Was, Washington, your conquering sword Condemn'd to such a base reward? Was trash, like that we now review, The tribute to your valor due? One holds you more than mortal kind, One holds you all ethereal mind, This puts you in your saviour's seat, That makes you dreadful in retreat. One says you are become a star, One makes you more resplendent, far; One sings, that, when to death you bow'd, Old mother nature shriek'd aloud. We grieve to see such pens profane The first of chiefs, the first of men.-- To Washington--a man--who died, As _abba father_ well applied? Absurdly, in a frantic strain, Why ask him not for sun and rain?-- We sicken at the vile applause That bids him give the ocean laws. Ye patrons of the ranting strain, What temples have been rent in twain? What fiery chariots have been sent To dignify the sad event?-- O, ye profane, irreverent few, Who reason's medium never knew: On you she never glanced her beams; You carry all things to extremes. Shall they, who spring from parent earth, Pretend to more than mortal birth? Or, to the omnipotent allied, Control his heaven, or join his side? O, is there not some chosen curse, Some vengeance due, with lightning's force That far and wide destruction spreads, To burst on such irreverent heads! Had they, in life, be-praised him so, What would have been the event, I know He would have spurn'd them, with disdain, Or rush'd upon them, with his cane. He was no god, ye flattering knaves, He own'd no world, he ruled no waves; But--and exalt it, if you can, He was the upright, Honest Man. This was his glory, this outshone Those attributes you doat upon: On this strong ground he took his stand, Such virtue saved a sinking land. [171] From the 1815 edition. TO THE MEMORY OF EDWARD RUTLEDGE, ESQ.[172] Late Governor of South Carolina Removed from life's uncertain stage, In virtue firm, in honor clear,-- One of the worthies of our age, Rutledge! resigns his station here. Alike in arts of war and peace, And form'd by nature to excel, From early Rome and ancient Greece, He modell'd all his actions well. When Britons came with chains to bind, Or ravage these devoted lands, He our firm league of freedom sign'd And counsell'd how to break their bands. To the great cause of honor true, He took his part with manly pride, His spirit o'er these regions flew, The patriots' and the soldiers' guide. In arts of peace, in war's bold schemes Amongst our brightest stars he moved, The Lees, the Moultries, Sumpters, Greenes-- By all admired, by all beloved. A patriot of superior mould, He dared all foreign foes oppose, Till, from a tyrant's ashes cold, The mighty pile of freedom rose. In process of succeeding days When peace resumed her joyous reign, With laurel wreaths and twining bays He sought less active life again.