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we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterwards defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God." This was the patriot voice of Washington; and this the constant tenor of his conduct. With this deep sense of duty, he gave to our constitution his cordial assent; and has added the fame of a legislator to that of a hero.

AGAIN, in the shade of retirement, he seeks repose; but is called, by unanimous voice, to be the first magistrate of the United States. Scarce are the wheels of government in motion, when he is struck by the view of that enormous revolu→ tion which still torments and terrifies the earth. The flames of war were spread throughout Europe, and threatened to waste the globe. The delegated incendiaries found America filled with inflammable matter. All the bad passions, with some that were good, stimulated her to engage in the contest. But the president, still calm, discerning, and true to your truest interest, proclaimed, observed, and maintained an exact neutrality. In vain was he assailed from abroad in vain solicited, excited, urged, by those around him. He stood immoveable! Vain also were the clamors of mistaken zeal, the dark efforts of insidious faction, and the foul voice of mercenary slander. You have all lately seen his firm administration, and all now enjoy the

rich result of his inflexible wisdom.

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THOUGH he still turned with fond desire towards his domestic shade, he never left the helm during the fury of the storm, but remained 'till he had the well founded expectation that America might enjoy peace, freedom, and safety—and then at last he claims the right of age. A venerable veteran, in all honorable service, having consecrated to his country the spirit of youth, the strength of manhood, and the ripe experience of laborious years, he asks repose. His body broken with toil must rest. No-he is called forth again—again must he gird on his sword and prepare for the battle!And see! fresh in renewed vigor, he decks his hoary head with nodding plumes of war, and mounts the barbed steed. With countenance erect and firm, his eagle eye measures the lengthened file. Wonder

ful man! he seems immortal-Oh no-no-no, this our pride, our glory, is gone-He is gone forever.

BUT yet his spirit liveth. Hail! happy shade-the broad shield of death is thrown before thy fame. Never shall the polluted breath of slander blow upon thine ashes. We will watch with pious care the laurels which shade thy urn, and wear thy name engraven on our hearts.-Oh! yet protect thy country !— Save her! She is an orphan-Her father is mingled with the dust.

No! HE LIVETH-HE SHALL LIVE FOREVER!And when the latest of your children's children, shall pronounce his dear, his sacred name, their eyes shall be suffused with the tear of GRATITUDE and LOVE.

Funeral oration on the death of brother GEORGE WASHINGTON; delivered at Lancaster, before lodge No. 43, and a large and respectable audience of ladies and gentlemen. By brother WILLIAM CLARK FRAZER.

Worshipful master, junior and senior wardens,

junior deacons, brethren, ladies and gentlemen,

IN compliance with your directions, I rise to execute the task you have assigned, conscious that every indulgence which a candid generous fraternity and audience are always disposed to give to persons in my situation and of my capacity, will be granted. The task is disagreeable, but a performance of it is necessary, as a tribute due from this lodge to the memory of our worthy deceased brother general GEORGE WASHINGTON. It is necessary, as it calls to our recollection his splendid virtues. It is necessary, as a means whereby we can perpetuate his name. It is necessary, as it presents to us a thorough-finished picture of man; in viewing which, independent of the improvement, we derive exquisite satisfaction from the contem

plation of its various beauties. These, as considerations of an important kind, together with the pleasing reflections arising from an idea of my complying with the will of our great and good government, as also with that of a social and friendly institution, lessen the weight of it. To become acquainted with the value and worth of an individual as great as Washinton, we must contemplate his actions and atchievements with an eye of impartiality, view the various sources and springs from whence they have arisen. Thence we shall appreciate his true importance, and the loss his country has sustained in his death. This is the only accurate mode of trying characters, that has ever been adopted by men of wisdom; and if in following them I trespass upon your patience and time, I must solicit your friendly indulgence.

WHILE ignorance continued to darken the horizon of Europe, and intercept those rays coming from the fountain of wisdom, priestcraft and bigotry seemed to have forged fetters for the human mind; and in the security of their own omnipotence, slumbered away, little thinking that the enlightened few, the chosen of heaven, exiled by their influence from their native realms to this then desert northern country, would here, in course of some few passing years, erect an empire that would be the ornament of the world, and overthrow their usurped and cursed power. Yes, it was here they received their death blow. Yes, it was here our persecuted ancestors found an asylum, established the temple of knowledge, and through her, as a medium, worshipped the great First Cause, and adored the attributes of his divinity. It was here wandering, harrassed protestantism, and morality, her foster sister, found a mansion of rest and permanent security against the attacks of foes. From the earliest period of settlement, we discover strong exertions towards the attainment of information, the dissemination of correct religious principles, and the expansion of science. To these as causes we may indirectly ascribe the greatness of our country.

