Gass, F . 8 4-0 Book. .(^ . ^5T3 DR. PROUDFIT'S SERMON, ON THE DSATK OF DE WITT CLZNTOW. 9vvmvv«vvvMvv«ivvMvvvt%vvtvv«\\%MNm>\%«vtvvvtvvvtvvii«v«i«vmv«M«\v«vvvv«\'«v««SI DR. PROUDFIT'S SERMON, ON THE DEATH OF DE WITT CXZMTTOlir. Jlroccclrfnjjs of the iJar. AT a meeting of the members of the bar of the cotmty of Washington, held at tho court house, in the town of Salem, on the 12th day of March, 18'26 — Hon. Gerkit Wendell, was called to the chair, and Jesse S. Leigh, Esq. appoint- ed secretary. The members of this bar being deeply impressed with the very able and elo- quent discourse delivered by the Rev. Dr Proudfil, at liis Church in this village, in commemoration of the death of the late Gov. Clinton : — Therefore, rMolred, That a committee of three members of thft bar be ap- pointed to wait on the Rev. Dr. Proudfit, and request a copy of his discourse for publication. Resolved, That John M'Lean, jun. Samuel Stevens, and Roswell Weston^ Bsquires, compose that committee. GERRIT WENDELL, Chairman. Jesse B. Lctcn, Secretary. Ag,ev\cy of God u\ t\\e E\e\atiovA o5 ^lao: '\iV«.«VW%%%i%.4 %/W%'WWWX^^'W«VW%^/W^-W%i««%— A SERMON, COMMEUORATIVE OF THE EMINENT TALENTS, AND PRIVATE VIRTUES, AKD FDBLIC SERVICES OF UIS EICELLENCY DE AVITT CLINTON, LATE GOVERNOR Of THE STATE OP NEW-VORK : PREACHED AT SALEM, J\'. Y. M.1RCH 11, 182S. — — >*« BY ALEXANDER PROUDFIT, D. D. SALEM, If. Y. |}nntrD tit; DoHH & .Stcbcnsoit. 1828. CORRBSPOBTDEN'CZ!. Rev. Dr. v9. Proudfii, .i«,„»„ f ,p— I" ^fPliwco with « resolution, adopted at a meeting of the gen Uemen of the bar of the oounty of Washington, we have the pleasure of traneLt- «mg to you a copy of that resolution, and of respectfully requsstina that you will consent to furnish us with a copy of the discourse referred to in that resolution, With a yiew to its pubhcation. ' Respectfully your Ob't Sorv'ta. Salem, March 13, 1828. SAMUEL STEVENS ROSWELL WESTON. Rev. Or. Ji. Praudfit, ^'""' ^""'^ ^^- ^^2«- .«»,!», „r,„ .^''Z^if *r° undersigned. Committee of Arrangements, cordially tender you o^; thanks for the able and eloquent discourse delivered by you, at the reques of the citizens of this town, on the occasion of the death of theliment- ed Uoy. Clinton, and respectfully solicit a copy of that discourse for publication. Respectfully your Ob't Serv'ts. JOHN MLEAN, iun. JOHN M MURRAY, WILLIAM MFARLAND. ASA FITCH, JOHN WILLARD. To the CoiRiniUets of the Bar, and of the citizens of S(flem Oestlemeb, mpmn^fill^fTf ''''"? "''r yo^ ™"0" worthy o tlie occasion and the audience. ""•»*■/ uj With great respect, I am your friend, and humble servant, S^ler., March IC, 1S98. ALEXANDER PROUDFIT. SfiRMOir. . ASD IN THINE BAND IT IS TO MAKE GREAT 1 ChrOTl. Xxix. 1^. HOW AP.E THE MIGHTY FALLEN ! 2 SflCT. i. 19. TO contemplate llie perfeclions of God, as they are exliibited in tlie immense variety of his works; in all (hat diversity of property which he has imparted, both to matter and mind, is an exercise equally plea- sant and profitable. Amidst these contemplations we discern a display of wisdom, and power, and munifi- cence to which there are no hojmds, and of sovereign- ty which we are constrained to admire and adore. In the inanimate parts of creation, one object delights with its variegated colouring ; another with its exqui- site odouis, while the magnificence of another excites our admiration and awe. There is scarcely a compa- rison between the atom which floats in the air, invisi- ble to the naked eye, and that Prince of luminaries which rolls majestic in the heavens, and in his course sheds light and heat and joy through every part of (he system which we inhabit. In those various orbs which are connected with our world, and on which we fre^ quently gaze with delight, different degrees of gran- deur are visible. " The glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of (he moon, and anodier glory of the stars ; for one s(ar difTereth from another star in glory." >Vho can count all the links of that mij^lily chain in animated being which extends from tlie lilllo insect, that moves unperceived upon the earth, to the eajjle, who fearlessly stretches her wings, and explores the trackless air, and mounts up to the heavens, and, as the patriarch sublimely ex- presses it, " inaketh her nest on high?" If we pursue our contemplations, and n)ake a transition from the regions of matter to those of mind, the same diversity appears in (he system of rational being. We read in scripture of "angel and arch-angel," of "cherubim and seraphim," of "thrones, and dominions, and prin- cipalities, and powers." Even in this heavenly hie- rardiy while we discover a diversity of rank, some subordinate and others superior, we also behold a di- versity in their grade of intellect, one angel soaring above another angel in greater expansion of mind. — But ]jrobably there is no department throughout the empiie of Jehovah where this variety is more visible than in the faiiiily of man. While its members are created with a difference of external form, varying in colour, in complexion, in stature, and strength of bo- dy, tjiey differ equally in their intellectual endow- ments; in thv.'ir capacities for occupying exalted sta- tions, and exerting an important influence in control- ling the affairs of the world. And in all this distinc- tion it becomes us to realize the sovereign agency of Him " who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will ;" whose prerogative " it is to make great." Fellow-Citizens — We are convened, on the pre- sent occasion, by a dispensation of Divine Providence both affecting and awful. The Chief Magistrate of this commonvvealth ; the man on whom the eyes of the people of our own state, of our common country, of no inconsiderable portion of the civilized world, have been fastened with eager and elevated expecta- tions, is among us no more ; no more to direct the destinies of our rapidly rising empire; no more to prosecute and complete those magnificent schemes of public improvement which his own mighty mind had projected, and so auspiciously commenced ; no more to foster bv his influence and counsels the arts and the I sciences ; no more (o sooth the anguish of the oppres* sed, to dry np the tears of the orphan, and the widow, and the fatherless, by devising other means for the melioration of their miseries ; no more to cherish bv his commanding presence and eloquence those reli- gious institutions which contemplate for their object the immoital interests of