able young man, as a successor; and I would leave my
farm, and orchard, and little matters, as a glebe for
the Church. And who knows but the Lord may yet rescue
Slickville from the inroads of ignorant fanatics, political
dissenters, and wicked infidels?

"And besides, my good friend, I have much to say to you,
relative to the present condition and future prospects
of this great country. I have lived to see a few ambitious
lawyers, restless demagogues, political preachers, and
unemployed local officers of provincial regiments, agitate
and sever thirteen colonies at one time from the government
of England. I have witnessed the struggle. It was a
fearful, a bloody and an unnatural one. My opinions,
therefore, are strong in proportion as my experience is
great. I have abstained on account of their appearing
like preconceptions from saying much to you yet, for I
want to see more of this country, and to be certain, that
I am quite right before I speak.

"When you return, I will give you my views on some of
the great questions of the day. Don't adopt them, hear
them and compare them with your own. I would have you
think for yourself, for I am an old man now and sometimes
I distrust my powers of mind.

"The state of this country you, in your situation, ought
to be thoroughly acquainted with. It is a very perilous
one. Its prosperity, its integrity, nay its existence
as a first-rate power, hangs by a thread, and that thread