong is going on, it's not enough to endure, but one must make efforts to end the problem. Highly highly recommended, and I wish it were required reading for everyone in school everywhere.
    • 5/5
      This is the short biography of Frederick Douglass. He writes about his life as a slave, how his mother died, how he learned to read, how he was beaten and starved, and how he decided to escape. He enlarged on this story later, but in this version of the story, he doesn't give any details of his flight to freedom. But you certainly get a vivid and horrible picture of slavery. I thought his words about the religious hypocrisy of his former masters was especially illuminating.After reading this, I was surprised really that more slaves did not make the attempt to escape. He says that he never had any idea of escape until after he learned to read and realized what else was out there in the world. That may have been one reason. Douglass himself says that he almost changed his mind when he realized that his escape would mean the loss of contact with all his friends. I'm sure that such ties to friends and family was another reason that most slaves stayed put.After reading this, I was motivated to read more about Douglass and what happened to him after he wrote this book. He was a very eloquent, even passionate man fighting for the cause of freedom and equal rights for both women and for slaves. This is a great story for young people to read, as it would help them understand how brutal slavery really was. Also important today, when there are still horrible acts of violence and injustice all around the world.
    • 5/5
      Excellent; an essential read for anyone seeking an understanding of America's history (or present, for that matter). It's all too tempting and easy to forget about slavery and dismiss it today; this book reveals its true brutality, something we should never forget.
    • 4/5
      Frederick Douglass wrote this narrative shortly after his escape from bondage and, as such, it focuses primarily on his life as a slave without much detail on the means by which he effected his escape as such information could put those who helped him in danger. The volume includes a preface from William Lloyd Garrison that outlines the abolitionist goals of the narrative. Douglass' longest chapter details the brutality of slavery, from beatings and whippings to the manner in which slaveholders bred their slaves. Douglass' narrative was first and foremost an abolition narrative with a stated goal. He concludes that he wrote "sincerely and earnestly hoping that this little book may do something toward throwing light on the American slave system and hastening the glad day of deliverance to the millions of my brethren in bonds" (76). While that does not discount the accuracy of what he wrote, readers should read this volume in the context in which Douglass wrote in order to better appreciate the argument he was making for abolition.
    • 5/5
      I probably wouldn't have gotten around to this if it hadn't been assigned to my daughter as part of her summer reading for the IB program. I always read the books with her to help her out and fill in the gaps in my classic literature. I wasn't expecting too much from this but now that I finished it I can see why people would still read this over a hundred years later. The autobiography starts out with Douglass's early life on a plantation and goes to the time when he is able to escape from slavery. The descriptions of slavery are as brutal as you would expect. He doesn't sugar coat anything. This is the part where I think this wasn't the best choice for a twelve year old to read. Some of the men really seem to enjoy inflicting pain of the women slaves which makes me think they might have been classified as sexual sadists in today's psychological speak. There is also a description of how a woman was purchased so she would produce slave children to increase the master's wealth. The slave holders stripped the slaves of any vestige of humanity. In many cases they were treated worse than the animals. Douglas lays out all of the horrors of slavery for the reader to digest. Even people who started out with the best intentions were corrupted by the institute of slavery. I can see why Douglass's narrative as well as his speeches made for powerful evidence for the abolitionist movement of the day. Another issue Douglas brings to light is the hypocrisy of the Christian slaveholders. They go to church and claim to follow God but they keep people as slaves and treat them horribly. At one point the slaveholder and his wife are upstairs praying to God for abundance while they let food rot rather than give it to their starving slaves. Douglas points out that he does not despise the Christian religion as a whole, just the people who claim to be holy while sinning. I suspect that God does not like them either.Although the narrative is short, around 120 pages there is so much to digest. I almost wish that my daughter had been assigned this book in high school because her reaction so far to it has been that it is boring which it anything but. Possibly the old fashioned language is off putting to her but once you get reading it is not difficult to understand. I think you have to experience some things in life to fully appreciate Douglass's words. I recently read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand about the life of Louis Zamperini and in particular his treatment by the Japanese when he was captured by them and put in a prison camp. A lot of what he experienced at the the hands of the Japanese was similar to what Frederick Douglass experienced as a slave. Both men were systemically starved and worked past the point of exhaustion. Both the slaveholders and the Japanese dehumanized their prisoners in order to make them easier to control. Also both Frederick Douglass and Louis Zamperini had a man who took special pleasure in breaking them. For Douglass it was the slave holder Covey and for Zamperini it was the prison Guard nicknamed The Bird. Both men somehow survived their torture and went on to do great things with their lives. Both men even came to forgive those who had abused them. Before Douglass's slave master died he had a change of heart and on his death bed met with Douglass where Douglass offered him his forgiveness. Likewise Louis Zamperini went back to the prison camp after the war and offered forgiveness to the men who imprisoned him. Both acts of forgiveness were extremely cathartic to those involved. Even though the experience of Frederick Douglass and Louis Zamperini took place a hundred years apart and in two different cultures their experiences were remarkedly the same because the common denominator is humanity. Throughout the dawn of time man has been inhumane to man. The lesson presented by both men is that while bad things will happen, sometimes even spirit breaking, the way out of a prison of hatred is through forgiveness. Forgiveness allowed both men to move on from the pain they endured and allowed them to create great things out of their suffering. It is not an easy lesson to learn but as both men proved, it is worth it in the end.
    • 3/5
      can't recommend it highly enough. Some of the surrounding text such as the preface and the appendicies weren't that interesting but in conjunction with Douglass's stirring tale they fit in nicely. However, it isn't the story of Douglass that is so worth the read as it is the effect it has on the reader.
    • 5/5
      All racists and unwitting racists should read this book and be changed. I see why it made the huge difference it did when it was written before the U S Civil War. If absolutely everyone had read it maybe the war would nt have been fought. Naive maybe and I know there's a literature on the book and similar titles like Twelve Years a Slave. Still. Fifteen years later and I remember turning page after page agog.
    • 5/5
      A simple read for history buffs. This book offers a glimpse into the life of Fredrick Douglas, not a full biography, but an idea of where he came from and how he was prepared for the role he would play later in life. 
    • 5/5
      Wonderfully eloquent and by turns horrifying and inspiring.
    • 4/5
      Frederick Douglass writes in detail about his early life as a slave and how he was determined to learn to read and escape slavery. It is an inspiring and fascinating read.
    • 5/5
      "From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom...Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read."One of the greatest books ever written. If you have yet to read it, you are depriving yourself of one of life's finest experiences.
    • 5/5
      Today it seems like common sense that slavery was a horrible institution of which no good follower of Christ could possibly participate in but that was clearly not always the case.

