ISLAND GROVE 



of literature and art," 1 spoke in this historic 

 place; and Garrison, who for many years 

 "toiled o'er his types one poor unlearned 

 young man," was heard by the worthy 

 people of Abington and the surrounding 

 towns beneath these same white pines. Here 

 on the first of August, 1854, he said, when 

 speaking on the subject of West Indian 

 Emancipation, ---"The great event which we 

 celebrate to-day, shows that slavery can only 

 be overthrown by adherence to principle." 2 



The full list of those who spoke here 

 includes .some of the greatest minds of the 

 Civil War period. Most of the speeches 

 were never preserved, and the historian must 

 search through many sources to find even 

 a record of the dates on which they were 

 delivered. 



A huge boulder within the grove marks 

 the spot where the orators were wont to 

 stand when they spoke; and upon this 

 boulder a large copper plate bears the fol- 

 lowing inscription: 



1 Lodge, " Life of Webster," p. 353. 



2 From the Selectmen's Annual Report, 1854. 



C3S3 



