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AN 
 
 ORATION ^^i 
 
 PRONOUNCED AT PLYMOUTH* 
 
 AT THE REQUEST OF THE YOUNG MEN 
 OF THAT TOWN, 
 
 ON THE 
 
 CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY 
 
 OF THE BIRTH DAY OF 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 BY SOLOMON LINCOLN. 
 
 PLYMOUTH, (Mass.) 
 
 PRINTED BY ALLEN DANFORTH 
 
 1832. 
 

 Plymouth, February 25, 1932. 
 Sir — The Committee of Arrangements, in behalf of the 
 Young Men of this town, present you with their thanks for the 
 truly eloquent and patriotic Oration, pronounced by you on the 
 22d inst., and solicit a copy for publication. 
 Per order of the Committee. 
 
 Thomas Adams, 
 John Bartlett, 3d, 
 Benj. Dnr.w, Jr. 
 
 Hon. Solomon Lincoln. 
 
 Hhigham. February Tith, 1832. 
 Gentlemen — A copy of the Oration delivered at Plymouth, 
 in commemoration of the Birth Day of Washington, is herewith 
 submitted to your disposal, agreeably to your request 
 I am, gentlemen, very respectfully, 
 your obedient servant, 
 
 SOLOMON LINCOLN. 
 Messrs. Thomas Adams, 
 
 John Baktlett, 3d, 
 Benjamin Drew, Jr 
 
 n 
 
 L0O>^ 
 
 p^ 
 
ATI 
 
 It has fdllen to the lot of few individuals to en- 
 joy the united affections of a whole people. In 
 the revolutions which have swept the world, and 
 overthrown religious institutions and civil govern- 
 ments, which mankind have regarded with rever- 
 ence, the memory of those who founded those in- 
 stitutions and governments, has often been buried 
 in their ruins. There are, however, to be found 
 even amid the ruins of time and circumstance, 
 some traces of their glory less perishable than the 
 frame of society under which it was developed. 
 Thus we find scattered in all ages, here and there, 
 bright and noble characters, who obtained emi- 
 nence and renown by the discovery or vindication 
 of truths or principles whose influence survives, 
 and is felt beyond the accidental causes by which 
 they were elicited. 
 
When, however, the memory of a man is per- 
 petuated, not only in the wide spread influence of 
 the principles which he has avowed and defended, 
 but is also associated with existing institutions 
 founded by his valour and cherished by his patri- 
 otism, we can reach to more vivid and loftier con- 
 ceptions of the moral sublimity to which he at- 
 tained, and can more perfectly realize the large 
 extent of his benefactions to mankind. The peo- 
 ple of a whole nation, feeling that to such a per- 
 sonage they are indebted in a high degree for 
 their civil, social and religious privileges, — sur- 
 veying a whole century associated with his name 
 fruitful of glorious recollections — are this day 
 paying homage to his memory, and uniting in all 
 the forms which taste or fancy can suggest to 
 honour one of the founders of our republican free- 
 dom and independence. We have no recollec- 
 tions — no associations, this day, but those allied 
 to all the great and eternal principles which lie at 
 the foundation of good government — good laws — 
 free institutions giving scope to mind — to genius — 
 to moral effort — religious liberty approved by the 
 consciences of all — no associations but those 
 springing from the most elevated motives to hu- 
 man action — far removed from the influence of 
 minor prejudices and passions, which sometimes 
 throw a shade over characters and events — no as- 
 sociations but those pure and beautiful, which 
 are linked with virtue — love of country — religion. 
 
Standing here in the birth place of free princi- 
 ples, it is our privilege to survey the character of 
 an individual, who, born for the age in which he 
 lived, seized upon the raging elements which con- 
 vulsed society, and moulded them into a beauti- 
 ful fabric dedicated to the rights of humanity. 
 
