The truth is, that neither one was entirely just to the other, because neither saw the other in his true character; and having once fallen asunder, the occasion never came when they could be brought together.
From his autobiography, Douglass reflects on the nature of personal estrangement between great men.
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It was in the air, and men breathed it and were permeated by it, often when they were quite unconscious of its presence.
A son of toil himself, he was linked in brotherly sympathy with the sons of toil in every loyal part of the republic.
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