the destitute in our own country and throughout the world. By the sovereign, mysterious, yet all-wise visitation of the great Arbiter of life and of death, he is suddenly removed from us; removed in the full vigour of his intellectual strength ; in the unabated ardour of his exertions for the public welfare ; in the zenith of his usefulness, " when his glo- ry was yet fresh in him," and his sun of life had scarce- ly crossed its meridian. " How are the mighty fallen !" It is an interesting fact in the government of God that the same individual rarely, perhaps never, appear- ed equally distinguished in the church and in the world. Although the members of these kingdoms are intermingled in the present, promiscuous state, and interwoven by a thousand different relations, yet the kingdoms themselves are utterly distinct, and indepen- dent of each other; they are subordinate to different heads ; they are governed by different codes of law, and are instituted for different purposes; the one be- ing intended to regulate the destinies of man for time, and the other to promote his happiness for eternity ; and therefore no man ever appeared equally pre-emi- nent in advancing the interests of both. A beneficent God is more impartial in the distribution of his ho- nours than to accumulate them with such profusion on the same person, and render him alike illustrious in "that kingdom which is not of this world," and in that kingdom which is of this world. When, there- fore, an eminent luminary in the church is suddenly extinguished; a man celebrated for his gifts, for his graces, for his uniform and ardent devotion to the honour of his Master, and to the interests of the souls of men, there is occasion for the Clirislian to mourn. "Samuel liie prophet died, and all Israel lamented him." When a Imninarv in the commonwealth is sud- 8 denly extinguished ; a magislrale, eminent for the splendour of his talents, for the variety and lustre of his virtues ; for his faithful and disinterested exertions in promoting the welfare of his country and of man- kind, the citizen is then called to " put on sackcloth'* and mourn the bereavement. " Josiah the king was slain in the field of battle," and the sacred historian informs us that " all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah : and Jeremiah the prophet lamented for Josi- ah, and all the singing men and singing wemen spake of Josiah in their lamentations." In attempting, with great deference and diffi- dence, to direct the reflections of this honourable Court, and highly respected audience, in a manner an- swerable to the solemnity of the occasion, it is design- ed to illustrate the agency of God in the elevation of particular men, and notice those moral instructions which may be derived from their death. I. Individuals are great originally by the supe- riority of their intellectual endowments ; by receiving from their Creator powers of mind answerable in their extent to the loftiness of the station which they are designed to occupy, and the arduousness and impor- tance of the work which they are destined to accom- plish. While the Lord God acts independently and without control in every part of his dominions, per- forming all his pleasure by an agency invisible, yet absolute and irresistible, he executes his purposes by- secondary instruments, and furnishes them with every qualification requisite for the execution of the work which he assigns them. Men are frequently consider- ed the authors of their own destinies in the world; they are represented as rising to fortune, or fame, or influence, by their own exertions with the combina- tion of external causes ; and there is a degree of truth in the assertion. Much depends on our own prudence, and perseverance, and enterprize, with the concur- rence of auspicious circumstances, for that grade of elevation to which we advance in society, and that in- fluence which we possess in controlling the aflfairs of the world. Yet, the man who ultimately becomes great, was originally great. Tliose emergencies which roused him to exertion, and placed hiin in a conspicu- ous position were only the occasion of evolving and awaking to action talent which formerly lay folded in his bosom as its native element. The skilful archi- tect, who contemplates the erection of an edifice, a- dapts the foundation, both in its extent and solidity, to the magnitude of the superstructure which he intends to build on it. Any spot of earth, however barren, may be rendered in some measure productive by a high degree of cultivation, but where extraordinary productions are expected the soil itself must be na- tively fertile. The acorn by the germination of which the oak of most majestic form is produced, dif- fers in its original strata from the acorn which produ- ces the ordinary tree. These observations are as ap- plicable to the menial and moral world as they are to the njaterial. When a sovereign God, in his pre- science, ordains an individual for some extraordinary enterprize; for exploring the untrodden path, or the execution of some project beyond the ordinary sphere of human exertion, he endows him with a talent com- mensurate to the arduousness and magnanimity of the design. The mind of such a man is cast in a mould of extraordinary dimensions, and all the energy which he displays in the projection or prosecution of bold, original enterprizes is merely the explosion of genius deposited by the hand of his Creator. "There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giv- eth him understanding." When the tabernacle of novel, complicated iiiachinery, was to be constructed in the wilderness for the worship of Jehovah, men were qualified for the purpose; " they were filled with the spirit of God in wiydom, and in knowledge in all man- ner of workmanship" for the execution of the design. To one the Lord God communicates a vigilance which no intrigue can elude ; another he inspires with a for- titude of spirit wliicii danger cannot appal ; to another he imparts a liriimess of purpus-e which disaster cannot dishearten; another he inr-piies with a degree of pa- tience which neither toil, nor successive disappoint- B 10 ments can exhaust; to another he imparts a purify, a disinterestedness of motive which no temptation can either bribe, or corrupt; another he inspires with a spirit for daring enlerprize ; for bold, undaunted ad- venture in the moral, or political, or physical world. Thus we behold Newton, by the efTorts of his