THOUGH the thoughts of death and a future sta [...] have not a constant and uniform influence on human life, yet they will sometimes press upon the imagina­tion. Our circumstances may be flourishing even to the extent of our wishes; the cup of affliction m [...]y be removed from our lips, and we may enjoy the warmest beams of prosperity; but still we cannot always avoid the reflexion, that we must, some time or other, bid adieu to all sublunary enjoyments.

As the great end of life is to prepare for death, Pro­vidence hath surrounded us with such objects as furnish matter for moral reflections, and continually remind us that this life is transitory and uncertain. The fall of the leaf in autumn, and the fading of the grass, give us warning that the fashion of this world passeth away.

But lest these changes in the vegetable world should produce no effect upon us, we have frequent op­portunities of contemplating the ravages of death among our own species. Almost every day, instances of mor­tality happen around us, and numbers are continually dropping into the gulf of eternity. But even these ad­monitions are often regarded with indifference. The [Page 6] [...] of an obs [...] [...], but [...] the small circle of his acquaint [...] [...] generality consider it as a thing of course; as a matter in which they are not interested.

It is therefore necessary that more awful intimations should occasionally be given; that events should some­times happen, which may irresistably arrest attention, and teach mankind that they are but mortal. When a person illustrious for his actions, and beloved for his virtues, departs this life, the eyes of mankind are opened; those reflections, which they once avoided as unpleasant, rush involuntarily into the mind, and convince them of the precarious nature of their enjoyments. The leaves of the forest may fall unnoticed; but when the majestic oak is torn up by the tempest, and laid prostrate on the earth, it cannot fail to attract the observation of the passing traveller. The solitary cottage is gradually de­stroyed by time, and sinks imperceptibly into decay; but when the cloud capt towers and gorgeous palaces are overturned, we pause to contemplate the mighty ruin, and heave a sigh for the instability of human grandeur.

An event of this kind, my Brethren, hath recently happened. A great man hath fallen among u [...] The silver cord is loosed, the golden bowl is broken, the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel is broken at the cistern. WASHINGTON has gone to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets.

It is not my intention to trace, at present, the steps by which this great man rose to the summit of glory, nor to relate those exertions by which he conducted his country through a long and perilous war, and erected the temple of Liberty in this western world.—When a life is marked by such a train of splendid actions; when a character is distinguished by such an assemblage of vir­tues, the mind is at a loss where to begin the striking enumeration. This subject, therefore, I shall leave to the Livies and Virgils of future ages: to them it will [Page 7] prove [...] [...]stible them [...] ▪ Th [...]y [...]ill tell how [...] united th [...] [...] the [...] valor of Marceli [...], and [...] the [...] Am [...] ­rican Liberty▪ They will celebrate his [...]ent patri­otism, his unshaken magnanimity, his extensive bene­volence—But what am I sa [...]ing? Already have the pens of the Historian and the Poet consigned his name to immortality. His renown hath already spread as [...] as the influence of civilizat [...]on reacheth; and it will de­scend from age to age with fresh accessions of glory, like a generous river, which is augmented in its course, by the confluence of tributary streams.

Instead, then, of attempting an eulogium on the character of the deceased, I shall endeavor, through di­vine assistance, to make a few ref [...]ctions on the melan­choly event, which hath separated our friend from u [...] for ever.

We have now, my Brethren, a fresh and striking insta [...]ce, that no human condition is exempt from mor­tality.

WASHINGTON hath given us an awful proof of the truth of this assertion. The man, whose reputation fill­ed the Universe, is now confined within the narrow compass of a tomb. That arm, which dealt destruction among the foes of his country, is nerveless and [...]n­strung. Those eyes, which beamed benevolence, are now closed in a long and peaceful slumber—a slumber that shall last till the morning of the resurrection. That bosom, which glowed with patriotism and the love of liberty, hath ceased to beat, and is now but a clod of the valley.—Ye unthinking mortals, who tread the giddy round of pleasure, and spend your days in petty [Page 8] [...]gles, her [...]r a [...] fix [...] ▪ I [...] a [...] portio [...] of glory [...] by man before [...] [...]armest gratitude and affection of milli­bus; if all the virtues that dignify human nature, could have averted the stroke of death, WASHINGTON would still be living. Whatever, then, may be your pur­suits; whatever may be your prospects, remember that this is the goal to which you must finally come. Let this event, therefore, which hath filled America with sorrow and consternation, be to you a monitory lesson. Let it teach you to be wise, to consider your latter end; and let it stir you up to live in such a manner, that you may die the death of the righteous, and that your last end may be like his.

