But, gentlemen, it has been the good fortune of some among us to have known our venerated countryman, not only in the elevated station to which his abilities had exalted him, but also in the not less interesting relations of private life. Seen him we have, and in the happier hour, Of social ease but ill exchanged for power; And in that delightful intercourse who has not remarked how beautifully the amiable urbanity and simplicity of his manners, commingled with the unpretending dignity which was inseparable from the elevation of his character and his station? Who has not witnessed the purity of his feelings, the warmth of his benevolence, and the fervor of his zeal, in lending the support and countenance of his great name and influence to every enterprise which was calculated to promote the public good; to every scheme which promised to assist the march of intellect; to every association which had for its object the advancement of his countrymen in wisdom and virtue, and to every plan which philanthropy could plausibly suggest, for the amelioration of the condition of the humblest of our species? His heart and his hand were equally open, and his purse and his services were always freely commanded where they were called for by any object of public utility or private beneficence. It is not then surprising, gentlemen, that such a man should have been found at the head of this Society; that you should have selected him to grace your laudable enterprise, or that he should have lent his ready aid to an institution, which, however humble in its beginnings, gives the promise of important aid to the {259} knowledge and literature of our country. But it is a matter of the most painful regret, that the light of his countenance will shine no more upon us here, and that the influence of his counsels and the inspiration of his wisdom are withdrawn from us forever. Those cannot be replaced; and we may say of him as was said of the great father of his country more than forty years ago, Successors we may find, but tell us where, Of all thy virtues we shall find the heir.