C11K6 7\ - -*• n* ^i^. 4 •A 4 vT. -;^- ,-^" '<^o C-V^ .V V ■^.c^^ \/»^ c:^^>. c qV ^ o - » .s ''> ^'^' ""^ •>■ ^O \* ^ '-V-, *7 \f> 1 f» S " 1^ •^ *- A A (Sr 'tf' ' -» •^^o^ C" 0^ 0^ .0 O - A '^^, > 0' .r o % ..- •0^ .^^-^^. ^ .0^ o " ' * *C> A o .0. o • o '^ A ,0' > 0^^ 4^* ■i- ■■- '■ •■ -- ^^'^ ^o "^ * i 0^ / 3iKSe#^2l^3S ON THE DEATH liKSd^S^MS^ DELIVERED IN THE STONE CHURCH, SUMMERSTREET, THE LORD'S DAY AFTER THE INTERMENT |l^otf« CKfcorflC €a^^tf WHO DIED APRIL 18th, 1823. By JOHN T. KIRKLAND, D.D. BOSTON: WELLS AND LILLY, COURT-STREET. 1823. Sermon AT THE NEW SOUTH, Wj ^^ 4m^ HON. GEORGE CABOT. PSALMS XVI. 3. THE EXCELLENT, IN IVHOM IS MY DELIGHT. * J. HE excellent in material objects is contemplated with satisfaction. Order and perfection in inanimate things create emotions of pleasure ; and in living, conscious, intelligent beings, are viewed with higher complacence. The human exterior is susceptible of its appropriate excellence. A form displaying sym- metry, proportion and elegance j features, air, and movement dignified and comely, have an attractive power. But whilst a pleasing and commanding per- son and outward graces excite interest, it is the ex- cellence of mind and character, intellectual and mo- ral excellence, which chiefly engages admiration and affection. When it is present men take example from it, and when it is gone they desire it. I For although the excellent be our delight, they are mortal. Wo desire to retain in life the great and go d, Avho are distinguished by talents, accomplishments, virtues, usefulness : but the law of nature and the order of Providence assign indiscriminately to the sons of men a limited period. The unsparing scythe of death cuts down alike the fairest and the best, and the least valuable and interesting. No superio- rity avails to give exemption. A spirit of the high- est order and purity, the most active and expanded intellect, and the most eminent virtue, have as little power against the invasion of disease, and the law of dissolution, as the feeblest spark of mind and the faintest ray of moral goodness. An^ when the excellent die, it is a calamitous in- road upon the happiness, the interests, the feelings of survivors. Near friends experience the loss of their chief earthly blessing. They are deprived of the object of unlimited confidence and entire atfec- tion ; of a guide and counsellor, who showed the way of prudence and of duty ; a companion and associate, whose conversation was a fund of instruction and de- light ; an assistant of the virtue, a friend of the happiness of all, with whom he was connected. He is gone the way whence he will not return. The grave will not render him back. We suffered much in the parting conflict, witnessing bodily pain which we could not alleviate, and mental emotions too strong and deep to be uttered, the yearning of a heart full of tenderness. We are deprived of the benefit of accustomed care and kindness. We must bear burdens and sorrows alone, which afFectionate parti, cipation made hght, and find enjoyments tasteless, which derived their relish from the connexion that death has severed. The excellent has operated around him by the communication of. knowledge, by the influence of example and the defence of truth, by services affecting the whole public, or particular sections, by the discharge of trusts of greater or less importance. The community, civil, commercial, lite- rary, religious, is sensible of the loss it has sustained. It IS truly said, that we do not always properly estimate an excellent man, who is daily before our eyes. He becomes mingled and confounded with other men. His great and superior qualities lose their novelty, and we become too familiar with the common mate- rials that form the basis of the loftiest character. Even the unostentatious simplicity of his charac- ter, that charm, which gives the nameless grace to real excellence, may cause him to be undervalued by coarse minds, who do not know that true worth is always void of glare and pretension. Yet it is some- times the happiness of those who stand above their fellow-men, to join to elevated talents and command- ing influence, a dignity and amiableness, which ovei> come ill-will, and prevent a disposition to deny or dispute their worth, and make at least every good man their friend. These topics, my hearers, cannot fail to be applied by us on the present occasion. One, whom we believe and feel to be excellent, has lived among us and is gone. A light is quenched in a moment, and a sup^ port is removed; a benefactor of his age, of his country, and of his race is taken from this scene of things. We would take a due notice of this bereavement. We would lament departed excellence, as becomes our principles and our hopes. To this end let us think of our consolations and our duties. There is a voice of comfort and of instruc- tion in the dispensation, which at this time engros- ses our thoughts and affects our hearts. When death steps into the circle