/ _
Co* U / f-
d>2Z /<?£
Culogp,
ON GENERAL
GEORGE WASHINGTON.
y
PRONOUNCED IN THE FRIENDSHIP LODGE, NO. 9,
ANTIE NT YORK MASONS, IN PRESENCE OF THE
GRAND LODGE OP SOUTH CAROLINA, AND.A
NUMEROUS ASSEMBLAGE OF BRETHREN, ON THE
2 2cl OF FEBRUARY, 180O BEING THE DAY
RECOMMENDED BY CONGRESS, TO THE PEOPLE,
TO ASSEMBLE AND TESTIFY THEIR GRIEF, BY
*' SUITABLE EULOGIES, ORATIONS, AND DIS¬
COURSES." PUBLISHED BY DESIRE OF THE
GRAND LODGE.
By SETIi PAINE, Junior Grand Warden.
" No felfifh views to vex mankind,
" No mad ambition fii-'d his mind,
"To purchafe fame with blood;
" His bofom giow'd with purer heat—
" Convinc'd, that to be truly great,
" A hero muft be good."
CHARLESTON, SOUTH-CAROLINA;
PRINTED BY FRENEAU & PAINE, No. 47, Bay.
l800.
fc§° ON Saturday evening, the acd of February, iSob,'
Mafonic Funeral Honors, in memory of the late General
George Washington, who was the friend and brother of
the Antient Craft, were performed in the new Lodge-Room,
in Charielton, by the Friendfhip Lodge, No. IX, Antient
York Mafons. There were preient, befides the members of
the faid lodge, the right worfhipful Grand Mailer, Lieute¬
nant-Governor Drayton; the right worlhipful Deputy Grand
Mailer, Colonel John Mitchell; the reft of the Grand Officers ;
the Officers of the private Lodges, who hold their meetings
in town; and a numerous affemblage of viiiting brethren.
The room was Ihrouded with black, ilrewed with tears,
death's-heads, &c. In the centre was raifed a dome, fupported
by five columns, dreffed with crape and mafonic funeral deco¬
rations, relling upon a platform elevated a number of ileps
from the floor—the whole fuitably lighted. Under the dome
was placed a coffin, with the appropriate emblems ; over the
dome, a gilt urn, infcribed with the name of the deceafed.
Many other emblems and inicriptior.s were difplayed, in a
ilyle adapted to the occafion.
The ceremonies were performed in a moll folemn and im-
preffive manner, and agreeably to antient form. Several ex¬
cellent admonitions, and a mafonic funeral fervice, were de¬
livered by the worlhipful mailer.
A band of mulic a (lilted, and anthems, and a folemn dirge,
compofed for the purpofe, were performed.
It is not eafy to exprefs the profound refpedt and venera¬
tion, the deep regret for departed worth and excellence, and
at the fame time the melancholy pleafure, which filled every
heart, and were difplayed in every countenance.
The following Eulogy, pronounced on the occafion, is pub-
liflied by defire of the Grand Lodge.
EULOGY..i &c.
When a prince, a general, the leader
of viftorious armies, or the potentate that
holds fway over countries vafl and wide,
fubmits to the immutable decree of na¬
ture, it has been the cuflom of nations to
array themfelves in the attire of mourning.
When a good man dies, a more amiable fea¬
ture of the human mind is exhibited; and
it redounds to the high honor of the de-
ceafed, that he is lamented in the humbler
walks of domeftic life—in thofe fmaller
focieties, thofe private circles, where he
was more truly known, and more juflly
eflimated.
But when death ftrikes down the man, in
whom were united the chara£lers of both
great and good, with how much more lyin-
pathy and fenfibility docs the world ftand
B alTecled!
[ 4 ]
affe&ed! Then, an entire people bows down
with all the lilent affe&ion of fincere forrow,
and pays homage to the virtues, fervices, and
memory of him who is no more. On fuch
an occafion, it is, as it were, one of the lu¬
minaries of the firmament extinguiflied, whofe
light and heat vivified mankind, and in the
difappearance of which, every one feels him-
felf a lofer.
