THE face of man is upward, and his eyes behold the heavens. By this, man is distin­guished, and highly privileged above all the lower creation: for truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun.

Contemplating the firmament of light—the stars which the Lord ordained; how high! how large! how numerous! how bright!—we gaze with ad­miration: a flood of glory pours upon our minds; and our hearts are kindled with a pathos as of burning coals. Yet the moon, when she ariseth, ruleth the night: as queen of heaven, she com­mandeth [Page 6] the attention of every eye: all the skies, silently, put on her silver robes; and wide o'er the earth extendeth her reign of light!—But the sun also ariseth! and where are now the stars? and where their beauteous queen? In the haste of wil­ling obedience they have all retired, opening for him the wide path of heaven its whole length; which, at once, is filled with his golden beams.

Here is wisdom! When we understand that the heavens were made in wisdom, we perceive that the natural heavens are the exact type and pattern of all worlds: and we are led to contemplate, with wonder and pleasure, the analogy of all God's works.

This is a meditation the most profitable and sublime: and we are warranted by the scriptures to enter the sacred field, and make use of these first works of God, to assist our thoughts and reflec­tions upon those wrought through every age, down to the present moment. In the scriptures, very fre­quently, the just are compared to the stars, the be­lieving, to the moon, and the eminently good, to the clear shining of the sun.

[Page 7]But the world on which we are now called so­lemnly to meditate is social America: in this he­misphere many great lights have arisen: stars of magnitude have here beamed, and held a resplen­dent course; and often hath America, in her so­cial walks, beheld the moon rounding her full orb, bright and unclouded.

But the sun also hath arisen: one character hath here been exhibited, as distinguished and unrival­led, as the sun in the firmament; and which the stupendous task hath devolved upon me, this day, to eulogize.

But where shall I begin! The stars cluster, we compare one with another; they are formed into constellations, and have their order: but there is, there can be, but one sun; with him there is none to compare: nor doth the sun present particular dis­tinguished points, which might direct a descrip­tion: it is one body of light.

GEORGE WASHINGTON, the man or­dained by Heaven to rule our social day, was every way qualified and marked out for his work. His person was most excellent—his countenance pecu­liarly [Page 8] bright, and indescribably expressive of the no­blest intellectual powers, dispositions and acquire­ments. His limner needed not to depart from the truth for the sake of the picture: the greatest like­ness was the best picture. And the same observa­tion may be made of his historian: the best in­formed, and the most upright and impartial histo­rian, will give the greatest and best character of WASHINGTON.

I had a great desire to see the man of whom I had heard so much, to satisfy myself, if veneration and love had not given wings to the imagination, in the description given of the dignity of his per­son, and the symmetry and expression of his coun­tenance; but when I saw him, one bright day, at the head of his army, marching against Cornwallis, I was satisfied: I found, that, as prompt as the imagination ever is in dressing, gracing, and ex­hibiting to advantage, the dear object of the heart, something was here to be conceived of only by the eye.

A man, kept from a view of the face of the cre­ation, might form ideas of the beauty of some [Page 9] objects beyond what, in comparison with others, belongeth to them; but he would never form too exalted ideas of the sun: the livliest and most pleasing imagination of the brightness of the sun, is the sight of the eye.

This countenance, as we naturally expect, was the true index of the mind; a mind full of light and heat, which nothing can describe, but the whole life of WASHINGTON.

He was seriously reserved, but of easy address; moderate, yet resolute; grave, yet sprightly; mild, but heroic; prudent, but vigorous; liberal, liberal, with economy.

His discernment was surprising; his judgment, no less wonderful: he penetrated, weighed and forecast every thing; and his application was in­cessant—All directed to the wisest and noblest objects—social happiness—his country's freedom, independence, honour and prosperity—liberty, liberty—the rights and duties of man—and what­ever might exalt and felicitate the whole human race.

[Page 10]Humane—he pitied his enemies, and rendered good for evil. Hospitable—his door was opened to the stranger, as to a friend: and impartial—to him all had free access: no sect or party, society or district, formed his circle; but, like that of the sun, it included all.

Interesting himself, deeply and conscientiously, in the cause of virtue; he was forward to sustain la­bours, and faithful in every trust—private and public—in social life—at the head of armies—as a magistrate—in war, and in peace: persevering in the pursuit of the benevolent object to the end.