CUR much-esteemed brother having formed his mind by an education built upon these then predominant principles, acquired

that greatness of thought, that nobleness and heroism of soul, which supported him in difficulties, perils and dangers, such as man never before witnessed or experienced. This also pointed out to him those great duties which he always pertinaciously practised: 1, to serve his creator; 2, his country; 3, his family and himself. Impelled by such strong powers as those that move the machine, man, with so much majestic grandeur and dignified elegance, when his country called him to take an active part against an invading savage foe, we see him obedient to her call, like antient Sparta's sons, gird on the sword of war, call forth his brothers in arms, animate them by his own example, stimulate them with the well-told tale of former hero's greatness in such a well-fought battle, and raise in their glowing breasts the pride of the experienced warrior. We see him leaving the pleasures and solacing comforts of retirement, tracing the almost impenetrable forests of our western country, scaling the stupendous mountains of Allegheny, against which the savage yell and dismal war-hoop striking, rebound with renewed violence, and fill with horror the mind of the lonely traveller; buffeting with the sable waves of the numerous rivers that form the grand Ohio, ignorant of the lurking den of the savage, from whence the arrows of death driven, so faithfully execute the intentions of their master. He marches undaunted. We see his little but brave band subsisting on the casual supplies of the woods, and hunger, as a consequence there to, their familiar attendant; the damp ground their bed, the canopy of heaven, awful with the blackness of night, their covering. We see them meet the enemy; the fight ensues, and conquest is wrested from the tawney warrior, long famed and sung of for his many feats. We see him here in a most amiable point of view, extending humanity to the unfortunate in war, and alleviating the distresses of his wounded fellow-soldiers. Here he plants his greatness as a soldier. Here he plants the laurel from whence future heros may pluck the wreath of fame. We afterwards see him progressing towards the temple of fame, at the Big Meadows, where the malign shaft transfixed the brave, the unfortunate Braddock, who so nobly fell. The army is surrounded, deprived of their leader, the foe exasperated, the most horrid imprisonment and excruciating punishments in view.

They are in despair. Washington is thought of, he is called upon to assume the command. He flies from rank to rank, calls upon them to bid defiance to a superior enemy, consolidates his battalions, leads them on-the enemy fall before them like the ripened harvest under the eastern storm-he secures a retreat. Here he shews, in the great general, the philosophic mind, calm, collected, and resolved, in surrounding dangers.

On the conclusion of this war, which had desolated the eastern and western worlds, he retires with that reward so much prized by the worthy and good man the thanks of his grateful country. His name visits Europe; he is applauded by the admirers of merit, and is envied by those who are jealous of our rising country, and its growing characters. Prescience points out his future fame and greatness. The pious, the reverend Davies, prophecies from the sacred desk the miracles and the salvation that he is to work. Peace, ever-blessed peace, always sought for by the meritorious, justly valued by the prudent and brave, is once more fixed upon her broad basis; and, like the returning spring, that enlivens nature in so many beauteous ways, she throws around plenty with happiness into every cottage, content and cheerfulnese into every bosom. Washington now lays down that sword which his government had entrusted to his care, and by their desire returns it to its antient habitation, with a promise that whenever his services are required, his greatest pleasure will be in submitting to their authority. Now he withdraws to the shades of domestic tranquillity, cultivates the soil, harmony in society, encourages literature, the arts, sciences and manufactures; diffuses around in his small circle of neighbors, and his own family, all the fine, delicate sensibility of his more refined understanding.

HERE let us stop, and admire the man, retreating from greatness in war to exercise the more peaceful functions of the husbandman. Perhaps some may be surprized; no, it was here he could hold intercourse with himself, and confer with his God. It was here he could give a full scope for the display of the wondrous powers of his mind. It was here he studied the lesson he had learned in the school of war, and digested its crude.

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