To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean to mock me... -- With this analogy, Douglas makes his situation plain. Like the literal prisoner, he, a representative of the enslaved, has been asked to praise freedom. The irony of the speaking invitation becomes clear. The audience has no choice but to accept one of two facts: either they sought his appearance in mockery or in painful ignorance.