IN defiance of a doctrine which DESPOTS have taught their Slaves, that INGRATITUDE is the vice of a REPUBLIC, WE are assembled my FELLOW CITIZENS at the recommen­dation of our GOVERNMENT, to commemorate the virtues and deplore the loss of the BENEFACTOR of OUR COUN­TRY—WASHINGTON is no more! The man to whom under GOD, we are indebted for the inestimable blessings of INDEPENDENCE, sleeps the sleep of DEATH! The ARM, which has protected from rapine the fruits of our SOIL, and from violence the chastity of our FAIR, FOW moulders with its kindred dust! The TONGUE which by its mildness has so often charmed the soul of sensibility, and by its energy has "spoken daggers to a tyrant," is hushed in eternal silence! The STAR which guided our watchmen to their political salvation has set in GLORY.

[Page 4] Arrogance would be a mild epithet for the man, who should attempt by his rhetoric or his eloquence to give ad­ditional lustre to a character already beyond the voice of eu­logy.—Ours is the melancholy, yet pleasing duty simply to record the glorious deeds, and to call into recollection the important services which were performed by this JOSHUA of our land, for the benefit of OUR FATHERS, OURSELVES and POSTERITY.

In the first stage of his political career, we find him ap­pointed by the government of Virginia to a trust honourable and important; and this too at a period of his life when pub­lic HOPE could scarcely be supposed to have ripened into CONFIDENCE.

The history of our warfare on the frontiers with the FRENCH and the NATIVES introduces us to a second acquaint­ance with our departed FRIEND and warmly engages our feelings in his interest, by its recital of the memorable defeat of the brave, but imprudent BRADDOCK. Had this unfor­tunate General been guided by the advice of the man, though [Page 5] young in ARMS, yet sage in COUNSEL, in all human probabil­ity the disasters of that melancholy day had been averted.— But Heaven allotted a reward to the courage and circumspec­tion of WASHINGTON, to him has justly been ascribed the glory of covering the retreat, and saving the remains of that slaughtered army. From this period, his talents were di­rected to the more particular service of his native state, until his appointment to the command of our confederated troops. —At this epoch, so distinguished in the annals of liberty, the cruel, the unnatural, the damnable arrogation of supreme power by the British government demanded the united and determined opposition of our Nation—the demand was not unheard, nor its efficacy unfelt—our Congress had modestly petitioned, and the petition was discarded, it had manful­ly remonstrated, and the remonstrance was ridiculed.—Duti­ful and affectionate as had been the then Colonies to their parent country, it would be impossible for the human mind to explore a cause for the conduct of the latter, were it not known, that it was governed by a Parliament divested of principle, and a Monarch destitute of intellect.—But Ameri­ca was not to be lulled into slavery—the corruption, which [Page 6]originated, and the folly which supported the design of invad­ing our liberties, was early penetrated by the centinels of our freedom. To combat the designs of this unprovoked ene­my, it became necessary that an army should be raised and of course that a leader should be appointed. The GUARDIAN GENIUS of our county surely presided on that auspicious hour, which deposited this all-important trust in the hands of WASHINGTON.—My FELLOW CITIZENS, let the FIFTEENTH DAY OF JUNE ONE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY FIVE be hallowed in our memories. Reflect, that on that day your EARTHLY FATHER unsheathed his sword in the defence of your RIGHTS and that it never re­turned to its scabbard till your WRONGS were avenged— guided by his "ruling passion" the love of his country, he relinquished domestic happiness, and with a nobleness of mind peculiar to himself, refused the pecuniary emoluments of his station.—The acceptance of this important command naturally led him to the seat of war, and on the second of Ju­ly following, he commenced his official duty at Cambridge— but a few months succeeded, and the term for which our lit­tle army had enlisted expired.—Many of you, my fellow [Page 7]citizens, can recollect, and those of us who cannot, have been told, that "darkness, clouds and shadows" then rested upon our country—patriotism had not so far gained an ascendency that a body of naked, unfed, unpaid and undisciplined troops would patiently submit to the hardships of war, and, far from their homes, encounter the inclemencies of an approaching winter—liberty, majestic as is her form, seemed to faulter in her steps at the apparent indifference of her disciples. Her eye had lost its lustre, and her garb was sackcloth.—This was a crisis in our political disease, which requited the con­stitution of a WASHINGTON to support. His was framed by Heaven to meet the MALADY, to counteract its prison, and to mock its terrors. Neither intimidated by the formi­dable appearance of a neighboring and a veteran foe, nor de­pressed by the distracted situation of the army which he com­manded, he philosophically planned and calmly pursued those measures, which restored the inhabitants of our capital to the enjoyment of their former possessions.

