WHEN David first heard of the death of his father and of his friend, he was deeply af­fected, and discovered the strongest marks of un­feigned sorrow. "Then he took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him; and they mourned and wept until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel." As the remains of these illustrious war­riors were in the power of their enemies, David could not, as he did on a similar occasion, follow them to their graves, and weep over them there. But all that he could do, in his distressed situation, he did. Being no less expert with his pen, than with his lyre and spear, he poured forth the tender emo­tions of his heart in a solemn, plaintive, funeral dirge. Though he felt a warmer attachment to Jo­nathan [Page 6] than to Saul, yet in celebrating their vir­tues, their talents, and their public services, he pays them an equal tribute of public respect. He en­deavors, with all his poetic skill, to inspire the whole nation with the same sensibilities, which he felt in his own bosom, and calls upon them, in the most pathetic strains, to unite in deploring the un­timely decease of the great ornaments and bene­factors of their country. "How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!" Our loss is great and irreparable! The death of our generals is the death of our hopes and the destruc­tion of our arms! Our national calamity calls for our national mourning, lamentation, and sor­row. These are the sentiments, which this beau­tiful poem was designed to inculcate. And these are the sentiments, which every people ought to feel and to express, when those, who have been eminently useful in life, are laid in the dust.

To describe men of eminence, and to show the propriety of lamenting their death, will be the bu­siness of the ensuing discourse.

No man was made merely for himself, but all men for the service of each other. Usefulness, therefore, does not so much consist in seeking our private, personal happiness, as in promoting the general welfare of all with whom we are any way concerned. Though most men are capable of do­ing [Page 7] something for others as well as for themselves; yet only a few individuals possess either talents, opportunities, or inclinations, to become exten­sively useful. And among these there are so many degrees of merit, that it is extremely difficult to de­termine the precise point, where mediocrity ends and eminence begins. It is easy, however, to give a general description of those, in various depart­ments of life, whose uncommon exertions for the public good justly place them in the noble rank of eminent men.

Since the general good of society requires par­ticular persons to devote themselves to particular employments, any individual, of a superior genius and of an enterprizing spirit, may become emi­nently useful, in any lawful profession. The theo­retical farmer, who spares no labor nor expence, in trying experiments, and in discovering the easi­est and best modes of cultivating the earth, is an eminent citizen. The man, who pursues the busi­ness of commerce upon the broad basis of gene­ral utility, promotes the public good as well as his own, and is extensively useful to his country. The man, who, by close application and critical obser­vation, makes advances in the healing art, and employs his superior skill in relieving the pains and maladies of his fellow men, is a great public blessing. The man of genius and integrity, who [Page 8] is profoundly learned in the law, and who exerts all his abilities in promoting the cause of justice and defending the rights of his fellow citizens, does honor to his profession, and contributes large­ly to the general good of civil society. In a word, every one of a public spirit and superior talents, who makes it his supreme object, in his private em­ployment, to promote the public happiness, is an eminently useful man.

There is a higher class of eminent men, who move in the higher walks of life. These, instead of seeking merely the honors and emoluments of office, have so much greatness of mind and good­ness of heart, as to employ their public and im­portant stations, as the means of more public and extensive usefulness. On this eminent list we ought to place all those, who shine with a peculiar lustre, either in the seats of learning, or in the courts of justice, or in the councils of state, or in the su­preme command of fleets and armies.

But there are some who rise higher still on the scale of usefulness; I mean those, who extend their views beyond the limits of their own nation or country, and exert their influence to promote the general good of all mankind. There are a few individuals, among the many millions of our race, who have heads and hearts equal to such a great, [Page 9] extensive, and benevolent design. It must be al­lowed by all, that the Inventors of useful arts and sciences, the Founders of civil, religious, and literary institutions, and the Deliverers of nations and kingdoms from slavery and ruin, are the most illustrious and eminently useful men in the world. The happy effects of their great and noble exer­tions, will continue and increase to the remotest periods of time.

