THE birth of an empire to independence and sovereignty is, to the whole world, an inter­esting event; interesting in proportion to the prob­able extent of its future connexions, and the ef­fects this event and these connexions will produce, in distant climates and remote periods of time.— Few nations, if any, justly appreciating the unal­ienable rights of human nature, or even their self-interest, can sit unconcerned spectators of the mighty struggle for liberty, in which her votaries and children are called, from time to time, to en­gage. Ever since the discovery of America, its af­fairs have deeply claimed the attention and been the subjects of the policy of the kingdoms of Europe. It needed no more than human wisdom to foresee that the vast increase of population, and access to the hidden stores of nature, in a new world, would excite an universal spirit of enterprize, enlarge the boundaries of science, and expand, to a much broader extent, the wings of active and enriching commerce.—Actuated by these views, various nations early made colonial establishments in the newly-discovered country, which, tho not imme­diately [Page 6] lucrative, promised, at a future period, per­manent and extensive advantages. Mutual jeal­ousy between the sovereigns who claimed the right of soil, from discovery or conquest, and from whose dominions settlers emigrated to these distant regions, soon arose, and a desire to protect and ad­vance the welfare of their infant colonies proved the source of rancorous and bloody wars.

The British settlements in North-America were extensive, and so happily situated that they flour­ished to a degree far surpassing those of any other nation. They presented a wide and inviting pros­pect for emigration and commerce, and streams of opulence, which would naturally increase with the progress made in the cultivation of the wilderness, flowed back and enriched the native country. That they would, at some period, arrive to manhood, assert their rights and break by violence, the shackles of foreign oppression, was perfectly consistent with the natural course of human affairs, and early pre­dicted.

A fundamental error in the principle of parlia­mentary legislation and a system perseveringly main­tained by the British government evidently calcu­lated to cramp the genius, repress the enterprize, and drain the wealth of the colonists, prepared the American mind for the auspicious event. Every person of discernment contemplated the contest as violent, requiring an immense sacrifice of blood and treasure; but the object was of such vast mag­nitude, that no sacrifice was thought too great, no price too dear, to obtain and secure heaven-born liberty.

To accomplish a revolution so grand and impor­tant as that achieved in our country, it was abso­lutely necessary that, in our unorganized state, some illustrious character should be found, whose splendid military talents should direct the patriotic [Page 7] ardor and natural energy of his countrymen, and who, by his address, should mould their opinions and conciliate their esteem.—Then was it that the Divine Director turned the eyes of the guardians of the public welfare to the great, the immortal WASHINGTON.

That we may improve this solemn occasion to the glory of the living God, and realize the propriety of a national mourning, let us attend to the fol­lowing considerations.

FIRST. God is the all-wise Sovereign of the universe and supreme arbiter of nations.

He is the great Lord over all, the Almighty Ruler of the skies; sits enthroned in glory unfad­ing, and crowned with honors everlasting. His kingdom extends to all worlds and all periods, and his dominion will have no end. With sway uncon­troled and power irresistible, He overrules all e­vents on earth. He hath been and will be con­stantly and unalterably, carrying on a grand scheme, in the whole circle of sublunary affairs, for his own glory and the good of his church, from the begin­ning to the end of time. In the rise and fall of empires and kingdoms, in the mighty revolutions which occur among nations, in the alternate beams of prosperity and clouds of adversity which they experience, the ALMIGHTY displays his glorious perfections and high supremacy. Doth a nation rise to eminence and greatness, shine in the arts of peace, or prove successful in those of war; or is it cast down from the zenith of opulence and glory, overtaken with sad reverses, and plunged into infa­my and ruin, the Lord hath done it. When ac­cording to the counsels of heaven, great and high­ly interesting events and revolutions, in the condi­tion and government of a country, are about to be accomplished, divine wisdom ever introduces upon the theatre of life, such talents, characters [Page 8] and concurrence of circumstances, as are necessa­ry for the completion of the work. Such instru­ments are prepared for the management of public concerns, that the end designed will not fail. When the Hebrew tribes were to come up from the land of cruel bondage, MOSES, the servant of the Lord, was sent, with a divine commission, to lead them forth with signs and wonders.—When the vast con­tinent of America, which for ages, had been em­bosomed in the pathless ocean, and lain hidden from the view of the civilized world, was to be discovered, COLUMBUS was inspired with an un­conquerable spirit of foresight and enterprize, with dauntless fortitude to execute his projected schemes, and explore unknown seas and distant regions of the earth.—When the period had arrived that the banners of independence should be unfurled in these oppressed colonies, a new empire be erected on the broad basis of rational liberty, and the U­nited States, spurning the galling yoke of foreign tyranny, should assume a name and rank among sovereign nations, the ALMIGHTY prepared the il­lustrious WASHINGTON to organize the untutored band and lead the marshalled battalions to the bloody combat. Extraordinary and singularly em­inent characters, who soar far above the brightest of their contemporaries, are not often needed to accom­plish the designs of Providence. For this end di­vine power, wisdom and goodness will ever provide fit and adequate instruments; but characters with uncommon talents and extent of capacities are not raised up, unless some field is opened for their dis­play. A second dignified personage, tho qualified by the gifts of nature to shine with unrivalled lus­tre, like him whose exit from time, we this day, as a nation, bemoan, will not obtain equal celebrity, until a scene is unfolded for the useful exhibition of the same supereminent talents, which rendered him, so justly, the glory of his country and the ad­miration of the world.

