An ADDRESS, TO THE MEMBERS OF THE £@a£Ta$ufett$ Charitable fire Society, AT THEIR ANNUAL MEETING, MAY 28, 1802. by ;glc!in Kurnev Methinks already from this chemic flame, I iee a city of more precious mold; Rich as the town which givj^ s the Indies name, With filver pav’d, anch’^l divine with gold. Dryden’s Annus Mirabilis* His life was gentle ; and the elements So mix’d in him, that Nature might Hand up And fay to all the World, THIS WAS A MA|[ Shakes? 2 aR- corns d&tttotu , o - ^ 1 o 0 3 * # J Mott of SCijanttg* AT a meeting of the Government of the Majfaclufetts Charitable Fire Society, on Friday, May a8th, 1802— Voted, That the Vice President, Josiah Quincy, Efq. and Mr. James White, be a Committee to wait on the Honorable John Quincy Adams, Efq to return him the thank* of the Government for his Addrefs, delivered before the Society this day, and requeft of him a Copy for the prefs. A true copy from the Records, WILLIAM ALLINE, Rec'g Secy. f .... " -" , . . : -- - - - - - - • St f* i A Ci' J * y \ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ¥ + https ://archive.org/detaii§/addresstomembersOOadam iylddve,jd, Sfo 9 The general advantages arifing from focial inftitutions for charitable purpofes ; the peculiar utility of that, whofe annual meeting for difcourf- ing on thefe topics, and for recommending them by the more powerful eloquence of example this day returns $ the dangers, to which all populous cities are liable by the calamities of fire ; the ag¬ gravations of thefe dangers, to which we, my fel¬ low-citizens, are expofed, from the periihahle ma¬ terials of which too great a proportion of our ha¬ bitations is conftructed ; the intrinfic excellence of that eminently chriftian virtue, Charity ; and the important benefits of its exertions in thofe ca¬ fes of diftrefs for the relief or which, your fociety, gentlemen, was formed : Thefe are the themes to which your attention is naturally, and ufually called, on occafions fimilar to the prefent. They have been treated with fuch various ingenuity by thofe members of the fociety, who have hereto¬ fore addreffed you upon thefe anniverfaries, that without a departure from the fubjedts themfelves. cfd / ^ 6 it would be difficult to avoid the repetition of many arguments, and the recurrence to many fades, already urged upon your notice, in preced¬ ing years. Such repetition, however, I truft will neither furprize, nor difpleafe you : For if origi¬ nality of thought ipight leave on your minds im- preffions more immediately pleafing, the valuable objeds of your inflitution will more probably be advanced by faying over again with the fandion of your authority, what has already more than once been faid in the fame manner. one of your great and laudable purpofes is that of flimulating genius, to ufeful difeoveries tending to fecure the lives and property of our fellow men from deftrudion by fire. But the difeoveries of genius are feldom the refult of ex¬ ternal ftimulus : genius is of an eccentric charad- er; of a reflive temper ; difdainful of guidance or controul, he refills all influence from without; he deferts every path not traced by himfelf. Nor is it your defign to afk of genius, affiflance, which even he is incompetent to afford. In vain would genius hand upon the beach ar 4 d forbid the waves of qcean to approach his feet : In vain would he bid the flowers of fpring to bloom on Zembla’s eternal fnows : In vain would he com¬ mand golden haryefts to fmiie on Zara’s fcorch- ing fands : la vain would he refill or evade the laws of nature, and pf nature’s God— All his at- 7 1 tempts to render permanent what they have pro¬ claimed periflnble are but the memorials of his impotence. Let us then not be fanguine to in¬ dulge hopes of obtaining much relief from the difeoveries of genius. It is by reiterating with unwearied hand, the exhibition of truths long known but not fulhciently felt, by redoubling line upon line, by crowding precept upon precept, by wearing down the garb of perluafton to the very tatters of importunity, that your affociation will mod effe&ually contribute to arreft the progrefs of defolation, and difarm the fury of the element. If we fpurn the long tried, faithful fhield of pru¬ dence, with what authority can we call upon ge¬ nius for new devices to fupply its place ? Is it not like the Countryman in the Fable, who appeals for aid to Hercules, when he fliould apply his own Aioulder to the wheel ? Alas ! my friends, we have here lefs occafion for the inventive faculties of ge¬ nius, than for the warning voice of experience. We want lirmnefs rather than fancy, diferetion rather than difeovery, ftubborn perfeverance in demonftrated right, rather than eager fearch of ingenious novelty. it was the higheft boaft of Auguiius Csefar, in his old age, that he had found the Roman me¬ tropolis of brick, and fliould leave it of marble. Fellow-townfmen ! We fliould blufli to confefs that our ambition extends not even to leave our capital where Auguflus