Some apology can easily be made for the few slaves who have, after making good their escape, turned back to slavery, preferring the actual rule of their masters, to the life of loneliness, apprehension, hunger, and anxiety, which meets them on their first arrival in a free state.
Douglass offers a sympathetic explanation for why some escaped slaves, overwhelmed by the hardships of freedom, might choose to return to their former bondage.
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The laws which determine the destinies of individuals and nations are impartial and eternal.
Taking all the circumstances into consideration, the colored people have no reason to despair.
They cannot be coaxed or driven to vote with their enemies against their friends.