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Art. X.

A Funeral Oration, in honour
of the memory of George Wash-
ington, late General of the Ar-
mies of the United States. Pre-
pared and delivered at the request of
Congress, at the German Lutheran
Church, Philadelphia, on Thursday
the 26th of December. By Major-
General Henry Lee, one of the
Representatives from the State of
Virginia. 8vo. pp. 16. Brooklyn.
Kirk. 1800.

THE fire that pervades this
composition is, by no means,
of so sparkling a kind as that by

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which the former is animated and
brightened. There is nothing which,
in any degree, rises above the hu-
mility of prose. If there be no
strains of uncommon eloquence,
there is, at least, no tincture of af-
fectation, no painful efforts to at-
tain sublimity and grandeur. There
is none of that glittering imagery
and elaborate conscieness which
prove the writer to be more engaged
in displaying and contemplating his
own perfections than those of the
deceased. There is earnestness, if
not pathos; and, if he depicts in ex-
aggerated colours the national grief,
he is led into this error, less by the
precepts of a fulsome and phantastic
rhetoric, than by the mournful
suggestions of his own mind.

In pourtraying the characters of
men, it is difficult to avoid an enu-
meration of their actions. This
speech, accordingly, details the chief
events of the life of Washington,
from the defeat of Braddock to the
acceptance of his last military com-
mission. The rectitude of his mo-
tives, and the wisdom of his con-
duct on each occasion, are fervent-
ly applauded. Indiscriminate praise
is seldom just, and seldom accep-
table to an upright mind; but, in
truth, it would require a very dis-
passionate scrutiny to discover the
defects of Washington: these de-
fects are obscured and concealed
by the lustre of his virtues, and to
bestow pains-in detecting or un-
folding them, would argue, at any
time, an envious and malignant
temper, but would be particularly
unsuitable to the occasion on which
this eulogy was pronounced.

The mode in which the conduct
of the deceased is described by the
orator, will appear from the follow-
ing specimen, in relation to the late
Indian war, and the proclamation
of neutrality.

“War, long menaced by the In-
dian tribes, now broke out: and
the terrible conflict deluging Eu-

rope with blood, began to shed its
baneful influences over our happy
land. To the first, outstretching
his invincible arm, under the or-
ders of the gallant Wayne, the
American Eagle soared triumphant
through distant forests. Peace fol-
lowed victory, and the melioration
of the condition of the enemy fol-
lowed peace. Godlike virtue, which
uplifts even the subdued savage!

“To the second he opposed him-
self. New and delicate was the con-
juncture, and great was the stake.
Soon did his penetrating mind dis-
cern and seize the only course, con-
tinuing to us all the blessing enjoy-
ed. He issued his proclamation of
neutrality. This index to him whose
subsequent conduct was sanctioned
by the approbation of both houses
of Congress, and by the approving
voice of the people.

“To this sublime policy he in-
violably adhered, unmoved by fo-
reign intrusion, unshaken by do-
mestic turbulence.

‘Justum et tenacem propositi virum
'Non civium ardor prava jubentium,
'Non vultus instantis tyranni
'Mente quatit solida.’

“Maintaining his pacific system
at the expense of no duty, America,
faithful to herself, and unstained
in her honour, continued to enjoy
the delights of peace, while afflicted
Europe mourns in every quarter
under the accumulated miseries of
an unexampled war; miseries in
which our happy country must have
shared, had not our pre-eminent
Washington been as firm in council
as he was brave in the field.

“Pursuing steadfastly his course,
he held safe the public happiness,
preventing foreign war, and quel-
ling internal disorder, till the re-
volving period of a third election
approached, when he executed his
interrupted but inextinguishable de-
sire of returning to the humble
walks of private life.”

There are few readers who will

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be offended at the strain of this ora-
tion. It contains little that is new
to ordinary inquirers. Such com-
binations and allusions only as are
suggested to most minds while con-
templating the character of the illus-
trious chief, and such as ordinary
education would supply, are to be
found in it. He carries us not be-
yond the beaten track of panegy-
ric, objects receive from his pen-
cil no new colouring. He tells us
what most would tell us from the
same stage. He clothes, in their
customary dress, our own habitual
ideas. His Washington is ours,
gifted as a military leader, with
every military virtue, and as a ci-
vil magistrate, all-wise. If, there-
fore, he fail to delight or instruct
us by the novelty of his images,
and the profoundness of his views,
or the charms of his style, he will
not, at least, offend us. We go away
satisfied from his recital, and regret,
not that so few encomiasts rise
above, but that so many fall be-
low the mediocrity which he has
displayed.