ALTHOUGH the occasion of our assembling this day is uncommon, it is not the less important.

As families and villages publicly mourn the loss of individual members; so the nation mourns the fall of her Friend, her Hero, her Founder. He being the Benefactor and Father of all, which town or hamlet, from Maine to Georgia, would be willingly excluded from this general Lamen­tation?

Though the annals of OUR country afford no example of the kind; though we are in danger of adopting tokens of extreme sorrow; yet this is not the first instance of national mourning. For forty days, Jacob, the Hebrew patriarch was mourned in the nation where he died.

[Page 6]Pelopidas, ^* the Theban, slain in a foreign war, when borne to his native State, was met on the way, as he past through the cities, by magistrates, by young men, by children, by the ministers of religion with all the pomp, which could give him honor, or express their grief. The Thessalians, in whose cause he had fallen, importuned the privi­lege of directing his funeral solemnities.

But the first ORATION, pronounced in honor of the dead, mentioned in history, was delivered by Poplicola at the death of Brutus; that Brutus, so renowned for his disinterested zeal in giving sentence of death against his own sons guilty of treason. For him the Roman women mourned a whole year; two months longer than for their nearest relations.

The Commonwealth interred Poplicola at the public expence, and to express their affectionate veneration for the man, the women by common consent lamented his death a year, "as if he had been a son, a brother, or father."

^† The first Christians adopted the custom of funeral eulogies; they were pronounced at the [Page 7] grave of the saint; to render the scene more sol­emn, the emblems of their crucified Savior were administered. But neither Christians for the loss of a brother, nor Greeks, nor Romans, for the fall of their Consuls and Generals, had such cause for mourning as the States of America, at the present time.

Probably NO MAN ever united so many great talents, and reigned so entirely in the hearts of millions, as he whose departure the nation mourns. The Poets and Orators of the world will blazon his virtues, and the last age of time admire the wonderous man.

Were the Speaker to take a part in the eulogies of the day his words might be lost as a drop of dew on the bosom of ocean: still it may be DUTY to remark, that we are unspeakably indebted to God for raising up such a character, at such a time; a character whose moderation, whose gentleness, whose purity was so adapted to the moral habits, and religious opinions of his country. While clad in panoply dreadful; terrible to his enemies, as the fiery bolt of heaven; he was gentle as the Shepherd of a flock, compassionate as the Pa­rent of a family. Mercy softened his justice; humanity tempered his vengeance, and the crim­son of his sword, was the blood of necessity.

[Page 8]The idea of conquest and triumph, of invasion and slaughter, never darted its contagion amid the reflections of his mind. Had this humane spirit been wanting; had he been merely the rough soldier, or daring Commander, Americans would have been disgusted; their confidence lost; the prospects of the revolution wrapt in darkness. He never wounded the breast of sensibility, nev­er extorted a tear from morality, nor a sigh from religion: He never gave his country "pain, but when he died."

His INVENTIVE genius was necessary. What in other circumstances might have been convenient was here essential. A vast extent of defenceless territory, towns and cities, raised the supplicating eye, and implored protection from him. A race of harmless farmers, from their birth living in habits of equality, independent lords of the soil, revolting at the thought of military subordina­tion, were the unpromising materials to form a defence against the disciplined valor of European Veterans. Much of his artillery slumbered in the hills of ore; much of his ammunition slept in the dust, or bade him defiance in the magazines of his foe.

All the stratagems of creative genius encouraged his friends, awed the enemy, and saved the cause [Page 9] Under his eye the husbandman soon became the Champion of Freedom, the field of harvests the citadel of war, on the hill of flocks was the blaze of battle, and the flag of INDEPENDENCE waved over the deep. The metamorphoses of poetic fic­tion seemed visible in real life. His measures of­ten disappointed the calculations of prudence, overleaped the rules of system, while the cloud of adversity guided his banner to the hill of victory. When he seemed to rest quietly in his camp, like the slumbering volcano, he has unexpectedly burst on his foe in a deluge of fire.

His FORTITUDE in seasons, which tried the most intrepid minds, was a golden pillar in the tem­ple of his merit. When his wants were multipli­ed; when revolt raised her standard; when necessi­ty besieged his camp; when resources failed; when the seas said, "They are not in us," and the fields, "They are not in us," like the rock of the billows, or the hill of storms, he bore all with invincible fortitude.

Undismayed he left the isles of Newyork; un­dismayed he abandoned the fortresses of the Hud­son, while the crimson of their steps betrayed the course of his desponding troops. The Ameri­can contest, the Liberties of mankind, appeared to tremble in the scale of events; the voice of [Page 10] popular zeal had sunk almost to the whisper of submission. The Commander in Chief remains unmoved. Though he knew when to retire; yet like the blast of the tempest, it was to return with increasing fury.

