Frederick Douglass Counsels a Friend Click to enlarge: “…most
heartily do I rejoice in your escape from the clutches of your
destroyer …” Frederick Douglass warmly acknowledges the
testimony and “programme” of a friend who most likely had been
an alcoholic. FREDERICK DOUGLASS. Autograph Letter Signed to [?]
McWilliams. Rochester, N.Y., September 26, 1869. 1 p. Rochester
Sept 26, 1869 I thank you for your letter and for the Programme
it contained, most heartily do I rejoice in your escape from the
clutches of your destroyer, and in the prospect of your future
usefulness and happiness. I was truly and deeply affected by
meeting you once more in Rochester. I seemed almost like meeting
one who had risen from the dead. All the support which the
earnest and best wishes of a friend can supply will be yours.
Life is a constant battle between good [and] evil dispositions.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things. In this letter,
Douglass reassures a friend who appears to have struggled
through alcoholism. Douglass