 We do not feel that in devoting this day to 
 gratitude, we are offering an unreasonable tri- 
 bute to one whose name shines conspicuously 
 in our annals. We are not conscious that our 
 constituted authorities in pausing a few hours 
 from the contentions of political warfare, to reflect 
 upon the virtues of an illustrious patriot, are 
 adopting a precedent which will corrupt the vir- 
 tues of posterity. We do not recognise in the 
 general enthusiasm which this anniversary has 
 kindled, any excess of feeling fraught with danger 
 to the republic. But for him those annals might 
 never have been written ; but for him those au- 
 thorities never would have been called into exist- 
 ence by a free people ; but for him a posterity, 
 perhaps corrupt and enslaved, would have found 
 few precedents except those which bound them in 
 chains. 
 
 We care less, however, to portray the char- 
 acter of the individual, than to describe the fruits 
 of his achievements. We trace the bright lines of 
 his history, that we may read in them impressive 
 lessons to remind us of our high responsibilities ; 
 but Americans as we are, we cannot devote a day 
 
6 
 
 or an hour to meditation on tlic duties of patriot- 
 ism, but tliat day or that hour will be an eulogy 
 upon the name of Washington. 
 
 It may be, that in a country where mind is free^ 
 where appeals to the prejudices and passions of a 
 people are unrestrained, in a community suscepti- 
 ble of excitements, ambition may lay strong hold 
 upon the generous outpourings of popular ap- 
 plause, to invest itself with too high a control over 
 the affections of its citizens. But who therefore 
 would check the flow of gratitude to one who re- 
 signed power and place with the same humility 
 with which he assumed it ; who never could be 
 diverted from the path of duty and of honor ; who 
 despised the temptations of flattery and the allure- 
 ments of ambition, and who, if a venal people had 
 been disposed to have placed the diadem upon his 
 brow, would have scorned the servile offering, and 
 liave shown to the world that he was not to be 
 driven from the line of patriotic duty by the breath 
 of popular applause. 
 
 In gathering around the altars of religion to 
 speak of the virtues of Washington, we can but 
 slance at some of the most beautiful traits of his 
 character, some of the brilliant achievements of 
 his life, and take a rapid survey of the result of 
 his noble efforts, and of the striking admonitions 
 which they suggest to the citizens of a republican 
 iiovernmcnt. 
 
1 
 
 As young men, we may gather rich instruction 
 from the youth of Washington. With no promi- 
 nent incidents to attract by their novelty, we find 
 it distinguished only by an assiduous cultivation 
 of those qualities of mind and the quiet pursuit of 
 those sciences which are productive of practical 
 usefulness rather than of brilliant reputation in 
 early life. No ornamental, scholastic accomplish- 
 ments, no extensive classical acquisitions did he 
 attain. He laid the deep and strong foundation 
 of his eminence and renown in those useful sciences 
 which are accessible to all in the Free Schools of 
 New England. He early learned the importance 
 of method, system and economy of time. He has 
 thus given us a most animating example of the 
 powers of the mind to grasp all its honorable de- 
 sires by an unbending attachment to pursuits it 
 has selected, when strengthened and sustained 
 by unyielding virtue and indefatigable persever- 
 ance. 
 
 His early inclination for activity on the theatre 
 of human life, and his patriotic devotion to what 
 he conceived to be the duty of a patriot, induced 
 him to enrol his name under the banners of Great 
 Britain, when contending with France and Spain 
 for the mastery of the seas, but maternal solicitude 
 directed him from a course which might have 
 planted his name in a constellation with Nelson, 
 but which was destined to shine with unfading 
 lustre in another portion of the heavens. 
 
8 
 
 rhe fire of his patriotism was not to be quench- 
 od, for the years of his minority had scarce elaps- 
 ed, before we find him at the head of a Spartan 
 Band in the deep recesses of the forests of his native 
 land, displaying his gallantry against the incur- 
 sions of a subtle, ambushed and almost countless 
 foe, manifesting the same coolness and decision 
 which distinguished him alike in victory or de- 
 feat. The first laurels which graced his brow 
 were won amid defeat and disaster. Again, in 
 depression and sickness, we find him displaying 
 the vigour of his mind and his sagacity in military 
 operations in retrieving the disasters of the unfor- 
 tunate Braddock, and bearing off", even amid the 
 reverses of fortune, the palm of honor, if not of 
 victory. 
 
