Slavery was bleeding and dying, but it was not dead, and no man can tell just when its foul spirit departed from our land, if, indeed, it has yet departed, and hence we do not know what day we may properly celebrate as coupled with this great American event.
Douglass reflects on the protracted demise of slavery, noting the ambiguity of its end and questioning whether its influence has truly vanished from the nation.
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We could not but believe that there existed at the South a latent and powerful Union sentiment which would assert itself at last.
It was perhaps better for the country and for mankind that the good man could not know the end from the beginning.
But we are not here to applaud manly courage, save as it has been displayed in a noble cause.
The laws which determine the destinies of individuals and nations are impartial and eternal.