f the condition in which
our country would be, should the spirit that animated Washington no longer
be among us."

Mr. Weston smiled as he answered, "Perhaps it is good for you to be here,
to stand by the grave of a slaveholder, and ask yourself 'Would I dare here
utter the calumnies that are constantly repeated by the fanatics of my
party?' On this spot, sir, the Abolitionist should commune with his own
heart, and be still. Well was it said by one of your own statesmen, 'My
doctrines on the slavery question are those of my ancestors, modified by
themselves, as they were in an act of Confederation. In this one respect
they left society in the political condition in which they found it. A
reform would have been fearful and calamitous. A political revolution with
one class was morally impracticable. Consulting a wise humanity, they
submitted to a condition in which Providence had placed them. They settled
the question in the deep foundations of the Constitution.' Would you then,
sir, destroy the fabric, by undermining the Constitution? Alas! this would
be the consequence, were it possible to carry out the views of the
Abolition party."

* * * * *

The beautiful words of Harrison G. Otis, delivered in Faneuil Hall, Boston,
Aug. 22d, 1835, would have been appropriate here, too. Speaking of the
formation of Anti-slavery Societies, he said, "Suppose an article had been
proposed to the Congress that framed the instrument of Confederation,
proposing that the Northern States should be at liberty to form
Anti-slavery Associations, and deluge the South with homilies upon slavery,
how would it have been received? The gentleman before me apostrophized the
image of Washington. I will follow his example, and point to the portrait
of his associate, Hancock, which is pendant by its side. Let us imagine an
interview between them, in the company of friends, just after one had
signed the commission for the other; and in ruminating on the lights and
shadows of futurity, Hancock should have said, 'I congratulate my country
upon the choice she has made, and I foresee that the laurels you gained in
the field of Braddock's defeat, will be twined with those which shall be
earned by you in the war of Independence; yet such are the prejudices in my
part of the Union against slavery, that although your name and services may
screen you from opprobrium, during your life, your countrymen, when
millions weep over your t