Veterans of America! ye who have fought in the sacred cause of freedom, and conquered under the ban­ners of WASHINGTON, what are your feelings on the present occasion? You have seen your Hero victorious in the conflict of armies; you have seen him directing the war where to pour its fury; you have seen him presiding in our councils, and forming plans for the prosperity of a rising empire; but never again shall you behold him engaged in these glorious and useful occu­pations. He who led you to victory and triumph, hath fallen himself beneath the arm of the exterminating angel. Neither the roar of battle, nor even the voice of his country—that voice which he always heard with veneration, and obeyed with alacrity, shall again dis­turb his repose. He who taught you how to conquer, has now taught you a more awful and important lesson; he hath taught you how to die. Your Chief was not wanting to himself in the trying hour of dissolution. He was unlike those men, who can brave death in the tumult of battle, but shrink from his silent and gradual approaches. To the very last moment he possessed his soul in peace, and preserved that firmness and intrepidity which had distinguished him through the whole course of his life. For him death had no terrors, and the grave was only a quiet asylum.

[Page 9] [...] WASHINGTON! Y [...] [...] be sensible that y [...] [...] th [...] [...] of that und [...]scovered [...] from [...] can return ▪ According to the [...] course of [...] ­ture, you must expect shortly to rejoin your Hero in the dark dominions of death. It would, therefore, become you to think seriously of eternity, and mak [...] such preparations as will enable you to depart from this world, with the sa [...] [...]rtitude and resignation which he displayed. Do not, however, bolster up your­selves with fallacious [...], nor suppose that courage alone will bear you with dignity through the last scene of life. Be not deceived, I entreat you, by such an expectation. No man was ever braver than WASHING­TON; but his calmness in a dying moment was not the result of mere constitutional courage. It sprung from a more exalted principle—from a steadfast belief in Re­velation, and a strict adherence to the precepts of the Gospel. If you wish, then, after an honorable and useful life, to die as he died, this is the foundation, and this is the only one, on which you must build your hopes.

Young men of America! To you I now address my­self. At your time of life, the bosom naturally glows with the love of virtue, and the admiration of excel­lence, and pants to emulate the actions of illustrious men. It is therefore proper, that the most glorious examples should be placed before your eyes; and is it possible that a model more perfect and unexceptionable than that of WASHINGTON, should be selected for your imitation? You have heard every tongue resound his praises: you have seen the aged soldier forget his infirm­ities, and kindle with the enthusiasm of other years, while he related his campaigns, and described the bat­ [...] he has fought with WASHINGTON. You have heard others extol his charity and benificence, which resembled a river scattering ver [...]ure and fertility along its banks. You have heard men of the greatest wisdom and experience, speak with admiration of his political [Page 10] talents. And though some, affecting greater sagacity than their neighbours, have pretended to discover flaws in his conduct as a statesman, yet even these persons now lament his death with unfeigned sorrow; they ac­knowledge his various [...]nd uncommon merits, and ex­press their apprehensions that his loss will never be re­paired.

You see then, that virtue, though it may be over shadowed by a transient cloud, will at last break forth upon the world in full brilliancy. You see that true merit and real excellence will be respected, when per­sonal invective has lost its sting, and the insinuations of slander are no longer remembered. With such pros­pects before your eyes; with such a model for imita­tion; with such hopes to stimulate your exertions, you will be altogether inexcusable, if you waste your time and misapply your talents. Remember that now is the reason for making these acquisitions, which may here­after render you honorable and useful to your country, and raise you to an equality with WASHINGTON, EPAMINONDAS, and the worthies of the world. If you are actuated with a generous desire of reaching such distinguished excellence, you must never lose [...]ight of this grand maxim; that virtue only can conduct you to true glory and substantial happiness; that no life is pleasing to God, nor respectable in the eyes of the world, unless it be useful to mankind. Do not deceive yourselves on a subject of such vast importance as the regulation of your conduct. This affects your present and future happiness; it will either exalt you to glory, or sink you into contempt and ignominy.

