Frederick Douglass - A Biography by Charles W. (Charles Waddell) Chesnutt
page 31 of 81 (38%)
page 31 of 81 (38%)
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White; Charles L. Remond, a colored orator, born in Massachusetts, who
rendered effective service in the abolition cause; and Sidney Howard Gay, at that time managing editor of the _National Anti-slavery Standard_ and later of the New York _Tribune_ and the New York _Evening Post._ The campaign upon which this little band of missionaries set out was no inconsiderable one. They were not going forth to face enthusiastic crowds of supporters, who would meet them with brass bands and shouts of welcome. They were more likely to be greeted with hisses and cat-calls, sticks and stones, stale eggs and decayed cabbages, hoots and yells of derision, and decorations of tar and feathers. In some towns of Vermont slanderous reports were made in advance of their arrival, their characters were assailed, and their aims and objects misrepresented. In Syracuse, afterward distinguished for its strong anti-slavery sentiment, the abolitionists were compelled to hold their meetings in the public park, from inability to procure a house in which to speak; and only after their convention was well under way were they offered the shelter of a dilapidated and abandoned church. In Rochester they met with a more hospitable reception. The indifference of Buffalo so disgusted Douglass's companions that they shook the dust of the city from their feet, and left Douglass, who was accustomed to coldness and therefore undaunted by it, to tread the wine-press alone. He spoke in an old post-office for nearly a week, to such good purpose that a church was thrown open to him; and on a certain Sunday, in the public park, he held and thrilled by his eloquence an audience of five thousand people. On leaving Buffalo, Douglass joined the other speakers, and went |
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