ry was beyond the possibilities of the case. It was in making
provision for the extension of the evil that it was untrue to its ideal,
sacrificed its possibilities, and opened the door for the long
domination of a mischievous element.

But the main work of the convention was well and wisely done. Not less
fine was the self-control and sagacity with which the people and their
leaders debated and finally adopted the new order. Advocates of a
stronger government, like Hamilton, and champions of a more popular
system, like Samuel Adams and Jefferson, sank their preferences and
successfully urged their constituents to accept this as the best
available settlement. Slavery played very little part in the popular
discussions, and only a few keen observers like Madison read the
portents in that quarter. The young nation was swept at once into
difficulties and struggles in other directions.

A word, before we follow the history, as to the sentiments of the great
leaders in this period. Broadly, they all viewed slavery as a wrong and
evil; they looked hopefully for its early extinction; they recognized
great difficulties in adapting the negro to conditions of freedom; and
they were in general too much absorbed in other and pressing problems to
direct much practical effort toward emancipation. Washington's view is
nowhere better given than in the casual talk so graphically reported by
Bernard. He desired universal liberty, but believed it would only come
when the negroes were fit for it; at present they were as unqualified to
live without a master's control as children or idiots. Washington's way
was to look at facts and to deal with a situation as he found it, and
not to try to order the world by general and abstract ideals. He was
intensely practical, responsive to each present call of duty, and in his
conception of duty taking wider and wider views as he was trained by
years and experience. The incident which brought him and Bernard
together was characteristic; if any chaise was upset in his
neighborhood, trust Washington to have a hand in righting it! The
natural reply to his talk about the negroes might have been: "Since you
desire their freedom, but think them not fit for it, why not make a
business--you and the country--of making them fit?" And the answer
fairly might have been: "The country and I have as yet had too much else
to do." Besides his public services, he was a planter on the largest
scale; thousands of acres and