There are two traits in the character of WASHING­TON, which I must earnestly recommend to your imi­tation, as it is to be feared that they are growing rather unfashionable—I mean Modesty and Diffidence. These are qualities becoming at every period of life, but pecu­liarly graceful and ornamental in youth. They will never fail to prepossess the world strongly in your favour. [Page 11] [...]hey are [...] and dis [...] [...] and have always been inseparable att [...] upon [...] greatness. They characterized in a striking manner the divine Socrates and the immortal Newton. While the Grecian Sage was inculcating the purest system of mo­rality, which had then appeared in the world; while he delivered such sublime doctrines of Religion, and such just ideas respecting the Deity, as astonished an idolatrous and superstitious age; he was deeply im­pressed with a sense of human frailty and ignorance. While the British Philosopher removed the veil, which had so long concealed the wonders of creation; while he penetrated into the deep designs of the Almighty; while his vast soul comprehended, at a glance, the various laws which regulate the movements not only of this world, but of those myriads of worlds, which are distributed throughout the immensity of space; he never dreamed of his superiority to the rest of mankind. To these re­spectable characters, we may add the AMERICAN FA­B [...]US, who was equally remarkable for diffidence.— When his countrym [...]n, from a conviction of his supe­rior wisdom and experience, appointed him by an una­nimou [...] suffrage to the chief command; he did not think it inconsistent with his dignity, to seek advice from others in every trying emergency. He knew that all things were not given to all men; that man was made to assist man; that in a multitude of Counsellors there was safety. Unlike the Hero of Macedon, he requited not the advice of his friends with unkindness o [...] con­tempt; he never envied their reputation, nor arrogated to himself the glory that was due to them. He always bestowed ample praise upon the good conduct of others▪ but when his own actions were crowned with success, he piously ascribed it to the superintending care of pro­vidence.

Such, my young Friends, was the conduct of WASH­INGTON, while he was justly considered as the first man in America. He condescended to receive instruc­tion from others, while his own po [...]etr [...]ting mind seemed [Page 12] to [...] with [...]itive [...], the most wise and [...]. He never ascribed any merit to him­self, while he was making those persevering and gigan­tic struggles for the freedom and independence of his country, which astonished the world and endeared him to the friends of humanity. Before a character so great, so august, so amiable, the Heroes of antiquity stand abashed, and the modern Attilas "hide their diminished heads."

Let this example teach you not to think more highly of yourselves than you ought to think; but to think so­ [...]erly. Seest thou (says Moses) a young man wise in his own c [...]ceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him. If you suppose yourselves wise enough already, the consequence must be, that you will despise all future knowledge. If you are satisfied with crossing the thresh­old of the temple of science, there your career must ter­minate, and you will never explore the interior recesses of that holy sanctuary. If you imagine that the facul­ties of your minds are already illimitable, they will ne­ver arrive at f [...]ll maturity. If you set at nought the wisdom and experience of ages; if you treat with un­becoming levity the most solemn and important subjects; if you attempt to overthrow systems, which have been defended by an impenetrable phalanx of Newtons, and Locks, and Butlers, and Clarkes, and Campbells, and Watsoes; if you spurn the efforts of those venerable [...]haracters, who have rallied around the citadel of our [...], and made a firm stand against the champions of infidelity; be assured that the world, instead of looking up to you as profound philosophers, will despise you as conceited pe [...]ants and [...]allow sciol [...]ts.

Do not then, attempt to establish your reputation by declaiming against the administration of your country; by scoffing at the sacred religion of your Fore-fathers; by adopting the deceitful principles of a new-fangled philosophy, to which the fashion of the day may have given a momentary currency. Such conduct may, [...]ndeed, ra [...]se you for a time, in the opinion of the ig­norant [Page 13] and vicious; but never will it procure you the esteem of the virtuous and discerning. It was not by acting thus, that WASHINGTON laid the foundation of that glory which will last for ages. Nor is it by acting thus, that you will be enabled to rise to distinction; to save your country in the hour of danger, and re­ceive the united plaudits and acclamations of your Fellow-Citizens.