own ge- nius, rising spontaneously from his native sphere ; with the daring, adventurous flight of the eagle soaring to the heavens; surveying those radiant orbs which there revolve in infinite space ; numbering and nan>- ing them; measuring their magnitudes; ascertain- ing their relative positions ; computing the velocity of their motions; calculating also their distances from each other, and from us. While Newton ranges over the untrodden, immeasurable fields of matter, Locke, with a talent equally original, and still more acute, undertakes to explore the darker region of mind ; pur- sues it in all its windings and labyrinths ; evolves its most intricate foldings ; analyzes its curious mecha- nism ; developes its resources; unfolds its motives, and with a magic hand touches ail the springs of hu- man action. And yet, althuuiih these men stood a- lone, erected like prominent light-houses on the shore of oceans of mailer and mind hitherto unexplored, were there not thousands who had b«-en educated with- in the walls of the same college ; drinking at the sauie fountains of ancient and modern literature, and receiv- ing instruction froiu the same lips? But they were formed by their Creator for venturing out of the ordi- nary track ; for taking a wider, more excursive range, and exploring an unknown path in which others iniglit follow to deeper discoveries of bis perfeclioiis as they are displayed in the immensity of his works. And while we behold sovereignly in this dispensation of the Almighty, we may also discern his infinite wisdom. The talent is not lavished where there is not some im- portant design to be accomplished. Other Newtons are not furnished because there are not oilier systems and worlds to be unfolderl to human view, and otli'M- Lockes would be superfluous unless the mind of man had imdergone an entire revolution in its powers and principles of action. 2d. The Lord God renders men great by assign- ing llifm siluaiiuiis on the public Ihealie wliere their various talenls may be exeiird in (he most conspicu- ous manner, and lo the greatest advantage for the ad- vamement of liis own glory, and the interests of their generation. Many, without doubt, have passed thro' the world in obscurity ; moved unnoticed in tlie hum- bler walks of life, who, with the advantages of educa- tion and other favourable circumstances, might have reflected honour on the most exalted stations in so- ciety. " Hearts once pregnant with celestial fire, *' Hands which the rod of empire mi^ht hare swayed, " Or waked to ccstacy the living lyre. " But knowledge to their eyes her ample page, " Rich with the spoils of time, did ne'er unrol ; *' Chill penury repressed their noble rage, " And froze the genial current of the soul." A lamp, however liberally replenished with oil, or however luminously it blazes forth, must illucnine a very contracted sphere unless placed on some emi- nence. The natural sun, by having his position in the centre, irradiates, and fertilizes, and cheers every orb in the system with which he is connected. Thus the Disposer of events, when he ordains an individual to be great, furnishes some prominent theatre on which he may act, and in his providence prepares the way for his advancement to occupy it; calls him f<)rtli to some elevated situation in society favorable for the exercise arid exhibition of all his endowments, both natural and acquired. iVJoses was naturally a ^'■oor/Zy child, his countenance beamed forth tlie lustre of in- nate talent; "he was learned also in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds," yet he emerged from obscurity, and rose to ever-memorable notice by his call lo execute the pur- poses of heaven in the redemption of his kindred from the chains of the obdurate Pharaoh. The moral gloom, deeper than the bhade.s of midnijiht, wliich had settled for ages upon the nations, was the occasion of raising to imperishable remembrance in the church a 1ft Luther, a Calvin, a Cranmer, and a Knox, who were the instruments of dissipating that darkness by the dif- fusion of evangelic light. The groans of the Britons, extorted alternately by the incursions of foes without, and the oppressions of tyrants among themselves, were the occasions of rendering so illustrious in the history of civil liberty their Alfreds, and Marlborouglis, and Sydneys, and Hamdens: and the revolutionary con- flict in our own country, and the consequent establish- ment of our popular institutions on the broad basis of equal representation, have engraven on monuments more imperishable than marble or brass the names of our Washington?, and Adamses, and JefTersons, and Clintons, and their illustrious compeers and compan- ions in the field, and in the cabinet. These men were naturally great ; the foundation of their future eleva- tion was laid deep, by the hand of their Creator, in the original structure of their intellect; and the peculiari- ty of the age and country where they respectively a- rose merely brought into requisition their native Her- culean powers. They were furnished by nature with a panoply, and the battles which they were obliged to fight; the duties which they were called to perform on the broad theatre of the world, afforded opportuni- ty for the exercise of every part of their armour. The angry storms which they were called to breast; the numerous obstacles to be surmounted ; the exigencies for which it was necessary to make provision; the collision of feeling and of interest, which they were obliged either to soften or control, in the boldness of their enterprise, required the full exercise of their pa- tience, and heroism, and all their intellectual resour- ces. And yet although a thousand adventitious, and, in our estimation, accidental occurrences co-operated in exalting them to the highest pinnacle of human greatness, every step which they advanced, from the commencement of their elevation until they had reach- ed the summit of their glory, was directed by the in- visible, all-controlling agency of the sovereign Ruler of the Universe. " Promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south, but 13 iiom Jehovah alone. He pulteth down one, and set- teth anolher up." All this dominion in the "armies both of heaven and of earth" he challengelh as his own high and unalienable prerogative. " By nie kings reign and princes decree justice ; by me princes rule and nobles, even all the judges of the earth." He created the world, and founded the church for the dis- play of his perfections, and qualifies the instruments of his own selection for managing the interests of both. Therefore our tribute of respect to the memory of distinguished benefactors, either civil or ecclesiastical, ought to be mingled with devout emotions of grati- tude to that Being who " teaches our senators wis- dom ;" who gives purity of motive to our patriots; who endows them with talents corresponding to their high vocation ; whose peculiar prerogative it is to " make great." From these reflections on the agency of God in raising particular men to distinction, we are ltd to contemplate n. Those moral instructions which may be deri- ved from the death of the illustrious. " How are the mighty fallen!" 