 In the interval between these events and the 
 opening of the splendid drama of the revolution, 
 he sought in the attractions of domestic life the 
 pleasures congenial to his feelings and taste — and 
 acquired by occasional employment in civil ofiices, 
 some of those capacities which afterwards were 
 enlarged into such powerful instruments to pro- 
 mote his own honor by contributing to the happi- 
 ness and glory of his country. 
 
 It was amid these peaceful scenes that he heard 
 from afar, upon the breeze, the murmurs and 
 complaints which preceded the storm of the revo- 
 lution. His generous sympathies and lofty spirit 
 led him to take his place among the sages of the 
 
people to consider the grievances of his country- 
 men. There he stood — in the midst of that illus- 
 trious assembly, foremost among the noble cham- 
 pions of his country's rights, to mature all neces- 
 sary measures to stay the uplifted arm of arbitrary 
 power, and to save his country from ignominy and 
 disgrace. There he stood — in the pride and 
 strength of manhood, filled with enthusiastic de- 
 votion to the cause of liberty and his country — 
 scorning the very name of oppression, to stake 
 his fortune and his life on the altar of Indepen- 
 dence. He saw with Henry that our chains were 
 forged. He heard from the North the clash of 
 resounding arms. The gallant Warren and his 
 noble com-patriots had fallen in striking the first 
 blow for liberty. It was not for George Wash- 
 ington to shrink from the call of his country, and 
 to refuse to place himself at the head of the patri- 
 ot bands who were destined to achieve the free- 
 dom of a nation, and undying fame for themselves. 
 Distrustful of his own abilities — yet firm in devo- 
 tion to the cause, modest in assuming command, 
 yet resolute in discharging its high duties, he un- 
 sheathed his sword amid the acclamations of a 
 grateful people, to be returned only when victory 
 should have secured the rights of his country. 
 New England was the chosen theatre where he 
 commenced that brilliant career which we now 
 review with enthusiasm and gratitude. Follow 
 him through his subsequent arduous efforts to 
 
10 
 
 clicck the encroachments of despotic power — 
 trace him through alternate victory and defeat — 
 whether cheered and encouraged by the warm 
 support of a band of freemen, or mortijfied by 
 treachery, pusillanimity and cowardice ; whether 
 urged onward by temporary and flattering success, 
 or thrown upon the resources of his powerful mind 
 and unconquercd spirit to retrieve calamity and 
 disaster ; now carrying by superior skill and 
 celerity, designs which astounded the veteran of- 
 ficers of Britain — now baffled by jealousy and dis- 
 trust ; you find him still the same — his master 
 spirit still undismayed — defeat only developed the 
 fertility of his invention, and disclosed the superi- 
 ority of his skill. Amid toil, and suffering, with 
 a dispirited army and a doubting people, he still 
 relied upon the justice of the cause. He trusted 
 in the God of Armies for support in vindicating 
 the rights of man, and he felt in the timely succour 
 of chivalrous France, as if his appeals to heaven 
 had been answered. His triumphant success on 
 the banks of the Delaware confirmed the senti- 
 ment of inspiration, tliat victory docs not always 
 follow the banners of the strong. He wrestled to 
 the last with matchless energy against the well 
 trained legions sent to bind down his country in 
 vassalage, and he wrestled not in vain. He con- 
 summated upon tlie soil of his native state the ob- 
 jects of his early hopes, and by the brilHant 
 achievement at Yorktown, humbled the preten- 
 