I do not pretend to say that all of you will have it in your power to rival the glory of WASHINGTON. On the contrary, I am convinced that the great quali­ties which he displayed, are bestowed only on a chosen few. But even if you possessed all his powers, it would require an extraordinary concurrence of circumstances to call them forth into action, and exhibit them in their true colours to the world. All of you cannot expect to be placed in such a situation; for Providence does not make use of every man as an instrument for promo­ting its great designs, for delivering a country, and giving happiness and liberty to future generations.— Human society, you know, cannot exist without sub­ordination. There must be hands to execute, as well as heads to contrive.—Still, however, if you endeavour to do your duty in that state of life wherein you are placed, you may contribute greatly to the public wel­fare and happiness. Your life will be respectable, your death will be lamented, and your memory will be blessed. In one respect, at least, you will equal WASHINGTON himself. You will enjoy no less than he did, the smiles of an approving conscience; and this, doubtless, was a reward more grateful to his exalted soul, than all the honours which this world could have bestowed.

Add to this, that the greatest tribute you can pay to the memory of our departed Hero, is to imitate his virtues. Statues and monuments are, at best, but du­bious tokens of the public affection. They may be erect­ed to the bad as well as to the good; to the tyrant, no [Page 14] less than to the Father of his Country. But when th [...] living endeavor to perpetuate the memory of the de­ceased by copying their virtues, we may then infer, without a possibility of being mistaken, that they act from the most cordial esteem and approbation.—If then the name of WASHINGTON was ever grateful to your ears—if his actions ever inspired your young minds with love and veneration, endeavor to resemble him. Be firm and united in maintaining the Liberty and Constitution of your country. Display a generous ar­dour for the support of that religion, which is the only sure anchor that holds man to his duty. Act thus, and I will venture to predict, that you will in no wise lose your reward. The lips of the hoary head will bless the band of rising patriots. The late Father of his Country (if aught of mortality can reach him now) will experience an augmentation of happiness in the re­gions of bliss. America, instead of one, will have many WASHINGTONS, and her enemies will still tremble.— Altho' the mighty has fallen, yet they will know that the holy flame of freedom has not expired; that the weapons of war have not perished with him.

To those among you, my Countrymen, who direct the Councils of America, I must not omit this favorable opportunity of addressing a few words. I mean not to read political lectures from the pulpit, nor to arraign the sentiments and conduct of any. It would be the height of presumption, for a person of my age and in­experience, to offer directions to the Senators and Re­presentatives of a free, powerful, and enlightened na­tion. But in addressing you on the present occasion, I fear not the imputation of arrogance and temerity, shel­tered as I am under the respectable authority of WASH­INGTON. I only deliver the sentiments of him who has long been, and will long continue to be, the object of your affections. I exhort you to the accomplishment of a plan, which was contemplated with much pl [...]ure by your departed Friend—I mean the erection of a Na­tional University. As the advantages of such an in­stitution [Page 15] have been pointed out by our Benefactor, I shall content myself with transcribing his words.

"As it has always been a source of serious regret with me, to see the youth of these United States sent to foreign countries for the purpose of education, often before their minds were formed, or they had imbibed any adequate ideas of the happiness of their own; con­tracting too frequently, not only habits of dissipation and extravagance, but principles unfriendly to repub­lican government, and to the true and genuine libertie [...] of mankind, which thereafter are rarely overcome;— For these reasons, it has been my ardent wish to see a plan devised on a liberal scale, which could have a ten­dency to spread systematic ideas through all parts of this rising Empire; thereby to do away local attachments and state prejudices, as far as the nature of things would, or indeed ought to admit, from our national councils.— Looking anxiously forward to the accomplishment of so desirable an object as this is (in my estimation) my mind has not been able to contemplate any plan more likely to effect the measure, than the establishment of an UNIVERSITY in a central part of the United States, to which the youths of fortune and talents might be [...]ent from all parts thereof, for the completion of their education in all the branches of polite literature; in arts and sciences, in acquiring knowledge in the prin­ciples of politics and good government, and (as a ma [...]ter of infinite importance in my judgment) by associating with each other, and forming friendships in juvenile years, be enabled to free themselves in a proper degree from those local prejudices and habitual jealousies which have just been mentioned; and which, when carried to excess, are never fa [...]ling sources of disquietude to the public mind, and pregnant of mischievous consequences to this country."^*