When such eminently great and useful men are removed from the stage of life, their removal is a public calamity, which calls for public mourning and sorrow. All nations have felt the propriety of lamenting the loss of those who have been emi­nently useful in life, and of paying them peculiar honors at death. This appears from the practice of the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, and especially from the funeral rites of the Jews, at the decease and interment of their eminent Judges, Generals, Kings, Priests, Prophets, and Patriarchs. When the pi­ous Patriarch Jacob died in Egypt, his death was publicly lamented, by a most solemn and splendid funeral. His body being embalmed, the Egyp­tians mourned for him threescore and ten days. And after this we are told, "Joseph went up to bu­ry his father; and with him went up all the ser­vants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt. And all the house of Jo­seph, [Page 10] and his brethren and his father's house. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company. And they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation; and he made a mourning for his fath­er seven days. And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians." The decease of Aaron on his jour­ney to Canaan was deeply regretted. "When all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel." Though Moses, the servant of the Lord and king in Jeshurun, died and was buried in pri­vate; yet his death was publicly and universally lamented. It is recorded to his honor, that "the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourn­ing for Moses were ended." Samuel was an emi­nent Prophet and Judge in Israel, and his death was deplored as a national loss. We read, " All the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah." Our text and context contain the lamentation, occasion­ed by the premature and sudden death of Saul and Jonathan. In a few chapters forward, we find a particular account of the funeral honors paid to an eminent General, who fell by the hand of an [Page 11] assassin. "And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth and mourn before Abner. And king David himself followed the bier. And they buried Abner in Hebron. And the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Ab­ner; and all the people wept. And the king said to his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and great man fallen this day in Israel?" Of Je­hoiada the priest we read, that "he waxed old, and was full of days when he died. And they bu­ried him in the city of David, among the kings, be­cause he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house." It is recorded of Hezeki­ah, that pious prince and eminent reformer, that "he slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David. And all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death." The same religious people more deeply lamented the untimely death of Jo­siah, and paid a more public and lasting respect to his memory. The account of his death and of their conduct is very striking. "And the archers shot at king Josiah, and the king said to his ser­vants, Have me away; for I am wounded. His servants therefore took him out of that chariot, and put him into the second chariot that he had; and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his [Page 12] fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah: and the singing-men and singing-women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day; and made them an ordinance in Israel." Though God often reproved his antient people for paying reli­gious homage to the idols of the Heathens; yet we never find, that he reproved them for paying fu­neral honors to departed men of superior merit, among their own nation. Their example in this respect, therefore, seems to have a divine sanction, and plainly teaches us the propriety of lamenting the death and commemorating the virtues of those, who have been eminently useful in life. But the propriety of this may be still further illustrated. Here then permit me to observe,

1. The death of eminent men never fails to di­minish the glory of a people. Such illustrious characters are the ornaments of human nature, and of the nation to which they belong. Multi­tudes, whom God has endued with noble talents, and favored with peculiar opportunities of doing good, either bury or abuse their intellectual pow­ers, and become a reproach to their country as well as to their race. But those do honor to their nature and to their nation, who display superior a­bilities, by a series of great and noble actions. A few such illustrious characters will render a nation respectable in the eyes of all the world. The Gre­cians [Page 13] were never very rich, nor very numerous, and yet there never was a more renowned nation on earth. Their eminent men have commanded the respect and admiration of all succeeding ages. Great and good characters are a greater glory to any nation, than all their wealth and numbers. Whenever, therefore, their greatest and best men are removed by death, their glory departs, and they necessarily sink in the view of surrounding nations. This seems to have been the first idea, which struck the mind of David, in composing his mournful ele­gy on the death of Saul and Jonathan. "The beauty of Israel is slain upon the high places." As their lives had increased, so their death diminished, the glory of their nation. And any people have reason to lament the loss of their glory, when they are bereaved of the fathers and friends of their country.