The memory of a fuper-eminent charac¬
ter, recently departed from our ftate of be¬
ing, and one of thofe, who, in the moft dif-
tinguifhed fituations, has deferved well of
the great family of mankind, calls our atten¬
tion at this time. Superlatively happy
fhould I account myfelf, were I adequate
to the talk affirmed me on the occafion: but
O
vain is the wifh ; it requires the higheft tone
of eloquence, a force of expreflion, and
an expanfion of idea, to which I have no
pretenfions.
We, my brethren, have, in common with
our fellow-citizens of this place, already
borne our part in the public teftimonies
of refpeft and veneration, for a great be-
nefa&or of man—a man, in whom human
nature muft. feel herfelf more highly ho¬
nored,
[ 5 3
nored, than perhaps in the inftance of
any other individual, of the prefent or paft
times. But there were other duties for us
to perform; and though folemn the duties,
the talk cannot be unplealing, in thefe our
fraternal meetings, to indulge the ligh of
fympathy, and lhed the tear of brotherly
affection, over the myllic urn of the be¬
loved Wafhington ; while we rehearfe, and
dwell upon his virtues, and endeavour to
deduce from thence lelfons, tending to pro¬
mote our happinefs as individuals, and our
fame and reputation, as members of an uni-
verfal band of fraternity, of which, he was
always pleafed in being named and conli-
dered as a member.
If antiquity, with a miltaken gratitude, fo
often commemorated the tyrants of the earth,
and the exterminators of the human fpecies;
if Ihe conferred on the Haves of paflion the
rule of the world, and gave them the power
of proftrating mankind, and degrading hu¬
man nature, in order to make way for the ex-
ercife of fyftems at once abfurd and unnatu¬
ral : how much more Ihould the enlightened
and benevolent fpirit of our inftitution, and
of modern times, pay honor to the memory
of
I e ]
of a man, whofe expanfive ~ geMtis, whbfe
exemplary benevolence, and whbfetp&rfever-
ing energy, gave birth to an empire,- and
ere6led the ftandard of liberty and virtue, in
a world of rude fimplicity, where civilization
and fcience had but recently taken up thefr?
abode!
The example of bur deeeafed brother may
inftruft, inform, and benefit, in a thoufand
inftances; but in none more, than the oppor¬
tunity it affords us of beholding in him, ah
entire devotion, a difinterefted attachment,
to the welfare of the human race. The man,
whom we commemorate, appears to have con-
fidered himfelf as born only to advance, ac¬
cording to his ability, that progrefs, which
man is gradually making from darknefs to light,
from flavery to liberty, from ignorance and
fuperflition, to reafon and true religion—to
advance that general improvement, that com-*
parative perfeflion of the human condition,
of which we have abundant intimations in
the prediftions of prophets, in the writings
of philofophers, and indeed in the common
underflanding of man—which, by a kind of
philofophical intuition, is inclined to confix
der human nature as conftantly approaching
a flate
t 7 3
& ftate of perfe&ion, wherein man fhall uni-
verfally cultivate the arts of peace; when
the whole bufinefs of governments, fhall be
the happinefs of the many; when the fword
fhall be fheathed, and the reign of phi¬
lanthropy prevail, over the almoft diaboli¬
cal fyftems of antiquity.
In this view of our fubjeft, Wafhing-
ton, although wrapped in the myflerious
fleep of death, may flill be of ufe; par¬
ticularly if we duly imprefs upon our minds,
the grand example he has held up to the
world, of fortitude in adverfity, energy in
aftion, wifdom in planning, and refolution
in executing, whatever was once determined
on in the fpirit of honefty, reftitude and
honor. Yes! although he fleeps in the
filent grave, " where no knowledge nor
device cometh," while the body moulders
and mixes with its parent earth, the me¬
mory of the man fhall remain; and, from
the great impreffive example he has left us,
I do not fcruple to fay, he will benefit
generations unborn—thofe who, waiting for
life and light, are now upon the threfh-
old of futurity, candidates for the enjoy¬
ment of that fyflem of benevolence, that
better
C 8 ]
better age of man, of which our Wafhing-»
ton was the morning-ftar and the harbinger.
Let antient hiltory pour forth her ftores
of information; let the modern detail of
events on this theatre of man, be expand¬
ed to the moft obferving eye ; amidft the
innumerable variety of characters and per-
fons depicted in the pages of the paft,
where can we find a man, whofe conduCt
through life, has been ItriCtly and feverely
regulated and guided by the everlalling and
unerring principles of our ancient and ho¬
norable inftitution ? To illullrate fo bright
a character, on whom could we fix, but
Walhington, whofe death America, and we,
now deplore, and the whole world of ci¬
vilized man will not fail to lament !