[Page 9]Among all nations, whether more barbarous or more polished, men of military genius have ob­tained a vast ascendency in the minds, and received high-sounding applause from the bulk of mankind. The heroic exploits of signalized commanders have employed the pen of the historian, the eloquence of the orator, and the fancy of the poet. Undis­tinguished praise however, is by no means, just. Unless directed by moral principle and improved for the good of mankind, eminent talents are aw­fully destructive of human happiness: Those who possess them become the curse of heaven and the scourge of the human race.

The fame of ALEXANDER hath been borne on every wind. Monarchs graced his triumph and extensive regions owned his sovereignty. But what were the benefits resulting to mankind from his might victories, his extensive conquests? He wept that there was not another world to conquer: With much propriety might the world weep at the appearance of another such conqueror!—CAE­SAR, at the head of the Roman legions, vanquish­ed and subdued the numerous and valiant tribes, which spread over the wide extent of territory be­tween Rome and Britain. What advantage has been derived from these martial achievements?— Great warriors have too often been the butchers of their fellowmen; and the eclat which attended them, has been in proportion to the desolating havoc which marked their progress.

But when a man endowed by nature with an ex­alted genius and evidently formed for great under­takings, applies it uniformly and with its utmost en­ergy, to the sole benefit of mankind, to the utter exclusion of the idea of private emolument; when he stands forth the undaunted champion of liberty, inflexibly determined, at the hazard of every thing dear, to redress the grievances of his coun­try, [Page 10] raise her from the dust of foreign prostration, boldly assert her rights and maintain her dignity; and, having accomplished the great object for which his sword was drawn, nobly refusing the re­ward which his toils and sacrifices richly deserved, retiring from public scenes and employments, to the peaceful shades of private life; he exhibits a fin­ished pattern of the Man, the Hero, and the Lover of his country. To him, as an agent in the work of the Lord, ought a tribute of gratitude and praise to be returned and bestowed.

II. God sometimes exerciseth a peculiar provi­dence toward an oppressed people, and by signal interpositions saves them from [...] and ruin.

The two most remarkable instances, in the an­nals of the world, to verify this observation, are the Jewish and American nations.—To rescue the former from under the despotim of Pharaoh, MOSES was especially raised up, by a peculiar train of circum­stances educated at the Egyptian court, where a fa­vorable opportunity for the improvement of his natural talents was enjoyed; and honored with a commission from heaven, in the terrible display of divine power, to bring them forth from the house of bondage. At the red sea JEHOVAH proclaim­ed, by his wonderful acts, his determination to save his chosen people from the hand and cruelty of the proud oppressor.—The history of events, from the catastrophe of the red sea to their entrance upon the promised possession, is replete with wonders.

The support of between two and three millions of souls, in a barren desert, for the space of forty years, so that their food did not fa [...]l, nor their cloaths wax old, is one of the most surprizing and wonder-working providences of which we can pos­sibly conceive. The flinty rock must gush with re­freshing streams, the manna must descend from heaven, and the quails cover the camp, to nourish and preserve the Israel of the Lord.

[Page 11]When their heaven-guided march was compleat­ed and the fair inheritance brightened before their eyes, as MOSES, that eminent instrument of divine goodness to the chosen tribes, was not allowed to go over Jordan, JOSHUA was ordained the organ of divine communication, to lead them to the peacea­ble possession.—In providing, according to the pe­culiarity of circumstances, such illustrious charac­ters as MOSES and JOSHUA, furnishing them with such extraordinary qualifications, and enabling them to perform such wonderful deeds, we see spe­cial tokens of the divine presence and care.