The astonished Delaware bore him back to vic­tory; the triumph at Trenton roused the country to a sense of their own force; gave the mortal stab to oppression, broke the sceptre of despotism. Like the sun obscured by clouds, but not extin­guished, he continued the same in every exigence.

His unaffected MODESTY after all the services he had done, all the distresses he had borne, all the honor he had won, was a diadem of glory, was a prodigy of human virtue. Ascribing to the aid of other Agents, or immediately referring to the PROVIDENCE OF GOD the great events in which he was the principal Actor, What did he ever arrogate to himself? His replies accepting the great appointments of his country; his addresses resign­ing those appointments, are the uniform language of his life; they show the great man rising above himself.

Travellers ^* have been surprised at the modest manner in which he described those events of [Page] the revolution, which covered him with glory, and made a bloody page in the history of war. The manner was the same, as if he had not been present, or only an observing spectator.

But the unrivalled splendor of his character beamed from his DISINTERESTED spirit.

Without that ambition for fame or wealth, which frequently fires the heart, and directs the actions of men, he was reclining under the groves of Vernon, or ploughing his own field, when the voice of millions called him to lead their armies. His favorite indulgences allured him to refuse; his benevolence required him to comply; he did not hesitate; he became our Captain.

How constantly was the same self denial neces­sary during the uncertain, the dismal contest. A narration of these trials would be the history of the revolution.

When he had given sovereign INDEPENDENCE to his country; when he had raised her to em­pire and glory; when he had repelled the foe, and hushed the thunders of invasion; when he had fixed the confidence of his country, and the admiration of the world, he then resigned his sword; that sword, which courted his hand; with [Page 12] tears he bade adieu to that army, who would have given him their blood; who would have made him perpetual Dictator: He became a private cit­izen with that people, who could not have refus­ed him a THRONE.

Here gaze, ye Caesars, ye Cromwells, ye Buon­apartes, of the world, and shrink into your mer­ited non-existence! But here was no struggle of passions, no trial for the pure benevolence of WASHINGTON. The blessings of his country at­tend him, as he retires to the banks of Potow­mac; their prayers ascend for his peace and final happiness.

But a more painful question demands his deci­sion. Can he, will he again sacrifice his wishes? Look, ye children of men, look ye angels of light, see a spirit of benevolence like thine own. He feared not the loss of those honors, which he nev­er sought; he grudged not any service for that people, who were dearer to him than the blood which rolled through his heart; but fatigued with the toils of the crimson field; tired of public life, he sighed for repose. Yet he consents to preside over the nation, which his sword had established.

Here the frozen calculations of worldly wis­dom, the mechanical balancing of arguments yield [Page 13] to the fervent impulse of disinterested zeal for the public good. Justly to estimate his virtues, or to recommend them to others, requires a spirit pure and benevolent like his own. The beams of morn extinguish the stars; the meridian blaze dazzles the eye; we need not, therefore, mention his re­signing the first office of his country, or his accept­ance of a subordinate station. So great were his other sacrifices that we forget to tell, that the bread which he eat, and the happiness of doing good, were all his reward for years and years of toil in the best part of his life.

But to omit his VALOR would be to rob the He­ro. How many hills and plains have shuddered to see his cool, undaunted valor! His courage was not the rage of Brutus, ^* hurrying to death in single combat; it was not the fury of Mahomet, ^† riding into the sea to support his distant fleet; it was not the madness of Pelopidas, rushing from life before his army; but that dispassionate presence of mind, which ensures victory, or prevents the common disasters of defeat. He never wantonly exposed a hair of his head; he never turned his bosom from the hottest battle when duty called.

His ardor in the field was not a thirst for fame; but the indignant spirit of self defence; it was not [Page 14] a frenzy of raving passion; but the calm dictates of conscience: it was not delight in slaughter; but the zeal of saving his country.

His enemies will relate the deeds of his bravery to other times. The batteries of York-Town, the plains of Monmouth, numerous hills of blood, eulogize the sword of his battles. In strains en­chanting the Monongahela strikes the song, the Hudson, the Delaware, the Schuylkill, and Bran­dywine, swell the chorus of his valor.