1st. In this event we learn the perishable nature of all the glory of this world. There is a splendour hovering around genius, and fortune, and nol)le rank, and high literary attainment, and elevated station, which almost necessarily dazzles the eye of the spec- tator. Perhaps no one, not the most stoical, the most mortified to the world, is capal)le altogether of resist- ing the fascinating charm ; but in death the spell is instantly dissolved ; the. enchantment is broken, and all the brilliancy which formerly fascinated is succeed- ed by sullen darkness and gloom. Before the assault of this last foe, "the king of terrors," all created dis- tinctions are prostrated in promiscuous ruin, and all classes of men must bow in prompt, although reluc- tant submission. The dart of this fatal archer is le- velled with equal execution against the master and the slave ; against the loftiest monarch and the most insignificant clown. u " Princes, this clay must be your bed, " In spite of all your towers ; " The tall, the wise, the reverend head " Must lie as low as ours." It is no matter how exalted the position which the individual occupied ; it is no matter how large the sphere which he illumined by the blaze of his genius or learning ; it is no matter how many thousands or millions he had trodden beneath his feet in the proud march of his military prowess; the moment he is touched bv the iron sceptre of the monarch of the grave his glory is blighted ; " his breath departs ; he returns to his earth ; in that very day his thoughts pe- rish." Come, most respected hearers, and retire with me for a few moments to the grave, and there we may see inscribed in characters the most legible vakity OF VANITIES ; ALL IS VAKITY : ALL FLESH IS AS GRASS, AND ALL THE GLOKY OF MAN IS AS THE FLOWER OF THE GRASS. Here you behold the eye, which once dazzled with its lustre, now languid and dim; the voice, which once delighted, and awed, and overwhelmed with the resistless energy of its eloquence, is now silent for ever; that countenance, which once beamed intelli- gence and good will, has become pale, inexpressive, and ghastly; he who once sat majestic upon the throne, wearing the crown, waving the sceptre, or who had marched at the head of victorious legions, now lies a submissive victim at the shrine of this unrelenting, all- conquering foe ; and he who claimed houses, or villa- ges, or territories as his property is now confined to the narrow coffin and grave as his inheritance and home. " How are the mighty fallen !" Tell rne, who of you could now discrimmate the dust of a Caesar from that of the most insignificant soldier who had fought in his ranks, or assisted in siezing for him the laurel and the palm ? Who of you could distinguish the ashes of the sceptred monarch, who once arrogated provinces, or continents, or even the world as his do- minion, from those of the most abject minion whom he had imperiously controlled ? 2d. We leain from the death of the illustrious the folly of relying on created inslrumenls as our de- fence or support. We are all naturally prone to ex- tremes in relation to those who appear in the charac- ter of rulers, either civil or sacred, and are often guil- ty of vilifxing the persons, and undervaluing the ser- vices of our most generous benefactors. We look principally at their supposed imperfections; at their omissions of what in our opinion they might have per- formed, or at every error, real or imaginary, with which they appear chargeable in their official capaci- ty, and these defects are industriously and wilfully exposed, and even exaggerated. When any new trouble occurred in the camp of Israel, during their journeyings to Canaan ; when any obstacle impeded their march, or an enemy invaded or annoyed, they instantly ''murmured against Moses," their disinterest- ed, magnanimous deliverer. Again, owing to the same infatuation, or atheism which is interwoven with our degenerate nature, we often idolize the instru- ments of our blessings, and in our estimation substi- tute them in the room of a munificent God. W^e ima- gine that if particular, prominent personages were re- moved ; those who have been long, and signally in- strumental in advancing the interests of the cliurcb, or of the nation, the loss is irreparable ; that all pro- gress in religion, and improvement in the arts, and the sciences, and civil government must necessarily be arrested. Such conclusions betray a shameful and criminal dependence on " the arm of flesh ;" a confidence on the creature which ought to be reposed exclusively on the Creator, who is able, with infitiite ease, to accomplish his purposes without the interven- tion of instruments, or to rej)lace otiiers in the room of those whom lie removes. Previous to ihe transla- tion of Elijah, that prophet of distinguished memory under the former dispensation, tlie youthful Elisha exclaims, in the language of distrust and desponden- cy, "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel, and the horsemen thereof!" foreboding that with the trans- lation of (he man the safely, and prosperity, and glory of the nation must necessarily depait, Perhaps the 16 importance of this remark has rarely appeared mott obvious than in the history of England at the com- mencement of the reformation, Edward the Vllh, early appeared on the side of the reformers, and, with their cause, identified his own fame, and fortune, and destinies for both worlds. Such were the piety, and talents, and zeal of this amiable Prince, that the most elevated hopes were entertained from his influence in promoting the new religion. But the prospects of the Protestants were suddenly and awfully clouded, in the premature removal by death of this heir appa- rent to the throne, and