An eulogy on George Washington, late commander in chief of the armies of the United States of America, who died December 14, 1799. : Delivered before the inhabitants of the town of Boston, at the request of their committee. / By George Richards Minot, A.M. A.A.S. Minot, George Richards, 1758-1802. Approx. 25 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 22 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI : 2008-09. N28499 N28499 Evans 37967 APY4947 37967 99032102

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Early American Imprints, 1639-1800 ; no. 37967. (Evans-TCP ; no. N28499) Transcribed from: (Readex Archive of Americana ; Early American Imprints, series I ; image set 37967) Images scanned from Readex microprint and microform: (Early American imprints. First series ; no. 37967) An eulogy on George Washington, late commander in chief of the armies of the United States of America, who died December 14, 1799. : Delivered before the inhabitants of the town of Boston, at the request of their committee. / By George Richards Minot, A.M. A.A.S. Minot, George Richards, 1758-1802. Second edition. 24 p. ; 22 cm. (8vo) From the printing-office of Manning & Loring., Boston: : [1800] Delivered January 9, 1800. Half-title: Judge Minot's eulogy.

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eng Washington, George, 1732-1799 -- Death and burial. Funeral sermons -- 1800. 2006-10 Assigned for keying and markup 2007-02 Keyed and coded from Readex/Newsbank page images 2007-10 Sampled and proofread 2007-10 Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 Batch review (QC) and XML conversion

Judge Minot's Eulogy.

AN Eulogy ON GEORGE WASHINGTON, LATE COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WHO DIED DECEMBER 14, 1799.

Delivered before the INHABITANTS of the Town of Boston, AT THE REQUEST OF THEIR COMMITTEE.

BY GEORGE RICHARDS MINOT, A.M. A.A.S.

SECOND EDITION.

BOSTON: FROM THE PRINTING-OFFICE OF MANNING & LORING.

BOSTON, January 9, 1800. SIR,

I AM directed by the Committee of Arrangements, to expreſs to you their acknowledgments, for your compliance with their wiſhes, in delivering an Eulogium this day in honour of the late General WASHINGTON; to aſſure you of the pleaſing though melancholy ſenſations with which they heard your able delineation of the character of that illuſtrious man; and to requeſt a copy for the preſs.

I am, Sir, With reſpect and eſteem, Your moſt obedient Servant, CHARLES BULFINCH. Hon. GEORGE RICHARDS MINOT, Eſq.
BOSTON, January 9, 1800. SIR,

THE reſpectable Committee of Arrangements honour me greatly by their approbation of the manner in which I have executed the duty aſſigned to me by their appointment. I conſider the diſpoſal of my production to be their right, and deliver the copy requeſted, with regret only that I could do no more, upon an occaſion which deſerved every thing that eloquence could beſtow.

I am, Sir, With much regard, Your very reſpectful humble Servant, GEORGE RICHARDS MINOT. To CHARLES BULFINCH, Eſq. Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements of the Town of Boſton.
Eulogy.

OUR duty, my Fellow-Townſmen, on this diſtreſſing occaſion, is dictated by the dignity and reſplendent virtue of the beloved Man whoſe death we deplore. We aſſemble to pay a debt to departed merit, a debt which we can only pay by the ſincerity of our grief, and the reſpectful effuſions of gratitude; for the higheſt eulogy left us to beſtow upon our lamented WASHINGTON, is the ſtrict narration of the truth, and the loftieſt character which we can aſſign to him, is the very diſplay of himſelf. When ambition allies itſelf to guilt, when power tramples upon right, when victory triumphs in blood, when piety ſits clouded in ſuperſtition, when humility is affected by cunning, when patriotiſm is founded on ſelfiſhneſs; then let adulation ſpread her proſtituted mantle, to ſcreen the diſgraces of her patrons, and amuſe with the falſehoods of her imagination. But to our political Father, the faithful page of hiſtory is panegyric, and the happineſs of his country is the monument of his fame.

COME, then, Warriors! Stateſmen! Philoſophers! Citizens! aſſemble round the tomb of this favourite ſon of virtue; with all the luxury of ſorrow recollect the important events of his life, and partake of the greateſt legacy which a mortal could bequeath you, in the contemplation of his example. Whilſt we ſolemnize this act, his diſembodied ſpirit, if it be permitted to retrace the ſcenes of its terreſtrial exiſtence, will ſmile with approbation on the inſtructive rite.