His SUCCESS completes the glory of his name. Here he rose on the breath of heaven above the sphere of his own great actions. No virtue is so spotless, no courage so undaunted, no discretion so watchful, as to ensure such a series of success, such a tide of glory. The uniform confidence of his country was a phenomenon great, like the vir­tues of his mind, the remarkable deeds of his life, the almost miraculous interpositions of Providence in his behalf. Republics are not in the habit of such uniformity or gratitude. It will probably stand as a political wonder in the history of man, during the present state of society, that he so long enjoyed the unwavering confidence of these States. That they should have sagacity to discover him among millions, and wisdom to give him their constant support merits them vast applause. He [Page 15] was as evidently a favorite of Providence, as of his country: He as conspicuously enjoyed the protection of his God, as the cordial veneration of his fellowcitizens. The time of his birth, the peculiar state of his country, many things in which He had no influence, as well as the energetic pow­ers, the unsullied virtues of his own mind, all conspired to render him what he was, the Found­er of our Republic, the pride of his country, the admiration of mankind.

Nor ought it to be forgotten that he enjoyed powerful aid. The swords of Green and Putnam ^* [Page 16] spread terror through hostile legions: The fame of ADAMS and Jay will flourish when the foun­dations of the world shall crumble to dust.

Yet never was the address of the Theban to Diagoras, when he was crowned in the olympic games more applicable, than to our Timoleon, "Die, die, thou canst not be a God."

Others have equalled him in some particulars; but in whom have so many social, political and military talents united? Romulus was the found­er [Page 17] of a State; but rapine and blood stained his soul. Mahomet rises like a mountain of the des­ert; but blackest crimes blast his name. Where shall we find a character like the illustrious FARMER of Mount Vernon?

Equal in stratagem to Hannibal, as modest as Cincinnatus, as disinterested as Regulus, as daring as Leonidas, as cautious as Fabius, as valiant as Caesar, as successful—why should I proceed? He displayed a constellation of virtues.

Like Moses on Sinai's fiery summit, he stood alone. His life was a great volume, every page and sentence gives instruction. In peace and war, like the all-pervading power of attraction, he combined, he directed, and fixed his country on the basis of safety and glory.

Columbus discovered a new world, a chaotic mass, dark were the dwellings of the forest. Like the eldest morn of time, feeble was the beam of light, till Washington kindled her sun, balanced her stars, established her hills, raised her barriers, diffused order, and beauty. But he is gone. His Master has recalled him from his labor. The breach is great like the sea; Who can heal it?

[Page 18]The pencil of description might show the nation mourning before God; the mount on which he lived the hill of darkness, the fields sad, the groves weeping, the mansion desolate, the bowers trembling, awful silence round his tomb, while angels guard the sacred dust. But we forbear— The mighty man is fallen; his sword sleeps in his hall. The almighty GOVERNOR often takes his most useful Agents from this world: While dark­ness pavilions his throne are there not REASONS VISIBLE for such events? May not such Actors be taken away to be raised to a more exalted state?

Man is evidently formed for endless improve­ments in knowledge, usefulness, and enjoyment. In this life they are progressive and sometimes great. In the world of purity where passions, and preju­dices, wants and wos, do not obstruct or embar­rass, more rapidly must the soul rise in excellence. The heart of goodness, advancing in virtue, prepares for higher spheres; he is 'worthy' a more exalted state; he is mature for heaven. In this crisis the pale Messenger conveys the soul to man­sions of rest. There the good spirit of feeblest powers will become equal in wisdom to what Prophets and Patriarchs now are, who have been for thousands of years receiving light at the foun­tain of excellence; he will pass on, and arrive at the present glory of angels: He will pass on and [Page 19] rise to the present glory of the high archangel ▪ He will pass on and rise, as far above the present glo­ry of the archangel, as that surpasses a spark of love in the humble soul. Then his light is only dawn­ing, an ETERNITY to ascend in bliss and glory is still before him. But for this he must drop his clay: To rise, to reign, to live, he must sleep in the narrow house, return to the dust of the ground. It is the stormy hour in the voyage of our existence: It is the moment of agonizing contest, as the victory is won, as the crown is re­ceived. But what coward would fly when the triumph is certain; when a kingdom is the re­ward, when the livery of death is exchanged for robes of immortality? We die, we soar, the pow­ers expand, the worm of dust unites with elder sons of light; their work, their joys the same. "Were death denied even fools would wish to die." Is it not kind in God to remove his most useful agents from the evils of time to more exalted scenes in glory?

When God determines to PUNISH, he may wisely remove useful persons, who were barriers against his judgments. Lot must be hastened from the devoted city; omnipotent anger "can­not do any thing," cannot kindle a spark till he is gone. The Judgments of God flow from the common course of events; no violence deranges [Page 20] the natural order of things; effects spontaneously flow from their causes: Therefore when the hour of divine Judgments arrives, those persons must be removed whose influence would prevent the evils designed. Being the confidence of his coun­try, the Champion of Gath must bow to the an­gel of death, the sword of the Shepherd must drink his blood, that terrors might seize the camp, the falling troops burden the fields as they fled.