Of such importance did an institution of this kind appear to our Philosophic Patriot, that he bequeathed, [Page 16] in his last will, a considerable sum for its establishment. In doing this, he plainly calls upon you to assist his be­nevolent scheme, and not suffer his exertions to prove ineffectual. He has tacitly exhorted you to shew the world that patriotism and public spirit will flourish in America, when the bones of her hero are mouldering in the dust.—O WASHINGTON! Thou hast been more than a Father to thy Country. The services of other patriots have terminated with their lives, but thine have reached beyond the grave. Not content with pro­tecting our fathers and ourselves, thou hast extended a paternal care to our latest posterity. Hail! sacred phi­lanthropy! Thou source of all that is amiable and ge­nerous in our nature! Diffusive as the light of heaven, and uncircumscribed by present objects, thou extendest a benevolent regard to the misty regions of futurity. Thou raisest man from the dust; thou preparest the triumphal arch, through which he advances to a prox­imity with his Creator.

As for you, fair Daughters of Columbia, nature hath exempted you from the tumultuous scenes of public life. To you is consigned the pleasing and important task of rearing the tender mind, and teaching the young idea how to shoot. It is your province to direct the years of infancy and childhood, and to you we are generally indebted for the first rudiments of education. You have it in your power to stamp what impressions you please on the mind [...] of your children▪ and the impression [...] which they now receive will most probably be indelible. You may cause the gem of virtue to shoot forth with luxuriance and vigour; or by unskilful management, you may re [...]ard its growth, and fix it in a long and unprofitable sterility. It is in your power to retrieve▪ in some measure, the heavy loss which your country hath sustained, by instilling into your children such principles as may [...]ender them the WARR [...]N [...], the [...]NE [...], and the WASHINGTONS of future times. The prospect of this will surely be sufficient to make you watch over your o [...]pring with th [...] most assi [...]uou [...] [Page 17] care, in order to guard them from every vicious pro­p [...]nsity.

I shall make one more observation, and then dismis [...] the subject.

No man (said an ancient sage) ought to be called happy before his death. As WASHINGTON is now numbered among the pale nations of the dead, we may pronounce that his life hath been singularly happy. He possessed virtue, riches, honour, power—every thing that commonly finds a place in our estimate of human felicity. He saw his country rescued from slavery by his exertions, and enjoying the blessings of a free go­vernment and equal representation. He saw her flou­rishing in Commer [...], Arts and Science, and assuming an elevated rank among the nations of the earth. He saw her afford an ample refutation of that political dog­ma, "that ingratitude is always the most prominent [...]eature in the character of R [...]publics." For though envy often endeavored to blast his reputation, yet the [...]e attempts proved abortive, and were never able to de­prive him of the general esteem and confidence of his Countrymen. After having seen all this, he rose from the feast, like a satisfied guest, and departed with tranquility. After having lived enough for nature and for glory, he died, before he experienced the various infirmities of age; while his constitution was firm and unbroken; while the faculties of his mind were vigor­ous and unimpaired. Providence seemed unwilling that the man, who had so long been considered as a pattern of all that is great and ex [...]lte [...] in human na­ture, should, at last, exhibit a mortifying spectacle of weakness and dec [...]epi [...]ude.

Thou art fallen, O WASHINGTON! but thy name is yet mighty. Thy spirit shall still walk abroad, and preside over the future destiny of [...]hy country. In the hour of danger, i [...] [...]hall rouse ten thousand spirits, great [...] [...]hy self, in every hand a thunder, to blast the ene­mies [Page 18] of Freedom, and wither the nerves of tyranny and oppression. As long as Virtue shall have friends and admirers, as long as Gratitude shall remain on earth; so long shall thy memory be revered. Distant genera­tions shall feel their bosoms glow with the love of Li­berty and of their Country, when they hear of thy deeds, or view the spot in which thy sacred ashes repose.— Thus shall the remembrance of thy virtues continue to flourish, till Heaven and Earth shall pass away, and the Universe sink into its original chaos.