      Ok, well, I'd agree with Douglass that though there may have been plenty of slave owners who called themselves by that name, it's hard to believe someone could really understand what it means and participate in a system that routinely oppressed and abused the poor and the orphans and the widows. The idea that people will use any means to justify their horrible acts isn't limited to Christianity nor slavery, and unfortunately not even eras gone by.

      I knew coming into the narrative that it would be terrible. Its a book reputed even now to have a played a major role in ending slavery, so there was no way that it was a book that would call entertaining. It doesn't entertain. It informs the reader of the harsh realities of being a slave without signs of embellishments. That said, there was a lot to truly appreciate about Douglass sharing his story and the way in which he did so. Douglass didn't simply share the events of his life but took time fully explaining the surrounding events that contributed to his thoughts and feelings about the situations that he was presented.

      As an example of what I mean, he not only talks about each of the employers his owner sent him to work for as a slave, but also discussed at length the differences between them and the way these differences played out in the treatment of slaves as well as the general slave response to them. He also explains the treatments that he was given with both his assumptions about what his owner or employer was attempting to get from and what he actually got from the experience. This level of awareness seems rare these days.
    • 5/5
      Excellent introduction to Douglass's life and times for young readers.
    • 4/5
      I did enjoy this book. I love to have a first hand account of history and this book provided a first hand glimpse into the world of slavery. I also like the fact that it did not seem as if he had a score to settle and it was not overly emotional. It is an honor to have this book on my bookshelf.
    • 5/5
      Definitely the most interesting and intriguing autobiography. I had to read this for one of my college history classes and was surprised that it wasn't boring at all. Douglass' writing is beautiful.
    • 5/5
      This is an important work in any historical/cultural study of the time period and/or the institution of slavery. As a project by a man who was not allowed to learn to read, it is astounding. He is very thorough and reasoned and shares his reasoning meticulously; for example, why he does not give more details about his escape; and he is painstaking in his responses to expected critiques. Impressive.
    • 5/5
      I had to read this for a college history class, but I would have read it for pleasure too. I can certainly why it is a classic. Douglass's story, like all slave narratives, is compelling, and you have to admire him for what he'd been through and what he accomplished in spite of his origins. On top of all that, he was a genuinely gifted writer. The book is clear, concise and thought-provoking. I would recommend this for high school and up. It's short enough to appeal to those with limited attention spans.
    • 4/5
      This was a very compelling story of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. I found it a very interesting read and do recommend it. I also found the story to have an underlying meaning which is why I gave this book high ratings.

