Henry Lee III

“ When the civilized world shakes to its centre; when every moment gives birth to strange and momentous changes; when our peaceful quarter of the globe, exempt as it happily has been from any share in the slaughter of the human race, may yet be compelled to abandon her pacific policy, and to risk the doleful casualties of war, what limit is there to the extent of our loss? ”

“ Hope, the comforter of the wretched, would pour into our agonized hearts its balmy dew. But alas! there is no hope for us; our Washington is removed forever. Possessing the stoutest frame, and purest mind, he had passed nearly to his sixty-eighth year, in the enjoyment of high health, when, habituated by his care of us to neglect himself, a slight cold, disregarded, became inconvenient on Friday, oppressive on Saturday, and defying every medical interposition, before the morning of Sunday, put an end to the best of men. ”

“ He best understood the indissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and individual felicity: watching with an equal and comprehensive eye over this great assemblage of communities and interests, he laid the foundations of our national policy in the unerring, immutable principles of morality, based on religion, exemplifying the preeminence of free government, by all the attributes which win the affection of its citizens or command the respect of the world. ”

“ The election of President followed, and Washington, by the unanimous vote of the nation, was called to resume the chief magistracy: what a wonderful fixture of confidence! Which attracts most our admiration, a people so correct, or a citizen combining an assemblage of talents forbidding rivalry, and stifling even envy itself? Such a nation ought to be happy, such a chief must be forever revered. ”

“ Independent states stretched over an immense territory, and known only by common difficulty, clinging to their Union as the rock of their safety, deciding by frank comparison of their relative condition, to rear on that rock, under the guidance of reason, a common government through whose commanding protection, liberty and order, with their long train of blessings, should be safe to themselves and the sure inheritance of their posterity. ”

“ Desperate indeed is any attempt on earth to meet correspondently this dispensation of heaven; for, while with pious resignation we submit to the will of an All-gracious Providence, we can never cease lamenting in our finite view of Omnipotent wisdom, the heart-rending privation for which our nation weeps. ”

“ America and her Washington only afford the dignified exemplification.
The illustrious personage called by the national voice in succession to the arduous office of guiding a free people, had new difficulties to encounter: the amicable effort of settling our difficulties with France, begun by Washington, and pursued by his successor in virtue as in station, proving abortive, America took measures of self defence. No sooner was the public mind roused by a prospect of danger, than every eye was turned to the friend of all, though secluded from public view, and grey in public service ”

“ To the horrid din of battle sweet peace succeeded, and our virtuous chief, mindful only of the common good, in a moment tempting personal aggrandizement, hushed the discontents of growing sedition, and surrendering his power into the hands from which he had received it, converting his sword into a ploughshare; teaching an admiring world that to be truly great, you must be truly good. ”

“ Great was our Washington in war, and much as did that greatness contribute to produce the American Republic, it is not in war alone his preeminence stands conspicuous; his various talents combining all the capacities of a statesman with those of the soldier, fitted him alike to guide the councils and the armies of our nation. ”

“ The finger of an overruling Providence, pointing at Washington, was neither mistaken nor unobserved, when, to realize the vast hopes to which our revolution had given birth, a change of political system became indispensable. ”

“ The aged, the young, the brave, the fair, rivalled each other in demonstrations of their gratitude; and this high wrought delightful scene was heightened in its effect, by the singular contest between the zeal of the bestowers and the avoidance of the receiver of the honors bestowed. ”

“ Possessing a clear and penetrating mind, a strong and sound judgment, calmness and temper for deliberation, with invincible firmness and perseverance in resolutions maturely formed, drawing information from all, acting from himself, with incorruptible integrity and unvarying patriotism ”

“ First in war — first in peace — and first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to none in the humble and endearing scenes of private life; ”