Civilized man ! did I fay ? The pride
of Europe has arrogated to herfelf, the
exclufive character of civilized. But the
citizen of the world has found civilization
every where, in different modes and Chapes.
Nature, has placed her immutable feal on
the heart of man, wherever found. The
favage native of Kamfchatka, and the rude
proprietor of the Patagonian wafte, bear
the indelible impreffion, as well as thfe
inhabitant
[ 9 ]
inhabitant of countries, where arts and fci-
ence have put a polifh upon the human
mind.
But to return:—It is a fa£t, that the
fame of Walhington has travelled with the
Sun, has made the circuit of the globe;
his hiftory has been enquired for by the
untutored iflander of the South Seas; and
the barbarian of Afia, has found himfelf
interefted in the ftory of a man, who, like
another Sun, has enlivened the univerfe.
You will indulge me, brethren, while I
dwell for a moment on fome of the more
grand and important events, in the life of
this great and diftinguillied man : events,
the beneficial confequences of which, are
incalculable ; the effects of which we, who
are as it were in the infancy of things, can
have but a faint idea of, in regard to their
importance, their confequences, or their cele¬
brity ; events, which will doubtlefs turn to the
general good of mankind, and incline the
world to the paths of peace and virtue.
But why do I afit for indulgence ? The
fcenes, however faintly Iketched, in which
Walhington a6ted a principal, and fo glo¬
rious a part, have never failed to com¬
mand
C »o ]
jnand attention, and excite admiration. Iii
us, they excite a deeper intereh, a pecu¬
liar and more lively pleafure : for we,
as a focie ty, are peculiarly interefted in
the hiilory of Wafhington. By us, fo
amiable a pattern mult not be left uncO-
pied. From the track of fuch men, we
Ihould, individually, be animated to con-
du£l ourfelves, if not on that great llage
of .ftupendous events, at leaft through the
humble and lefs noticed fcenes of domes¬
tic life, with dignity and propriety.
Take a view of him at the outfet of
America, when Ihe embarked on that ocean,
of uncertainty, of ftorms, and darknefs, a
revolution :—-A handful of men, almoft in a
wildernefs, bordering on the abodes of my¬
riads of favage men, and hoftile as favage,
riling aoainfi the claims of one of the moft
O O
potent nations in the univerfe—powerful by
fea and land, proud of prerogative, proud
of conqueft, haughty in her claims. When
this great era of American Independence,
and the light of civil liberty and religi¬
ous toleration, commenced, Britain was in
the plenitude of her glory, in the zenith
of her Splendor; not a fea but had trem¬
bled
t «l ]
bled at her thunder; not a continent, but
looked up with terror, at the flag which
menaced univerfal conqueft.
If there be any obje6t in this world, faid
the Roman Cicero, worthy to claim the
attention or compaflion of a God, it is
that of a jult man combatting the ftorms
of adverfity, or ultimately finking under
them. Here, then, would have been a fub-
je£t for the contemplation or commifera-
tion of his Jupiter. He might, (in the
ftyle of antiquity) have looked down from
his Olympian heights, and with pity taken
a furvey of a nation, weak, extended, di¬
vided in principles as in territory, of dif¬
ferent manners and interefts, and whofe un¬
ion would probably fall to pieces, at the
firft onfet of a powerful invader: he might
have taken a view of fuch a nation, riling
againft one of the molt potent monarchs
of the globe, and who, to all human ap¬
pearance, had only to let flip his " dogs of
war," and unconditional fubmiflion would
inevitably follow!
But the ways of Heaven, are not like
the ways of man. The great Principle
of Being, the Deity that controuls the uni-
C verfe,
r " j
verfe, delights in deducing order from what
to us feems confufion, light from darknefs,
and the moll perfetf coincidence, from the
molt apparent contrariety.
The firft butinefs of the men, whofe
hearts were great enough to conceive the
fcheme of uncolonizing America, was to
find a man of abilities, adequate to act at
the head of the armies, who were to fup-
port fo defperate an undertaking; who
were to fay to the enemy, Thus far fihalt
thou come, and no farther; here fhall thy
proud hofts be flayed ; and here fhall your
fleets and armies be of no more avail, than
the waves of the Atlantic, that idly burfl:
upon our coafl.
