The Members chosen, Mr. Hewes, Mr. W. Livingston, Mr. Paca, Mr. E. Rutledge, and Mr. Chase.

Lieutenant Brasher, who had the orders of General Schuyler to conduct a number of Canadian Prisoners to New-Jersey or Pennsylvania, having executed his orders, laid his Instructions before Congress, which were read.

Also, Quartermaster Shallus, of the First Pennsylvania Battalion, having had orders to conduct certain Prisoners

or violated its religion and laws. There he excruciates them, in company with

"Gordons and Hydras and Chimeras dire"

Vultures prey upon their vitals, or they are whirled eternally round with Ixion upon his wheel, or bound down with Tantalus, † whose burning lip hangs quivering over the elusive waters it cannot touch; or the fury Tysiphone, her hair entwined with serpents, her garments red with human gore, urges on their tortures with unrelenting hand !

The poet having thus exhausted imagination, as well as mythology, in the description of punishments for the disturbers of mankind and fo$$s to their country, raises his conclusion lo a height of horror beyond the reach of expression:

"Had I a hundred mouths, a hundred tongues,

A voice of braes and admanvine lungs

Not half the nighty seene could I diselose;

Repeat their erumes or count their dreadful woes."‡

†Nor has Virgil strayed any further through the fields of fancy or fablo in this place, than to borrow strength of colouring for the garb of truth; and, I suspect, that he drank from a purer fountain than that of Helicon, when he peopled his Tartarus with the ancient scourges of the human race. An authority sacred among Christians has, indeed, given us a most awful confirmation of his doctrine.

A prophet and poet indeed, whose inspiration was truly from Heaven, the incomparably sublime Isaiah, foretelling the fall of Babylon, has an ode of triumph, wherein he exults over its haughty monarch in strains of wonderful irony and reproach. He reprobates him as a destroyer of mankind, who had "made the world a wildeness." He represents the whole earth as delivered from a curse by his fall! The trees of the forest rejoice, because he is laid low ! The very grave refuses a covering to his execrable corse! He is consigned to the depths of misery; while the internal mansions themselves are moved at his approach, and the ghosts of departed tyrants rise up, in horrid array and mockery of triumph, to bid him welcome to his final abode !

The astonishing grandeur and spirit of this passage, and indeed of the whole ode, are unrivalled by any poet|| of Greek or Roman name.

"How hath tlia oppressor ceased ! The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked! He that smote the people in wrath—that ruled the nations in anger—is persecuted, and none hindereth! The whole earth is at rest; they break forth into singing; yea, the fir-trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.

"Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming. It stirreth up the dead for thee; even the chiefs of the nations ! They say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we ? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave—How art thou fallen, O Lucifer, that didst weaken the nations ? All Kings, (meaning just and merciful Kings,) even all of them lie in glory, every one in his own house, (or sepulchre;) but thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch," &.c Isaiah xiv.

But although the reward of heroes, in the Christian's heaven, be our proper theme on this solemn day; yet the passing view which we have taken of the perdition decreed to the traitors of their country, in the poet's hell, confirmed, also, by the voice of Scripture, is not foreign to our main purpose.

I know your bosoms glow with so strong an aversion to all the foes of liberty in this life, that you will surely avoid every thought and action, which might doom you to their company in the life to come; and, therefore, bidding adieu—and may it be an eternal adieu—to those dreary regions and their miserable inhabitants, let us now exalt our joyous view to those celestrial mansions, where lhe benefactors of mankind reap immortal triumphs!

"Lo,! the blest train advance along the meads,

And snowy wreaths adorn their glorious heads—

Patriots who perish'd for their country's right,

Or nobly triumph'd in the field of fight,

Worthies, who life by useful arts refin'd,

with those who leave a deathless name behind,

Friends of the world, and patrons of mankind

Some on the verdant plains are stretch'd along,

Sweet to the ear, their tuneful PÆans rung."

But here, ye Pagan poets, and thou Prince of their choir, wo leave you far behind; § for your sublimes! flights are now infinitely short of the the me! Your gloomy theology gave you tolerable aid in forming a hell, but the atmost efforts of natural genius could not make a heaven worthy of a rational and immortal soul! The glory of giving some animating description of that bliss "which eye hath not seen, nor ear before heard, nor could the unenlightened heart of man otherwise conceive," was left for a more Divine teacher. From him we learn, that a heart pure and detached from sordid pleasures, a soul panting after perfection, striving to imitate the goodness of heaven, anticipating its approving sentence, and devoted to the service of mankind, shall at last riss and mix in eternal fellowship with the beatified family of God!

Having now, my respected countrymen, and I hope I do not weary you, laid a wide foundation upon the practice of the wisest nations— in support of the present solemnity—I shall add but little more concerning the publick utility of the thing itself

Circumstanced as we now are, and perhaps shall long be, in building up a fabrick for future ages, it would be a wise institution, if in imitation of the Genoese Feast of Union, we should make at least an annual pause, for a review of past incidents, and of the characters of those who have borne an illustrious share in them; thereby animating our virtue, and uniting ourselves more closely in the bonds of manual friendship

The world, in general, is more willing to imitate, than to be taught; and examples of eminent characters have a stronger influence than written precepts. Men's actions are a more faitthful mirror of their lives than their words. The former seldom deceive; but the latter often. The deeds of old contract a venerable authority over us, when sanctified by the voice of applauding ages; and, even in our own day, our hearts take an immediate part with those who have nobly triumphed, or greatly suffered in our behalf.

