Like the fires of the prairie, once lighted, they are at the mercy of every wind, and must burn, till they have consumed all that is combustible within their remorseless grasp.
Douglass uses a powerful metaphor to illustrate the destructive and uncontrollable nature of unchecked passions or systemic evils.
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The nation or people which shall comply with them will rise, and those which violate them will fall, and perhaps will disappear altogether.
Still another ground of hope I find in the fact that colored men are strong in their gratitude to benefactors, and firm in their political convictions.
They cannot be coaxed or driven to vote with their enemies against their friends.