|
Death of Frederick Douglass
The unexpected and sudden
death of Mr. Douglass has awakened a sense
of profound sympathy never before expressed
toward a person identified with the negro
race, and seldom toward one of the white
race. We are not surprised at the
manifestations of profound respect and
sorrow of the colored people, and we
rejoice, too, that the white race has shown
almost equal regard for his memory, by their
attendance when he lay in state in
Washington, and when his body was interred
in Rochester. The press has voiced the
sentiment of the nation in the full and
eulogistic notices of his life. Frederick
Douglass deserved it all.
No man, perhaps, in this country has broken
through so heavy a crust of ignorance,
poverty and race prejudice as was done by
this boy born on a slave plantation,
stealing his education, fleeing from his
slave home and then achieving for himself a
rank among the foremost men of the nation in
intelligence, eloquence and of personal
influence in the great anti-slavery struggle
of this country. He has achieved honors in
the public service of the nation, and has
faithfully and honorably fulfilled every
trust laid upon him.
Mr. Douglass is among the last survivors of
that band of Abolitionists that were so
potent in their influence in arousing the
nation to the evils of slavery. The recent
death of Theodore D. Weld, in his
ninety-first year, recalls a name now almost
forgotten, but that two generations ago
indicated the foremost orator in the
anti-slavery ranks. The poet of
anti-slavery, Whittier, has gone recently,
and now the most conspicuous name left of
that noble band is that of Mrs. Harriet
Beecher Stowe.
The American Missionary Association has
reason to congratulate itself that its last
annual meeting was made memorable by the
presence of Mr. Douglass, and its vast
audience stirred most deeply by his eloquent
address. In that address he expressed his
gratitude for himself and his people for the
work done by the Association in their
behalf. And in a letter subsequently
addressed to the senior secretary of the
Association, he says, in speaking of that
address: "I am very glad to have been able
thus publicly to record my sense of the
value of the great work of the Association
in saving my people. I am a friend of free
thought and free inquiry, but I find them to
be no substitute for the work of educating
the ignorant and lifting up the lowly. Time
and toil have nearly taken me from the
lecture field, but I still have a good word
to say in the cause to which the American
Missionary Association is devoted."
The appointment of Bishop Whipple, of
Minnesota, to be a member of the Board of
Indian Commissioners was an appointment
eminently fit to be made. Few men in this
country stand higher in their knowledge of
the Indians and their wants, or have shown a
more intelligent and self-sacrificing
interest in their behalf.
The Indian Territory, occupied by what has
been regarded as the Civilized Tribes, is in
a precarious position. The recent
investigation by the Committee under
ex-Senator Dawes has brought out the facts
in startling distinctness. The
recommendations of the Senator are very
clear and radical, but it is feared that
delay in the settlement of the question will
only protract and aggravate the difficulty.
This site includes some historical
materials that may imply negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or
language of a particular period or place. These items are presented as
part of the historical record and should not be interpreted to mean that
the WebMasters in any way endorse the stereotypes implied
.
American Missionary Association, 1888-1895
American Missionary Association Home | American
Missionary Association
|
|
Order Family Tree Maker 2012