      The story is one of Frederick Douglass and the trials and tribulations he goes through as an American Slave. All of the oppressions of slavery are here. He spares no expense describing the autrocities committed by his masters throughout the years. There are a few key points to keep in mind, however, as he narrates this story. First of these is that Frederick Douglass is very well educated. The prose in which he tells the story is exquisite. In fact, one can almost call the language charming. He uses the old English style of writing which very easily puts you, the reader, in the mid to late 1800s where the story takes place.

      Then, what came as a shock to me was the location setting of this story. When one thinks of slavery, the images of the deep south come to mind. Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia are all states that have a rich past in slavery. The south described here is Baltimore. Yeah, that's right Baltimore. Freedom for Frederick Douglas meant New England. Even New York was not a safe haven as Frederick describes stories of kidnappers that are eager to steal runaway slaves back to their masters for a price.

      What I found interesting is that regardless of how the story is told, Frederick Douglass became free in his mind at one particular point in the story. This was long before he took off on his own. I am not going to spoil that part of the story for you, the potential reader of this tale, here in this review. This means that as Frederick Douglass got older, obtaining freedom from slavery became more mental and psychological than physical. It is interesting how he notes that his oppressors did everything possible to keep him ignorant. But it seems that once our author tasted of the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, there was no turning back.

      What I also liked about this book was that the escape was not a dramatic one. There was no running through the woods with the blood hounds hot on his trail. The escape was subtle. Yet I was captivated by how alone he was in his flight. I was captivated by the decisions he made from the lessons he learned in captivity. In the end, it seemed that freedom was obtained when he was in a place where others saw him as a person and not chattle.