In this emergency, when all was gloom,
and no lefs than the conquefl or freedom
of a world at flake, our beloved Wafhing-
ton, from his great and commanding cha-
ra6ter, of prudence and firmnefs, attradied
the attention of the fages and heroes, who,
at that time, directed the councils of Ame¬
rica. What a profpedt was prefented to
him ! A country, without the fupplies in-
difpenfably neceflary to .warfare; a power¬
ful hoflile army,, .held at bay only by a
raw
[ *3 ]
faw militia, ignorant of military difcipline;
and defiitute of almoft every thing, but a
determined refolution to fupport their coun¬
try's caufe, the caufe of mankind, or per-
ifh in the experiment.
Wafliington himfelf paufed a moment:
The profpe£t was dreadhil to contemplate;
Over it hung clouds and darknefs. The
great fcene before him was a fea without
a fhore, nor on that fea an ark. Yes !
my companions, laid he, toe mujl defeat our
invaders ; or if, after a fair trial, we fnd
our caufe impracticable, I will lead you be¬
yond the mountains of the Wef—we will
take poffeffion of another foil, and, defended
by thofe eternal barriers of nature, the Alle¬
gany, or the Appalachian mountains, we will
Jlill live in freedom, in defiance of Europe,
and her fway over the coafs of the At¬
lantic.
But, my brethren, it is not my inten¬
tion, if it were proper, to go into a par¬
ticular detail of the military events, coi^
nedled with the hiflory of the great cha-
ratter of whom I am fpeafdng. This h is
already been done by able hands, and the
recording page of hiftory is open to the
view
I 14 1
view of all. Suffice it to fay, that for a
moment, the arms of the enemy were fuc-
cefsful; but the fpirit of Americans, and
the heart of their Wafhington, funk not.
In the worft extremities, they confoled
themfelves with the refle£tion, that there
certainly exifts a Superintending Provi¬
dence, the Arbiter of the fates of men and
nations, the Friend of the oppreffed, the
Grand Architeft and Prime Pillar of the
Univerfe, who did not kindle up the eter¬
nal lamp of the firmament, to fhine for¬
ever upon a degraded world!
And here it may be afked, where is the
country—to what ifland, to what continent
can we turn our view, where the demon
of difcord, impelled by inordinate avarice
and ambition, has not trampled upon the
dignity of human nature ? By fome fatal er¬
ror in opinion, by an habitual negle£f or
contempt of the rational faculty, the gree¬
dy vultures of mankind have, in the paft
ages, been fuffered to govern the world;
to defolate that goodly inheritance, which
the Beneficent Creator prepared for his fa¬
vorite creature; to fpread havock and con-
fufion, over the flage of fymmetry and or¬
der;
I >5 ]
der; and thus become pofielfors of the lives,
liberties, and fortunes of man.
On that Sublime Being, that Jehovah
who extends through all extent, Wafhing-
ton and his country relied their caufe; and
a gleam of light foon broke forth, that con¬
tinually and gradually increafed upon the
horifon of America, 'till it rofe in the
bright Luminary of Independence, on a re¬
generated world, delivered from a Hate of
domination, to be ranked among the fo-
vereign powers of the earth.
The filent influence of the principles of
Walhington—one of the vicegerents of the
Deity, and deltined, we would fain be¬
lieve, to afcl up to the dignity of the cha-
ra£ter—were ordained in due time to per¬
vade other countries, and work thofe mi¬
racles in favor of fullering humanity, which
are now daily exhibiting on the theatre of
the world; and which, we are» to hope,
will terminate in the perfect emancipation
of mankind, from both religious and politi¬
cal bigotry, and tyranny under every lhape
and difguife.
After the fatigues of an eight year's war,
we cannot wonder that our beloved bro¬
ther
r ^ 3
ther wifhed a recefs from the toils of pub¬
lic life; wifhed to retire from the bu fy,
buflling fcenes of men, to thofe philofo-
phical fhades, which had witneffed his pre-
fence at the earlier periods of life. He,
accordingly, made his retreat; but not be¬
fore he had conligned a legacy to his
countrymen, a code of governmental poli¬
cy, which alone would have demonftrated
his ardent love for mankind, and evinced
how much he had it at heart, that a re¬
volution, in which he had afted fo grand
a part, Ihould be converted to purpofes,
honorable to the caufe in which he and
his country had been engaged, and pro-
du6live of thofe fruits which had been an¬
ticipated in theory.