with his body their hopes were seemingly entombed. Yet notwithstanding these por- tentous forebodings, the light of the reformation con- tinued to burst forth ; its radiance was diffused in eve- ry direction, and it has been " shining brighter and brighter" unto the present day. 3d. " The mighty fall" that others may have an opportunity of advancing on the theatre of public life, and in their turn occupying their talents in the service of their God, and of their generation. There is a constant ebbing and flowing in all the affairs of man, and as no particular country or age is honoured by the sovereign disposer of events for the accomplish- ment of all that is excellent or interesting in the world, neither will any individual be permitted to live for ever, and monopolize an exclusive pre-eminence. It is obviously the divine pleasure that there should be a frequent revolution in what is deemed most desira- ble or estimable on earth. Rarely do wealth, or ta- lent, or influence, or temporal dignities descend thro' many successive generations in the same family; and agreeably to this plan of the divine administration, men, who have been filling up for a considerable time, an extended and elevated sphere in society ; who have attracted the attention and commanded the admiration of others by the lustre of their talents, or the eminence of their usefulness are called from the public thea- tre that an avenue may be opened for others to ad- vance in their roDm, and heroine emulous of the same honourable distinction. Moses was employed for re- 17 iteeminjf the offVpring of Abraham from their degra- dation and servitude in Egypt, Ijut Joshua n)ust intro- duce them to the actual possession of the land of pro- inise. David, under the inspiration of the Almighty, and in the fervour of liis zeal, projected the magnifi- cent plan of the temple, and with a liherality honoura- ble to liimself and liis cause, furnislied the materials; hut for Solomon, his son and succesbor, was reserved the glorv of' building the house.' The twelve apostles of llie Lamb, " full of the Holy Ghost and of faith," laid broad and deep the foundation of the Christian Church, but in their oriler they all died, that others, tilled with the same Spirit, and fired with the same zeal, might carry on the sacred superstructure. Lu- ther, and Calvin, and Knox were the primary instru- ments of sweeping ofi' that rubbish of superstition, with which mercenary priests and princes had for ages been concealing the true light, but they rested from their labours, atid others have been employed, and will be employed in the ditTusion of this light, until its radiance is rellected over every land, and the earth is illumined with its glory. Our fathers, of venerated uiemory, were honored by the God of nations for de- monstrating with new evidence, on this western conti- nent, the principles of rational lilierty ; for vindicating the unalienable rights of man, and creating a new era in the intellectual, and moral, and political cotulitiori of the world, and afterwards retired from the public theatre, and on us their descendants and successors rests the obligation of cherishing the sacred deposit; of aiming to roll hack this Hood of light to the shores of every continent and isle, until the recognition of the equal rights of man has become co-extensive with the circumference of our globe, and co-eval with the du- ration of time. The occasion of our meeting and your own ex- pectations require that I now advert, for a few mo- ments, to the character of our late, illustrious Chief Magistrate, whose death we, in common with his fami- ly, and friends, and the nation, have been deploring. When an individual becomes distinguished in an^ of 18 the great deparfmenls of human life, as a poet, or phi- losopher, or hero, or divine, different countries often appear emulous for the honour of giving him birlh. Seven cities in Greece offered their pretensions for being regarded as the birth place of the immortal Gre- cian bard. Bui in the piesent instance there is no room for competitions of this kind. De Witt Clinton was a native of our own state, born in the county of Orange, in the month of March, 1769. Although he was too young to occupy a prominent station during our struggle for independence, yet he early embarked on the agitated ocean of political life, and, with few intervals for repose from its anxieties and toils, has been constantly employed in some important, respon- sible situation, as an expression of the confidence of his fellow citizens in his talents and virtues. He offi- ciated alternately as mayor of the city of New-York, as a senator in the councils of this state, as a senator in the councils of the United States, and by your suf- frages has been called, at four different periods, to preside over you'in the capacity of Chief Magistrate. His exertions, in the cause of his country and of man- kind, commenced before he had fully attained the ma- turity of manhood, and they terminated only with the termination of his earthly existence, as he had been attending to the discharge of his official duties on the very day which preceded his death ; nay, after the fa- tal arrow had left its quiver, and was actually on the wing, and had nearly reached its illustrious victim, he was mingling familiarly in the society of his children, and with the affection of a fond father communicating parental instruction and advice. " Ah ! cruel dcEith is always near, " So frail a thing is man." De Witt Clinton was emphatically " rocked in the cradle of liberty," and inhaled from his earliest infancy its genial, iincontaminated atmosphere. His father, James Clinton, sustained, with high reputation to himself and his country, the office of Major Gene- ral in the aimy of the revolution, and his still more 49 chslincn.i.hed relative. George Clinton, vvheiher we e oIKh-I his services as a military man, animat.ns the le e ous hosts of freemen to the vindication of the,r fiXs or as a statesman, deliberat.ng m our publ c ^ .;i. or a« the oovernor of this state, or as the ^"pe'sidlnronhe^^nited States, is entitled to a [oftv eminence on the roll of American patriot . In- deed the love of liberty and an inextinsu.shable zeal or IsFomotion appear to have been hereditary m hP fa.iiilv from generation to generation. 