But what, perhaps, is most wonderful in this character, was that which is commonly called good fortune; but which we know to be the special agency of Divine Providence: for the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.

General WASHINGTON sprang from one of the wealthiest and most respected families in Ame­rica; and soon, in the events of Providence, be­came almost the sole object of special attention and care. Being the favourite of the family, and of all acquaintances; in a part of the country distin­guished [Page 11] for literary improvment, and popular edu­cation; and possessing from a child the best con­stitution, and almost uninterrupted health; his ad­vantages were the best that could have been en­joyed.

And no sooner was he formed for any conspicu­ous station, than he was placed in the very sphere where he might shine with every possible advan­tage.

He never had to seek a sphere of action: that Hand which stretched out the heavens, and order­ed where the sun should rise, opened before WASHINGTON every door. Usually, for men to ascend to the lowest spheres of light, hoc opus, hic labor est; but, for WASHINGTON, the eburne gate was lifted up, and it was neither labour nor pains to ascend to the vertex.

He was ever prosperous; whatever he engaged in ended well: and miraculous indeed were his preservations—amidst common dangers—and in battles, where the slain on the right hand and on the left were many—but most of all from the fell snares and toils of a wily, watchful and implacable [Page 12] foe; who knew all the depths of Satan, and could easily descend to the lowest, even to countenance and encourage the dark assassin. But the soul of WASHINGTON was guarded by more than shield or sword: it was bound up in the roll of life, and hidden beyond the search of malice. He lived! he conquered! he saw his labours all finish­ed—his desires all accomplished! He ran the whole race, and reached the goal; neither faint nor wearied; but like the strong man, that enjoy­eth the evening with the vigour of the morning. Millions, in a proper sense, gave him their hearts; Genius devoted his song; and Nature decreed her Vernon for his triumph.

He was beloved, greatly beloved, most univer­sally beloved! by affinities, by domestics, soldiers, citizens, countrymen, and foreigners; by great and small. He was the beloved child, the beloved youth, the beloved man, the beloved christian, and the beloved sage. The true and general af­fection that he shared compareth with all the rest, and strikingly evinceth the agency of that Hand which holdeth all hearts: and worthy was he to be thus beloved.

[Page 13]Our WASHINGTON lived at the most event­ful and momentous period: he shined, a summer's sun: he held his course, a harvest day. His was a day of great men, and a day of great events; and all conspired to make WASHINGTON great.

A HANCOCK, an ADAMS, a FRANKLIN, a JEFFERSON, a WARREN, a GREENE, a TRUM­BULL, a LIVINGSTON, a HENRY—a cloud of seventy-five men was prepared as a chariot for the advent of WASHINGTON.

A George the Third, a British court, navy and army, had just arisen to the zenith of empire, and the height of insolence; ruling the seas, and, with a countenance the most terrific, menacing every shore, and claiming a right to bind free-born America, in all cases whatsoever. Never was there a cause of resistance more just; never, a clearer call to put on the harness; never, a cause more interesting to the human race, that called for the sword.

This was thy day, O WASHINGTON! Thou wast raised up for such a time as this! All [Page 14] this train of wonderful events united together to make our Golden Orb the centre of the social system.

But, though we view a man, in society, worthy of a comparison with the sun, in the natural world; yet we view neither the one nor the other as per­fect or divine. There are spots in the sun; his beams are sometimes scorching; and, though he eclipseth all the heavens with his brightness, he in his turn suffers eclipses.

There were, doubtless, some imperfections in the character of WASHINGTON; but, like the spots in the sun's disk, they were lost in his excel­lences; they were comparatively small.

But, alas! some men have been so stupid and dishonourable, as to give to the sun divine ho­nours—to pay to the creature the homage due to the Creator! Hath the worship of the heathen added any thing to the glory of the sun? Far otherwise: instead of adding, in this way, they have detracted from his glory. The idolatrous worship, which hath been offered to the natural sun, hath risen up, like the fog of marshy places, [Page 15] and obscured his beams. Heathen lands are justly styled dark and benighted lands: their idola­tries cast a gloom over the face of the creation.

