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professors or plowmen, whether of Anglo-Saxon or AngloAfrican origin, are self-made men, and are entitled to a certain measure of respect for their success. Though a man of this class may not claim to be a hero, and to be worshiped as such, there is genuine heroism in his struggle, and something of sublimity and glory in his triumph. Every instance of this kind is an example and a help to the race. It assures us of the latent powers and resources of simple and unaided manhood. It robs labor of pain and depression, dispels gloom from the brow of destitution, and enables men to take hold of the roughest and flintiest hardships incident to the battle of life, with lighter hearts, higher hopes, and with larger courage.

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When we find a man who has ascended high beyond ourselves, who has a broader range of vision than we, and a horizon with more stars in it than we have, we may know that he has worked harder, better, and more wisely than we have. He was awake while we slept, was busy while we were idle, and wisely improved his time while we wasted ours. There is nothing good, great, or desirable in this world which man can possess, that does not come by labor, either physical, or mental. A man may, at times, get something for nothing, but in his hands it will amount to nothing. What is true in the world of matter is equally true in the world of mind. There is no growth without exertion, no polish without friction, no knowledge without labor, no progress without motion, no victory without conflict. The man who lies down a fool at night, hoping that he will awake wise in the morning, will rise up in the morning as he laid down in the evening. Faith itself does not seem worth much, if anything, in the absence of work. The preacher who finds it easier to pray for knowledge than to tax his brain with study, will find his congregation growing beautifully less, and his flock looking elsewhere for the mental food. Our colored ministers are somewhat remarkable for the fervor with which they pray for knowledge; but, thus far, they are not remarkable for any wonderful success; in fact, they who pray loudest seem to get least. They are able to give us abundance of sound for destitution of sense.

In every view we catch of the perfection of the universe, whether we look to the stars in the peaceful blue dome above us, or to the long line where land and water maintain eternal conflict-the lesson is the same. It is labor, movement, earnest work. These beautifully rounded pebbles which you hold in your hand, and marvel at their exceeding smoothness, were chiselled into their varied and graceful forms by the ceaseless action of countless waves. Nature is herself a great worker, and tolerates no contradictions to her wise example without certain rebuke. She follows inaction by stagnation, stagnation is followed by pestilence, and pestilence by death. General Butler, busy with his broom, could sweep yellow-fever out of New Orleans; but this dread destroyer returned when Butler and his broom were withdrawn, and the people piously ascribed to Divinity, what was simply due to dirt. From these remarks it will be seen that, allowing only ordinary natural ability and opportunity, we explain success by one word, and that is 'Work.'

said to be pre-eminently the All doors fly open to them. Courts, Senates, Cabinets,

America, not without reason, is home and patron of self-made men. They may aspire to any position. spread their rich carpets for their feet, and they stand among our foremost men in every honorable service. Many causes have made it possible and easy for this class to rise and flourish here, and first among these is the general respectability of labor. Search where you will, there is no country on the globe where labor is more respected, and the laborer more honored, than in this country. The conditions in which American society originated, the free spirit that framed its independence and created its government, based upon the will of the people, exalted both labor and the laborer." . . "The principle of measuring and valuing men, according to their respective merits, is better established and more generally enforced and observed here than in any other country. In Europe, a king can make a belted knight, a marquis, duke, and a' that; but here, wealth and greatness are forced by no such capricious

and arbitrary power. Equality of rights brings equality of dignity. . . .

"By these remarks, however, no disparagement of institutions of learning is intended. With all my admiration for self-made men, I am far from considering them the best made men. Their symmetry is often marred by the effects of their extra exertion. The hot rays of the sun and the long and rugged road in which they were compelled to travel have left their marks sometimes quite visibly and unpleasantly upon them. While the world values skill and power, it values beauty and polish as well. It was not alone the hard good-sense and honest heart of Horace Greeley, the self-made man, that made the 'New York Tribune,' but likewise the brilliant and thoroughly educated men silently associated with him. There was never a self-educated man, however well educated, who, with the same exertion, would not have been better educated by the aid of schools. It must be admitted that self-made men are not generally over-modest or self-forgetful men. Perhaps the peculiar resistance they meet in asserting their pretentions, may account for the loudness of their self-assertion. The country knows the story of Andrew Johnson by heart, and from his own lips. The very energies employed, the obstacles overcome, the heights to which some men rise, and the broad contrasts which life forces upon them at every step tend to make them egotistical. A man indebted to himself for himself, may naturally think well of himself. But this thing may be far overdone. That a man has been able to make his own way in the world, is an humble fact as well as an honorable one. It is, however, possible to state a very humble fact in a very haughty manner, and self-made men are, as a class, much addicted to this vice. In this respect they make themselves much less agreeable to society than they might otherwise be. One other criticism is often very properly made upon these men. Never having enjoyed the benefits of schools, colleges, and other institutions of learning, they display a contempt for them which is quite ridiculous. A man may know much about educating himself, and

He may

little about the proper means of educating others. be remarkably large but somewhat awkward; swift but ungraceful; a man of power but deficient in the polish and amiable proportions of the affluent and regularly educated man. Generally, I think, self-made men answer this description."

CHAPTER X.

"IS GOD DEAD?"

MR. DOUGLASS, himself, suggested this title for the chapter about a time when such a question might have been asked by many an Abolitionist besides Sojourner Truth. She interrupted him with it, as he was dwelling upon the darkness of the hour; and he replied: "No, God is not dead; and therefore it is that slavery must end in blood!" The warmth with which the South sanctioned the outrages in Kansas, applauded the striking down of Sumner in the Senate, threatened to secede in case Fremont was elected, and demanded the re-opening of the slave-trade, showed plainly that war might soon break out; and the failure of the Republicans to carry Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois, Indiana, and California, even on these plain and urgent issues, made it seem not unlikely that the contest would be between a united South and a divided North. War must come; but would it abolish or perpetuate slavery? This question could not always be answered confidently; and Douglass was once hard at work in his sanctum in Rochester, mailing copies of his paper, and thinking gloomily of the future, when Beecher came in and asked him, what he thought of the prospects of the cause. "All is lost," was the reply. "No," said the preacher, "God reigns! Sit down beside me, and let

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