2. The death of eminent men not only dimin­ishes the glory, but weakens the strength, of a people. Wisdom is better than weapons of war. The strength of a nation lies in the heads and hearts of those, who have the care and direction of the national concerns. A people may possess a very rich soil, a very extensive country, and very am­ple resources of wealth; and yet be extremely weak and defenceless, merely for the want of able men, to preside in their councils, and to lead in their [Page 14] armies. This was frequently the case in the Jew­ish nation. In the time of Joshua, they were strong, and struck terror into all their enemies; but after his decease, though they increased in num­bers, yet they declined in strength, and became an easy prey to every people, who had courage enough to invade their country. In the days of David they were again universally respected and revered; but in succeeding ages, the want of wise and valiant men exposed them to poverty, mean­ness, and slavery. The strength of the most pow­erful nations has often been suspended upon the exertions of a single warrior or statesman. Alex­ander raised the Grecians to the empire of the world, and that empire was suspended upon his life; for his death divided and dissolved his exten­sive dominions. Though it is not very common­ly the case, that a single person is the sole support of a people; yet the death of one who sways either the sceptre or the sword, never sails to give a great national shock, and to weaken either the civil or the military strength of the kingdom. David was deeply impressed with this painful thought, while deploring the death of those, who fell in the de­fence of their country. "How are the mighty fallen!" He repeats the sad reflection. "How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perish­ed!" What avail all our numbers, all our fortres­ses, and all our national resources, after our mighty [Page 15] men of valor, wisdom, and experience, are laid in the dust! The same sentiment he expressed with greater sensibility on the death of Abner. "I am this day weak, though anointed king." A nation often sustains a greater loss by the death of an able General, than by the defeat of a numerous army. For it is much easier to recruit a numerous army, than to replace a renowned General. No men have been more sincerely and universally lament­ed than those brave and mighty Generals, who have fallen in the field of battle, and by their death depressed the hearts, and weakened the hands, of a whole nation. A people, therefore, can never have a greater cause for public mourning and la­mentation, than the loss of noble patriots and war­riors, who have been the strength and protection, as well as ornaments, of their country. I may add,

3. The removal of wise, virtuous, and valuable men from a people is not only a distressing, but an alarming dispensation of divine providence. It indicates, that God is about to bring a train of hea­vy judgments upon them, for their ingratitude, and abuse of public blessings. He often took away from the house of Israel their greatest and best men, as a prelude to a series of national calamities. This appears from his express declaration, by the mouth of the prophet Isaiah. "Behold, the Lord, [Page 16] the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem, and from Judah the mighty man, the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, the captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator." This was a heavy calamity in it­self, and a presage of impending judgments. For it is added, "And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them, and the people shall be oppressed." We often find a train of evils following the death of great and good men in Israel. After the death of Joshua and of the elders that outlived him, the people fell into licen­tiousness, anarchy, and confusion, from which they never recovered, until the days of David. Solo­mon was a prince of peace, and raised the nation to the summit of earthly glory; but his death di­vided the kingdom, and threw the twelve tribes into all the horrors and miseries of civil war; the fatal consequences of which remain to this day. When a pillar of the state is taken away, it never fails to weaken or unsettle the whole frame of gov­ernment. While the celebrated Pitt guided the national councils of Britain, success crowned all her enterprizes; but as soon as he ceased to breathe and to speak, her councils were distracted, her schemes were blasted, and she sustained a loss, which will never be repaired. It has often hap­pened in the course of human affairs, that a king­dom [Page 17] has fallen, by the death of a single statesman or warrior. And it ought to be remembered, that what has been, may be again. God severely frowns upon a people, when he takes away their great and useful men; and at the same time, threatens them with still further tokens of his awful displeas­ure. This shows the duty, as well as the proprie­ty, of their going into mourning, under the bereav­ing hand of his providence, which has laid those in the dust, who once gave energy to their govern­ment, and victory and triumph to their arms.