11 
 
 sions of a haughty and insolent foe, and struck 
 the last and successful blow for liberty. This 
 completed the series of his military achievements, 
 but a higher effort of his mind was required to 
 disband an unpaid army without murmur or dis- 
 sension. Surrounded by difficulties, the energies 
 of his mind were put forth with a strength which 
 the crisis demanded, and in preparing the way for 
 the companions of his glory to throw aside the 
 trappings of war, to assume the implements of 
 peaceful life, he illustrated the character of an 
 unambitious yet victorious chieftain alike devoted 
 to the welfare of those who had shared with him 
 the vicissitudes of fortune, and to the preservation 
 of the liberties for which they had so nobly con- 
 tended. In bidding them an affectionate farewell 
 he showed that he had never doubted the justice 
 of his country, and by a warm appeal to the manly 
 feelings of the soldier, averted calamities which 
 might have been more destructive to his hopes, 
 than all the triumphs of royal power. The emo- 
 tions which swelled the breasts of those who were 
 eye witnesses of the affecting separation of the 
 chief from his brave companions, or of the dignity 
 with which he surrendered his commission to the 
 Continental Congress, and commended his coun- 
 try to the protection of an Almighty arm, must 
 have been such as it falls to the lot of few men to 
 realise. Could any scene on earth exhibit human 
 nature rising to a high degree of the moral sub- 
 
12 
 
 Jinie, it is tliat of* a military chieftain, coming fresh 
 and victorious from the field of his renown, cover- 
 ed with laurels, to lay down voluntarily before 
 the people, all the power and authority, with 
 which they had invested him. How easy would 
 it have been for Washington, availing himself of 
 the discontent of his unpaid troops, to have retain- 
 ed, or to have acquired any power or distinction 
 within the compass of human ambition. Here it 
 was that he displayed the loftiest qualities of his 
 mind — here that he surpassed all the heroes whose 
 names are emblazoned on the page of history, 
 and evinced that he had but one aim, one end, 
 and that the glory of his country. 
 
 Follow him in his retirement. No murmurs es- 
 cape him, no discontent excites his mind, no 
 dreams of power disturb his imagination. 
 
 Called by the people to assist in forming a gov- 
 ernment, suited to the wants of his country, you 
 find him prompt to answer the call, and throwing 
 his whole weight and influence in favor of the 
 union of the States, and in maturing such a plan 
 as should most effectually secure the liberties 
 which had been purchased with so much blood 
 and treasure. 
 
 Again invited to leave the home of his affections 
 to administer that government, he so discharged 
 his high responsibilities, "that the Constitution 
 in all its profound principles — all its healing effi- 
 cacies, that fell to his lot to be explained and ad- 
 
13 
 
 ministered, passed through his hands in pure and 
 pristine vigour, unimpaired, unenlarged and una- 
 dulterated." 
 
 Again he retired from the elevation to which 
 his merits had raised him, to enjoy the pleasures 
 of retirement. But the first sound of alarm aff ain 
 found him at his post, and illustrating the beauti- 
 ful simplicity of his republican character by again 
 assuming a military command, when ambition, if 
 he had possessed it, could have discovered no 
 brilliant schemes to accomplish, no high aspira- 
 tions after earthly renown to gratify. At last 
 leaving all the attractions of place, all the temp- 
 tations of power, he retires to the shades of Ver- 
 non, there in the delightful circle of domestic fe- 
 licity to pass the evening of life in happiness, and 
 to breathe out his spirit in peace. 
 
 In declining a reelection a third time to the 
 highest office in the gift of his countrymen, he 
 gave them a legacy of lasting value to the friends 
 of popular institutions. All the principles of con- 
 stitutional and well regulated liberty are therein 
 expounded, enforced and illustrated with great 
 simplicity, purity and power. I should not have 
 said that this legacy was for his countrymen alone ; 
 it is before the world — a well written exposition 
 of the true principles of civil liberty, and of the 
 means by which it must be preserved. It is be- 
 fore the world — and every government on earth, 
 which does not draw from that fountain refresh- 
 
14 
 
 incnt and strength must be swept away sooner or 
 later by revolution. Enlighten the minds of a 
 people, and their government, if it does not stand 
 upon the principles of Washington, cannot stand 
 at all. But he has given to his country and to 
 the world something more than a beautiful theo- 
 ry, something more than a written exposition of 
 his principles, he has given his glorious example 
 to mankind, an example which will be felt in after 
 ages, which may yet be the battle-cry of freemen 
 in another hemisphere, a name which shall be 
 celebrated when those of the victors of other coun- 
 tries, shall be known only in the legends of tradi- 
 tion or in the songs of the bard. 
 y In reviewinfj the character of Washington it is 
 impossible not to be struck with the peculiarity 
 of his example. 
 