Clearly manifest and little less signal, was the hand of heaven in the American revolution.—In the contest which decided the fate of this empire, on the one hand is seen entering the field, a nation possessed of immense wealth; an established system of drawing into effectual energy its ample resour­ces; a fleet which rode in triumph on the ocean, commanded by officers thoroughly skilled in naval affairs and inspired with the highest sentiments of honor, and manned with seamen, who were inured to the havoc of death, and whose pulse beat high for the glory of their king and country; an army; trained in all the terrible discipline of war, formi­dable from its numbers, bold from its success, e­quipt with every necessary for the camp and the field, and led by Chiefs adorned with laurels gath­ered on the bloody plains of Europe:—On the other, a nation is beheld, spread over a wide extent of territory, exposed on either side to hostile inva­sion or savage incursion, without an organized ar­my, or navy, without military stores or military knowledge; without officers to command or sold­iers accustomed to the rigor of severe discipline and subordination; destitute of every requisite for car­rying on a war, and having no general government, to systematize public affairs and wisely improve the great advantages which the God of Nature had be­stowed [Page 12] upon the country.—How striking the con­trast! Calculating on common principles, how vast was the superiority on the side of our foes! How awfully portentous the cloud which then gathered over America!—But these renowned commanders were captured and the laurels were plucked from their brows, or their prowess was unavailing; har­dy veterans, by thousands, invaded our shores, and either enriched our fields with their blood, or yielded to superior force. Never was British valor more completely foiled! Never was British pride so deeply humbled as in the loss of two whole armies in so short a term!—When the fabric of independ­ence tottered to its base, when the sanctuary of lib­erty was ready to be demolished, when the name of the United States was ready to be blotted out for­ever, and the illustrious characters who adorned the revolution to be branded with eternal infamy, the Supreme Sovereign said, Let America be free, and America was free. "If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us. Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us a prey to their teeth."

There was a particular providence in unfolding the scene gradually, in uniting the feelings of a great people in the abhorrence of tyranny, in ren­dering the patriots of America willing to run the most imminent hazard of property, of fame and of life, and in having ready a chosen instrument, with some experience and a profound judgment, to execute the divine purpose of our political salva­tion.—The winds, the waves, the ice, and the floods were made to conspire to attain the same end. In the foreign connexions which we were en­abled to form; in the lively sympathy of a great and magnanimous monarch, since doomed by pop­ular phrenzy to an untimely fate; in the respect and obedience paid through the land to a mere [Page 13] shadow of government, at a time highly favorable for the uncontrollable passions of man; in the events of battles; in the almost miraculous preser­vation of the invaluable life of our heaven honored Hero, and in numerous conspicuous instances, we trace the special interference of the ALMIGHTY in the establishment of our independence and empire.

III. The most eminent and extensive services to mankind will not save from death.

This relentless and insatiable foe hath triumphed, and will continue to triumph, over the most ele­vated morrals. His dominion is established over all the race of Adam. The great and the small, the high and the low, the honorable and the despised, must lie down in the grave. MOSES had his task assigned him in life, his sphere of usefulness al­lotted. The designs of heaven in preparing him to act in an extraordinary capacity being accomplished, he was removed from time. JOSHUA, his successor, acted his part on the theatre of life, in leading the children of Israel to the quiet possession of the conquered country, and then yielded to the mighty destroyer of human kind. The same may be said of the most affluent, the most beloved, the most honoured among the sons of men. Name CRAE­SUS, SOLOMON, or any even the most renowned princes, "the brightest ornaments of thrones and of humanity," and it will be found that their earthly career was closed by the same melancholy event. The grim tyrant assaults the splendid pal­ace with equal boldness and with equal success, as the humble cottage. He is not dismayed by the en­signs of office, the regalia of courts, the elevation of ranks. These, at a single blow, he levels with the dust and buries in undistinguished ruin. Death ascends the throne and plunges headlong its high possessor.—Nay, more than monarchs bow to the fatal stroke, for WASHINGTON is fallen!—Let not the greatest of generals, the most eminent of states­men, [Page 14] the most highly esteemed and most dearly be­loved of men, expect to escape death, for WASH­INGTON is fallen! Let not the man "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his coun­trymen" hope to avoid the deadly arrow, for WASHINGTON is fallen!—Since the peerless trophy obtained on Calvary's mount, have few so splendid, graced the triumph of the king of terrors! O Death! How numerous, how signal are thy victo­ries! In every age, in every country, in every cli­mate, dost thou display thy sable ensigns in solemn pomp! Palaces are in thy dominion and kings are thy subjects. Thou reignest in more complete em­pire than the crowned worms of the dust; to-day, they wield a sceptre over thousands and millions of the human race; to-morrow, they bow to thine all-devouring sword!—Haughty conqueror! Why could not thy fury be appeased by the nume­rous victims which are constantly sacrificed at thy shrine? Why didst thou enforce thy claim upon the beloved Father of his country? Why spread the mantle of mourning over a nation, over millions, at a single blow?—Never again shall such an op­portunity be offered, such an object be presented to thy dart: And he shall rise and live, when thou art forever destroyed by the almighty power of the Prince of Peace.

