THESE words of St. PAUL, afford us a com­pendious view of DAVID's life and death:—but you will not expect me to trace the foosteps of this great character from the sheepfold to his exit. The inci­dents of his life are too numerous and complicate to admit the attempt.—The setting sun would leave the narration unfinished. A few observations, therefore, consistent with the text, must suffice

LET it be observed, that DAVID served his own generation. By this it is apparent, that he was posses­sed of a generous, a noble soul.—Unlike those, who fondly style themselves exclusive patriots at the pre­sent day, he proved by a succession of great actions, that "self love and social are the same." As a king, the welfare of his subjects was the main-spring of his movements; as a good man, the love of GOD.—Al­though the greatest in Israel, he became "a servant to them all."

HE was active as light in opposing their enemies, courageous in defending their rights, and sincere in [Page] his joy, when their happiness was the result of his ex­ertions. His conduct was always precisely accom­modated to the exigencies of the times.

AS the soul of the body politic, he felt himself un­der the strongest obligations to give it animation and vigor.—Hence that amazing application of all his fa­culties to the encouragement of his subjects, in any new and hazardous enterprize, which is so evident in every page of his history. In battle he often opposed himself to the first onset of his enemies.—He disdain­ed the idea of fending his troops on a forlorn hope, while he himself was safe;—witness his words to them when they were just going out to quell the rebels under ABSALOM;—"I will surely go forth with you myself also."—Witness the answer of the people, who well knew his generous soul would have urged him to share all their dangers:—"Thou shall not go forth; for if [...] flee away, they will not care for us; neither if half of us die, will they care for us; but now thou art worth ten thousand of us; now, therefore, it is bet­ter that thou succour us out of the city."—Witness his refusing to drink the water, which three of his mighty men had brought him from the well in Bethlehem, after pushing themselves through a host of Philistines in order to obtain it.—He had been longing for it; but a recollection of the dangers, to which his faithful servants had exposed themselves, prevented him from slaking his thirst.—His feelings were too strong to be [Page 7] expressed but by pouring it on the ground.—"Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this.—Is not this the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?"

WHAT but the blackest ingratitude could dictate a revolt from such a king?—What, but a heart, hard as the nether mill-stone could withhold its love?—What but a total extinction of humanity, could have promp­ted an ABSALOM to turn his arms against the best of fathers?—To what excess of grief must such unnatur­al conduct have reduced an indulgent parent? Grief did not, however, divert his mind from his darling object, the felicity of his subjects. So steady is virtue, when the handmaid to knowledge.

THE good king was well apprized of the horrors of anarchy, and could duly appreciate the blessings of peace and regularity. Let rulers aim at the interests of their subjects and constituents, and they will secure their own. Were they conscientiously to exchange one word in their political dictionary for another; or rather, would they consider the word Rule, as an ab­breviation of the word Service, the people would not so often censure their diction, nor criminate their con­duct. "DAVID served his own generation."

THIS is true of him in many respects. He not on­ly led them to frequent victory over their enemies, and the enemies of God—laid several nations under [Page 8] tribute—increased his revenues—lightened the bur­dens of his subjects, and preserved order at home;— but he adjusted the affairs of his kingdom, both civil and military in the most beneficial manner possible.— He ordered a standing militia, consisting of 288,000 men, to serve alternately in a body of 24,000 each month. In addition to all this, he frequently incul­cated on the minds of his people the first principles of religion, and did, indeed, write much for their instruc­tion.

JUST before he died he left a model of the Temple, which was afterwards built by SOLOMON; and shone as the brightest ornament of that nation. It is said, that he had reserved 46,000 tons of gold, and many other materials, amassed by conquest, and laid aside by the hand of a rigorous economy, for the building of that master-piece of architecture.

IN all these articles he served his own genera­tion; in the last, his service looked beyond the then present people. Let it not be unnoticed in the re­cords of his history, that he "acted by the will of God." Providence raised him up and qualified him for the important station on which he reflected so much honor. It was the will of heaven, that he should reign over Israel, and "the inspiration of the Almigh­ty gave him an understanding" proper to direct him in the discharge of the arduous duties attached to Roy­alty. Infinite wisdom will not send one of his ser­vants [Page 9] into a field of difficulties, and not arm him a­gainst them. He will not suffer a poor, dependant creature to fight the battles of the Lord at his own charges. If "by him kings reign, and princes de­cree justice," by him also they are endowed with quali­fications adapted to their offices.