1 heir Irea ancestor lived in England during the arbitrary feWm of Charles the first, and, so far as we can a.cer- a n, co-operated Avilh the puritans in resisting the en- c'oachmentsof that intolerant, licentious prince ; he afte. wards retired to Ireland, where he married and snent tl e residue of his years. The family e.n.gra ed Si tland to the American continent, and settled in tliis s ate during the colonial government: And from the fiist appearance, on this western horizon, of [hat sonnwbich burst forth in the war of the revolu- tion, and ultimately issued in the recogml.on of our ndepemlence among the sovereignties of the eaith, the name of Clinton occupies a large space on the pa- ^" "U U alt:S[J;r unnecessary, and perhaps would be un easonable to detain you with a particular detai of the exertions of our late governor m advancing all ■the mportant interests of our common country, the ibe Jand humane arts, the cause of science of agn- culture of commerce, of manufactures, and particu- ? . Iv fn nroiectin^t you will oc- casionally notice one tree towering above the others • s rpassmg them in the loftiness of^^its summit! and the Wider expansion of its i,ranches. 1„ gazing upon t le evening firmament you behold innumerable orbs of he magnificent concave, you discover one star out- bm-ning (he others, and differing from them by "great- er degrees of glory," -^ * In bis political career, the views of Clinton did not always harmonize with those of his companions in the cabinet nor of his fellow-citizens at large Colli- DecTed .Z'"?' '"^'''^ ""perfect state, mtt be x- bfue 1; no • "''^^•"^'"^fi^^ >vith moderation contri- ^onuZ '"^^"^^•^erable degree, to the safely of our popular government. Besides, men enuallv erpal am ShTn' 'T '" ''' ^■""'■'" -'"•'^s^n' ila o;[n?t "^. ""''"''" ^'^^^'"^"^ sentiments in hp l.n *"/l'^'"^*^' appropriate means for promotin-^ the general interests of both. But no other eulo"? over Ins memory is necessary ; no higher eulogy can te'troro?;^ "'"":^ c-ommanding.con"iLng est.mon> of the possession which he maintained in I tlnn Ihp'? ""l' ^^-^f"'' ^"^' '''' ''"^ '-'fl'-^tions of ced I VI. ! M-'' "''''^■'V"''''« instantaneously produ- ced by (he intelligence of his death ; it was ver 1 v the Fhork of an earthquake, felt not merely thm' 4 he bTrl'-f "■'^ ^T^^' '-"'^ ^•'^-'^' •^'"' '■" <')edt; where I'e lesided, and among (he honourable the membe 'of 21 the legislature, which was then in session, l)Ul felt thro' ever> nerve of the state and the nation. In the litera- ry, and (noral, and political world, it resembled one of those mighty concusbions in tlie natural, by which the very elements are auitated ; and tiie earth trem- bles to its centre. " The prejudices of party were in- stantly ai)sorbed in tire overllowin;^ tide of national grief." All hearts were apparently appalled ; every countenance was sad, and tlitre was one gtneial, spon- taneous burst of lamentaticm, " how are the mighty fallen! a void is created in the councils of our state, and of our nation, and of tlie civilized world, which a man, with no ordinary dimensions of mind, is capable of filling up. Who, that witnessed the: melancholy scene, can forget the melted hearts, and plaintive sighs, and llovving tears, of his personal fiiends, and political associates, when they took their final glance of his earthly remains, majestic in ruins, before the coflin concealed them for ever from mortal view ? — His venerable form, his imposing attilufle, liis digni- fied deportment, his majestic countenance, a vivid ex- pression of the loftiness of the spirit wiiich enlivened it, his eye beaming intelligence and benignity, and his voice iniparting instruction, must long be fresh in our recollections. " Claruin el vcnerahih nomcn." Cu- riosity might prompt us to pursue the immortal spirit, bursting from its imprisonment in the body, and wing- ing its eventful, awful flight ; but I repress these bold, unwarranted speculations. ])eath is the horizon which terminates the vision of mortals. The curtain which conceals the arcana of the invisible world is neither to be lifted up, nor drawn aside, by presumptuous hands. Men absorbed in the pursuits of science, or phi- losophy, or politics, often stand aloof from any atten- tion to the interests of religion. In the pride of their fancied superiority they regard its concerns as suited to more vulgar, contracted minds ; to those who have more leisure than themselves, or who are occupied in speculations less sublime and interesting. From this community of "sciolists" De Witt Clinton, with Sir Isaac JN'ew'ton at his side, and Locke, and Boyle, and 22 Bacon, and Addison, and a host of others of the tirst order of inleJlecl, and the hiohest altairiinents in lite- rature, will stand to future ages an honourable excep- tion. He evinced an unfeigned respect for Ihe Chris- tian religion, and exerted an important influence in promoting its more general extension ; be was occa- sionally employed in the investigation of its myste- ries, and defence of its doctrines, and I have often heard him expressing an ardent solicitude that his own children might be ranged in the ranks of its advocates and champions. While, therefore, you find the literary journals of our own country, and of foreign countries, replen- ished with his laboured disquisitions on ethics, on ju- risprudence, on political economy, on the laws of na- ture and of nations, you also find the annual reports of our benevolent institution?, of our bible, and mis- sionary, and education societies, adorned and enriched with his animated and affectionate addresses. None who feel interested in the distribution of the scrip- tures, and in the prosperity and glory of the church, can peruse, without an increased veneration for his character, the following extract from his polished, pow- erful, and eloquent pen. " Christianity being a reve- lation from God, in diffusing the sacred volume we perform a solemn duty, and render an all-important benefit to the world. The Christian religion, armed with power, adorned with light, fortified by truth, and revealed by God ; foretold in the prophecies, attested by miracles, sealed with the blood of saints, and sub- limed with the morality of heaven, is presented to man in order to secure his felicity in the regions of eternal bliss."* He was connected with almost all those great institutions which constitute the glory of the present age, and, from its first organization, was a rice president of the American Bible Society, that moral luminary which has already irradiated " with the light of immortality and life'' no inconsiderable por- tion of this western continent, and presided, at its last anniversary, with his characteristic dignity and zeal. " His addresses before tlie American Bible Society in 1823 and 25. 