move
the world.--PORTER.

Born a slave, with the feelings and possibilities of a man, but with no
rights above the beast of the field, Fred Douglass gave the world one
of the most notable examples of man's power over circumstances.

He had no knowledge of his father, whom he had never seen. He had only
a dim recollection of his mother, from whom he had been separated at
birth. The poor slave mother used to walk twelve miles when her day's
work was done, in order to get an occasional glimpse of her child. Then
she had to walk back to the plantation on which she labored, so as to
be in time to begin to work at dawn next morning.

Under the brutal discipline of the "Aunt Katy" who had charge of the
slaves who were still too young to labor in the fields, he early began
to realize the hardships of his lot, and to rebel against the state of
bondage into which he had been born.

Often hungry, and clothed in hottest summer and coldest winter alike,
in a coarse tow linen shirt, scarcely reaching to the knees, without a
bed to lie on or a blanket to cover him, his only protection, no matter
how cold the night, was an old corn bag, into which he thrust himself,
leaving his feet exposed at one end, and his head at the other.

When about seven years old, he was transferred to new owners in
Baltimore, where his kind-hearted mistress, who did not know that in
doing so she was breaking the law, taught him the alphabet. He thus got
possession of the key which was to unlock his bonds, and, young as he
was, he knew it. It did not matter that his master, when he learned
what had been done, forbade his wife to give the boy further
instructions. He had already tasted of the fruit of the tree of
knowledge. The prohibition was useless. Neither threats nor stripes nor
chains could hold the awakened soul in bondage.

With infinite pains and patience, and by stealth, he enlarged upon his
knowledge of the alphabet. An old copy of "Webster's Spelling Book,"
cast aside by his young master, as his greatest treasure. With the aid
of a few good-natured white boys, who sometimes played with him in the
streets, he quickly mastered its contents. Then he cast about for
further means to satisfy his mental craving. How difficult it was for
the poor, despised slave to do this, we learn from his own pathetic
words. "I have gathered," he says, "scattered pages of the Bible from
the filthy street gutters, and washed and dried them, that, in moments
of l