      What I disliked about this book was the introductions. Yes there is more than one. It seems that people like Houston A. Baker Jr. had an agenda to push this narrative and this is sad. I felt in reading the narrative that Frederick Douglass true captivity was really a state of mind. What made him different from other negros of the period was that he was able to think and risk on his own. I believe that this thinking brought him to all the right people to give him the opportunity to risk for his freedom. There are times in the story where this risk did not pay off and he did pay the price of treason for his actions. However, overall I feel that the power of his subconcious mind led him to where he wanted to be. At least, I found that this is how it read. Frederick Douglass gave me the impression that he wrote this to set himself as an example of how he became free in his mind first, then achieved it in his physical form. Houston A. Baker Jr. on the other hand seemed to have wanted to distribute this narrative as propaganda to lead other against slavery itself. What's wrong with that you say? I think that Houston A. Baker's introduction was more of, "see how good of a leader I am, regardless of the movement I am leading. See how many people I am connected to in order to push my agenda." The impression I got was that Houston A. Baker had no concern about changing the way people think in order to end slavery in the mind first.
    • 4/5
      As a white Canadian, I think I have a not very admirable tendency to abstract the hell out of American slavery--to make it about the revolting idea of people owning other people (which it is) and then somehow less about what that meant: the sheer incomprehensible mass of abuses, from the daily sneer to the atrocities of casual, consequenceless rape and murder. Frederick Douglass is the antidote to that, one of the great testifiers to slavery's evil, and a hell of a man. This one's good to read (as a white North American person) any time you start to get tired of bringing to your relations with race, and with race relations, and with your friends and neighbours of other races all your gathered sincerity and humility and care.
    • 5/5
      Essential reading for any student of American history. Douglass writes with elegance, passion, and experience. His views on America's version of Christianity are, unfortunately, as true now as when he penned them in 1845; I can't recommend a quick read of the Appendix enough.
    • 5/5
      It's interesting how the story of one person can have a greater impact than the history of a people or event. In this extraordinary autobiography of abolitionist and escaped slave Frederick Douglass, we are given an intimate window into the everyday world of slavery, and it is ugly. I have read only one other book that made me feel so profoundly the lack of humanity and the evil of which humans are capable, and that was "People of the Lie" by M. Scott Peck, in which he describes parents who, for Christmas, gift their surviving son the rifle used by another son to kill himself. Reading Peck's description of a truly evil person, it seems he could have just read Douglass' book: (Adapted from Wikipedia):- Consistently self-deceiving, with the intent of avoiding guilt and maintaining a self-image of perfection- Projects his or her evils and sins onto very specific targets while being apparently normal with everyone else - Commonly hates with the pretense of love- Abuses political (emotional) power - Maintains a high level of respectability, and lies incessantly in order to do so- Is consistent in his or her sins. Evil persons are characterized not so much by the magnitude of their sins, but by their consistency of destructiveness. - Is unable to think from the viewpoint of his or her victim- Has a covert intolerance to criticismDouglass tells his story of being born and kept as a slave, and his escape to the North in his early twenties, in a style that highlights the evil he experienced and/or observed in Maryland:- being removed from his mother's care by the age of one, with almost no contact allowed with her for the rest of his life- being clothed as a child only in a knee-length shirt, summer or winter, and going naked if the shirt wore out before the annual clothing allotment - having no provision for beds or bedding except for a single blanket - routine rape of women to increase slaveholders' assets and wealth- deliberate near-starvation of slaves, with stock animals being well-cared for and slaves whipped for any perceived lack of attention to the animals' well-being- slaveholders' (both men and women) and overseers' enjoyment of frequent, repeated, and lengthy slave whippings, often for no reason than satisfaction- old slaves being put out into the forest to fend for themselves - the inevitable degeneration into depravity of whites who were new to slaveholding (thorough marriage, for instance) The book skips over the exact method Douglass used to escape, in order to protect others and not give slaveholders any tips, but in his final autobiography, after the Civil War, he did give a detailed account. The book ends with him in New Bedford, MA, with a new bride and making his way among the wonders of freedom, irrespective of the hostility shown blacks by northern whites afraid for their jobs. There's also an epilogue Douglass wrote to clarify his comments on the "Christianity" he observed in both the South and the North. It's not pretty. Ministers going home to rape, preachers spending the rest of the week whipping humans, respectable citizens spending their time finding new ways to force compliance, whether it be though intimidation, murder, or forcible separation of families. More than anywhere else, this is where Douglass expresses his anger.
    • 5/5
      Amazing story of Frederick Douglass's struggle for freedom and then for the rights and freedom of African-Americans.
    • 2/5
      This book is not bad, but I've had to read it so many times for school, in so many different classes, that I don't want to see this book ever again.
    • 4/5
      This is a good little book which everybody should read. It was published in 1845 when the author, who escaped from slavery in Maryland in 1838, put it out. It does not tell details of his escape for the good reason that he did not want Southern masters to know how he accomplished the escape. The account of slave life tells of brutality which no sensible person would inflict on his horse, much less on another human being. His strictures on Sothern religion are well-deserved: how horrendous that religion in those days condoned slavery. And how asinine that some Southen "statesmen" deemed slavery a positive good!
    • 5/5
      Frederick Douglass' powerful account of the slave condition and freedom. Starts with the bloody details of slave holding, then the even sadder aspects of slave mentality - singing proudly about errands to "the great house farm" and quarreling over who's master is the richest or most powerful - before gradually the yearning for freedom and will to be free take over the story. Argues that slavery corrupts both the slave and the slave holder, that religion in the South is mostly shallow. Emphasizes the importance of literacy in making slaves rise.

    Book preview

    Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass - Frederick Douglass

    PREFACE

    In the month of August, 1841, I attended an anti-slavery convention in Nantucket, at which it was my happiness to become acquainted with Frederick Douglass, the writer of the following Narrative. He was a stranger to nearly every member of that body; but, having recently made his escape from the southern prison-house of bondage, and feeling his curiosity excited to ascertain the principles and measures of the abolitionists,—of whom he had heard a somewhat vague description while he was a slave,—he was induced to give his attendance, on the occasion alluded to, though at that time a resident in New Bedford.