IV. Men of superior excellence ought, while liv­ing, to be respected, and, when dead, remember­ed with gratitude.

Good rulers are a distinguished blessing. They are the gift of God to any people. The Giver is not to be forgotten because of the greatness of the gift.—Talents and virtue, in an high degree, are the great requisites for those who fill exalted stations. Talents, to be useful and efficient, must be adapt­ed to the peculiar genius, situation and circum­stances of a country. Those which, in their dis­play, would entitle to an high seat in the temple of [Page 15] fame, under some circumstances, and in some sta­ges of society, would little conduce, in others, to the splendor of high renown. Opportunities for the exhibition of such as claim high and unrivalled pre-eminence do not often occur. Revolutions in politics and government usually open the widest field, and present the broadest theatre for the exer­tion and application of all that is rare, great and magnanimous. In trying and dark periods in the state of nations, the world hath been astonished, at times, with the view of a resplendent sun, bursting from the clouds of obscurity and beaming with ra­dient brightness in the political horizon. His splendors, while they dazzled the eye, have dif­fused light over the face of community and spread joy to thousands of trembling hearts.—In seasons when tempests shake the pillars of ancient establish­ments, and the disorganization incident to material changes at home clouds the aspect, talents more original in their nature, and different in their kind, are required, than in scenes of public tranquillity, when the sky is unclouded and the sun shines with lustre.

The mariner who, without difficulty or dishonor, could steer the ship, when the surface of the ocean was smooth, the breeze of wind gentle and the noon-day sun lighting the heavens and the earth, would be driven from the helm, when the face of the great deep was violently convulsed, the ele­ments, in fierce contention, howled, and the hor­rors of midnight enveloped the waves and the firm­ament in impenetrable gloom.

It is to be observed that a universal genius, or a man endowed with abilities to conduct, with wis­dom, energy and success, civil and military ar­rangements, is a rare phenomenon. To be crown­ed with laurels won by valor and skill in the field of battle, and to shine, like the light of heaven, a­mong the celebrated and distinguished senators of a [Page 16] nation is rarely the lot of any mortal.—Virtue is the guide for the profitable and useful improvement of great and splendid talents. Misapplied they resem­ble the sweeping deluge, the destructive tornado or ungovernable flames. They spread devastation in an hour, which years cannot repair.—How impor­tant is it, that great men should also be good men!

When a MOSES, a JOSHUA, a DAVID, a SOLO­MON are exalted to be rulers and legislators, they should be honored as chosen of the Lord.—Real merit, without envy or detraction, should receive, from a grateful people, and ample reward. A wor­thy patriot is a glorious title; add to this disinterested, and you rise higher in the scale of worth and ad­miration. When God removes from earthly scenes those who have filled high stations with dignity, use­fulness and applause, such dispensations ought not to pass unnoticed. They are deeply interesting to the future welfare of a country. Shall singular worth, shall the unremitted efforts of the most shin­ing talents for public good, shall the most noble achievments, the most heroic enterprizes be forgot­ten, the moment the mortal remains of the posses­sors and actors are deposited in the silent vault? Such praise-worthy deeds ought to be recorded on the hearts of their countrymen, more lastingly than on tables of brass, and the blessings enjoyed should ever remind us of the toils, the dangers, and the virtues of those, by whom they were obtained.

The children of Israel testified their solemn and affectionate remembrance of MOSES by mourning, at his death, thirty days.

Let us improve the subject by the following re­flections.

1st. God hath designed this land for many im­portant purposes of his glory and the good of man­kind.