None among us, I prefume, are ignor¬
ant of the fucceeding events of his life.
We all have witneffed how ready he has
ever been, to come forward for the pub¬
lic fervice, at his country's call—convinced,
with the old Roman, " that his time was
not his own, when Rome required it."
Poffeffing an unbounded influence over the
minds of a great and extended nation, he,
at a fuitable period, brought forward the
idea
[ >7 ]
idea of a national league, a federal com-
pa6l, calculated to unite, as much as was
poflible, the various interefts of the differ¬
ent ftates, and produce that national fpirit,
and thofe national ideas, which alone can
render a people powerful, free, and ref-
petlable.
In the laft fcene of Wafhington's life,
we faw him at the head of a national
force, prepared to repel aggrefhons from
any quarter whatever—the profpe£t of
which, from the diftracled ftate of Europe,
from the ambition of her princes or ruling
powers, the immenfity of their refources,
and the grafp of their avarice, could not
be confidered as merely ideal.
Here, the curtain dropt; and this
great atlor upon the - ftage of humanity,
difappeared forever from mortal view—took
his flight to an undifcovered countiy, to
mix with that ocean of infinity, from which
die many millions of mankind have deri¬
ved their exiftence, and to which they
muff as certainly return. Let us hum¬
bly fubrnit to the will of the Great Dif-
pofer of all things; and bow to the de¬
crees of that power, who works all for the
befl,
C 18 ]
beft, and in whofe hands is the fate of
tmiverfai nature.
The whole life of our deceafed bro¬
ther, was a fcene of buiinefs and a&ivity.
No day faw him unemployed in the works
of duty and beneficence: he wak'd for
others, and for others liv'd. This being
fo eminent a trait in his chara£ler, and
his time and attention being chiefly occu¬
pied in the purfuits of public life, it is
not to be expe&ed that it . could have
been in his power to devote fo much of
his time to the local interefts and private
affairs of our fraternity, as his affeftion
for the antient craft, and the high efteem
in which he was held, might have enfured.
But we may ftill fay, that Walhing-
ton has not been lefs ferviceable to ma-
fonry, as a mafon, than to his country, and
the world at large, in his civil and political
capacities. We have great reafon, my
brethren, to felicitate ourfelves, that he liv¬
ed and died one of us; efpecially at the
prefent period, "when the defigning and
wicked tools of the powers of darknefs, are
uncommonly afiiduous, in endeavouring to
roufe the unjuft fufpicions of the blind and
ignorant.
C 19 1
ignorant. Such indeed has been the induf-
try of the diffeminators of falfehood and
calumny, that even in thefe liberal and
enlightened ftates, they have been fuccefs-
ful in jaundicing the minds of fome men,
who we would fain have wilhed had
been fuperior to fuch low and vulgar pre¬
judices.
Expreflions, difrefpe£lful to our frater¬
nity, at once groundlefs and illiberal, have,
I am conftrained to fay, fallen from the
pens of men of diftinguifhed chara£fcers, in
America as well as in Europe ; but who,
unfortunately for themfelves, are flrangers to
our ineftimable fecrets. Peace to all fuch!
And may it be recommended to thofe, who
are willing to mifreprefent what they do
not comprehend, not to take away that
which they cannot give ; not to attempt
to deface that ftru&ure which has flood the
tefl of ages, and, antient as the world it-
felf, has bid defiance to the fhafts of ma¬
lice, the attacks of ignorance, the blafls ol
envy, and the rage of licentious profanity.
