Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1832-03-08

thinner al VdShtHgi0R, on We ZZd II TeOru-
arg. 1889.
rise, gentlemen. to propose to you the name
Of that great man, in cOnmemoration OF whose
birth, aud in honor of whose character and SER
vices, we have here assembled.
am sure that express sentiment common
to every one present when | say. that there is
something more than ordinarily solemn and at
fecung in this occasion.
We are met to testify our regard for him.
whose name is intimately blended with whatever
belongs most essentially to the prosperity, the
liberty. the free institutions, and the renOwn Of
our country. That name was OF power to rally
nation, in the hour Of thick -thronging public
disasters and calamities; that name shone. amid
thr storm Of war, beacon light, to cheer and
guide the country's friends; its flame, too. like
meteor, to repel her foes. That name, in the
DAYS Of peace, was loadstOne. attracting to it,
self whole peoples confidence, a whole peo-
ple's love and the whole worlds respect; that
name. descending with all time, spread over the
whole earth, and uttered in all the languages
beonsing to the tribes and races of men. will
forever be pronounced with afectiOnate gratitude
BY every one in whose breast there shall arise an
aspiration for human rights and human liberty
We perform this grateful duty. gentlemen. at
the expiration IF a hundred years from his birth.
near the place So cherished and beloved by him.
where ais dust now reposes. and in the capital
which bears his own immortal name.
All experience e,inces, thar human sentiments
are strongly affected by associations. The re-
currence Of anniversaries, Of longer periods Of
time. naturally freshens the recollection, and
deepens the impression of events with which
they are historically connected. Renowned
places, also, have power to awaken feeling,
which all acknow ledge. No american can pass
by the fields Of Bunker Hill, Monmouth. or
Camden. as il they were ordinary spots on the
earth's surface. Whoever visits them, feels the
sentiment of love Of country kindling anew, as
if the spirit that belonged to the transactions
which have rendered these places distinguished
stl lowered round, with power to move and ex
cite all who in future time may approach them.
But neither of these sources of emotion equals
the power with which great moral examples affect
the mind When sublime virtues cease to be
distractions, when they become embodied in hu
man character, and exempli6ed in human CON-
duet, we should be false to our own nature,
if we did not indulge in the spontaneous effu
si..ns of our gratitude and our admiration. A
true lover of the virtue of patriotism delights
TO contemplate its purest models; and that love of
country may be well suspected which affects TO
soar so high into the regions OF sentiment as to
be iost and absorbed in the abstract feeling. and
he ones too elevated, or too refined. 10 glow Ell
thar with power in the commendatnn or the love
of Individual benefactOrs. All this Is inmate
RI Ii is as if one should be- 50 enthusiastic a
~, ~ of poetry as to care nothing tor Homer or
NJ ont; 80 passionatelv attached TO eloguence
a, a be Indifferent to FULLY and Chatham; or
All, n a devotee to the arts, in such an ecstat y
With the elements Of beauty. proportion. and ex-
pr.,,sioC. as to regard the master pieces Ut Ra-
ohael and Michael Angelo with GOODNESS or con.
tempt. We may be assured. gentlemen, that he
wha really loves the thing itself. loves its finest
exhibitions. true friend of his country loves
her friends and benefactors, and thinks it no de-
pradation to commend and commemorate them
The voluntary outpouring Of the public feeling.
made to-day, from the North to the South. and
FROM the East to the West. proves this sentiment
to he bo,n inst and natural. In the cities and in
the villages. in the public temples and in the "a
milv circles, among all ages anu sexes, gladden..
ed voices, to-day. bespeak grateful hearts, and a
frrshened recollection Of the virtues of the Fa-
Their of his Country. And il will be So. in all
time To come, 50 long IA public virtue is itself an
object of regard. The ingenious youth of Anne
RIGA will hold up to themselves the bright model
of Washington's example, and study to be what
thew OenOIu: t1ey VIII CohtcWptdV NS Cnd'dCteT
fiji all its virtues spread out and display them
selves to their delighted vision. as the earliest
astronomers, the shepherds on the plains Of Ba-
bylon. gazed at the stars 'il they saw them form
into clusters and considerations, overpowering at
length the eyes Of the beholders with the united
blaze Of thousand lights.
Gentlemen, we are at the point of a century
from the birth of Washington; and what a CEN
fury it has been? During its course the human
mind has seemed to proceed with sort of
geometric velocity. accomplishing more than had
been done in five or tens Of centuries preceding.
Washington stands at the commencement of
new era, as well as at the head of the New
World. A century from The birth of Washing
ton has changed the world. The country Of
Wash,nst n has oeen the theatre on which a
GREAT part of that change has been wrought; and
W Washington himself principal agent b, which
it ',as been accomplished. HIS age and his eoun-
nv are equally full Of wonders; and Of both he
is the chief
- the prediS t,on of The pne'. uttered few