    Fortunate, most fortunate occurrence!—fortunate for the millions of his manacled brethren, yet panting for deliverance from their awful thraldom!—fortunate for the cause of negro emancipation, and of universal liberty!—fortunate for the land of his birth, which he has already done so much to save and bless!—fortunate for a large circle of friends and acquaintances, whose sympathy and affection he has strongly secured by the many sufferings he has endured, by his virtuous traits of character, by his ever-abiding remembrance of those who are in bonds, as being bound with them!—fortunate for the multitudes, in various parts of our republic, whose minds he has enlightened on the subject of slavery, and who have been melted to tears by his pathos, or roused to virtuous indignation by his stirring eloquence against the enslavers of men!—fortunate for himself, as it at once brought him into the field of public usefulness, gave the world assurance of a MAN, quickened the slumbering energies of his soul, and consecrated him to the great work of breaking the rod of the oppressor, and letting the oppressed go free!

    I shall never forget his first speech at the convention—the extraordinary emotion it excited in my own mind—the powerful impression it created upon a crowded auditory, completely taken by surprise—the applause which followed from the beginning to the end of his felicitous remarks. I think I never hated slavery so intensely as at that moment; certainly, my perception of the enormous outrage which is inflicted by it, on the godlike nature of its victims, was rendered far more clear than ever. There stood one, in physical proportion and stature commanding and exact—in intellect richly endowed—in natural eloquence a prodigy—in soul manifestly created but a little lower than the angels—yet a slave, ay, a fugitive slave,—trembling for his safety, hardly daring to believe that on the American soil, a single white person could be found who would befriend him at all hazards, for the love of God and humanity! Capable of high attainments as an intellectual and moral being—needing nothing but a comparatively small amount of cultivation to make him an ornament to society and a blessing to his race—by the law of the land, by the voice of the people, by the terms of the slave code, he was only a piece of property, a beast of burden, a chattel personal, nevertheless!

    A beloved friend from New Bedford prevailed on Mr. Douglass to address the convention: He came forward to the platform with a hesitancy and embarrassment, necessarily the attendants of a sensitive mind in such a novel position. After apologizing for his ignorance, and reminding the audience that slavery was a poor school for the human intellect and heart, he proceeded to narrate some of the facts in his own history as a slave, and in the course of his speech gave utterance to many noble thoughts and thrilling reflections. As soon as he had taken his seat, filled with hope and admiration, I rose, and declared that Patrick Henry, of revolutionary fame, never made a speech more eloquent in the cause of liberty, than the one we had just listened to from the lips of that hunted fugitive. So I believed at that time—such is my belief now. I reminded the audience of the peril which surrounded this self-emancipated young man at the North,—even in Massachusetts, on the soil of the Pilgrim Fathers, among the descendants of revolutionary sires; and I appealed to them, whether they would ever allow him to be carried back into slavery,—law or no law, constitution or no constitution. The response was unanimous and in thunder-tones—NO! Will you succor and protect him as a brother-man—a resident of the old Bay State? YES! shouted the whole mass, with an energy so startling, that the ruthless tyrants south of Mason and Dixon’s line might almost have heard the mighty burst of feeling, and recognized it as the pledge of an invincible determination, on the part of those who gave it, never to betray him that wanders, but to hide the outcast, and firmly to abide the consequences.

    It was at once deeply impressed upon my mind, that, if Mr. Douglass could be persuaded to consecrate his time and talents to the promotion of the anti-slavery enterprise, a powerful impetus would be given to it, and a stunning blow at the same time inflicted on northern prejudice against a colored complexion. I therefore endeavored to instil hope and courage into his mind, in order that he might dare to engage in a vocation so anomalous and responsible for a person in his situation; and I was seconded in this effort by warm-hearted friends, especially by the late General Agent of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, Mr. John A. Collins, whose judgment in this instance entirely coincided with my own. At first, he could give no encouragement; with unfeigned diffidence, he expressed his conviction that he was not adequate to the performance of so great a task; the path marked out was wholly an untrodden one; he was sincerely apprehensive that he should do more harm than good. After much deliberation, however, he consented to make a trial; and ever since that period, he has acted as a lecturing agent, under the auspices either of the American or the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. In labors he has been most abundant; and his success in combating prejudice, in gaining proselytes, in agitating the public mind, has far surpassed the most sanguine expectations that were raised at the commencement of his brilliant career. He has borne himself with gentleness and meekness, yet with true manliness of character. As a public speaker, he excels in pathos, wit, comparison, imitation, strength of reasoning, and fluency of language. There is in him that union of head and heart, which is indispensable to an enlightenment of the heads and a winning of the hearts of others. May his strength continue to be equal to his day! May he continue to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of God, that he may be increasingly serviceable in the cause of bleeding humanity, whether at home or abroad!