YOUR anniverſaries have long honoured the eleventh of February, one thouſand ſeven hundred and thirty-two, as the birth-day of our illuſtrious Chief, and the pariſh of his own name in Weſtmoreland county, in Virginia, boaſts itſelf the place of his nativity. But to ſouls like his, local reſtrictions are not attached. Where Liberty was, there would be his country: Happy for us, the Genius of Liberty, reſponſive to his affections, reſolved that where WASHINGTON was, there alſo ſhould be her abode.

EDUCATED by private inſtruction, his virtue grew with his knowledge, and the uſeful branches of literature occupied the whole powers of his mind. Exemplary for ſolidity of thought, and chaſtity of morals, he was honoured by the government of Virginia, with an important miſſion, at an age when the levities of the human character ſeldom yield to the earlieſt operation of reaſon.

AT the opening of the great war of encroachments upon our weſtern frontiers, he was the bearer of the remonſtrance to the French. Such was the addreſs, fidelity and perſeverance with which he executed this important truſt, that he was honoured at twenty-two years of age with the command of a regiment raiſed by his province. His military talents were ſoon called to the teſt. At Redſtone, Victory perched upon his ſtandard; but, with that volatility by which ſhe tries the powers of her favourite heroes, ſhe in a few months afterwards left him, by his own exertions, to ſave the honours of war for his little band, in an unequal, but well ſupported battle. In Braddock's ſlaughtered army, he was a witneſs to ſcenes of horror, which his caution, had it been adopted, would have prevented, and which his ſteady courage aſſiſted much to retrieve. During the remainder of this war, he was employed in fortifying his native province, in arranging and perfecting its militia, and in checking the incurſions of the enemy, until the criſis of the conteſt had paſſed in this country, when he reſigned his command.

RETIREMENT to him was only a different mode of action, and his repoſe partook not of indolence. Amidſt the honourable purſuits of agriculture, he diſcharged various civil offices, until we find him riſing amongſt the patriots of our country, as a delegate from Virginia, in the firſt American Congreſs.

WE ſhall ever remember the fifteenth day of June, one thouſand ſeven hundred and ſeventy-five, when Providence directed to his appointment as the commander in chief of our revolutionary army. In this neighbourhood he firſt drew his ſword. Many of you, my Fellow-Townſmen, were then languiſhing under the fetters of tyranny, or were impriſoned within the joyleſs confines of your own habitations. Your hope was fixed on him. His command, independent of the reſources of his own mind, afforded no ground for the ſupport of your feelings. He had an army brave indeed, but with little diſcipline; naked at the approach of winter; and almoſt ſubject to diſſolution from temporary enliſtments; a pay-maſter without money; a commiſſary ſtruggling on the utmoſt ſtretch of credit. A veteran army lay under his eye ſtrongly fortified, regularly paid, warmly clothed, and boaſting its ſuperiority to militia. Yet did his victorious ſword relieve you, and ſave your city. Juſtly have you aſcribed "your reinſtatement to his wiſe arrangements, which compelled your invaders to adopt a leſs deſtructive policy than that which on other occaſions they ſo wantonly practiſed." Could our gratitude forget it, the heights around us bear the triumphant evidence of his conqueſt.

To trace this protector of our liberties through his unrivalled career, from his gloomy retreat through the Jerſies to his ſeveral victories and his ſplendid triumph at York-Town, would be to narrate the varying hiſtory of our revolution. To him, public labour was amuſement, ſuffering in the cauſe of freedom was a luxury, and every hour as it flew carried an offering to his country.

As obedience to the voice of his oppreſſed fellow-citizens drew his ſword on the approach of war, ſo at the declaration of peace, by the ſame reſpected voice he reſtored it to its ſcabbard. He left them his bleſſing and their liberties. O Human Nature, how haſt thou been traduced! With thee, has it been ſaid, is eſſentially connected that luſt of power which is inſatiable; which reſtores not voluntarily what has been committed to its charge; which devours all rights, and reſolves all laws into its own authority; which labours not for others, but ſeizes the fruits of their labours for itſelf; which breaks down all barriers of religion, ſociety and nature that obſtruct its courſe; now art thou vindicated! Here we behold thee allied to virtue, worn in the ſervice of mankind, ſuperior to the meanneſs of compenſation, humbly hoping for the thanks of thy country alone, faithfully ſurrendering the ſword, with which thou waſt entruſted, and yielding up power with a promptneſs and facility equalled only by the diffidence and reluctance with which thou receivedſt it.

