46

674 HISTORICAL ANNOTATION

"emancipation." Douglass is probably referring to another selection in the anthology
titled "Part of Mr. O'Connor's Speech in the Irish House of Commons, in Favor of
the Bill for Emancipating the Roman Catholics, 1795." Arthur O'Connor (1763-
1852), a liberal Protestant member of the Irish Parliament, was a strong supporter of
Catholic rights, including "Catholic emancipation," or the right of Catholics to hold
office and sit in Parliament. O'Connor resigned his seat after delivering this speech.
Bingham, Columbian Orator, 130-31, 243-48; DNB, 18:78-85, 41:394-95.

67.4-5 Lord Chatham's speech on the American War] The Columbian Orator
contained several speeches given by William Pitt (1708-78), first earl of Chatham,
also known as "the elder Pitt." A prominent British statesman, Chatham first entered
Parliament in 1735 and became secretary of state from 1756 to 1757. Though in ill
health by the time of the American Revolution, Chatham spoke out against Britain's
harsh policies toward the American colonies and urged an amicable settlement. The
Columbian Orator printed parts of four such speeches Chatham made before
Parliament, in January 1775, May 1777, and two in November 1777. The most
strongly worded of the speeches warned against the dangers of the British army's
engaging the services of North American Indians against the colonists. Pitt changed
his mind regarding the war, however, when it was proposed to make peace on any
terms, and on 2 April 1778 he addressed the House of Lords and secured a majority
against the resolution. While answering questions concerning his position, Chatham
collapsed and died in the house chamber. Jeremy Black. Pitt the Elder (Cambridge,
Eng., 1992), 288-99; Magnusson, Cambridge Biographical Dictionary, 297; DNB,
15:1240-53.

67.5-6 William Pitt] William Pitt (1759-1806), often referred to as "the younger
Pitt," was the second son of the earl of Chatham. He was elected to Parliament in 1781
and became a noted opponent of Lord North's policies in the American Revolution.
At the age of twenty-four he became the youngest prime minister of Britain, a post he
held for seventeen years. Pitt was a reformer who sought positive relations with the
United States and Ireland, a reduced national debt, parliamentary reform, and a reor-
ganization of the British East India Company. When the king refused to approve his
bill emancipating Catholics, he resigned in protest in 1801, but was persuaded to
return in 1804 when war with France seemed imminent. John Ehrman, The Younger
Pitt, 3 vols. (New York, 1969-96); Magnusson, Cambridge Biographical Dictionary,
1166-67; DNB, 15:1253-72.

67.6 Fox] Douglass refers to a speech concerning American affairs delivered to
the British Parliament in 1778 by Charles James Fox. Bingham, Columbian Orator,
172-75.

68.23 like the blows of. . .prophet upon his ass] Douglass refers to the story of
Balaam's ass in Num. 22:21-30.

69.17 "abolitionists."] Antislavery sentiment had existed in a few religious groups
such as the Quakers since colonial times. Inspired by a combination of religious evan-
gelicalism, Enlightenment philosophy, and transformations in the marketplace. an