began with his. He glo¬ ried in the progrefs of improvements, from fafety to ornament; and can you hefitate to perfift in advancing from danger to fafety ? The motives which impelled him to fuperaddthe polifh of mag¬ nificence to the comfortable dwellings of his peo¬ ple, were contracted and felfifh, in comparifon with thofe which ought to ftimulate you. He gave fplendor to the city for the fake of its re¬ flected lufire upon his own fame. Yourperfonal inducements are of keener edge than his. It is for fafety, not for glory, for life itfelf, or at leaft its moil eflential comforts,* and not for the bubble reputation that you are contending. But you have the further incentive of the moil generous focial paffions. In fecuring yourfelves, you fecure your fellow-citizens, your neighbours, your friends : You have the double enjoyment of par¬ taking the benefit, and feeing, it fhared by others. / You are aiming not only to enlarge the fphere of your own gratifications, but to add high value to the inheritance of pofterity. This fpur will be peculiarly pointed and forcible to your minds, when you confider that it is not mere property, but the ineftimable bldling of fecurity ; not merely more durable tenements, but more ra- tional peace of mind; not merely riches of Hate t and brick, which like other riches may take to themfelves wings and fly away, but the riches of i 9 quiet and contentment; the infallible increafe of pofitive happinefs, by the removal of conftant danger, arid continual anxiety ; the CJ fober cer¬ tainty of waking bids,” that you are adding to the birth-right of your children. It is this, gen¬ tlemen, in which con fills the mod important ex¬ cellence of your inftitution. Your immediate charities, as they tend to the relief of exifling nailery, are amiable and refpeftable; but the ef¬ fects of your influence to fecure the efficacy of thofe falutary laws which are to remove the prin¬ cipal caufe of our danger, will make you the ben¬ efactors of pofterity, and entitle you to the grati¬ tude of ail future ao;es. Fellow-citizens ! You who are prefent here merely as ipectators, and are not members of the aflociation,is this exagge¬ rated praife ? Bring the queftion home to your own hearts, and the fociety may confidently await your decifion. Open your Province-Law book, arid the very fifft Statute you will find under the Charter of William and Mary, is an act to forbid the erection of wooden buildings in this town, upon the penalty of having them demolifhed as common nuifances. This lav/, paffed in the year 1692, one hundred and ten years ago, refers to the exiftence, and the violation of a {till more an- tient Statute to the fame effect, enacted under the former Charter. The preamble, in the ener¬ getic, though fomewhat antiquated language of B to that day, affigns the many great deflations and ruinsby fires, which wooden buildings had occafioned, as the reafon of its injunctions. The town had then exifted about fixty years. Neceffity and not choice had ufed at firft fuch materials as it could find. The want of prefent fhelter had been more urgent than that of a fafe and permanent habita¬ tion ; and who, after confidering the fituation of our venerable forefathers at the firft fettlement of the country, fliall dare to arraign them becaufe they provided firft for the moft immediate pref- fure, and left the reft to times of greater cafe and convenience, or to the lefs burthened induftry and wifdom of their dependents ? In the courfe of fixty years, however, experience had proved that a wooden city is a vaft tinder-box, kindling at every tranfient fpark ; an immenfc mafs of phial’d phofphorus, blazing out by mere commu¬ nication with the air. It had been the fource of fo many great defolations and ruins, that the Le- gifiature once and again endeavoured to correct the mifchief by thefe fharp and biting Statutes.— Now, fuppofe, fellow-citizens, that inftead of that pufillanimous indulgence, which fuffers bad habits to prevail over good laws, the Legiflature had uniformly and ftremioufiy maintained that refo- lution and perfeverance, which eventually fecure the triumph of good laws over bad habits : Sup- pofe fuch a fociety as that in whofe name I now II enjoy the privilege of addrefllng you, had then exifted,to promote by united deeds and counfels,by public annual admonition, by the weight of perfo- nal influence,and by the impulfe of perfonal exam¬ ple, the full accomplifhment of thefe wife regula¬ tions ; what would have been the confequences to you ? That you, and your fathers, would long fiiice have poflefled habitations of durable and in- combuftible materials : That, of flxteen fires, * “ pre-eminent on the black regifter of deftruc- tion, 5 ’ which glare horrible upon your annals flnce the date of the law, and innumerable others, deeply calamitous, though flalhing lefs confpicu- ous from the difmal gloom, probably not one would have happened : That at this time, you might all, with fecure and eafy