Now, will the future inquirer ſay, this Hero has finiſhed the taſk aſſigned him, the meaſure of his glory is full. A world is admitted to freedom—a nation is born. Favoured beyond the leader of Iſrael, not only with the proſpect, but with the fruition of the promiſed bleſſing, he has retired, like that prince of meekneſs, to the Mount, whence he is to aſcend, unſeen by a weeping people, to the reward of all his labours. No, he is to live another life upon this globe; he is to reap a double harveſt in the field of perennial honour. The people whom he has ſaved from external tyranny, ſuffer from the agitations of their own unſettled powers. The tree of liberty which he has planted, and ſo carefully guarded from the ſtorms, now flouriſhes beyond its ſtrength, its lofty excreſcences threaten to tear its leſs extended roots from the earth, and to proſtrate it fruitleſs on the plain. But, he comes! In Convention he preſides over counſels, as in war he had led the battle. The Conſtitution, like the rainbow after the flood, appears to us, now juſt emerging from an overwhelming commotion; and we know the truth of the pledge from the ſanction of his name.

THE production was worthy of its authors, and of the magnanimous people whom it was intended to eſtabliſh. You adopt it, you cheriſh it, and you reſolve to tranſmit it, with the name of WASHINGTON, to the lateſt generation, who ſhall prove their juſt claim to ſuch an illuſtrious deſcent.

WHO was ſo worthy, as our great legiſlator, to direct the operations of a government which his counſels and his ſword had laboured to erect? By a unanimous ſuffrage he was invited to the exalted ſtation of Preſident of the United States. The call was too ſacred to admit of doubt; It ſuperſeded the happineſs of retirement, the demands of private intereſt, the ſweet attractions of domeſtic ſociety, and the hazard (forgive it, WASHINGTON! for thou waſt mortal) the hazard of public reputation. Behold the man on this occaſion ſo mighty in the eye of all the world, ſo humble in his own! He accepts the high appointment with ſuch diſtruſt of his natural endowments, with ſuch diffidence in his capacity, as can be relieved only by his reliance on that almighty BEING, "who rules over the univerſe, who preſides in the councils of nations, and whoſe providential aids can ſupply every human defect."

ONE of the earlieſt acts of his adminiſtration was that circular viſit to transfuſe his love, and receive the grateful benedictions of his loving countrymen, in which you, my Fellow Townſmen, partook ſo liberal a ſhare. What ſenſations ruſhed upon your minds, when you compared the dreadful aſpect of your beſieged city, with its now ſmiling condition. The well-cultivated fields were ſcreening from view the late terrific ramparts of the enemy, and the groans of the diſtreſſed had yielded to the buſy noiſe of commerce and pleaſure. How grateful now is the recollection, that with tears of joy you crowded to meet him in your ſtreets, diſplaying the very inſignia which you this day bear in mournful proceſſion; and your children, bowing their heads with eager ſolicitude to attract his fatherly eye, received his pious bleſſing.

DID the occaſion admit of it, how pleaſing would be the review of his adminiſtration, as our Supreme Executive Magiſtrate! His talents and his virtues increaſed with his cares. His ſoul ſeemed not to bear the limits of office, a moment after the obligations of duty and patriotiſm withdrew their reſtraints from his univerſal love. When the miſguided ſavages of the wilderneſs, after feeling his chaſtiſement, had ſued for peace, he ſeemed to labour for their happineſs as the common repreſentative of mankind. Inſurrection was ſo ſtruck at his countenance, that it fled from the ſhock of his arms. Intrigue attempted to entangle him in her poiſonous web, but he burſt it with gigantic ſtrength, and cruſhed her labours. Anarchy looked out from her cavern, and was daſhed into oblivion, as we truſt, forever. The nations of Europe ſaw the wiſdom of our laws, the vigour of our meaſures, the juſtice of our policy, the firmneſs of our government, and acquieſced in the neutrality of our ſtation.