But calumnies of this kind will die
away, or be defpifed, now it is known that
Washington, even unto the end of his life,
D maintained
[ 20 1
maintained a fteady and perfevering attach-
ment to Mafonry. At the point of death,
we have reafon to believe, he fignified a-
defire, that it Should be made manifeft,
after his departure, that he had been a
true and faithful Mafon during his lifet^
Such circumftances as thefe, my breth¬
ren, will go far to do away the evilrfpeak-
ing and flander that have lately been pro¬
pagated againft our inflitution : for, who
will prefume to fay, that Wafhington would
have gloried in affociating with a danger¬
ous or vicious fociety of men ?—Being a
man, and the friend of man, he naturally
attached himfelf to the Mafonic order, con¬
vinced that fuch an order, on its known
principles, could not be contrary to the in-
terefts of honor and virtue.—Fraternity and
friendfhip are, indeed, its primary charac¬
teristics. It embraces, (I fcarcely need fay)
the whole circle of re£litude in man—fuch
as charity, good will, obedience, humility,
zeal, benevolence, beneficence, and fo on.
Brethren,
* The Brethren of the private Lodge of which General
Wafhington was a member, had the firft ftation of honor
allotted them by his family, at his funeral; which would
not probably have been the cafe, if he had not have figni¬
fied a wifh that it might be fo.
[ « ]
-Brethren, when fo good and great a
fpirit departs from this globe, as that of
him whofe excellence we are now com¬
memorating, it is a great comfort to be
allowed to hope, that all is not loft, of
fo precious a fpark of original virtue.
Not wholly loft to mankind, we truft, is
that particle of fuperior nature, whofe de¬
light confifted in a£ts of beneficence to all.
There may be a point in the immenfity
of things, a »manfion in the prodigious
ftru&ure of the Grand Architeft, where,
from a dignified ftate of repofe, our
Wafhington may ftill influence the happi-
rnefs of his kindred man.
That which placed this excellent per-
fon in the fublimeft point of view, and
ftied the trueft luftre upon his chara£ler,
rightly confidered, was the fevere, and
yet amiable morality, which fo eminently
marked him, and conftantly difplayed it-
felf in the courfe of a long life of great
a6tions, hazardous undertakings, and the
fevereft trials that can be impofed on hu¬
man fortitude.
Without a ftrong impreflion of morality
upon the mind of man, what a mean
thing
C 22 ]
thing is that which has often been called
a great charader! And hence it is, that
the fineft natural abilities are fo often
perverted to the mifery and deftrudion of
man! Hence, defpotifm; hence, the whole
wicked career, that has difgraced our world,
in every age. Without a foul filled with
the moral virtues, and polfefling ftrength
for their exertion, Ambition lofes her due
counterpoife, and many of the towering
virtues of the mind become pernicious,
poifon all felicity, and bring difcord and
violence upon the earth. This was the
point of difcrimination, the charaderiftic
feature which diftinguilhed Walhington
from thoufands, whom ignorance or pre¬
judice have denominated great. All his
adions pointed to fome moral purpofe,
fuited to their objed. Perhaps no man
of any age, lived fo little for himfelf, or
embraced public life with views fo difin-
terefted. Indeed, for what purpofe was
fociety inftituted; I would even alk for
what end was man born, but, after his
own immediate concerns, a reciprocity of
good will and beneficence? To live for
ourfelves only, is undervaluing or mi flaking
one
[ 23 ]
one half of the original intent of nature.
Man betrays himfelf, when he atts wholly
from fuch felfilh motives: contemplating
things in this light, his mind becomes
narrow ; the great end of his exiltence
is loft, or overlook'd ; and he forgets the
example of that Deity, who expands to
all, and is to all a friend.
Prudence and forefight, were the guiding
ftars of Wafhington ; and by thefe, he fafely
failed over the ocean of a tempeftuous life.
Hence, in an age of convulfions and re¬
volutions, when the paflions, thofe hur¬
ricanes of human life, have fo torn the
political world, his fame remained unful-
lied. His calculations were deduced from
the fcale of reafon; and, like the pillar
of perpetuity, he flood firm, in a dif-
trafting and difordered ftate of things.
With all the magnanimity of difmterefted-
nefs, his mind and attention were at no time
engrafted by a fordid acquifttion of the
perifhable goods of this world ; and if
wealth flowed in upon him, it was from a
ftrift adherence to the maxims of frugality,
and thofe other domeftic virtues, which
are the parents of riches, and render a
man
C *4 ]
man refpe&able, as well as opulent it!
life.
What a duty is impofed on mankind,
to copy fo bright an example ! What an
obligation upon Mafons in particular, to
benefit from it !
