I would fain pray; but doubts arising, partly from my neglect of the means of grace, and partly from the sham religion which everywhere prevailed, cast in my mind a doubt upon all religion, and led me to the conviction that prayers were unavailing and delusive.
In a moment of despair after escaping Covey, Douglass expresses his profound doubts about the value of prayer and the sincerity of prevailing religious practices.
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It had no interest in recognizing or preserving any of the ties that bind families together or to their homes.
Father he might be, and not be husband, and could sell his own child without incurring reproach, if in its veins coursed one drop of African blood.
My grandmother was all the world to me, and the thought of being separated from her was a most unwelcome suggestion to my affections and hopes.