THE dangers of the Commonwealth having ſubſided at the cloſe of his ſecond adminiſtration, he felt himſelf juſtified, after dedicating forty-five years of his valuable life to her ſervice, in with-drawing to receive with reſignation the great change of nature, which his age and his toils demonſtrated to be near. When he declined your future ſuffrages, he left you a legacy. What! like Ceſar's to the Romans, money for your ſports? Like Attalus's, a kingdom for your tyranny? No; he left you not ſuch baubles, nor for ſuch purpoſes. He left you the records of wiſdom for your government: a mirror for the faithful representation to your own view, of yourſelves, your weakneſſes, your advantages, your dangers: a magnet which points to the ſecret mines and windings of party ſpirit, faction, foreign influence: a pillar to the unity of your republic: a band to incloſe, conciliate, and ſtrengthen the whole of your wonderful and almoſt boundleſs communities. Read, preſerve the ſacred depoſit; and leſt poſterity ſhould forget the truth of its maxims, engrave them on his tomb, that they may read them when they weep before it.

IN his ſecond reſignation of power and the charms of office, the American Leader appears ſuperior to ancient or modern examples. Yet another grade was aſſigned to his virtue. Our national rights, ſo well defended at home, were invaded on the ocean. The alarm reaches his retreat; the honour of our Republic warms his heart; and he again accepts the ſword for its defence from the hand of another, placed by the voice of the people in that ſupreme magiſtracy, which he alone had heretofore filled. With a leſs dignified ſoul, this official inferiority might have availed to injure his country; but he who could deſcend from the head of a nation to diſcharge the minuteſt duties of a private citizen, was too great to allow the influence of etiquette to endanger the ſafety of the people. His condeſcenſion raiſes him above himſelf; his ſpirit fires all ranks of men; he is overwhelmed with the gratitude and applauſe of an enraptured nation.

WHILST we confide in his arm, and are marſhalling our warriors to march under his banners, the GOD of armies, whoſe counſels are beyond the ſcrutiny of man, prepares for us the teſt of our ſubmiſſion to his chaſtiſing rod. It is decreed that our WASHINGTON ſhall die, but that his death ſhall be worthy of his life. He is to die by the hand of Virtue. The rapid diſeaſe which is ſelected as the inſtrument of his diſſolution, inſtantaneouſly ſeizes him. His humanity delays the immediate aid to which alone it may yield. Inconsolable Domeſtics! what ſtorms would you not have braved, what hazards would you not have encountered, to ſave that life which was ſacrificed to your comfort and ſafety! At length Science flies to ſave him. Alas! what avails its ſkill againſt the mandate of Heaven? It comes too late!—It is finiſhed.

WONDERFUL event! Greatneſs departs in glory, and envy is ſilent! All acknowledge him to be the firſt of citizens, and none feel hurt by his ſuperiority. So impartial was he that none impeach his juſtice; ſo moderate, none complain of his power; ſo magnanimous, his conquered enemies applaud his humanity; ſo philanthropic, that neither colour, nor climate, nor religion, nor politics could exclude the unfortunate from his ſuccour. He had the habit of combining ſentiment with action in ſuch method and force, that he ſhed his benevolence on communities of men with the ſame eaſe as the ſudden impulſe of momentary ſenſibility beſtows it upon individuals. Unexampled virtue! allotted to its merited reward. Many founders of nations have been left to obtain from poſterity that reputation which prejudice or bigotry has denied at their deaths. The tomb has been neceſſary to bury anger, petty intereſts and emulation, which barred an equitable judgment. But in regard to this Sage, the gratitude of his country has been co-exiſtent with his exertions. Time has not been required to remove him from our view, in order to magnify his exploits through the medium of ſame; nor was it requiſite that we ſhould be deprived of the good he had done us, to entertain a juſt ſenſe of its importance. Medals and ſtatues have been decreed him when living, and your tears announce his greater triumph in your hearts, when dead. Diſintereſted love! What motives have you, freemen, for thus offering up your applauſe? He has now no ſhield to defend you from the invaſions of your enemies; his head lies cold in the grave, and no counſel can ariſe from his lips. His eyes were cloſed by his own unſhaken hand, and no ſmile can now beam from his countenance to animate your troops. Grateful Republicans! indeed you weep not from ſelfiſhneſs. Afflicted with the thought of the bleſſings which he has ſhowered upon yourſelves and your children, you would call him, could your voice be heard, from the cloſed manſions of the dead, again to receive the tribute of your affection. You weep for her, whoſe tender participation in the anxieties of a huſband relieved his cares, and protracted the invaluable life which love itſelf could no longer detain. Diſconſolate woman! mourn not, for the faithful is gone to receive the reward of his uprightneſs. The whole deſire of his heart, the whole purſuit of his labours has been the good of his fellow-men. Contraſt him with thoſe who have been raiſed by the empty, the criminal admiration of mankind, to the higheſt ranks in the Pantheon of fame. See one inſtead of liberating and protecting, employed in conquering and enſlaving a world, and weeping that his guilty taſk could be continued no longer. Another retiring from the purple, not with the united bleſſings of all religious ſects, but the bigoted perſecutor of the only rational and divine religion: See the maſter of ſo many crowns, after yielding them up for a convent, inſtead of intereſting himſelf in the welfare of mankind to the hour of his departure, relapſing into the abſurdities of monkiſh ſuperſtition! and another, whoſe aſhes are ſcarcely cold, ſlaughtering the armies of half the nations of Europe, to extend the limits of an Electorate, with as much zeal as our departed Hero laboured to extend the limits of freedom, civilization and morals. When ſo much worth ſteps off from the ſtage of life, the weakneſs of our nature is the only apology for our tears. Such an exit is not death, it is the triumph of the juſt.