As a haughty spirit precedes a fall; as pride swells the heart destined to ruin; as the means of safety are removed before destruction comes; so those persons whose prowess, whose wisdom, or piety, defend their connexions, will be removed before the divine judgments arrest their victims. The Righteous are taken not only from the evil; but that it may come; that it may flow uncon­troled. This is natural; it is agreeable to com­mon sense; therefore the Hero of Troy crimsons the dust before the city falls. When punishment hastens, useful persons are removed from their stations.

To show he needs not the noblest instruments; to show his INDEPENDENCE, GOD removes them from the world. Nothing can impoverish him, who creates: A Tyrant he raises up in the land of Ham to show his mighty power: That [Page 21] Tyrant he destroys to show he was not necessary. Kings and Conquerors are as easily formed, as drops of dew, or floating atoms. While the small­est evils may ruin the great men of this world, the greatest, actually promote the designs of Provi­dence. On mount Gilboa the royal Warriors fall, "who were the beauty of Israel, who were swift­er than eagles, who were stronger than lions; on whose face was seen the rage of battles, the step of death was behind their swords, the blood of ar­mies on their spears."

Cities have ascended in burning vapor, as leaves of the forest; a world has been drowned, as a ship in the storm. The majesty of his kingdom, the riches of his empire, the awful magnificence of his government, confounds our calculations, when dreadful scenes strike the view, when God hides in darkness the first Agents of the world. This INDE­PENDENCE of means commands our admiration.

God, also calls away the principal Actors from the world to make room for the forming of OTH­ERS. Such is the present state of things, that but few can be eminently great at the same time. If all were Generals, who would compose the phal­anx? If all were rulers, who would be the sub­jects? Had Nimrod and the officers of his gov­ernment continued till this time, how may great [Page 22] men must have remained in their original ob­scurity.

Seldom does the exigence of the time fail of pro­ducing the characters required. The moment he was needed, the Hero of Columbia rose. Had he been immortal, no other like him would have appeared, no other would have been necessary. By the removal of such there may be a succession of great men, as long continued as the duration of the world, more numerous than the genera­tions of time: Therefore there may be a period when every hill shall have been a VERNON, and every family have furnished a WASHINGTON.

Though the beloved man is fallen, there is no shadow of doubt, but the hour which demands, will also exhibit another formed for the occasion. It is the folly of error for us to tremble, or for our enemies to exult, as if he, who raised up one, can­not send a host of Washingtons. An ADAMS lives, and when God designs to bless a people, there will always be found the necessary Agents; a Moses where the chains of a Despot are to be broken; a Cyrus where a captive nation find de­liverance; a Washington where the banner of in­dependence is unfurled, or a new Empire estab­lished. As the mortality of great men multiplies great men, it renders the world a nursery of Gen­ius, [Page 23] a school of virtue and glory. Easy it is, there­fore to justify Providence in calling useful Agents from earthly scenes.

We may here remark that the Almighty Gov­ernor removes men from life, when the WORK is ACCOMPLISHED for which they were DESIGNED. The God of knowledge perfectly knows what is the work of every person, as he enters on the stage of life. When his work is done, the agent lives to no purpose, therefore reason approves, right­eousness demands his removal. Every actor good and bad retires when his part in the drama is fin­ished. God perfectly knew the work of Egypt's king; therefore when he displayed his last judg­ment, when his work was done, he was whelmed in the deep, he left the world.

Redemption was the work of Jesus Christ; therefore when that work was 'finished,' he was the prisoner of Death: Why should not the agent be removed when his task is accomplished?

To teach men their DEPENDENCE upon God for great characters, He often removes them in the midst of their usefulness. The view of a long, a constant series of events, without derangement or change, is apt to efface our convictions of the divine agency, which gives existence and energy [Page 24] to all. Men long accustomed to enjoy law and protection from the wise and valiant, too fre­quently forget the hand, who raised them up; they regard the servants of God, as the authors of the blessings, while they are only the means of pro­ducing them. That God may not be robbed of his glory, he removes those useful persons, who prevented us from seeing his goodness. Was not the Prophet's school deeply awed with a present God, and a sense of their own dependence when they saw the man of God ascending in a chariot of fire?

Finally, God removes great agents to teach great men, THEY MUST DIE. All men, but espe­cially those prosperous, are too little solicitous re­specting their dissolution, and the unknown e­vents beyond the grave. The cares of business, the pride of wealth, the flatteries of greatness, the enchantments of pleasure, seize their hearts, and direct their actions.