[Page 17]Earthly affairs are controlled by divine wisdom, power and goodness. Great were the preparations made, in the state of the nations, for the glorious appearance of the Messiah in the flesh; and the mighty revolutions of the present aera are doubtless designed as preparatory steps to the happy, milen­nial state of the Christian church. The whole his­tory of events since the first settlement of this em­pire, the great things which God hath done for us as a nation, and in special his kind providence in blessing us with "the Hero of the age," are stand­ing testimonies and evident presages that auspicious and extensive designs are yet in the womb of time. ‘The kingdom is the Lord's, and He is governor among the nations.’ Our natural and political situation opens high and animating prospects. Our internal resources are immense, and our strength increasing with such rapidity, that every external pressure may soon be set at defiance.

The system of the federal government is new in the annals of the world, combining, beyond any example in ancient or modern times, liberty, order and energy. The freedom of religious enquiry, belief and worship, fully enjoyed, removes the cau­ses of heavy grievances among some nations, and weakens the temptations to infidelity in others. Science diffuses her benign influence among all clas­ses of citizens. The enterprizing spirit of Amer­ica explores every region and corner of the earth for the acquisition of wealth, and the bravery of her martial sons affords the strongest hope, that when resistance to foreign foes is necessary, by the blessing of heaven, it will not be without success.

This land seems destined by heaven to be an asy­lum for the persecuted and oppressed among the na­tions of Europe. From the corruption, tyranny and butcheries which destroy the greatest portion [Page 18] of human felicity on the eastern continent, may they fly to these hospitable shores and share in the inesti­mable blessings of liberty. The foundation seems evidently laid for vast improvement [...]n politics, sci­ence and morals; for an happy, flouri [...]hing and pow­erful empire; an empire, respected for its govern­ment, its laws, its purity of religion, its commerce and its numbers; a theatre on which the glories of the Redeemer's kingdom will, in the latter day, be illustriously displayed.

2d. We learn the mutability of sublunary things. Statues of brass are corroded by the gnawing tooth of time; the most durable monuments of art crumble to the dust; crowns fall from the head. Cities loose their magnificence; empires are bu­ried in the gulph of oblivion; and all earthly glory fades. Can it then be surprizing that the most be­loved, the most renowned mortal, should, to day, shine in the highest splendors of the earth, and to­morrow lie low at the feet of death? That this may be the case our assembling in the divine courts this day is a solemn proof.

The Almighty disposer of human events hath commissioned death to triumph over WASHINGTON, the father and the saviour of his country! A com­plete delineation of the character, the virtues, the exploits of this highly distinguished man, I shall not attempt. Even eulogy blushes when employed on so sublime a theme and confesses that to do per­fect justice is beyond her power. His life and his deeds are the highest encomiums which can possibly be bestowed, and the fame of these will blazon, till time and earth shall be no more. Future Xeno­phons shall record his ever-memorable heroism; future Homers describe his glowing ardor amidst embattled hosts—future Millions invoke the muse's aid to tune his praise, and future Robertsons de­tail the battles he fought, the victories he won, the heroes he conquered. Greece stands abashed, and [Page 19] Rome hangs her head; and in future ages, when the poet, the historian, and the orator have cele­brated the sages, the conquerers, the patriots of an­tiquity, and lavished upon them a profusion of praise, the trumpet shall sound still louder the name of WASHINGTON and conclude the list.

The description given above will shew the feeble and destitute situation of the colonies when WASH­INGTON was appointed commander in chief of their forces. It was soon found that the public confi­dence was not misplaced.

During the revolutionary war he displayed such talents as saved his country and astonished the world. With great means, great effects may be produced; but to produce great effects, with small means, re­quires much higher wisdom. Here the American Hero shone, like the sun in the firmament. In re­treating where a stand would have been ruin to the cause, even when greatly censured; in concealing the real state of his force from his enemies and from his own army; and in various ways, annoying, distressing and escaping the foe, he exhibited con­summate prudence and foresight. Had it not been for the peculiar disasters and embarrassments with which he was necessitated to contend, one half of the excellencies of his character, the unshaken forti­tude of his mind, and the wonderful extent of his mental resources, would not have been known. Trenton and Princeton will stand, to the end of time, monuments of his readiness to seize a favora­ble oppurtunity to attack, of his soundness of judg­ment and military address.—His fame soon spread beyond the Atlantic and one of the first potentates in Europe did not disdain to place a gallant army under his command.—The independence of his country being established, like Cincinnatus, he re­signed his eminent station, and, accompanied by the plaudits and fervent prayers of millions, retired to the cultivation of his estate. Had CAESAR, or [Page 20] had CROMWELL commanded the army, a military despotism would have been established; but WASH­INGTON's magnanimity was equal to his success!

