Part 48 (1/2)
”Maintaining his pacific system at the expense of no duty, America, faithful to herself and unstained in her honor, continued to enjoy the delights of peace, while afflicted Europe mourns in every quarter under the acc.u.mulated miseries of an unexampled war--miseries in which our happy country must have shared had not our pre-eminent Was.h.i.+ngton 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 quelling internal disorder, till the revolving period of a third election approached, when he executed his interrupted but inextinguishable desire of returning to the humble walks of private life.
”The promulgation of his fixed resolution stopped the anxious wishes of an affectionate people from adding a third unanimous testimonial of their unabated confidence in the man so long enthroned in their hearts. When, before, was affection like this exhibited on earth? Turn over the records of Greece--review the annals of mighty Rome--examine the volumes of modern Europe--you search in vain. America and her Was.h.i.+ngton only affords the dignified exemplification.
”The ill.u.s.trious personage, called by the national voice in succession to the arduous office of guiding a free people, had no difficulties to encounter. The amicable effort of settling our difficulties with France, begun by Was.h.i.+ngton 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 gray in public service. The virtuous veteran, following his plough, received the unexpected summons with mingled emotions of indignation at the unmerited ill-treatment of his country, and of a determination once more to risk his all in her defence.
”The annunciation of these feelings, in his affecting letter to the president, accepting the command of the army, concludes his official conduct.
”_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; uniform, dignified, and commanding, his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting.
”To his equals, he was condescending; to his inferiors, kind; and to the dear object of his affections, exemplarily tender. Correct throughout, Vice shuddered in his presence, and Virtue always felt his fostering hand. The purity of his private character gave effulgence to his public virtues.
”His last scene comported with the whole tenor of his life.
Although in extreme pain, not a sigh, not a groan, escaped him; and with undisturbed serenity he closed his well-spent life. Such was the man America has lost; such was the man for whom our nation mourns.
”Methinks I see his august image, and hear falling from his venerable lips these deep-sinking words:--
”'Cease, sons of America, lamenting our separation. Go on and confirm by your wisdom the fruits of our joint councils, joint efforts, and common dangers; reverence religion; diffuse knowledge throughout your lands; patronize the arts and sciences; let Liberty and Order be inseparable companions. Control party spirit, the bane of free government; observe good faith to, and cultivate peace with, all nations; shut up every avenue to foreign influence; contract rather than extend national connections; rely on yourselves only; be Americans in thought, word, and deed.
Thus will you give immortality to that Union which was the constant object of my terrestrial labors; thus will you preserve undisturbed to the latest posterity the felicity of a people to me most dear; and thus will you supply (if my happiness is now aught to you) the only vacancy in the round of pure bliss high Heaven bestows.'”
[148] May, 1860. The following are the names and present ages of the survivors: Samuel Breck, eighty-nine; S. Palmer, eighty; S. F. Smith, eighty; Charles N. Bancker, eighty-four; Quentin Campbell, eighty-four; and John F. Watson, the annalist of Philadelphia and New York, eighty-one.
[149] ”France,” said Fontanes, ”unbia.s.sed by those narrow prejudices which exist between nations, and admiring virtue wherever it be found, decrees this tribute of respect to the manes of Was.h.i.+ngton. At this moment she contributes to the discharge of a debt due by two nations. No government, whatever form it bears, or whatever opinions it holds, can refuse its respect to this great Father of Liberty. The people who so lately stigmatized Was.h.i.+ngton as a rebel, regard even the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of America as one of those events consecrated by history and by past ages. Such is the veneration excited by great characters.
The American Revolution, the contemporary of our own, is fixed for ever.
WAs.h.i.+NGTON began it with energy, and finished it with moderation. He knew how to maintain it, pursuing always the prosperity of his country; and his aim alone will justify, at the tribunal of the Most High, enterprises so extraordinary.
”To p.r.o.nounce the eulogy of the hero of America, requires the sublimest eloquence of the first of orators. I reflect, with sentiments of admiration, that this Temple, ornamented with the trophies of valor, was raised up in an age of genius--an age which produced as many great writers as ill.u.s.trious commanders. Then, the memory of heroes was intrusted to orators whose genius gave immortality. Now, military glory s.h.i.+nes with l.u.s.tre, and in every country the glory of the fine arts is shrouded in darkness. My voice is too feeble to be heard on an occasion so solemn and momentous, and so new to me. But as that voice is pure--as it has never flattered any species of tyranny--it has never been rendered unworthy of celebrating heroism and virtue.”
