It came, not by the sword, but by the word; not by the brute force of numbers, but by the still small voice of truth; not by barricades, bayonets, and bloody revolution, but by peaceful agitation; not by divine interference, but by the exercise of simple, human reason and feeling.
Douglass elaborates on the peaceful and rational means through which West India Emancipation was achieved, contrasting it with violent revolutions.
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The good to be sought and the evil to be shunned were flung in the balance and weighed against each other.
True it is that this faith was many times shaken by passing events, but never destroyed.
It had no interest in recognizing or preserving any of the ties that bind families together or to their homes.
The friendless and hungry boy, in his extremest need, found himself in the strong protecting arms of his mother.