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tion as might mark the progress of the contest, and tend to designate the wisdom and vigor of that conduct, by which the ope rations of our armies were directed, and the hopes of our country were completely realized.

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IT is with regret, as it is of necessity, that I pass, in summary relation, the judicious instructions issued to subordinate commands and detachments-the unremitting exertions, by which the organization and discipline of a new-formed army were effected the anxious cares, by which that army was supplied the sublime influence, by which it was continued in ac tive service, through the rigor of the most inclement seasons, and under the pressure of discouragement, which the mind shudders to review.

ON these topics, the delighted historian will dilate, with increasing praise-and instructed posterity will dwell with gratitude and pride.

Ar the approach of peace an occasion arose, in which the best faculties of his superior mind were summoned to their utmost exertion—and in which the feelings of his heart were to meet in strong collision with the dictates of his judgment, and a paramount sense of public duty.

THAT army, by whose unshaken fidelity, and invincible for titude, the glory and fortunes of America had been upheld, in all the vicissitudes of the war, was on the eve of dispersion. [

THOSE faithful comrades, in honor and misfortune, were to separate for ever, under the most afflicting circumstances of individual adversity.

To their country they had secured the blessings of peace, and the boon of independence—and to every class of their fellowcitizens a full participation in those blessings, enhanced by the enjoyment of that property, which, in their protected avocations, they had been enabled to preserve or to acquire.

To the disbanded veteran, in the decline of life, was opened the cheerless prospect of extreme penury, aggravated, in many instances, by wounds and inability to labor. His 'honor and "the instruments of his glory," were all that he pós

his arms, sessed.

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MAIMED and disfigured by honorable scars, he was become a stranger in the place of his nativity-and he was no longer remembered by the companions of his early years. His longleft home was in the occupancy of another, and his future abode was only certain to be wretched,

WHILE oppressed by these sensations, and assailed by the an gry passions, which their situation excited, the army were invited, by every consideration, which the most seductive persuasion could suggest, to redress their wrongs, and resent the alledged ingratitude of their country,

ARGUMENT and eloquence were exhausted to effect the adoption of this fatal advice,

To counteract the dangerous measure-to preserve inviolate the honor of his troops, and the safety of his country, the wisdom and firmness of the virtuous Washington were immediately interposed.

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WITH his heart wrung by the sufferings of the army-with his mind deeply affected by the counsel, which had been offered to remedy their grievances-conscious of their merits, and no less sensible to the inability of the country to fulfil its spipulations he convened his officers and presenting himself as me. diator between the distresses of the troops, and the public incapacity, at that time, to relieve them-he addressed himself to their judgment, their honor, and their patriotism.

- His opinions, framed on the irresistible conclusions of truth, and urged with all the force of reason and sentiment, were in. stantly adopted--and the sublime spectacle was exhibited of "an army victorious over its enemy,-victorious over itself."

In the last exercise of his military functions, the social interests of his country engaged his benevolent attention, and a solicitude to promote her political prosperity, employed the reflec tions of his patriotic mind.

ADDRESSING to the executives of the several states an affec tionate farewel, he unfolded to their view the matured lessons of experience, in a system of advice, eminently calculated to advance the happiness of their constituents-and worthy to be transmitted, in indelible characters, to distant posterity.

THUS was the splendid structure of his military character completed-and thus was reared, to the glory of confederated America, an ever-enduring monument of the purest patriotism, and the most important public services.

THE rights of his country maintained-her independence acknowledged the complaints of his meritorious, suffering army appeased and his high trust, in all its relations, sacredly fulfilled, he appeared before the great council of the nation, to claim the indulgence of retirement, and to resign the authority, with which he had been invested.

A MORE august scene has never been displayed. The triumph of virtue and freedom was complete. He retired, amid the blessings and applause of grateful millions, to the shade of private life, and to the enjoyment of that domestic felicity, from which, during eight years of anxiety, toil and danger, he had been detained by an abstracted devotion to public duty.

HOWEVER desirous to call your attention to the useful, the virtuous and exemplary tenor of his private life; yet the rapid succession of public events, which scarcely permitted him to repose from the toils of war, obliges me to refer this interesting topic to a subsequent part of the discourse.

THE voice of his country, to which he was ever obedient, was again raised to call him from his tranquil and happy retire, gent,

THAT frame of government, which, in a period of danger, and under the pressure of foreign hostility, had been sufficient to consolidate the interests, and to educe the resources of the United States, was found incompetent, in the relaxation of peace and fancied security, to control those objects of national concern, which were essential to the safety and happiness of the American people.

THE fair prospect of our rising empire was obscured the failure of our national engagements the dissolution of our unionthe consequent evils of rivalry—and the eventual horrors of war, were all impending,

THE crisis was alarming beyond expression, and required an immediate interposition of the most patriotic exertions to avert the threatened calamities.

In the delegated wisdom and patriotism of the several states, the sage and virtuous Washington was again distinguished, and again pre-eminent,

ELECTED, by an unanimous suffrage, to preside over those deliberations, on which the fate of a mighty nation, and the felicity of millions were suspended, the dignity of his character, and the influence of his example, gave, to the discussion of different interests, a spirit of conciliation, which resulted in the noblest concessions and an impression of national deference, in which subordinate considerations were merged and extin guished.

YES, my fellow-citizens, to his accurate perception of our several interests to his just construction of what was required to reconcile them-no less than to his skill and valor, in the day of battle, are we indebted for a large portion of our national harmony, and social happiness.

Ir is not in language to appreciate, with just estimation, the advantages, which, on this great emergency, were derived tą his country, from the mild dignity of his manner, and the harmonizing character of his deportment.

In them was personified that accommodation, which the crisis demanded, and which the great instrument of our national safety, most happily, proclaims in all its provisions.

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On the adoption of this auspicious substitute to our imperfect confederation-when the voice of united America was to designate the most deserving citizen, to administer the important duties of the executive department-the choice was conformed to the gratitude of the nation, and to the high desert of her most beloved, and most respected patriot.

THE illustrious Washington was again the object of undivided esteem, and the depositary of the public confidence.

To him, as to an unerring guide, were committed the difficult and delicate arrangements of a new-formed government, co-extensive with the limits, and embracing the various interests of "our wide-spreading empire."

RENOUNCING the pleasures and the elegancies of his chosen. retreat, he consented to embark the rich treasure of his fame on an untried element and, solely actuated by the will of his country, he resigned to her wishes the evening of that life, whose morn and meridian had been devoted to her service.

To trace the merits of his civil administration-to remark the judgment and impartiality, with which its most delicate duties were discharged-to observe the unwearied investigation, on which his judicious selection to office was grounded—to review those opinions, which were submitted, for co-operation, to the other branches of government to notice the scrupulous delicacy, with which he abstained from encroachment on the province of their authority-while he maintained, with undeviating firmness, the powers which the constitution had exclusively assigned to the executive organ, would far exceed the limits of an eulogium.

THEY are classed in the highest order of precedents, and are most usefully referred to the historical amplification of his instructive life.

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