”Nevertheless, these funeral and military honors will speak to all hearts. It needs not the aid of speech, to raise strong and indescribable emotions. The mourning which the First Consul orders for WAs.h.i.+NGTON, declares to France that Was.h.i.+ngton's example is not lost. It is less for the ill.u.s.trious general, than for the benefactor and friend of a great people, that the c.r.a.pe of mourning now covers our banners and the uniform of our warriors. Neither do we prepare that unmeaning pomp, so contrary to policy and humanity, in which insult is offered to misfortune, contempt to venerable ruins, and calumny to the tomb. Every exalted idea, every useful truth, is seen in this a.s.sembly. I speak, before warriors, the honorable praise of a warrior, firm in adversity, modest in victory, and magnanimous in every stage of fortune.
”Before the ministers of the French republic I speak the praises of a man whom ambition never swayed and whose every care tended to the welfare of his country; a man who, unlike others that have changed empires, lived in peace in his native land; and in that land which he had freed, and in which he had held the highest rank, died as a simple individual.
”General WAs.h.i.+NGTON offers examples not less worthy of imitation. Amid all the disorders of camps, amid all the excesses inseparable from a civil war, humanity took refuge in his tent, and was never repulsed. In triumph and in defeat, he was always as tranquil as wisdom, as simple as virtue. The finer feelings of the heart never abandoned him, even in those moments when his own interest would seem to justify a recurrence to the laws of vengeance....
”It is these extraordinary men, who appear at intervals on this vast scene, with characters commanding and ill.u.s.trious. An unknown and superior cause sends them when it is fit, to lay the foundations of new or to build up the ruins of old empires. It is in vain that these men step aside or mingle with the crowd. Destiny leads them on; they are carried from obstacle to obstacle, from triumph to triumph, until they arrive at the summit of power. Something supernatural animates all their thoughts. An irresistible movement is given to all their enterprises.
The mult.i.tude still seek them among themselves, and find them not; they raise their eyes, and see in a sphere, dazzling with light and glory, those whom their ignorance and envy would call rash.
”WAs.h.i.+NGTON had not those high and commanding traits which strike every mind. He displayed more order and justice, than force and elevation, in his ideas. He possessed, above all, in an eminent degree, that quality which some call vulgar, but which very few possess--that quality not less useful to the government of states than to the conduct of life, and which gives more tranquillity than emotion to the soul, and more happiness than glory to those who possess it. It is of good sense that I speak. Audacity destroys, genius elevates, good sense preserves and perfects. Genius is charged with the glory of empires; but good sense alone a.s.sures their safety and repose. His end portrayed all the domestic virtues, as his life had been an ill.u.s.trious example in war and politics. America regarded with respect the mansion which contained her defender. From that retreat, where so much glory dwelt, sage counsels issued, which had no less weight than in the days of his power. But death has swept all away; he died in the midst of those occupations which sweeten domestic life, and support us in the infirmities of age.
”From every part of that America he delivered, the cry of grief is heard. It belonged to France to echo back the mournful sound; it ought to vibrate on every generous heart. The shade of WAs.h.i.+NGTON, on entering beneath this lofty dome, will find a Turenne, a Catinat, a Conde, all of whom have fixed their habitation here. If these ill.u.s.trious warriors had not served in the same cause during life, yet the fame of all will unite them in death. Opinions, subject to the caprices of the world and to time--opinions, weak and changeable, the inheritance of humanity--vanish on the tomb; but glory and virtue live for ever. When departed from this stage, the great men of every age and of every place become in some measure compatriots and contemporaries. They form but one family in the memory of the living; and their examples are renewed in every successive age. Thus, within these walls, the valor of WAs.h.i.+NGTON attracts the regard of CONDe; his modesty is applauded by TURENNE; his philosophy draws him to the bosom of CATINAT. A people who admit the ancient dogma of a transmigration of souls will often confess that the soul of Catinat dwells in the bosom of Was.h.i.+ngton.
”The voice of Republicanism, which resounds from every part of these walls, ought to please, above all, the defenders of America. Can they not love these soldiers who, after their example, repelled the enemies of their country? We approach with pleasure those veterans, whose trophies add l.u.s.tre to these walls, and some of whom have gained laurels with Was.h.i.+ngton in the wilds of Carolina and Virginia.
”But there is something more due to the memory of WAs.h.i.+NGTON: it is the union of France and America.[150] It is the happiness of each; it is peace between the two nations. It now seems to me that WAs.h.i.+NGTON calls to all France from the very summit of this dome: 'Magnanimous people!