On this occasion, it must be unnecessary to recapitulate the scenes of our revolution, for the purpose of pourtraying the [Page 8]brilliant features of WASHINGTON.—Every father knows, and it is presumed has taught his children, that dur­ing the gloomy periods of the contest his courage was un­shaken and his ardour unabated; that in the splendid and glorious career of his victories, he never forgot that he was the servant of his country—dreary must have been his pros­pects at Long Island and through the Jersies, yet his fortitude did not forsake him—his brilliant success at York Town, tho' noticed with religious gratitude, seemed little to elate that tranquil mind, which adversity could not depress. Re­lying on the justice of that Being, whom WE sacredly in­voked at the commencement of our hostilities, with fervent hope and humble dependence to him, he entrusted the de­cision of that important question, whether "ALL MEN" were, or were not, "born FREE AND EQUAL." The decrees of HEAVEN sanctioned the declaration of our rights, and the PILOT of our choice having encountered perils and tempests, conducted our POLITICAL BARQUE to the haven of INDE­PENDENCE. Crowned with laurels of unfading lustre, he left the "tented field," and his pathetic farewell and sol­emn address to the disbanding army evinced that the wisdom [Page 9]of the SAGE was not inferiour to the valour of the HERO. The commission which had been reluctantly accepted was cheerfully resigned, and the MAN who had saved an EMPIRE retired to the shades of private life.—Had the turbulent spirit of a CAESAR or a CROMWELL been implanted in the breast of WASHINGTON, what human power could have affixed the limits or prescribed the terms of his dominion? An army of which he was the Idol, disaffected with what they considered the ingratitude of our government, and irri­tated by the artful suggestions of designing incendiaries, was almost ripened for revolt and ready to point their weapons at the bosom of their country.—A nod, a smile of approbation from their chief would have been sufficient to have "let loose the dogs of civil war," and to have placed a fortunate and a favorite commander in any station to which his ambi­tion might have aspired. Happy is it for America and pro­pitious to the cause of universal liberty, that a "restless and ungoverned temper" was not WASHINGTON's. As anxious to hush the murmurs of his fellow-soldiers, as he had been eager to lead them to victory and honor, his per­suasive [Page 10]eloquence and confident assurances effectually silenced the voice of discontent, and disarmed the Daemons of insur­rection.

But a few months of peace and independence had been enjoyed, when experience taught us, that the nerves of our government were too weak for a regular system.—The Con­federation, which had been adopted in the exigency of the moment, was mouldering to decay; its strength was insuffi­cient to support its own weight, and our young Republic was tottering to its ruin. The elders of our country, the prophets of our land, alarmed at the impending danger, laid the basis and reared the columns of that glorious Con­stitution which WE now enjoy, and which, under a wise ad­ministration, will effectually secure our privilegesi and pro­tect our dignity.

In the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, WASHINGTON was elected PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES, and again left the repose of private life, for the ar­duous and responsible duties of that important station. It [Page 11]would be an impeachment of the gratitude of my country­men, to remind them, with what devotion he then dedicated his time and his talents to their service.—It must be engraven on every heart, and the recollection can never depart but with the departure of our existence.

While our feelings are thus gratefully alive, let us remem­ber the sacred legacy which he left his constituents, at the time of his resignation of office—so long as truth shall be believed, and wisdom revered, shall WASHINGTON's "FAREWELL ADDRESS" be classed with the first of human productions.

Fatigued with the weight of government, he modestly retires again to private life, and is again called forth to the command of our armies. In conformity to the wishes of the people whom he loved, he accepted the appointment, and although age had scattered its wrinkles on the MAN, the WARRIOR was yet in bloom.—Here the curtain must drop! The public life of this GREAT man closes, for he pays the dept of nature.—This day, had Providence permitted, would [Page 12]have completed the sixty-eighth year of a life of unsullied vir­tue and unrivalled glory—but he is gone! His expiring moments witnessed his FORTITUDE and his RELIGION, and ANGELS now smile on their COMPANION.