SONS of Freedom! as you regard the memory of your ſcended Chief, attend to the injunctions of his will. Remember that it was not for you alone he laboured. It was for your poſterity alſo; it was for the human race. For you and for them he was firſt in building the nobleſt political ſyſtem that adorns the world. It is an experiment to aſcertain the nature of man; whether he be capable of freedom, or whether he muſt be led by the reins of tyranny; whether he be endowed with that moderation and underſtanding which checks the extreme indulgence of his will; and by allowing to others the ſame rational enjoyment with himſelf, forms the liberty of the whole upon the partial reſtraint of each individual; or whether he muſt go on attempting to follow the dictates of ſelfiſhneſs, and find his only reſtraint in a power which will eſtabliſh itſelf independent of his conſent, and make him its ſlave. Who of us can be ſuppoſed to be ſo loſt to himſelf, ſo forgetful of his children, and ſo traitorous to the world, as to contemplate the overthrow of this magnificent temple of wiſdom? No, my Fellow-Townſmen, whatever zeal may ſuddenly ſuggeſt, or apprehenſions tempt us to ſuſpect, there lives not a man among us, ſo depraved, ſo curſed by Heaven. Shall it be ſaid, that the works of his hands whom we this day almoſt adore; that the hope which he held out to the nations of the earth, ſhall be fruſtrated by our diviſions? To the honour of our country, not a man but anſwers, No: all, when rightly informed, wave their particular prejudices in ſupport of the great pillar of our national union. It is our pride; it was erected by our fathers; it is the ſtandard of our defence. Let us then, with a view of forever maintaining it, baniſh all animoſity, melt down all parties, wipe away all diſtinctions. Let us no longer deſignate men who have differed in ſentiment, by odious epithets mutually reflected and mutually diſavowed: but if a common name be wanted, let it be formed from his whom we now ſeek to honour, and let it be uſed to denote good will to one another, reſpect to our Conſtitution, fortitude to our enemies, love to our country, devotion to our GOD.

IN the condolence of this day, we cannot fail to notice the honour which we feel by the preſence of the Fathers of the State. It was not unbecoming the dignity of office, on ſuch an occaſion, to ſuſpend its occupations and join the general ſorrow. To devote this portion of time to his memory who devoted a long life to our happineſs, is rational and juſt. Within the preſent political year, you, Honourable Magiſtrates and Legiſlators, in this place ſolemnized the obſequies of the late excellent Governor of our Commonwealth, the much reſpected SUMNER. Thus paſs away the wiſe, the virtuous and the faithful; by an irrevocable decree, leſs unwelcome to them, as it reſpects themſelves, than grievous to us. Their lives are long enough for their own glory, but, alas! ſtill too neceſſary to their country's welfare. The experience, the learning, the genius, the various coincidence of circumſtances, which are neceſſary to form that effulgence of character, by which they enlighten, poliſh and direct ſociety, fall to the lot of few. When ſuch lamps are extinguiſhed, we are happy if our darkneſs be tranſient. But in your wiſdom the people of our Commonwealth ſafely confide; nor as members of our united country, do they mourn like thoſe who are without hope; for although in the preſent gloom of our political hemiſphere, their late ruling planet has travelled to the morning of another clime, yet its kindred luminary riſes on the horizon, brilliant, ſteady, and propitious to direct their courſe. They lament that their beloved WASHINGTON ſleeps in death; their conſolation is, that his faithful Brother, the vigilant ADAMS, ſurvives.