But those who knew him intimately, as did Lincoln, and as did many others who were drawn towards him, interiorly, during the wrench of the great struggle, knew that deep within there was a heart, warm, kind, true and humbly religious--deeply feeling his responsibilities to God, and seeking with honest purpose to fulfil his duties in the awful straits in which he was placed. To a lady for whom he had performed in the way of his office some kindness, and who expressed gratitude, he writes: "In respect to the matter in which you feel a personal interest and refer to with kind expressions of gratitude towards myself, I am glad that in the discharge of simple duty I have been able to relieve an anxious care in the heart of any one, and much more in the hearts of persons, who although personally unknown to me, I have been accustomed from early youth to reverence. "In my official station I have tried to do my duty as I shall answer to God at the Great Day, but it is the misfortune of that station--a misfortune that no one else can comprehend the magnitude of, that most of my duties are harsh and painful to some one, so that I rejoice at an opportunity, however rare, of combining duty with kindly offices." It remains to be seen what further services, if any, Mr. Stanton will render to his country in a public capacity. Should he again be a public servant, it will be as it has been, the United States, and not he, who will be the obliged party. [Illustration: Frederick Douglass] CHAPTER XII. FREDERICK DOUGLASS. The Opportunity for Every Man in a Republic--The Depth Below a White Man's Poverty--The Starting Point whence Fred Douglass Raised Himself--His Mother--Her Noble Traits--Her Self-Denial for the sake of Seeing him--She Defends him against Aunt Katy --Her Death--Col. Loyd's Plantation--The Luxury of his own Mansion--The Organization of his Estate--"Old Master"--How they Punished the Women--How Young Douglass Philosophized on Being a Slave--Plantation Life--The Allowance of Food--The Clothes--An Average Plantation Day--Mr. Douglass' Experience as a Slave Child--The Slave Children's Trough--The Slave Child's Thoughts--The Melancholy of Slave Songs--He Becomes a House Servant--A Kind Mistress Teaches him to Read--How he completed his Education--Effects of Learning to Read--Experiences Religion and Prays for Liberty--Learns to Write--Hires his Time, and Absconds--Becomes a Free Working-Man in New Bedford --Marries--Mr. Douglass on Garrison--Mr. Douglass' Literary Career.