Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1825-09-01
From the Charleston Courierof .7ugua1 10.
THE LATE GENERAL PINCKNEY.

From the Charleston Courier of .7ugua1e.
THE LATE GENERAL PINCKNEY.
The loss sustained by society in the
death of a distinguished public Citizen
cannot be appreciated at the moment.
Sudden ebullitions Of sorrow mark the
sensibilities Of the heart, while time
and reflection are necessary for the
mind to form a true estimate of the va
lue Of departed worth. And that only
is real worth which can endure retro
spection, that which, on leaving this
transitory world, can safely confde its
reputation to the survivors of its own
existence.
The sorrows Of individuals, where
they enjoy numerous connexions, are
liable to swell the current of grief be-
yond its natural enclosures: The sor-
rows Of states create of public sensi-
bility an overwhelming stream; not
rash and clamorous, like private grief;
but deep, and constant, and enduring.
Where all these springs of sensibility
are brought into action-where all these
veins Of sorrow are struck at once and
wounded; is it surprising that the gush-
ing stream ofgrief should mark the out
pourings of the bleeding heart.
When the tempest tears up a tree
by the roots, We feel for its ruin, because
heaven has made us to sympathise
ven with inaimate nature-and yet that
tree could have furnished us at best
with fruit, possibly not even with shell.
ter-We love the order Of nature, and
cannot bear its derangement-wc feel
for the perfection OF every living thing.
And if the growth of vegetable and
ofmere animal existence be productive
of such strong interest in the mind
of rational and thinking man-what
must not be his anxiety for the growth,
the encouragement, and the immortal
ty Of all the beautiful principles ofmo-
raj life. What his desire for the exhi-
bition of virtue! What his admiration
at'the triumphs of patriotism. What
his Civilizations in the spotless career Of
long continued innocence! In the ho-
norable achievements of well directed
mind
These are not abstract questions.
They are daily brought home to our
own bosoms, and our hearts have
already answered them-Our city is
afflicted. The subject of its honest
pride has become the theme Of its vir-
tuous sorrow-we have suffered no
physical calamity-the pestilence in
its mercy hath spared-the tempest
hath not visited .us-But the moral ed
ifce of our society has lost one Of It's
strongest pillars-and it rests with
additional weight upon those that re.
main.
We have lost, fellow citizens, a lig-
ing monument of patriotic virtue. We
cannot hereafter point the eager eye
of the stranger to our ilIustrious fel-
low citizen, of whom fame never heard
nor spoke evil-his lips are sealed OIL
earth, who declared to a despotic an
archy, the spirited defiance Of "miions
for defence, but not a cent for triJrts;"
he who put aside from him the noblest
prize Of virtuous ambition, the Presl-
dency of this Union, when in his pow
er, has gone to receive the reward Of
his disinterestedness in Heaven.
The people Of Charleston are not nm
mindful of their affecting loss in the
death Of General CHARLES CoTEs-
WORTH PINcKNEY. They have exhib-
tied a graceful and a manly grief. The
civil magistracy ofour State and city;
the military guardians of the public
rights; the reverend ministers of God;
the friends of piety and of literature;
all classes ofsociety have poured their
common sorrows at the patriots grave.
Nothing remains for US but his ex-
ample. 10 what lofty purposes OF use
fulness may it not be applied! How
many delightful lessons Of truth and
Of honor may be extracted from his
spotless life! In these let his friends
find consolation. He has not lived IN
vain, who has earned, like ARIsTfDEs,
the honorable distinction of peculiar
virtue, and leaves in his single name,a
glorious inheritance to his posterity.