minds, nightly commit yourfelves, your property, the children of your love, the wives of your bofoms, to the protection of Providence, without carrying into the arms of flumber, the anxious and too well grounded fear, that before your eyes fliall open to the fucceeding dawn, all, all may be fwept away by the relentlefs fury of the flames. But no fuch fociety was extant: The fword of the law, for want of a hand to wield it, idly rufted in its fcabbard ; and feven years afterwards we find the Legiflature, kill bearing teftimony, againfl: the pernicious practice of building in wood, but * V. Mr. Welles’s Addrefs to the Society. mitigating the penalty as too fevere, becaufe it had been fo generally fet at defiance. to prefcribe a flight punifhment where an heavy one has proved ineffectual, is not in this world the belt expedient to enfure fubmiflion ; and the fifty pounds fine, fubffituted inftead of the demolition of the building, was made the mere foot-ball of public fcorn, until it fank into perfect oblivion. An ingenious traveller who has given an ac¬ count of Mount iEtna, remarks that although the city at the foot of the mountain had twice been deftroyecl by eruptions of the volcano, yet the inhabitants, by fome Jirange infatuation , could not be prevailed upon to change their fituation, but rebuilt their city upon the fame fpot .—If this conduct of the Catanians appeared the height of abfurdity to Brydone, what would he have faid of a people who fhould perfift in retaining and furnifhing fuel for an /Etna within their walls ; for an iEtna, the work of their own hands ; who after buffering more from fires, than the neigh¬ bourhood of a burning mountain ever 'inflicted, fhouid cling to their bubble and ftraw, as if re¬ luctant at the thoughts of parting from the fre¬ quent hght of hideous ruin and combuftion.— At leaf! the Catanians might plead in their jufti- fication that attachment tender and fublime, that love ffronger than death, to the place of their T "* 1 J nativity, which vibrates in every fibre of a feel¬ ing heart, which is intermingled in every affec¬ tion of a virtuous mind.—But clapboards and fliingles ! What myflei ious fafcinations can they poffets ? What fympathetic fenfibilities can they infpire ? Why truly, they are at firff coff the cheapeft materials—as if the lofs of millions in future danger were no counterbalance to the favmg of hundreds in prefent expence ! This computation my friends, ought never to have been polled from the wafte-book of folly.—This logic ought forever to moulder on the (helves of exploded madnefs. For more than a century and an half no individual in this town, has been compelled to build for want of an immediate fhelter over his head, and nothing lefs can excufe making parfimony your architect, and devafta- tion your inheritance. Gentlemen, I have dwelt too long upon this topic—The fenfe of the legiflature, and of the town have again recently been expreffed upon the fubj ect—wholefome laws have again been enacted to relieve us gradually from our greateft dangers of fire, and I truft the fpirit of the town and the firmnefs and vigilance of' its officers will carry them into complete execution. Years ; probably many years muff elapfe before we can hope to obtain the practicable portion of fecurity—Our tenements, fuch as they are, muff Hand, until gradual decay, individual confent, or the cruel hand of calamity Ihall remove them— it is a confolation however that you are advanc¬ ing in improvement, and you have the flattering profpecl that your children will be lefs expofed to thefe perils than yourfelves. What thefe perils, are, the experience of the laft winter has depict¬ ed in colours which the pencil of defcription could only dilute and weaken. The treafures of com¬ mercial opulence, the Ihelter of honeft induftry, the folemn temple of Almighty God, have alter¬ nately fallen within the ruffian grafp of infatiate ruin. Would to heaven this were the worfl: !— Daughters of the land ! If virtuous fenfibility could affume a form and appear in perfon here, Gie would only be the JoveiieA of women : If ten- dernefs has a throne of glory upon earth, it is in the heart of a mother—Lovely women ! tender mothers! will you forgive me, for renewing the pang which thrill’d in your bofoms, when the de- ftroying angel laid his hand upon the helplefs in¬ nocence of infancy ?