IF "by the will of God" be meant according to that will, then DAVID may be said to have faithfully served GOD by serving his generation. There is no doubt of the fact. He is denominated a servant of GOD through a great part of the old Scriptures. He was eminently such. It should be the great aim of all rulers to discover the mind of GOD, and to make it the grand criterion of all their administrations. Were this universally the case, the ruled would universally rejoice. All those miserable jealousies, which disturb the peace and mar the happiness of civil society, would want a name. Nay, I know not, in such an event, whether subjects would not rather move in their own humble sphere, than take the pious cares and anxieties off their shoulders who hold the reigns of government. The highest distinction between a godly ruler and his constituents, is, that HE supports the heaviest burthen. Unenvied post of honor in the view of every consider­ate mind! MOSES bitterly complained of the cares imposed on him. He found it difficult indeed to car­ry in his arms a whole people, as a father carrieth his children.—He felt as a father to them; but they were [Page 10] too numerous for the attention of a single man. The cares of public life are great assistants to time in send­ing man to his long home. "DAVID fell on sleep and was laid unto his fathers."

IT would be trite here to observe, that death pays no respect to persons; that kings and peasants must lie down in the grave together; or that titles, distinc­tions and honors form no barrier against the great leveller of life. We would only take notice, that death is called a sleep, and observe, that to him who has la­bored strenuously in the service of GOD and his gene­ration, this "sleep is sweet." To throw off all our mortal habiliments at the close of our days must be pleasant, if we have worn them usefully. They are peculiarly cumbersome to Kings and Rulers; they therefore, must find peculiar satisfaction in being "un­clothed," especially, if they have good reason to hope for the garment "of immortality."—They may then exult in the cheering idea of exchanging corruption for incorruption; of laying down an earthly diadem, and taking up a crown of glory. If for a time they see corruption in their bodies, their spirits wear a bright­er form beyond its corroding power.—If they sleep awhile, they are sure to be awakened to see with infinite satisfaction "the morning of the resurrection."

THIS is all applicable to DAVID. Nor is it less so to the illustrious WASHINGTON;—"the first in war, the first in peace, and the first in the hearts of a great people."

[Page 11]To give you his just character, would be to partake in some measure of its glory—an honor to which I dare not aspire. To say that he was born Feb. 11th O. S. 1732, became commander in chief of the armies of America in 1775—that he resigned that important, but well dis­charged trust in 1783—was unanimously chosen Presi­dent of the United States of America in 1789—re­signed the Presidency in 1796—accepted the command of the armies of the United States again in 1798—and that he died December 14th 1799, would be to re­peat what you have long since heard. Farther still would it be from propriety to follow him through the field of carnage, and fix the dates of his battles and his successes. Suffer me, however, to sketch some few traits in his military, civil, and domestic character.

HE began early to "serve his generation by the will of GOD." His dawn was brilliant, and if not warm and influential, it waited only for time to throw his fellow-men beneath his more vertical rays.—Nor were they long in waiting—the story of a BRADDOCK will sanction the observation. In that we may see his sa­lutary counsel fatally disregarded, to the diminution of that haughty Briton's fame. There also may be view­ed the bud of warlike promise opening at the first ge­nial touch of occasion. There we might have dis­cerned, with no prophetic eye, the wreaths of honor, which time was weaving for our youthful hero. The era, destined for the full display of them, was not [Page 12] known. The eye of a JACOB might, however, have pierced through future years, and led him to predict the same things of our national deliverer, in some res­pects, as of JUDAH.—"JUDAH is a lion's whelp, gone up from the prey." He might have described him af­terwards as a "lion Couchant, not Rampant"—as one who did not love war for its own sake, but who fought for peace, that he might enjoy without molestation, what his strength and courage had fairly won.

THIS character was completely exhibited by the man, the warrior, whose removal we now lament.— That ambition, which, by its madness and cruelty con­demns many of its votaries to "everlasting fame," found no place in his capacious mind. He fought for the birthright of his countrymen, Liberty.—He struggled against a powerful, and a haughty foe, who was determined to wrest from us that invaluable gift of heaven. The hidden lightning of his spirit flashed in the face of an opposing cloud, but could never pro­mote an equilibrium. The balance was in his favor. Victory marched by his side in the cause divine, and thus became worthy of her name. Apparent inaction in HIM was sometimes of actions the greatest. It has been well observed of him, that his delay was conquest. His policy was truly FABIAN, and therefore the best possible for his country, raw and undisciplined as were its troops. He well knew that "tide in human af­fairs, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune."— [Page 13] That tide began to flow, when war with an imperious aggressor first dressed our hero in a suit of freedom, and bade him represent the nation. He wore it with in­vincible firmness and unalterable dignity, till he could present each of his fellow-countrymen with the same glorious robe. Having secured the grand object of his exertions, he retired from the tented field to his be­loved Mount, richly laden with the evergreens of fame, there to drink the pure breath of peace, there to in­dulge a highly dignified leisure.—This boon he was not long to enjoy.