 Was he a Warrior of renown ? History points 
 us to a long list of heroes whose lives were filled 
 with acts of brilliant achievement, and whose tri- 
 umphs are embalmed in eloquence and song. 
 
 Was he a Statesman of enlarged capacity ? 
 The annals of almost every civilized nation are 
 adorned with the names of those who have dis- 
 played skill, genius and learning ? 
 
 Was he a Patriot ? So were the gallant spirits 
 who enrolled their names under his victorious 
 eagles, and followed in his footsteps to triumph. 
 
 It was not that in either of these capacities he 
 outshone in brilliancy of deed all who had preced- 
 
15 
 
 ed him, hut it was that in all — whether marching 
 in triumph to the accomplishment of the great 
 work of Independence, whether giving the sanc- 
 tion of his name to a constitution to bind stronger 
 and stronger the ties of the Union — whether ad- 
 ministering that constitution so as to secure the 
 great objects of government, whether assuming 
 the weapons of war to defend the hoHest rights of 
 man, or in throwing them aside when those rights 
 had been secured — it was in all that the high and 
 pure principle and the lofty motives of the War- 
 rior, the Statesman and the Patriot were blended 
 in one harmonious whole 5 it was in all that the 
 same noble bearing was exhibited 5 it was in all, 
 that his actions bore the unsullied impress of virtue. 
 
 The peculiar aptitude of such a character for 
 the exigencies of his times appeared in every form 
 in which his talents were displayed. His practi- 
 cal knowledge of men — his experience in the 
 camp — in the cabinet, qualified him in a peculiar 
 manner for the stations he was invited to fill. 
 
 It is not mere power — talent — genius — which 
 can carry a nation forward to prosperity and hap- 
 piness — else why has not France been saved from 
 tremendous scenes of calamity and suffering by 
 the genius of her Napoleon; and why is that 
 beautiful land, the foremost in civilization, after 
 fruitless, yet vigorous eflforts to shake off a deep 
 rooted attachment to a splendid despotism, yet 
 doomed to be a " great military encampment, 
 
16 
 
 studded with barracks and bristling with bayo- 
 nets ?" And why are the pillars of the British 
 Aristocracy shaken to their foundations, although 
 sustained by great intellectual power and almost 
 unrivalled eloquence ? 
 
 Virtue — a deep and pervading regard to the 
 rights of all classes in the community of the rich 
 as well as the poor, w hether of a proud aristocra- 
 cy or an unlettered peasantry — this virtue and this 
 regard for popular rights must lie at the founda- 
 tion and be the moving spring to all the efforts of 
 genius and intellectual power, and then there is 
 no political blessing which they may not procure 
 for a people. 
 
 I know full well, that however pure may be the 
 virtue — how ever elevated the patriotism, howev- 
 er splendid the intellectual endowments, of any 
 man, he cannot entirely escape from the sneers of 
 envy or the attacks of malevolence. It is true 
 that during the reverses of his country's fortune a 
 feeble and abortive attempt w as made to tear the 
 well earned laurels from the brow of Washington, 
 and to deijrade the heroic chieftain who had as- 
 sisted in laying the deep foundations of his coun- 
 try's glory. As well however might these pre- 
 sumptuous adventurers attempted to have arrest- 
 ed the planets in their majestic march, or to have 
 rolled back the billows of the ocean, as to have 
 affixed a stain upon the character and fair fame 
 of the father of his country, or to have withstood 
 
17 
 
 the tide of that popularity which swept into obli- 
 vion all who dared to arrest its progress. 
 