—Yes ! the tear that Heals from your eyes is a tear of compaffion and not of bitternefs; it is the pledge that henceforth your irrefiflible influence will unite with that of all our public-fpirited citizens, to redeem the future generations from this impending fwordof deftruc- tion. if »T» —.. AMERICANS ! to infill long upon an appeal to your liberality, would betray an unworthy and unmerited diftruil of your characters as chriftians: you know that alms to fullering indigence conffi- tute one of the moll effential attributes of that uni- Verfal charity, to inculcate which the Saviour of mankind appeared upon earth. Immortal life to all, was his doctrine : Brotherly love to all, was his precept. Thefe he preach’d in word ; thefe he fanction’d by miracles ; for thefe he died Upon the crofs. Well might thefe at his birth, be an¬ nounced to the world, as glad tidings of great joy, by the voice of an angel! Well might a mul¬ titude of the heavenly hoft then proclaim glory to God in the higheft, for this promife of im¬ mortality—Peace on earth, good will towards men, by this new bond of fraternal affedlion ! Search all the llores of antient wifdom ; ranfack all the chambers of modern philofophy; and where can be found two united difcoveries, tend¬ ing to promote the great end and aim of human delires, human happinefs, like this combination of uni verfal harmony here below, with eternal and boundlefs felicity hereafter r It has been urged by fome of the adverfaries of chriftian-ity, that its tenets are too refined and exalted for the imperfeTion of human nature : That its fublimeft lelfons “ play round the head but come not to the heart” of its votaries : That 16 its principles nave not been proved by the prac¬ tice of its adherents, and that from the natural perverfencfs of mankind, its divine benevolence has been the fource of the moll atrocious cruel¬ ties, its perfect purity, the fountain of the fouled pollutions. To this objection, the general an- fwer is not difficult, but its developement belongs to other times and other hands. The influence of chriftianity has been counteracted but never luppreffed by the depravity of man. Its benign operation though incomplete has been fignal, upon whole ages, nations, and generations—Still more inllrumental has it been at all times in foft- ening and improving the hearts of individuals. Even in thefe days of fcepticifm and infidelity there is not one of us, my friends, but could de- fignate by name, men, whofe virtues are purified and whofe general practice is guided by the gen¬ uine principles of chriftianity.—Of fuch a man, your fociety, gentlemen, in common with the multitude of your fellow citizens, deeply deplore the recent lofs.—An account of the life and cha¬ racter of that excellent perfon has already been delivered in public from this place, by the play¬ mate of his childhood, the companion of his youth, the intimate friend of his riper years ; and after that tribute of affeclion and refpect, no additional information will be expected from one. who, though fufficiently favoured with his ac- *7 quaintance and friendfhip to have been imprefs’d profoundly with admiration of his virtues and talents, in a comparative view can only fpeak of him with the voice of a ftranger : Yet it would be inexcufable on this occaiion to leave unnotic¬ ed the merits of him, who was one of the firft founders of your inflitution ; by whofe death you were bereft of your Prefident, and who as a man, as a citizen,as a magiflrate, as a name of high literary eminence, was an ornament to the coun¬ try which gave him birth. Of his domeftic vir¬ tues, of his petfonal and focial accomplifhments, I can fay, but what is known to many of you, Gentlemen, better than to myfelf. Are you an obferver of men, and has it been vour fortune only once in your life to behold George Richards Minot ? You have remarked the elegance of his perfon and the peculiar charm of expreftion in his countenance—Have you witnelfed his deport¬ ment ? It bore the marks of graceful fimplicity, of dignified modefty, of unalfuming urbanity— Have you likened to his converfation ? It was the voice of harmony ; „ it was the index to a pene¬ trating and accurate mind ; it was the echo to a warm and generous heart. Such appeared Mr. Minot, on a firft and tranfient acquaintance; from which period, to that of the moil confiden¬ tial intimacy, our own knowledge, and the un¬ varied teilimony of indifputable authority C i8 concur in affirming that every trace of pleafing firft impreffion was proportionally deepened; ev¬ ery anticipation of fterling worth abundantly ful¬ fill’d. His character, as the citizen of a free coun¬ try, was not lefs exemplary. The profound- eft hiftorian of antiquity has addueed the life of Agricola, as an extraordinary proof that it is poffible to be a great and good man, even under the defpotifm of the worft of Princes. Mr. Mi¬ not’s example may be alledged as a demonftra- tion equally rare under a free republic, that in times of the greateft diffenfion, and amidft the moft virulent rancour of factions, a man may be great and good, and yet acquire and preferve the efteem and veneration of all. In the bitternefs of civil contention, he enjoyed the joint applaufe of minds the moft irreconcileable to each other. Before the mufic of his character the very fcor- pions drop’d from the lafti of difcord ; the very fnakes of fadion liftened and funk afleep ! Yet did he not purchafe this unanimous approbation by the facrifice of any principle at the fhrine of popularity. From that double tongued candour which fafhions its dodrines