As he had descended from the greatest circle ever described by one luminary in the atmosphere of man, so the mere voluntary twilight of his radience still held the admiring eye of the nation.

HIS country soon again demanded in the language of humble necessity, the full blaze of his genius. Oc­casion kindled his benevolent spirit, and he majestical­ly answered the demand.

THE old confederation upon a slight survey was found totally inadequate to the purposes of maintaining har­mony and order, or of concentrating the interests of the American States. The experience and discernment of a WASHINGTON, were importunately requested and freely granted. In the fabrication of the Constitution under which we now live, he was a prime agent.—His penetration was the telescope, through which an august [Page 14] body of Statesmen and Patriots deigned to look for the remotest consequences of its articles. No wonder, then, that he was embraced by the nation at large in the choice of a President.

THE firmness, the dignity, the enlightened pa­triotism, which he exhibited in the discharge of his weighty Presidential duties, have been so thoroughly experienced, as to leave our encomiums in the rear of his worth. He was the central fixed star in the politi­cal sphere, around which revolved many bright, though inferior lights. In him were united both the powers of attraction and repulsion. His dignity suffered none of his train rudely to approximate within the line of decent distance; while his alluring excellence drew them into the focus of his benignity. Whoever once saw his mere exterior must have wished to unlock the casket which contained a brilliant of the first water.— Vain, however, is an attempt fully to portray a cha­racter like his. We want those shades, by which we readily discern the semblances of common men.— The cardinal virtues must sit for their likenesses, to give the world the great Contour of his moral coun­tenance; and virtues of a lower class must fill the re­mainder of the picture.

LET us not forget, that he was confessedly a sol­dier of Christ, and as such "wrestled not only against flesh and blood, but against principalities and pow­ers, [Page 15] and the rulers of the darkness of this world also. He took much of the "armour of God"—"His loins were girt about with truth, and his breast-plate was righteousness."—"His feet were shod with the pre­paration of the gospel of peace," and this rendered his journey through a thorny world more safe and easy. Faith was his shield and the hope of savation his hel­met. Thus he was enabled "to quench the fiery darts of the wicked, and having done all, to stand."

AFTER having ornamented, yea, highly dignified the Cabinet, put faction to the blush, laid his cool hand on the distracted pulse of anarchy and rebellion, and reduced it to the moderate vibration of health, he once more nobly relinquished his glorious station, and returned to his beloved Vernon, to discharge the du­ties and taste the pleasures of private, domestic life.— Here he was the kind husband, the feeling master, and the benevolent neighbor.—Like the worthies of the old Testament, he was Prophet, Priest, and King in his own family. With him slavery forgot her chains, and his household was peace and love. The acme of his perfection however, was not fully attained, till he complied with the invitation once more to become the bulwark of his country.—Glorious sacrifice of the calm hours of the evening of life! Too exalted a conduct to admit a parallel!—When did the almond flourish with such ennobled beauty? History is silent, and silent will remain, perhaps, forever.

[Page 16]IMPIOUS. France dared not to declare open hostili­ties, but said to herself the "old Lion is couched down, who shall dare to rouse him?"

HERE we pause!—Regret for his loss succeeds to the pleasure of recounting the deeds of his important life!—Yet let us not cruelly wish his return, while we believe his Vernon was but a step-stone to mount Zion.—Like Sampson, he slew more at his death, than in his life; since even the numerous children of Envy we laid asleep. Envy herself stops at his grave, and pronounces his eulogy.

WHILE we sincerely lament his departure, let us re­member that God, with whom is the residue of the spirit, can qualify others to fill every important sta­tion in the field and in the cabinet, and enable them to "serve their generation according to his will." Let us pray that he would impart the spirit of our much regretted friend to our worthy PRESIDENT, and make the subordinate officers in civil trust, as angels of God to this people. May we all be enabled to serve our generation according to the will of heaven, that we may "be laid to our fathers in peace."

AMEN.