his presence gave the
stability of system, and infused the invincibility of love
of country? Or shall I carry you to the painful scenes of
Long Island, York island, and New Jersey, when, combatting
superior and gallant armies, aided by powerful fleets, and
led by chiefs high in the roll of fame, he stood the bulwark
of our safety, undismayed by disaster, unchanged by change
of fortune? Or will you view him in the precarious fields of
Trenton, where deep glooms, unnerving every arm, reigned
triumphant through our thinned, worn down, unaided ranks,
himself unmoved? Dreadful was the night! It was about this
time of winter. The storm raged; the Delaware, rolling
furiously with floating ice, forbade the approach of man.
Washington, self-collected, viewed the tremendous scene; his
country called. Unappalled by surrounding dangers, he passed
to the hostile shore; he fought--he conquered! The morning
sun cheered the American world. Our country rose on the
event; and her dauntless chief, pursuing his blow, completed
on the lawns of Princeton what his vast soul had conceived
on the shores of the Delaware.

"Thence to the strong grounds of Morristown he led his small
but gallant band; and through an eventful winter, by the
high efforts of his genius, whose matchless force was
measurable only by the growth of difficulties, he held in
check formidable hostile legions, conducted by a chief
experienced in the art of war, and famed for his valor on
the ever-memorable heights of Abraham, where fell Wolfe,
Montcalm, and, since, our much-lamented Montgomery, all
covered with glory. In this fortunate interval, produced by
his masterly conduct, our fathers, ourselves, animated by
his resistless example, rallied around our country's
standard, and continued to follow her beloved chief through
the various and trying scenes to which the destinies of our
Union led.

"Who is there that has forgotten the vales of Brandywine,
the fields of Germantown, or the plains of Monmouth?
Everywhere present, wants of every kind obstructing,
numerous and valiant armies encountering, himself a host, he
assuaged our sufferings, limited our privations, and upheld
our tottering republic. Shall I display to you the spread of
the fire of his soul, by rehearsing the