to its company; from that cowardice in the garb of good nature, which affents to all opinions becaufe it dares fup- port none ; from that obfequious egotifm, ever ready to bow before the idol of the day, to make man its God, and hold the voice of mortality for the voice of heaven, he was pure as the cryftal J *9 ftreams. Perfonal invectives and odious imputa¬ tions againft political adverfaries he knew to be feldom neceffary ; he knew that when unneceffa- ry, whether exhibited in the difgufting deformi¬ ty of their nakednefs, or tricked out in the gor¬ geous decorations of philofophy, whether livid with the cadaverous colours of their natural com¬ plexion or flaring with the cofmetic wafhes of pretended patriotifm, they are ever found a- mong the profligate proftitutes of party, and not among the veftal virgins of truth. He dif- dained to ufe them : but as to all the great quef- tions upon principle which are at the bottom of our divifions, there was no more concealment or difguife in his lips, than hefitation or wavering in his mind. So far was he from courting the pre¬ judices or compromiflng with the claims of fac¬ tion, that he publifhed the hiftory of the infurrec- tions in this commonwealth, at a time when the paflions which had produced them, were ftill vig¬ orous and flourifhing : and although nothing contributed more than that work to conflgn the rebellion it recorded, to infamy, none of it’s nu¬ merous abettors ever raifed a reclamation againft the veracity of the hiftory, or the worth of the hiftorian. the community to which fuch a man as this belongs, confer honor upon themfelves by every token of diftinftion they beftow upon him. Mr. / 20 Minot was fuccefiively employed in various offi¬ ces of trull and of honor. To vice a merciful but inflexible judge; to misfortune a compaf- fionate friend ; to the widow, a protector of her rights ; to'the orphan, one in place of a father : in every ftation which the voice of his country cal¬ led him alternately to fill, he difplayed that indi¬ vidual endowment of the mind and that peculiar virtue of the heart, which was mod effential to the ufeful exercife of its functions. During the latter period of his life, his occupations were multiplied beyond the performance of an ordina¬ ry man. He not only accomplifhed them all with facility, but found hours of leifure for his favour¬ ite ftudious purfuits, and hours of relaxation for the enjoyments of focial intercourfe and convi¬ vial feftivity. — V f His attainments in literature outflripp’d the flow advance of years; in the bloom of youth he was affociated to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Hifcorical Society re¬ cognize in him one of their founders. Of his oc- cafional performances, it may be faid without dis¬ paragement to others, that there is little difficulty in diflinguifhing their charatleriflic excellence. His Oration on the 5th of March; his Eulogy on the firfl of American patriots and heroes, and his addrefs to your fociety, from the fpot whence this feeble tribute to his memory is now offered, deferve a particular enumeration among the pro- 21 duCtions of his mind. He had an ardent and In- extinguifhable thirft of general knowledge ; but the department of hiftory was that towards which fome cafual incident, of thofe which are wont to point the magnet of genius to its polar ftar, had originally turned the bias of his preference. • The refult of his labours in this field, is chiefly before the public, and is duly appreciated by all who deem any fuch labours objects of regard. As an hiftorian, authenticity, impartiality, penetration and fagacity,are obvious characters of his writings. His narrative is perfpicuous ; his arrangement well delineated : he traces events to their caufes, with difcriminating eye, and though fparing of his own reflections upon their iffue, he fkilfully collects and concentrates their rays upon the mind of his reader. He makes no oflentatious difplay of his moral and intellectual wealth, but gives you the key to the chambers containing them : It is but opening the door, and treafures in profufion are before you. His feleCtion of fub- jeCts was dictated by a vigorous judgment, and a well meditated fenfe of utility. The infurreCtions of the year 1786, form one of the moft inftruCtivc periods in the hiftory of our country. Occafions like that, elicit and difplay many of the virtues and vices, accomplifliments and defeCts of public bodies and private individuals, of conftitutions and conflituted authorities, which remain latent in times of cooler compofure. The younger part of our fellow-citizens efpecially, will find them- ielves amply rewarded for any time and medita¬ tion beftowed upon that work. It will giye them a deeper infight into the character of this people, a more extenfive view of our focial organization, and its internal operations at critical times, than they could obtain by years of perfonal obferva- tion. The progrefs of colliflons in public fenti- ment, until they kindle into civil war, in a coun¬ try where public fentiment is the final earthly ar¬ biter of all public meafures, and where the efficacy of obedience is in ordinary times fecured by the mildnefs of authority, there reveals a precious mine to the fearch of contemplation. There a citizen of Maffachufetts may learn not to defpair of public virtue, even when apparently extin- guifhed by the violence of party, and the preffure of dihrefs. There an American may be inform¬ ed that our Conftitutions have within them a principle of felf-prefervation, beyond the letter of the law, which can redeem them from diffolution even when apparently fuffocated by the over¬ whelming torrents of faction. the revolution which feparated thefe States from their connection as Colonies with Great Britain, and their fubfequent confederation, have taken from our local hiftory fome of its magni¬ tude and moment. Thefe events have expanded the circle, and increafed the multitude of our ci- 2 3 vil relations. In forming the idea of our coun¬ try, we are no longer bounded by the fcanty di- mentions Gf a petty province. The largeft por¬ tion of this Continent is united under a focial compact, which makes its inhabitants equal fel¬ low-citizens of one great and growing empire. To preferve, to ftrengthen, to perpetuate this union, is the nrft political duty, as it ought to be the higheft glory of every American. Since its eftablifhment our hillory has become the hiftory of the nation: and had it been confident with the wife decrees of Providence to prolong the life of Mr. Minot, we might have hoped that the period which came within the compafs of his oh- fervation, would have been tranfmitted to future times, with that fimplicity and purity of ftyle and manner, that zeal for the civil and religious liber¬ ties of man, that inftinctive and reflected love of virtue and abhorrence of vice, which flowed fpon- taneoufly from his pen. , But before he could commence upon this arduous talk, there was a previous chafm in our hiftory to be filled. It was a period of lefs general interefl than thofe which preceded and followed it; lefs propitious there¬ fore to the talents and reputation of its hifiorian* But Mr. Minot’s primary coniideration was the public utility, and not his own perfonal fame.— It was a labour inadequate indeed to his powers* but neceflary to connect the chain of our annals; andunlefs undertaken by him, it might have re- mained unaccomplilhed, Of this work, one vo¬ lume is in pofieflion of the public. He was juft doling the fecond, when the pen was wrefted from his hand, by that king of terrors, whom the moft elevated human capacity and the moft perfect human virtues are alike impotent to refill. my countrymen ! When memory turns a re- trofpeclive eye upon the days that are paft, how Ihort is the fpace, before fhe meets the venerable forms of a Clarke, a Belknap, and a Minot ! When fhe returns and fearches with anxious look, once more to find them in the ranks, among the living friends of fcience, of virtue and of man, fhe feeks in vain ! They are here no more'! Where can we look for fupport under fuch reite¬ rated and heavy blows, but to the pillars of ftoic fortitude ? Where can we hope for comfort un¬ der fuch great and multiplied bereavements, but in the arms of chriftian refignation ? It is not for man to queftion or fcrutinize the difpenfations of his Maker. Unavailing lamentation is inconfift- ent with the dignity of our nature : It is incom¬ patible with the duties of our religion.—Sainted fpirits of our ahlent friends !—If from the abodes of bleftednefs, the fpirits of the juft, made perfect, are permitted to look down upon this dreary fcene of human life, and to influence the conduct of their former partners of mortality, call us away from the contemplation of our lofs, by alluring us to the imitation of your virtues ! As the Grecian J-L~ Iculptor propofedby the duffel to convert Mount Athos into the ftatue of a mortal hero, may the holy mountain of our nation and country bear throughout its extent the lineaments of your im¬ mortal minds! If we have not yet learnt to preferve the features and honour the memory of departed excellence in monumental marble, may your ex¬ ample by its operation upon the hearts of the ri- fing generation, erect the fabric of your fame on a bails flronger than of earth ; on foundations more durable than the everlafling hills ! May we learn of you to combine in happy union, iincere devotion with enlightened philofophy ; the fervid love of freedom with the chaflened difcipline of good order ; true chriftian meeknefs of fpirit " with intrepid boldnefs in the caufe of truth ; mild companion for the guilty with inflexible cppofi- tion to guilt ; glowing patriotifm with univerfal philanthropy ! So iliall fome emanations of your exalted chara&ers remain to lateft time on earth ! So fhall the kindly radiance of your memory here, point the way to your cloucllefs effulgence in the . flues ! ✓