And with what indignation should we express the conduct of some men, in favoured, enlightened America, whose foolish hearts, being equally dar­kened with those of the heathen, have acted the same stupid and brutish part! who have attempted to obscure the brightness of the wonderful charac­ter of WASHINGTON, by the fumes of idola­trous praise! Were these WASHINGTON'S friends? Never! never! but the enemies of the revolution, seekers and time-servers. Never did this effulgent character shine so dimly, as when it hath been thus profanely eulogized.

It is observed of the heathen, in their adora­tions paid to the sun, that their servile minds led them to dwell much upon his rare and most un­pleasant aspects: they have more to say of his eclipses, than of all his bright and benignant in­fluences—a striking proof of their being influenced by the devil. And the same circumstance may be observed of the adulators of WASHINGTON. [Page 16] Audacious men! they have dared to insult his ever-faithful friends, when attempting to defend his true character against their impious flattery; and call them WASHINGTON's enemies, be­cause they would not bow down, and give to the creature, the most exalted creature, the glory due to the Creator.

But WASHINGTON desired not this: it was to him most painful, as the tear of sorrow often bespoke. He realized he was a man; a mortal man; an accountable man. He confessed imper­fections, which none but himself could see. And no man appeared to have a clearer and more con­stant view of the divine agency over him, than himself. How earnestly and repeatedly did he call on all his friends—on all America—to give the glory to God! How doth this aggravate the conduct of his blasphemous adulators!

O WASHINGTON! didst thou say in thy Farewell Address, "I shall carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view the errors I may have committed with indulgence; and that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated [Page 17] to its service, with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to obli­vion?" Wist thou not that they were already co­vered and consigned to oblivion by the effulgence of thy beneficent life?

But the sun goeth down. How solemn the mo­ment! how affecting the scene! America, cover­ed with her tokens of mourning, turneth her eyes to the western horizon, to behold an event often contemplated with an anxious heart—a setting sun—a sun going down, to arise no more.

We have no reason to expect another WASH­INGTON in America; for by wisdom God crea­ted the heavens, and there is but one sun in the wide expanse: we may not look for another so distinguished a character in our sphere, while the present order of things continues.

The stars also, his compatriots, have become occidental, and rapidly fall from heaven. This year hath been remarkable for the decease of great men in America. Solemn thoughts press upon the mind! The social system hath received a great shock in the death of WASHINGTON; [Page 18] and what can be shaken must ere long be re­moved.

How ominous is this event! When you consi­der this, and the general aspect of all the great events now taking place through the world, with a recollection of my particular views of the di­vine prophecies, you will not suppose the thought, in me, ariseth from the enthusiasm of the moment, that they portend the closing scene—that the night is approaching, which will immediately pre­cede that other day, new in its nature, divine, and eternal. May we be prepared for that most solemn scene; and may this event be sanctified to us, and to all the people, for that end.

But we have consolation in the midst of our mourning; light ariseth in the darkness. WASH­INGTON died in the full confidence and affec­tion of a free and happy people: and though our Golden Orb descendeth below the horizon of na­tural life, the skies still reflect his rays. O WASH­INGTON! thou still livest in the grateful heart of republican America, and there thou wilt ever live.

[Page 19]More! infinitely more! Behold a Divine Sun ariseth! O ZION! thy Sun still shineth in all his strength; and thy Sun shall not go down! The LORD is thine everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.

What infinite obligations of gratitude and praise are we laid under to God, who according to WISDOM framed the heavens; who appointed the sun and the moon to shine in their glorious spheres, and marshalled the stars in their beautiful order; and who hath stretched out those heavens before our eyes, as the pattern of all his wonderful works, in the social and civil worlds, and of what, finally, will be exhibited in perfection in the world of glory!

O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever! to Him that by wisdom made the heavens, for his mercy endureth forever! to Him that made great lights, for his mercy endureth forever! to Him that raised up WASHINGTON, preserved him, and gave him victory, peace and prosperity, for his mercy endur­eth forever!

[Page 20]And O give thanks unto Him who hath made the heaven of heavens, for his mercy endureth forever! who hath caused the Sun of Righteousness to shine there, for his mercy endureth forever! and who hath given his redeemed people the certain prospect of seeing and enjoying that Sun, a long, eternal day, for his mercy endureth forever!

AMEN.