 It is true that another adventurer upon the feel- 
 ings of a grateful nation, in this year of jubilee, 
 has endeavored to sport with the deep rooted 
 reverence of his name and has covered his own 
 with deep and dark disgrace, by charging upon 
 the immortal Washington, crimes and vices at 
 which humanity revolts and over which religion 
 mourns. He has been charged with holding slaves 
 as a crime — with disregard to the institutions of 
 religion — and his peaceful death has been com- 
 pared to that of a Heathen philosopher rather than 
 to a saint of God. There lives, I trust, in every 
 memory and in every heart, a noble refutation of 
 these wild calumnies. His life was a volume of 
 refutation. In all his important papers — in his 
 addresses to the Army, to the People and to Con- 
 gress — in his last invaluable legacy, there breathes 
 the purest reverence for the Power to whom he 
 appealed for the success of his efforts, and to 
 whom he commended the destinies of his country. 
 In the midst of his successes — in the bustle and 
 excitement of his brilliant triumph at Yorktown, 
 he paused with his companions in arms, to give 
 thanks to the Power that had given victory to the 
 followers of Liberty. He died, says his biogra- 
 pher, with the dignity of a man — the resignation 
 of a philosopher, and the confidence of a christian. 
 And you will find it written in the records of phi- 
 3 
 
18 
 
 lanthropy, that one of the last and noblest acts of 
 his life was to provide that those whom circum- 
 stances beyond his control had placed in his care, 
 when they could no longer be certain of the pro- 
 tection of a friend, should no longer wear the 
 livery or bear the name of a slave. 
 
 It has been justly remarked that the character 
 of Washington belongs not to a country or a peo- 
 ple. Bright as is his example to us, instructive 
 as are his lessons of wisdom, the light of them is 
 upon the world. We see it — we feel it — we re- 
 joice at it. We know that it was he who first 
 administered a government which is now a model 
 for imitation. Its spirit is felt at the foot of the 
 Andes, and it burns in many a patriot bosom in 
 corrupt and despotic Europe. We know full well 
 that when our toil-worn heroes had come wearied 
 and exhausted from the fields of revolutionary 
 strife, it was he who stood amid the veteran war- 
 riors and statesmen, and the younger generation, 
 who rivalled them in talent, zeal and learning, to 
 disarm prejudice, to allay fear, to scatter doubt, 
 and by giving the sanction of his name to the con- 
 stitution, to secure to the people and to posterity 
 a written charter of their rights. 
 
 It was he, who, when amid contending preju- 
 dices and passions, our political bark was launch- 
 ed upon the ocean of experiment, stood at the 
 helm, and conducted her steadily over its break- 
 ing waves, amid the tempest and the storm, 
 
19 
 
 guided and cheered by that Hght alone which 
 sparkled from the heavens at his birth, and whose 
 benignant rays had illumined his path through all 
 his perilous warfare with civilized or savage man. 
 Fortunate was it for the country, fortunate for 
 posterity, fortunate for the cause of liberty, fortu- 
 nate for his ov^n fame, that it w as entrusted to 
 him to carry into effect the provisions of our con- 
 stitution. He infused into it his own, and its true 
 spirit, and he accomplished more to perpetuate 
 our civil rights and privileges by his sagacity, his 
 prudence and decision, as the chief executive of- 
 ficer of the Union, than he had done by all his 
 military achievements — more tow ards placing this 
 nation above the reach of those influences which 
 undermined the foundation of the ancient repub- 
 lics, and buried their magnificent fabrics in ruins. 
 ^ Look where Ave will — to the South, darkened 
 as it is with some shades which the example of 
 Washington has taught them to efface, yet rich 
 in mind, in a high unquenchable spirit of liberty — 
 to the middle States, putting forth their mighty 
 energies, physical and moral, with gigantic 
 strength — to the young and aspiring West, full of 
 life, enterprise and prosperity — or upon our own 
 happy New England, dear to us for its pure man- 
 ners, its venerable religious institutions, its foun- 
 tains of literature, its noble ancestral recollections, 
 every where, we discover ripening in profusion 
 the rich fruits of the expansive policy, the enlight- 
 ened forecast, the parental care of Washington. 
 