By the unanimous suffrages of his fellow-citizens was he repeatedly called to the presidency of the United States. At length he retired from public life, fondly hoping to spend the evening of his days in that retreat for which he had long and ardently sighed. A gathering cloud involves the nation in darkness and threatens the demolition of the noble fabric cemented by the blood of thousands; his country again calls; the eye of age brightens into youth, the sword is drawn; when, lo, the sum­mons of death arrives!—He loved his country, he adored the supreme Ruler, ascribing to Him the glory of all success; he beheld the great objects for which he embarked upon the tempestuous ocean of public life obtained, and, magnanimous and serene in death, hath bid the earth adieu.

WASHINGTON, the pride of America, the glory of the age, now sleeps in the land of silence and of death. The brightest sun in our national horizon is gone down to rise no more. While to the high mandate of heaven's sovereign, with humble sub­mission, Americans bow, well may they weep! The Hero, the patriot, the sage; their friend, their benefactor is laid in the dust. Does a family gath­er around the bed of a fond, a dying parent, and pour out a flood of tears, when the solemn hour of parting arrives; and shall not the children of Co­lumbia weep, when the father of his country lies low? Yes. Let the tear of sensibility glisten in ev­ery eye. Another such occasion will never call. Ye war-worn soldiers, know that your beloved commander is consigned to the tomb. Ye aged sires, know that he, under whom your sons have fought, and bled, and died, is now no more! Ye vir­gins, testify your grief that your friend, your father, your guardian has fled. Let the whole mass of peo­ple [Page 21] feel and realize, that the great defender of their rights, himself "a senate" and "an host," hath finished his earthly career.

But let not the hearts of Americans despond. A noble and majestic pillar in the national fabric is broken, but the corner stone is not removed. He who rendered our deplored chief so rich a blessing, lives forever; and tho' he hath now spread dark­ness about our paths, can easily dispel the cloud and cause the sun to shine.—Characters, wisely se­lected and worthy of public honors, adorn our sen­ates, dignify our tribunals of justice, and fill the executive departments of government.

Trained under the auspices of the best of instruc­tors, military leaders are ready to draw the sword, and, under the sanction of the Almighty, lead the sons of liberty to fame, to glory and tri­umph.

American youth! Let the hallowed flame con­tinue to burn in your bosoms. On you devolves the arduous, but the glorious task to save your country from anarchy, from infamy, from subju­gation. By the blood which hath fertilized the plains, by the bones which have whitened in the sun, by the memory of the valiant heroes who have fallen; by the numberless bleeding hearts, the bit­ter offspring of the revolution; by the hopes and pros­pects of posterity—by the ashes of WASHINGTON, be adjured to prove yourselves worthy of an inher­itance, rescued from the fangs of tyranny at a price so dear!

[Page 22]Let the meritorious services of our departed He­ro and his patriotic brethren in the field, whether they nobly fell or survived the furious storm, secure to them their just reward, a "deathless fame." Let his "spotless example" be followed, his wise moral and political maxims inculcated and remem­bered, his virtues, many and eminent, public and private, be admired, be imitated; his invaluable legacy be engraven upon every heart. Let us praise the Lord that he hath lived in an high degree of usefulness, enjoyed the love and the admiration of his countrymen to the concluding scene, far be­yond HANNIBAL, COLUMBUS, and a long train of the most worthy patriots; and come at last to the grave in a good old age, with untarnished glory and unsullied honor.

As the conclusion of the whole; remember that death will sooner or later cut down every individu­al.—Earthly honors are fading, worldly glory tran­sitory. Those of heaven are immortal; that of the upper world perpetual. The approbation of our judge will be infinitely more important than the wailing and lamentation of millions. This alone is our passport to the kingdom of glory. Let me then point you to an example compared with which that of WASHINGTON is obscured with clouds, and to the death of a superlatively dignified personage, which caused nature to agonize with groans, that of the glorious and exalted Redeemer. Calvary's mount ha [...] witnessed the solemn and tremendous scene of a divine person yielding up the Ghost.— Our beloved Hero lies in the solitary tomb, but the celestial conqueror burst the bands of death, the bars of the grave, and ascended to the realms of eternal light and day. High in the heavens, man­sions are prepared for the reception of all who sin­cerely believe. To that world of peace, and joy, and glory shall all his faithful followers, in God's [Page 23] own time be exalted. The valley of death is first to be traversed, but the light will soon burst forth and bright prospects open to view.—To those blissful regions may we all ascend through the infinite mer­it of the great Redeemer!