You will now, my hearers, spontaneously con­clude, that we have great reason to deplore the late death of General WASHINGTON, as a severe frown of Heaven upon our rising nation. He was unquestionably the most useful as well as most illus­trious man, of the present age. He early entered upon the theatre of public life, and spent near fif­ty years in the service of his country. In such a long course of time, the important stations which he filled, and the trying scenes through which he passed, gave him ample opportunities of perform­ing the most signal deeds of valor, of wisdom, and of patriotism. Though our nation has produced many eminent men in the civil and military de­partments, as well as in every learned and unlearn­ed profession; yet America never produced any other man, who has been so eminently and exten­sively [Page 18] useful to his country and to the world, as WASHINGTON THE GREAT. It is hard to say, whether the strength of his mind was superior to the ardor of his patriotism; or whether this was su­perior to his success in his country's service. In the military department, he undoubtedly intended to save his nation from the sword of their enemies; and here he was completely succeeded. In the civil department, he undoubtedly intended to save his nation from anarchy and confusion; and here he was also completely succeeded. In every sit­uation, whether in the field or in the cabinet, or in his beloved seat at Mount Vernon, he always had it in his heart, to sacrifice his personal interest to the national happiness. This he discovered by the re­peated and astonishing instances of his disinterested conduct. Though he jeoparded his life in the high places of the field, purely to defend the lives and liberties and fortunes of his countrymen; yet he would never accept of any pecuniary rewards for his military exertions, which it was in their wish­es or power to bestow. Though he took the reins of government into his hands, in mere condescen­sion to the unanimous voice of the nation; yet he utterly refused to receive the legal emoluments of his arduous office. And though, after his retire­ment from public life, the people once more testi­fied their high estimation of his personal merit, by [Page 19] offering him a gratuity for his great and noble ser­vices; yet his patriotic heart would not permit him to accept it, on any other condition, than that of devoting it wholly to public and beneficent uses. How many men of distinction, in the late Ameri­can war, had the courage to perform noble and he­roic deeds; and yet, at the same time, had the meanness to make their private fortunes, by de­frauding the public? And how many famous statesmen and heroes, in other nations, have first gained the applause of their country, and then mer­ited the execration of the world, for their mean and mercenary motives? But it is the peculiar glory of Washington, that his character will admit of no deduction. He never deserted, he never de­frauded, he never oppressed the people, whom he defended in war, and governed in peace. Instead of putting his money, he put his character at inte­rest. The noble, patriotic spirit, which he uni­formly displayed, spread a glory over all his public conduct, and had a greater influence, than all his wisdom and valor, in uniting America and the world in his favor. His love to his country ef­fectually secured his country's love, which placed him in those eminent stations, in which he perform­ed such pre-eminent services, as will embalm his memory, and perpetuate his fame, to the latest gen­erations.

[Page 20] But, alas! amidst all his glory and usefulness, God has been pleased to remove him, not only from our sight, but from our help. "How is the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!" The glory of our nation is departed. We have lost a large share of respectability in the eyes of Britain, in the eyes of France, and in the eyes of every nation, to which our flag has wafted the fame of Washington. Distant nations have heretofore formed their opinions of America, from the great and amiable character of him, who defeated our enemies, and put us in possession of the most per­fect freedom and independence. Whether, there­fore, they are friendly or unfriendly to our grow­ing country, they cannot view us in that exalted light, in which they were constrained to view us, while we justly claimed, as our own, the greatest patriot, the greatest general, the greatest man, in the world.

But our national strength, no less than our na­tional glory, is diminished. How are the weapons of war perished in the perishing hand of Wash­ington! Whilst he lived to direct and animate our little band of warriors, they virtually possessed all the martial spirit and strength of the United States. His single voice could call as many fighting men into the field to their assistance, as the most pres­sing [Page 21] exigencies of the times could demand. This our foreign enemies believed, and kept their dist­ance. This our internal enemies knew, and re­mained in silence and despair. But God has seen fit to take from us the mighty man and man of war, who was the ornament and defence of our coun­try, at a most critical time, when the world are in arms, and every nation seems to be spreading mis­ery and destruction to the utmost of their power. Though the armies of Europe have not invaded our country, yet the courts of Europe have em­ployed all their political arts to embarrass our gov­ernment, divide our councils, and draw us into their destructive contentions. And how far they have succeeded, the melancholy event, which we this day deplore, may serve to discover. The death of our renowned Chief may encourage, unite, and strengthen all our national enemies. How far it may affect our present Embassy to France and the present opposition to the administration of govern­ment, we cannot determine, though we have cer­tainly much to fear. The decease of the Friend and Father of our country would have been, at any time, a public calamity; but at this dark and distressing day, it is a peculiar frown of Heaven. God is now, therefore, loudly calling us to humil­iation and mourning. And though we may say and do too much, yet there is the utmost danger of our feel­ing [Page 22] too little, under his correcting hand. The plain and solemn language of his providence is, "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." Washington is no more with respect to us, and it will be gross idolatry still to confide in his tomb, or to depend upon any influ­ence of his in our favor, in the world of spirits. His removal, at this peculiar time, we have reason to believe, was designed as a solemn admonition to America, to renounce an undue dependence on an arm of flesh, and to place their supreme confidence in the Lord Jehovah, in whom there is everlasting strength. And what could have been better cal­culated to produce this desirable effect? Is Wash­ington dead? His successor in command may die. Is Washington dead? The President may die. Is Washington dead? The wisest and best man in any department may die, and disappoint the hopes of the court, of the army, of the navy, of all his fellow citizens. Death has lately made breach after breach in the congregation of the mighty. How many men of eminent wisdom, integrity, and patriotism, who were the bulwarks of our land, have been followed to their tombs, by their weep­ing countrymen, in the course of a very few [Page 23] months! "Cease ye therefore from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?"

