history has furnished, nor his mental power so vast, nor his vision of the future so far-reaching and clairvoyant as that of many who have lived before him and since, nor was his devotion to the welfare of mankind so ardent and all-absorbing.
The "Fathers of the Constitution" have been much praised for their wisdom and foresight, and with justice; but there have been men with no opportunities like theirs who were able to look much farther into the future, and who were much more in advance of their age. There were evils which the leaders of the Revolution ought to have foreseen and probably did not, and others they may have foreseen but had no power to avert.
Their power was limited, and the materials with which they had to work were refractory. Old evils were so deeply imbedded in the customs, prejudices, and thoughts of men when our government was forming that the influence of a Washington, a Jefferson, and an Adams would have striven in vain to eradicate them. Then, too, there were evils of which they could have had no conception. They could not have foreseen the application of steam-power to transportation and manufacturing,