20 
 
 No where do we discern masses of the people 
 rallying around the banner of infidelity, nor has 
 any wild superstition yet sprung up to overshadow 
 all tkat is simple, unpretending and beautiful in 
 om* religious institutions. Politicians may con- 
 tend for place and power, as for the spoils of vic- 
 tory, but the leaders of all claim the approbation 
 of the people, in proportion as they adhere to the 
 design of our excellent constitution; so true it is, 
 that the people of this country are too enlightened, 
 too patriotic to be estranged in their attachments 
 from the spirit, the objects, and the results of the 
 Revolution. 
 
 To all our institutions, whether civil, military 
 or religious, we may say Washington was a friend. 
 He regarded them as essential parts of the great 
 republican system 5 he saw in them all, perpetuity 
 to the happiness of his country 5 he foresaw that 
 they would be the strength of the Union, and its 
 moral power for improvement in peace and for de- 
 fence in war. 
 
 What are the duties of this day ? — What arc 
 the obligations of this generation ? How shall 
 we best honor the name of Washington. Elo- 
 quence is powerless to describe its true glories. 
 Poetry has in vain attempted it. Painting has 
 indeed given us some conceptions of his dignified 
 person ; and Sculpture has put forth her noblest 
 powers to embody it in the breathing marble. 
 His mind, his virtues are best preserved in the in- 
 
21 
 
 stitutions which he founded 5 they will perpetuate 
 his fame, and if we are true to our high trust they 
 will spread it wide and far as a bright and cheer- 
 ing light to the degraded and enslaved of every 
 clime. The crumbling marble may fall before 
 the wasting power of time, it may perish in ruins, 
 amid the raging elements. These no elements 
 can destroy. They will live with the virtue of 
 the people. The canvass may part vvith its life. 
 These will gather fresh beauty with the lapse of 
 time, and become hallowed by antiquity. The 
 voice of Eloquence may be mute, and the harp of 
 the bard unstrung, but his name shall live in the 
 memory of the principles which he exhibited and 
 the virtues which he illustrated. 
 
 I do not, however, undervalue the effect of the 
 tendencies of the human mind, to honor virtue and 
 patriotism by outward marks of demonstration. 
 The holiday festivity, the public thanksgiving are 
 the natural outpourings of the heart, and are per- 
 fectly congenial with, nay even approved by sen- 
 timents of refined taste and cultivated imagination. 
 Gratitude, sentiment, feeling, all would have been 
 gratified had the consecrated ashes of Washing- 
 ton been permitted to have reposed where every 
 citizen who resorts to the capitol of the nation, 
 might increase the ardour of his patriotism, by 
 performing a pilgrimage at the tomb of the father 
 of our liberties. The consciousness that beneath 
 the halls of legislation lay the relics of Washing- 
 
oo 
 
 ton would be a perpetual rebuke to a spirit of 
 disunion to the dissensions of party and to the 
 clamors of faction. Lie where they may, how- 
 ever, whether beneath a simple slab of marble, or 
 the gorgeous monument, whether beneath the si- 
 lent shades of Vernon, or in the capitol of the re- 
 public, his name may shake monarchs on their 
 thrones. 
 
 It is for us, now that we can view a great and 
 shining light spanning the arch of a century, to 
 look to that light for guidance ; it is for us, to 
 study a model, which, more that any other, is cal- 
 culated to light up the flame of civil liberty ; it is 
 for us, to quicken the ardour of our patriotism, 
 and our love of noble actions, as did Themistocles, 
 by viewing the trophies of Miltiades ; it is for us, 
 coming upon the stage of action fresh and vigor- 
 ous, and standing in the presence of those who 
 followed the hero in his path of glory, to form the 
 firm, the high resolve, that "Our Country^^ shall 
 be the motto on our banners, and that all else 
 shall yield to the high obligations which our du- 
 ties to that country impose ; it is for us, looking 
 back upon the glorious exemplar which rose upon 
 the world a century since to follow the admoni- 
 tions which he bequeathed to us, and to carry 
 out into action in all our civil and social relations 
 all his invaluable precepts ; it is for us, to show 
 to our country and to the world that a race who 
 imbibed from their birth, the purest principles of 
 
23 
 
 religious liberty, and who inherit the highest po- 
 litical privileges, cannot dishonor their birthright ; 
 it is for us, who feel a double obligation of pre- 
 serving those principles which the Pilgrims braved 
 all danger to establish, and Washington to de- 
 fend, to stand strong in maintaining those pillars 
 of our national glory. 
 