Were none to die, but those worn out with years, none but those no longer useful; were none but the dregs of mankind swept into the grave, Who, among the active and great, would think of death, or prepare for heaven? But when the mighty man falls, his companions in honor see, that while they are respected as Gods, they [Page 25] must die like men. They see that no degree of importance repels the shaft of death; the tyrant delights to spread his terrors, to make the great tremble, the world mourn.

In a critical day, when the Hebrew camp seem­ed to need his wisdom, with Canaan's hills in view, their Leader, their Legislator, their Wash­ington expires; he passes from the top of Nebo to his seat in glory. While the wonders of his benevolence were enlightening the world; while the spirits of the good were ravished by his divine eloquence, the Prophet of Nazareth was nailed to the tree. While a great part of mankind are in arms, and his country trembles, as a barque in the storm, the Defender of America descends in­to his tomb. From his importance to society, Who can presume on life?

Thus reasons visible plead for the afflictive won­ders of divine sovereignty, which summon from earth the great and good. Most important con­siderations demand such dispensations. Pleasant is the office to speak for God, to justify his con­duct towards the great, the good, the wise men of the earth: Yet what is more dreadful in the divine government, than the mortality of such persons? Therefore though we "know not now," we may 'hereafter' know why other re­markable [Page 26] circumstances exist; why wickedness, famine, and pestilence, depopulate the world; why moral darkness reigns; why the beams of rational religion illume so small a part of man­kind; why we inherit danger and distress; why infants expire, and guilt wakens a fire that never dies.

As God has reasons wise for the terrible acts of his authority, SUBMISSION becomes the heart of man. Still the event we contemplate is serious; a great man, whom God delighted to honor, is fallen. He loved our nation, his name was a formidable host. The star is set, which guided us through a dark night of imminent dangers; gone is the cloud, which gave terror to our foes, light and safety to his country. He was happy, not in his own splendor, but in our prosperity; he lived not for himself, but for us. How many years of distressing days, and dismal nights in the blaze of summer, and the frost of winter, did he hazard his life in the bloody field! He made ev­ery sacrifice, welcomed every burden, dared every danger, which the public good required. When did he refuse to die for his country? From what scene of carnage did he ever fly? What was his REWARD for all his services? Like the moun­tains of the new world, he rose with unrivalled sublimity.

[Page 27]What are the kings and conquerors of the old world? Do not most of them resemble him, as the painted canvass or frozen marble does the Hero of valor; or the lightning's flash, the cheering beams of the morning sun? They are Generals and Kings because they happened to be twigs of such a branch, or to vegetate in such a spot. ^* He was a Commander, because he was first in the art of war. He ruled, because he had no com­petitor. Can a man, who loves his country, who loves himself, be unaffected by such a Death? Have we not some reason to fear the sword is broken, which prevented public calamity; that the FATHER of his people is tak­en from evils coming?

Mourn for him then, my country, mourn; let not this day be a cold formality. Weep for him, ye who cultivate the soil; he repelled the hosts of invasion from your shore. He preserved your farms from tribute, yourselves from the chains of tyranny. Lament for him, ye friends of religion; be robed in mourning, ye altars of GOD, he sav­ed you from persecution and sacrilege.

[Page 28]Atheism illuminized had formed her mines, stor­ed her magazines, placed her ambush, to demol­ish the strong holds of Zion. She had planted her banners, raised her bulwarks, levelled her artille­ry, against the institutions of civil society. These were viewed as the outworks of christianity. An assault had been made, the blast of victory had startled the world. Raptured with their success in the first scene of the tragedy in a fair part of Europe, the Leaders had determined to hurl their thunders, and disgorge their volcanos upon the whole empire of JESUS. In their imaginations the work was done; nothing remained of the city of God; but trembling walls, smouldering temples, and mangled Priests. To accomplish this business in America, an Emissary ^* from that Land which is a CURSE to all nations, aided by democratic So­cieties, shook our government to its center. For a time he threatened to be great, like the ENVOY of HELL overturning the constitution of Paradise. Our beloved Chief put forth his hand, caught the falling ark, placed it more safely on the basis of public opinion. He looked, the federal banner rose, faction expired, and we were happy.

This for a time has saved your Churches from profanation, your Ministers from slaughter, your sabbaths and sacraments from destruction, your­selves [Page 29] from a sea of blood. Therefore, while oth­er nations mourn the death of their Tyrants, let us weep the loss of our DELIVERER; while they display the pomp of pretended sorrow for the Rob­bers and Murderers of the age, let us with bleed­ing hearts cry, "My FATHER, my FATHER, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof."