Alexandria daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1803-1808, 1804-08-20
From the NV York EVENING posT.
REVIW OF MASON's GRAFTON.

To our distant friends and readers who
could not have the happiness to hear, and
who may not have the good furtune to
read this Grafton, we wish TO communicate
some idea of its merits. The most obvi-
Gus method of doing this, Is tc make ex-
tracts from it; bat Its uniform excellence
is such, that it is no, easy to ,select ofs
passage in preference to another /; and its
texture is throLg hoet soadnfrably wrought
that part cannotbe detached without IN
!. Jury to the whole. g. 30 -
Eulogies or paneyyrical discourses are
generally regarded as the most dtacllt spec
eies of oratorical composition. he spe-
cfmens which we have received from the
ancients are more.rrmarkable for their for
NAL, didactic morality, and elaborate ele-
gance of diction, than for genuine ele-
quence. r.
Among the modern. orators of this. class,
the celebrated preachers of France, ia the
nndegenerate and interrupted days OF Its
literature and eloquence, have been thought
TO surpass all who have gone Before, and
TO remain unrivalled by those who have
followediu the same path. Shall we be
thought extravagant in cur praise, when we
rank this American eulogy with the 5es, of
those which have been made by the best Of
the transatlantic oratorss We think. not.
Il. reiterated perusal has served to increase
our admiration of its excellence but we
can only give an imperfect sketch OF tie
strong impressions it has made on our
mind.
The introduction is appropriate, easy,
solemn and impressive, adapted to arrest
and fix the attention of the audience. The
narrationis rapid and concise, without tri-
fling de:sail or tedious PARTICULARLY. ALI is
active and glowing; nothing langnid or
cold. He every where emits rays OF moral
religion and political truth, suited to the
sacreduess Of his function, and the exalted
character of the deceased. The touches Of
pathos are the natural illusions OF mascu-
line grief: blending tenderness with Dig
nifty. Nervous, elegant, sublime, he is ne
yer feeble, trite or turgid. Disdaining the
artificial embellishments and gorgeous
trappings which set off the orator, while
they hide the subject, he follows nature and
the suggestions of a feeling heart, enlight,
ened BY genius and directed by Judgment.
From the urn which contains his ashes,
the orator calls up the hero and the patri.
OF, that he may traesfsr his spirit into the
souls of the hearers, and teach the "a how.
to be grea. and good from the bright exam,
pie of his virtues. =
He accompanies him from the college to-
the camp; from the camp to the forum;
from the forum to the treasury; from the
treasury 10 the military field, and from. the.
field again to the forum: everywhere dis.
PLAYING the various and ssupendous pewers
Of the capacious, active and vigorous mind,
of HAMILTON. We behold him the bosom
friend, the beloved ompanion, the soonh-
Dental counsellor of WASHINGTON. .Ex-
citing, at one time, by his military Prov
ess, the admiration of his fellow-soIdiers j.
at another, filling the mixed audience of
forensic tribunals, with alternate wonder
MD delight, at the diversified and exc
haustless stores OF his matchless under.
standing. In the grave assembly Of koary
statesmen and patriots, convened to deli
berate on the means of saving their country.
from anarchy and ruin, he rises to bring
order out of the chaos of diseordant .opinI-.
ons.-to dissel, by the irradiatiops of his
luminous intellect, those dark and por.cn-.
tous clouds which hungtove, our horizon,
and filed the hearts Of good men with
gloomy forebodings and alarm. =
By him the noble fabric of oar constitu-
ton was laid on the eternal basis of justice.
aud cemented by public fai,h.-He defend
ed it, during life, against The open assaults,
'ofenemies, and the secret undermining of.
pretended Or treacherous friends. By it