    It is certainly a very remarkable fact, that one of the most efficient advocates of the slave population, now before the public, is a fugitive slave, in the person of Frederick Douglass; and that the free colored population of the United States are as ably represented by one of their own number, in the person of Charles Lenox Remond, whose eloquent appeals have extorted the highest applause of multitudes on both sides of the Atlantic. Let the calumniators of the colored race despise themselves for their baseness and illiberality of spirit, and henceforth cease to talk of the natural inferiority of those who require nothing but time and opportunity to attain to the highest point of human excellence.

    It may, perhaps, be fairly questioned, whether any other portion of the population of the earth could have endured the privations, sufferings and horrors of slavery, without having become more degraded in the scale of humanity than the slaves of African descent. Nothing has been left undone to cripple their intellects, darken their minds, debase their moral nature, obliterate all traces of their relationship to mankind; and yet how wonderfully they have sustained the mighty load of a most frightful bondage, under which they have been groaning for centuries! To illustrate the effect of slavery on the white man,—to show that he has no powers of endurance, in such a condition, superior to those of his black brother,—Daniel O’connell, the distinguished advocate of universal emancipation, and the mightiest champion of prostrate but not conquered Ireland, relates the following anecdote in a speech delivered by him in the Conciliation Hall, Dublin, before the Loyal National Repeal Association, March 31, 1845. No matter, said Mr. O’connell, "under what specious term it may disguise itself, slavery is still hideous. It has a natural, an inevitable tendency to brutalize every noble faculty of man. An American sailor, who was cast away on the shore of Africa, where he was kept in slavery for three years, was, at the expiration of that period, found to be imbruted and stultified—he had lost all reasoning power; and having forgotten his native language, could only utter some savage gibberish between Arabic and English, which nobody could understand, and which even he himself found difficulty in pronouncing. So much for the humanizing influence of The Domestic Institution!" Admitting this to have been an extraordinary case of mental deterioration, it proves at least that the white slave can sink as low in the scale of humanity as the black one.

    Mr. Douglass has very properly chosen to write his own Narrative, in his own style, and according to the best of his ability, rather than to employ some one else. It is, therefore, entirely his own production; and, considering how long and dark was the career he had to run as a slave,—how few have been his opportunities to improve his mind since he broke his iron fetters,—it is, in my judgment, highly creditable to his head and heart. He who can peruse it without a tearful eye, a heaving breast, an afflicted spirit,—without being filled with an unutterable abhorrence of slavery and all its abettors, and animated with a determination to seek the immediate overthrow of that execrable system,—without trembling for the fate of this country in the hands of a righteous God, who is ever on the side of the oppressed, and whose arm is not shortened that it cannot save,—must have a flinty heart, and be qualified to act the part of a trafficker in slaves and the souls of men. I am confident that it is essentially true in all its statements; that nothing has been set down in malice, nothing exaggerated, nothing drawn from the imagination; that it comes short of the reality, rather than overstates a single fact in regard to slavery as it is. The experience of Frederick Douglass, as a slave, was not a peculiar one; his lot was not especially a hard one; his case may be regarded as a very fair specimen of the treatment of slaves in Maryland, in which State it is conceded that they are better fed and less cruelly treated than in Georgia, Alabama, or Louisiana. Many have suffered incomparably more, while very few on the plantations have suffered less, than himself. Yet how deplorable was his situation! what terrible chastisements were inflicted upon his person! what still more shocking outrages were perpetrated upon his mind! with all his noble powers and sublime aspirations, how like a brute was he treated, even by those professing to have the same mind in them that was in Christ Jesus! to what dreadful liabilities was he continually subjected! how destitute of friendly counsel and aid, even in his greatest extremities! how heavy was the midnight of woe which shrouded in blackness the last ray of hope, and filled the future with terror and gloom! what longings after freedom took possession of his breast, and how his misery augmented, in proportion as he grew reflective and intelligent,—thus demonstrating that a happy slave is an extinct man! how he thought, reasoned, felt, under the lash of the driver, with the chains upon his limbs! what perils he encountered in his endeavors to escape from his horrible doom! and how signal have been his deliverance and preservation in the midst of a nation of pitiless enemies!

    This Narrative contains many affecting incidents, many passages of great eloquence and power; but I think the most thrilling one of them all

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