23 Although governor Clinlon was distinguished for liberality of feeling and conduct, towards the "excel- ' lent" of all denominations, yet his principles, on the subject of ecclesiastical polity, both from educa- tion and attachment, were decidedly Presbyterian; these he regarded, not only as the most scriptural, as the most liberal in their provisions, as the least liable to prostitution from the ambition and intolerance of the clergy, but as the most congenial to the spirit of our republican government : He was, for several years, president of the Presbyterian Education Society, an institution formed for the pui pose of furnishing a com- petent ministry for the supply of our frontier settle- ments. His sentiments on this subject are happily ex- pressed in a learned and luminous address, recently delivered before a literary society connected with Union College. " Christianity," he remarks, " in its essence, its doctrines, and its forms, is republican; it inculcates the natuial equality of man ; it teaches our descent from a common parent, and it points to our origin and end ; to our nativity, and graves ; and to our immortal destinies as illustrations of this impres- sive truth." There was one prominent feature in the charac- ter of Clinton, by which he stood distinguished from other illustrious men in general, who have been the ornament of our nature and world, and which, per- haps, contributed as much to its moral grandeur and perfection as any excellence which we have noticed. \Vhile he possessed a mind capable of the widest and loftiest intellectual range; comprehending, with an in- tuitive glance, the most intricate and difficult problem in science or national policy ; interests which to others appeared inferior in their importance, neither escaped his attention nor were left without his patronage. He reflected that the smaller wheels in a vast complicated machine were essential to its due proportions and or- der equally with the larger. He fostered, therefore, with parental solicitude and affection our infant sc hools, our Sabbath and Lancasterian Schools, our Asylum for the Orphan, for the Insane, for the Deaf 24 arid Dumb, and cherished also wifh a generous ardour the interests of our Academies and Colleges. But his favourite object in (he empire of letters, and one to which he devoted his fondest affections, and promoted with unremitting solicitude, was the system of Com- mon Schools, which are so successfully established in our state. These he regarded as the mo'^t benevolent in their results, tending to elevaie the children of the poor to their proper rank in society, and open for them every avenue to offices of emolument and honour, in common with the children of the opulent, by extending to them the elements of education ; these he also con- sidered as constituting, under the auspices of Divine Providence, the principal, the exclusive guarantee for the permanency of our popular institutions. It was bis great political axiom; one which was frequently the theme of his conversation with private friends, and under the influence of which he was actuated in every part of his official conduct, that a population ignorant or licentious is utterly incapable of self-government ; and on the other hand, that a nation, enlightened, and virtuous, and pious, can never be enslaved. The hal- lowed flame kindled at the altars of science and reli- gion, is inextinguishable as the lamps of heaven. He, therefore, remarks, in the address, to which we have already alluded, "Education includes moral no less than intellectual culture; (he georgicksof the heart no less than of the head ; and we must emphadcally look up to a general diffusion of knowledge as the palladi- um of a free government ; (he guarantee of the repre- sentative system; the ^gis of our federative exis- tence." These sentiments perfectly harmonize with the following admonitions of the immortal founder of our republic, in his farewell address to the nation which he had defended with his sword, and fostered wi(h his counsels and benedicdons. " Of all (he dis- posidons and habits which lead to political properity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and (o cherish (hem. Promo(e, (hen, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the ge* 25 neral difi'usion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opin- ion, it is essential that public opinion should be en- lightened." I trust that I need feel no apprehensions of being impeached with servile adulation, or with an attempt to give an exajjgerated colouring to the character of the illustrious dead : Any extiavagant indulgences of imagination would be equally unliecoming the so- lemnity of the occasion, or the sanctity of the office which I sustain, or of the place where I now stand, and indeed derogatory to the memory of our depart- ed benefactor and friend. His name is embalmed in the alfeclions of the fatherless, and the orphan, and the widow ; it is embalmed in the tender recollections of the patrons of the literary, and religious, and bene- volent institutions which adorn our country and ajje. It is embalmed in the tears not only of his own family, but of the nation ; and posterity and the civilized world will be the repositories of his fame. Asa patri- ot, as a statesman, as a philosopher, as a philanthro- pist, as a benefactor of the poor, as a generous patron of the sciences and liberal arts, as the ardent advocate of every magnanimous measure, which tended to the moral or political elevation of his native state, or to perpetuate the liberties of his country ; as the un- feigned friend of every institution whidi contempla- ted for its object, the melioration of the miseries of his fellow men, or the promotion of their immortal inte- rests, the fame of De Witt Clinton will roll down the tide of time, augmenting in its effulgence with each successive age, while religion, or learning, or civil li- berty are appreciated in our world. His name is al- ready inscribed on the same roll with a Washington, and the honourable few, thinly scattered, in ditl'erent regions and distant ages, who lived not for themselves or their families, but for their country and for man- kind. And now, fellow-citizens, amidst those melancho- ly privations which we are experiencing, year after year, may we