God seems to be coming out against us in the way of judgment, and it nearly concerns all ranks and orders of men, to prepare to meet him in the alarming dispensations of his providence. By the death we are deploring, he is reading a solemn lec­ture on the vanity and frailty of life, and teaching every one the absurdity, as well as criminality, of relying on any inherent quality or outward cir­cumstance, to shield him from the stroke of death. Let not the strong man trust in his strength; for Washington the Mighty is dead. Let not the rich man trust in his wealth; for Washington the Wealthy is dead. Let not the great man trust in his greatness; for Washington the Great is dead. Let not the benevolent man trust in his benevo­lence and usefulness; for Washington the Father of his country and the Friend of man is dead. This solemn instance of mortality, which has now as­sembled the whole nation in the houses of God, and dressed all classes of citizens in the garments of mourning, loudly calls them to consider, that "they are this day going the way of all the earth." The time cannot be far distant, when they must all descend to the grave, stripped of their wealth, of [Page 24] their ornaments, and of all their earthly distinctions, and lie as low in the dust, as the man they lament.

But while we are contemplating the tomb of Washington, and deploring the day of his death; let us not forget to rejoice at the day of his birth. That day was a signal mercy to America, which ought to be had in grateful and perpetual remem­brance. He was born neither too early, nor too late, for his own glory, or the public good. He came upon the stage of life, at the very time, when the widest field of usefulness was opened before him. He entered into that field, and spent his days in performing the most illustrious and essen­tial services for his native country. For these, we justly owe him a large debt of public gratitude and respect, which is the only proper and adequate reward of eminent virtue and public usefulness. We can easily calculate the value of that time or strength, which is employed for our personal bene­fit; but who can fully estimate the worth of those eminent virtues and talents, which are displayed in eminent services for the public good? The path to every species of eminence is extremely steep and difficult. No man ever arrived at extraordi­nary usefulness, without extraordinary exertions. It is as hard to comprehend the cares, the perils, the self-denying and arduous labors of those, who [Page 25] guide the movements of armies, or direct the coun­cils of state; as it is to estimate the great and nu­merous benefits, which may accrue to a nation, to a country, or to the world, in the course of ages, from their great and noble efforts. Nothing, therefore, can fully discharge our strong and en­dearing obligations to the Father and Defender of our country, but the most grateful emotions of heart, and the most durable monuments of public respect. Let these be erected, and sacredly pre­served, as long as the name of Americans shall be known in the earth But while we are faithful to the Fame of our illustrious Benefactor, let us be wise to appreciate his great and amiable Example, which is really more valuable to each of his coun­trymen, than all his legacies, bequeathed to his friends. There is something in his illustrious life, which comes home to the business and bosom of every person, whether he acts in a public or private capacity. Let those, who manage the affairs of government, imitate his wisdom, integrity, patrio­tism, and invincible firmness. Let those, who com­mand in the field, imitate his courage, fortitude, prudence, patience, secrecy, and self-possession. Let those, who live in wealth and affluence, imitate his private charity and public beneficence. Let those, who are fond of splendor and parade, ad­mire his Republican virtues, and imitate his sub­lime [Page 26] simplicity of manners. Let the wealthy and independent farmer follow his example of econo­my, industry, and perseverance in business. Let the aged imitate his decent gravity and perfect equanimity. Let the young despise the vanities, which he despised; avoid the vices, which he a­voided; and practise those sober and manly vir­tues, which he practised, in the morning of his days. In a word, let all classes and descriptions of men imitate that moderation, that public spirit, and that tender concern for the good of all man­kind, which he so eminently displayed in every part of his private and public life. Whoever wish­es to be eminently useful in any private employ­ment, or public station, let him think, and act, and live like Washington. He never lost any time. He never pursued any trifles. He never neglect­ed any advantages. He never buried any talents. He never lived for himself, but for the universal benefit of his fellow men. This commanded their love and admiration, while he lived; and this throws them into mourning and sorrow, at his death. "How beautiful is such an example? how worthy of universal imitation?" Whoever follows it, shall live universally beloved, and die univer­sally lamented.

AMEN.