 The veteran patriots who may hear me will 
 cheer us with their benedictions. The Young 
 Men, while the lights of the revolution are gradu- 
 ally sinking below the horizon, will catch from 
 their departing rays, as they stream across the 
 heavens, touching and beautiful impressions, and 
 treasure them up with the animating associations 
 and recollections of this day, in the memory and 
 the heart. 
 
The following Odes, written for the occasion, 
 composed a part of the performances at the church 
 on the Centennial Anniversary of the hirth day of 
 Washington, at Plymouth. 
 
 BY REV. S. DEANE. 
 
 Air — God save America. 
 
 FIAIL! glorious natal dayl 
 Lead on its joyous wav, 
 
 WASHINGTON'S name. 
 While roli'd oue century round, 
 No rival name was found: 
 So times shall all he croivn'd, 
 
 Full of his fame. 
 
 Hail! land that gave him birlhl 
 Jinvied through all the earth, 
 
 Happitsl one '. 
 Born not for thee alone, 
 Through earth his light has shone, 
 Nations his worth have known, 
 
 And claim their son. 
 
 Ileartsj long ago, were brave. 
 Patriots had bled to save, 
 
 Heroes endured: 
 Mercy could melt before. 
 Justice stand firm of yore; 
 All, all, our Hero bore, 
 
 In him secured. 
 
 While rolls the world around. 
 While man on e»rlh is found. 
 
 His name revere: 
 Honour and valour glow, 
 Justice and mercy flow, 
 And tyrants feel the blow. 
 
 Or shrink willi fear. 
 
 BY MR JOSEPH LUCAS. 
 Air — Auld Lang Si/ne. 
 
 WHEN Freedom found no place of rest 
 From Europe's clinics she (led ; 
 
 To found an empire in the West, 
 She oVr th' Atlantic sped. 
 
 When, on these shores the nymph appcartdj 
 
 Dejected and forlorn, 
 She cried for aid, in Heaven 'twas heard, 
 
 And WASHINGTON was born. 
 
 She saw, reclined in Virtue's armS; 
 
 And hailed the Lovely child: 
 Fate op'd a thousand radiant charms. 
 
 And Hope sat by and smiled. 
 Fame wreathed with care the patriot's bay, 
 
 His temples to adorn. 
 And greeted the auspicious day 
 
 That WASHINGTON was born. 
 
 To manhood grown, his sword he drew. 
 
 To cleave the tyrant's yoke; 
 His nervous arm Goliath slew 
 
 And Britain's sceptre broke. 
 She saw her legions in dismay, 
 
 Their banners from ihcni torn, 
 And cried aloud, " alas the day ! 
 
 That WASHINGTON was born." 
 
 Exalted to the civic throne. 
 
 To wield the helm of state ; 
 In council, at in war he shone. 
 
 Preeminently great. 
 Now Vernon's children gather round, 
 
 To greet his last return. 
 Anil hills and dales with shouts resound; 
 
 That WASHINGTON was born. 
 
 Through an eventful life well spent, 
 
 In duty's path he trod ; 
 Till Heaven a host of seraphs sent, 
 
 Who bore him to his God. 
 From Heaven \v.is heard an angel's voice, 
 
 "Columbia cease to mourn; 
 Throw ofl" vour sables and rejoice. 
 
 That WASHINGTON was born." 
 
 Illusliious sage! Ihywoik is done ! 
 
 Thy toils and pains arc o'er : 
 Yet. thou Shalt live. Great WASHINGTON, 
 
 Till time shall be no more. 
 Freedom shall wake the votive lay; 
 
 Fame blow her silver horn. 
 Oft as returns the clorious dav 
 
 That WASHINGTON ua^'born.