We well know, brethren, that by a due
obfervance of the principles, upon which
our great moral building is eftablifhed, the
Mafonic Fraternity becomes a light to the
world; and that, in feparating ourfelves
from the profane, we have in view, and
ardently wifh, that they may be attrafted
by our metaphorical luminary, the pra6!ice
of the moral virtues, to abandon the ways
of darknefs, and approach the grand edi¬
fice, on whofe walls are infcribed, Peace
and good will to man, and within which
is true felicity. Let us not, therefore, lofe
the good effefts, that may be derived from
fo great an example! Let us endeavor
to imitate the man wlio united all good
hearts, if not in the whole grand circle, at
leaf! in thofe humbler virtues, which are
an ornament to human nature, within the
grafp of all, and of equal utility to man¬
kind
[ 25 J
kind at large, as to thofe upon a fupe-
rior fcale !
From a negle£l of a faithful exertion of
the moral faculties of man, too long have
mankind been buildimi a Babel of confu-
lion to themfelves; they have been flran-
gers to the true beauty and fymmetry of
things, the Haves of error, and the dupes of
every degrading prejudice. The example of
great workmen in our craft, and copying
the fair condufl of fuch men as Wafli-
ington, is the fureft method to eradicate
the fatal errors, which have fo long con¬
cealed or ob feu red the light, that the God
of Nature has planted in every human
heart.
Whether, at fome remote period of
time, the order of human nature may
have been inverted, and its harmony de-
ftroyed, we cannot pretend to fay. But there
has evidently been an incongruity, or, may
I fay, a lyllcmatical confufion in the pad
and prefent appearance of things, which
Reafon fecms to be about to redlify ; and in
vain, we trull, will all the malice of
man be exerted to prevent it. As fooii
may it arrcfl the two -fold motion of the
planet
C *6 ]
planet, we live on, or hinder yonder oceaii
from impelling its tides upon our fhores!
Yes, brethren, Wafhington is now no
more! He, who a£ted fo great a part in
the affairs of man, is an inhabitant of the
filent tomb. And in vain fhould we feek
him there ! It is not from inanimate clay,
we are to derive lelfons of utility in the
pra&ical things of humarl concernment.
It is only from the hiftory of his life, or
the recolle&ion of his worth, that real
benefit can accrue to the living. I truft
his virtues will ever be frefh in our me¬
mories, and, by finking deep into our
minds, influence our condud, and make
us more and more virtuous, ufeful and
amiable
But, let us look beyond the doling fcene
of the friend and brother of the Mafonic
Order, the illuftrious patriot and hero
of the eighteenth century. Let us ima¬
gine him in a better ftate, enjoying
thofe rewards, which powerful arguments
perfuade us to believe, are the lot and
portion of ail, in their difembodied ftate,
who ad their parts well on this theatre
of our exiftence. Thus fhall we be
confoled.
t *1 3
confoled. And while we regret the lof> to
fuffering humanity, may we not indul J,e
the idea, that in the eternal order and
benevolent chain of things Wafliington
may ftill, (as before obferved) be an
invifible agent, in bettering the condition
and improving the moral capacity oi
mankind ?
When we unfold the pages of de¬
parted time, and even remount the years
beyond the flood, we find all nations
we know of, at particular periods, exalt¬
ing thofe to elevated ftations in the Ilea-
vens, who, they were taught to believe,
had been the benefactors of man while
upon earth, or had benefitted their rcfpec-
tive nations. Who, among thefe, in any
period of time that has preceded us, has
deferved fo well of the world, as Wafii-
ington! Few, indeed, if any, fcem to us
to have fo deferved—blazoned as their
characters have generally been, by all the
colouring and enthufiafm of poetry, or
glofled by the pencil of unrivalled elo¬
quence : and few, in our limittcd view
of perfection, indeed can we point out
one who can lay claim to fo juft a tide
E of
if
[ =8 ]
\ . %
of admiffion, into the mod elevated of
the invifible manfions, defigned by the
Supreme Architeft, for the reception of
thofe who have a£ted a worthy part here
below !
May the conduft of our deceafed bro¬
ther, while in this life, be a polar-itar to
all who afpire to be venerated of men,
or hope to merit the fmiles of that Deity,
whofe Lodge is univerfal fpace—whofe
choiceft treafure, the heart of an honeft
man.