But the more useful the display of such characters may be to the world, the more difficult is the work. And I am not to learn, that of all kinds of writing, panogyrick requires the most delicate hand. Men seldom endure the praise of any actions, but those which their self-love represents as possible to themselves. Whatever is held up as an example, if placed bjyond the reach of humanity, duly exalted by publick spirit, will excite no emulation; and whatever is placed within the vulgar walks of life, will attract no attention.

There is a further difficulty, peculiar to certain times; particularly those of civil dissension, when the tempers of men are worked into ferment. Whence it happens, that they who have been the subjects of obloquy in one age, have become the theme of praisa in another. Such was Hampden, in the days of passive obedience, branded as a seditious disturber of his country's peace; and, at the blessed era of the Revolution, exalted into the first rank of patriots. Such was Sidney, condemned to a scaffold in the former period; and, in the latter, immortalized by the delegated voice of the nation!

What judgment posterity will form of the present mighty contest, in which these United Colonies are engaged, I am at no loss to determine in my own heart. But, while the same actions are, by one part of a great empire, pronounced the most criminal resistance, and by another, the most laudable efforts of self-preservation; no publick character can be drawn alike acceptable to all. Nevertheless, as the faithful historian is the best panegyrist of true merit, he will not fashion himself to times and seasons, but exalt himself above them; and, conscious of his dignity, as responsible to succeeding ages, will take eternal truth as his support, which can alone bear the impartial test of future examination. He knows that the divine colours of virtue, although they may give a temporary glare, will not blend or mellow into a ground work of vice.

Whatever events, disastrous or happy, may lie before us; yet some degree of applause, even from an enemy, is certainly due to those illustrious men, who, led by conscience, and a clear persuasion of duty, sacrifice their ease, their lives, and fortunes, to the publick; and from their friends and country they are entitled to a deathless renown.

Perish that narrow pride, which will suffer men to acknowledge no virtue, but among their own party. In this direful contest, the chief concern of a liberal mind will be, that so much personal virtue we may be found on both sides, instead of being united in some great national point for the common good, should be dreadfully employed to the purpose of mutual destruction. And a man can as soon divest himself of his hummity, as refuse the tribute of veneration due to actions truly magnanimous:

When once it becomes criminal to plead the cause of a suffering people; when their virtues can no longer be safely recorded; then tyranny has put the last hand to her barbarous work. All the valuable purposes of society are frustrated; and whatever other human fate remains, will be wholly indifferent to the wise and good.

There are, also, many whose minds are so little, that they can conceive nothing great, which does not court the eye in all the trapping of dress, titles, and external splendour. An American patriot! a blanket hero! a General from the plough ! all these are terms of ridicule and reproach among many. Yet such was Cincinnatus, in the best days of Roman virtue; and a British poet, already quoted, hath boldly taught his countrymen this noble lesson:

"Some, with whom compar'd, your insect-tribes

Are but the be-ings of a summer's day,

Have held the scale of empire, rel'd the storm

Of mighty war; then, with unwearied hand,

Disdaining little delicacies, seiz'd

The plough, and greatly independent liv'd."—Thomson.

The same noble lesson is also taught, by the well known story of the two Spanish grandees, who were sent Ambassadors to the Hague. Notwithstanding all the pride of their nation, they did not despise the Dutch Deputies when they met them in a plain habit, and saw them on a journey sit down upon the grass, to a frugal repast of bread and cheese, out of their knapsacks. On the contrary, they cried out, "We shall never be able to conquer these people; we must even make peace with them."

Should ambassadors honour us with a visit, upon a like occasion; let us be prepared to meet them in the same majestick simplicity of dress and manners. Let us convince them that publick virtue is confined to no class of men; and that, although, it sometimes basks in the sunshine of Courts, it frequently lies hid in the shades of obscurity, like the latent fire in flint, till called forth by the collisive hand of oppression.

* Milton here borrows his monsters from Virgil:

—"flamisque armata Chimæra; Gorgones, Harpiæque."-&c.

See Virgil, B. VI, from line 288 to line 627; or Pitt's excellent translation,

† Tantalus a labris, sitiens, fugientia captat

Flumina—Horace.

‡ Mitton has taken the same method of raising his description, by leaving something to be conceived beyond the power of words to express:

"Abominable, unutterable, and worse

Than fables yet have feign'd, or fear conceived."

Aleæus himself (saint Bishop Newton) so highly renowned for his hatred of tyranny, and whose odes are alike animated by the spirit of liberty and poetry, has nothing that can be compared with the Prophet in this place.

The excellent prelate above quoted, hath a further remark on this passage, which it would be unpardonable to omit.

"What a pleasure must it afford all readers of an exalted taste and generous sentiments, all true lovers of liberty, to hear the prophets thus exulting over tyrants and oppressors ? The Scriptures, although often perverted to the purposes of tyranny, are yet in their own nature, calculated to promote the civil and religious liberties of mankind. True religion, virtue, and liberty, are more intimately connected than men commonly consider.

§ A poet now, as may appear from the following lines of Thomson, can give us descriptions of Elysian bliss, Tar superior to those of Virgil; "whose ideas on this subject (as Mr. Spence observes,) although preferable to those of Homer, and all the other ancient poets, are still so very low that they seem little more than borrowed from holy-day sports on the banks of Tiber:"

"In those bright regions of celestial day.

Far other scenes, far other pleasures reign—

All beauty here below, to them compar'd,

would like a rose before the mid-day sun,

Shrink up its blossom—like a bubble, break

The passing poor magnificence of Kings—

For there the King of Nature, in full blaze

Calls every splendour forth; and there His court,

A mid ethereal powers and virtues, holds—

Angels, archangels, tutelary gods,

Of cities, nations, empires, and of worlds—

But sacred be the veil that kindly clouds

A light too keen for mortals——."