not resume the plaintive exclamation, D 2\> " Our fathers where are they ?" Those venerable men who (ought for us in the field ; who debated for us in the furum ; who deliberated for us in the cabinet, and in their fervent supplications in the pulpit carried our appeal to the God of nations, are gone : We have seen them gliding along the stream of time until, with a few exceptions, they are all merged in "eternity's ocean." And whether we regard the purity of their patriotism, or the soundness of their political wisdom, or the fervour of their love of country, or the disinte- restedness of their exertions, a constellation more bright, a constellation so bright, has rarely shed its lustre on this earth in any country or age. Rome Could, indeed, boast of her Ca?sar, and Greece of her Alexander, and France of her Napoleon, but the pre- eminence of these men consisted in the accumulation of those miseries which they were the instruments of irflicling on mankind. The prostration of the liber- ties of the world was the rude basis on which they at- tempted to rear the fabric of their fame. Their course was that of the comet, which scorches and consumes whatever lies within the sphere of its influence ; and the groans of the oppressed and the bereaved ascend- ed, not to the mercy-seat for benedictions on their heads, but to the awful throne of justice for the exe- cution of vengeance. Ovr patriots were actuated by purer and nobler princi[>les. Their elevation consist- ed, not merely in the pre-eminence of their talents, but of their virtues, and of those blessings which they Were instrumental in diffusing. All solicitude for their own ease, or fame, or fortune, was seemingly ab- sorbed in deeper solicitude for the welfare of their ofTspring, and of their country, and for the emancipa- tion of a subjugated, and degraded world. Their march resembled that of the sun, which vivifies, and exhilerates, and cherishes, wherever it shines. But, although these venerable men are gone, how large is the legacy which they be((ueathed I They have left the result of their political experience to instruct us ; the example of their virtues to be iniitated by us, and the patrimony of freedom, civil and sacred, to en- 2» rich us, and to be improved by us. Yes, thai fair in- heritance they have transmitted to us unincumbered; and our charter to it is written in the blood of mar- tyred heroes, and patriots, and sages. Brethren, there is a responsibility resting upon us, their posterity and successors, which does not rest on the population of any other portion of the globe. More has been done for us, and therefore more is reasonably required of us. Indeed, as a nation, from the commencement of our history, we have been distinguished by the God of Providence from all the other nations of the earth. In contemplating his dealings with our fathers, when they tremblingly placed their feet on the shores of this western waste ; their protection amidst the incursions of the aboriginal inhabitants; their triumph when compelled by a sense of self-justice to repel the impo- sitions of the parent country ; their harmony of senti- ment in the digestion and adoption of our unparallel- ed civil constitution; our undisturbed repose while the tempest of war has been frequently bursting forth, and desolating the fairest portions of the eastern world ; the progress of the finer arts, of literature, of commerce, of agriculture, and of the interests of reli- gion ; when all these facts are brought to our recollec- tion, we are constrained, with emotions of amazement and of gratitude, to ask ' What hath .lehovah wrought?' I think of it, and speak of it with profound humility and awe, that, in his dispensations to us he has appa- rently departed from his ordinary track in dealing with the nations of the earth. His conduct originally with the colonies, and afterwards with the confedera- ted states has approached nearer to miracle than his procedure with any people since the redemption of Israel (torn their bondage in Egypt and Babylon.— Holding in their hand the staff of the promise, our pilgrim fathers ventured on the mountain-wave of tlie Atlantic, and reached the margin of this hemisphere a little, impoverished, disheartened band, and to how many millions have they already multiplied ? How has the " desert blossomed," and the barren wilderness under their cultivating hand become ' a fruitful field'' 28 Where once stood the unsightly, miserable hut of the Indian, you now behold the magnificent, hospitable mansion of civilized man, and the temples of devodon rearing their hallowed spires ; you hear the melody of the "songs of salvation" bursting harmonious from ten thousand, thousand voices where nothing had been heard for ages but the howling of savage beasts, or the yells of more savage men; you see the lights of science and religion illumining and cheering alike the humble cottage and the splendid palace, and ail the bounties of Providence, and the substantial enjoy- ments of life poured forth in rich profusion on the ta- bles of the industrious, virtuous poor, no less than on those of the opulent. Here no distinctions of rank or character are recognized ; none but those which are the result of an honourable competition for stations of emolument or trust. In the closet, and in the family, and in the sanctuary, we ofTer our orisons to the Au- thor of our blessings, and there is none to disturb. No supercilious prelate " lords it over the conscience" of the Christian; no hungry tax-gatherer invades and plunders the field of the citizen. "Every man sits" peacefully " under liis own vine, and beneath the sha- dow of his own fig-tree." Thou Arbiter of worlds, who hast been in a ma,n- ner so signal, the God of our fathers, continue thy smiles to us although their degenerate descendants; give to our civil magistrates, and our ministers of re- ligion, and to ail classes of our citizens " that right- eousness which exalteth a nation :" May thy benedic- tion descend in liberal measure on our beloved off- spring, from generation to generation : May there be no limit to the duration of the liberties, and prosperi- ty, and glory of our favoured country, but the con- summation of time and the dissolution of worlds. " Hail, O land, long may old time behold " Freedom o'er thee her standard wide unfold, " While ages shall roll on : " Till to a chaos drops again this ball, " Till worlds to priningenial nothing fall, " And quencU'd thy blaze, O Sun."