of the family, of friendship, of neighbourhood, of civil and religious asso- ciation ; and despoils us of the estimable and beloved, we are surely permitted to mourn ; but not as those, who have no resource, no alleviation for their grief. We have strong consolation. We have consolation from reason and religion, from the doctrine of a wise and benevolent, though often inscrutable Providence ; from the belief of a future life, and the faith and hope that pertain to us as disciples of Jesus Christ ; from a consideration of the design and uses of adver- sity, and the salutary influence of sorrow. There is consolation to be derived from circumstances peculiar to the instance of mortality we deplore. We have a great blessing to acknowledge, not less than a sad affliction to lament. It is a privilege to have been united by nearer or remoter ties with the excellent ; to have cause to honour their memory and bewail their death. What benefit have you received from their wisdom, virtue and piety? The connexion was not broken when you first began to partake its ad- yantages and delights. It has been prolonged be- yond the common lot. To part with one so endear- ed does indeed give a pang ; to have had him so long is a subject of gratitude to the Author and Preser- ver of life. What a sum of good has accrued to you and to others from the relation which is now dissolved ? How much have you and they been in- debted to the life and character of this guide and friend, during his sojourn below ? How much do you and others owe to the light of his mind, and to the effects of his providence and exertions ; how much to the attraction of his example, to the spirit and charm of his conversation, to the constancy, the uniformity, the consistency of his virtues. Seeing that he has finished an honourable and beneficent course, and sustained the duties and the trials of his earthly probation as we should desire, and has gone as we believe to rest and reward in another and better life, shall we not resign ourselves to God who gives and takes away, and be at peace ? We feel the affliction of losing the excellent. We desire to submit, and we would not reject the conso- lations which our merciful Father in heaven permits to attend the inflictions of his hand. Let us in the next place, ap|)ly ourselves to the duties to which we are summoned by the removal of important characters from life. The moral Gover- nor teaches by his Providence, as well as by his word, and events not less than precepts express our obligations. When the wise and good have finished their course below^ we are required to show respect to their me- mory, to liold them in due esteem and honour ; to guard, excite, and elevate our vn'tues by tlie recol- lection of their estimable qualities and actions, and to exert ourselves to supply, as far as may be, the loss of valuable persons, by increased diligence and fide- lity in our respective places. It is due to piety, to patriotism, and to friendship, to meditate on the character of the distinguished indi- vidual with whom we have been accustomed to unite in the weekly services of this place, but who is no more to partake in the duties of an earthly sanc- tuary. I shall offer you some imperfect notices of his ta- lents, accomplishments, virtues, and usefulness, and bring to your minds a few of the counsels of reason and religion which the occasion and subject present. Can these meditations fail to enliven our good af- fections, and to strengthen and direct our honourable and virtuous aims ? " There is no doubt a great native difference in those original principles, which are to be unfolded by the progress of time into intellectual powers and moral dispositions." Mr. Cabot was endowed by nature with uncom- mon powers of mind. His contemporaries, from boyhood, evinced that they felt the ascendancy of his talents. He was distinguished by the clearness and justness of his conceptions ; the soundness of his judgment, and the strength of his reasoning. He joined, however, to these peculiar gifts, a more than 19 ordinary measure of the other intellectual faculties, a rctendve meiiiorj, a lively but regulated imagina- tion, a delicate and correct taste, and a keen and po- lished wit. His original organization was marked by- great sensibility. For the development of his mind, he was doubt- less much indebted to the impressions received and the habits formed under the paternal roof, during childhood and early youth. He owed something also to his opportunities, and to his proficiency at the best seminaries of the time, v^'here he made acquisi- tions, which, though of partial extent, as he entered upon active pureuits while very youno-, were yet a valuable preparative for his private studies. But what was done for him by others to produce and ma- ture his abilities, was of small moment compared to what he did for himself. Before he reached the manly age, we find him exhibiting manly qualities, joining to the ardour and vivacity of youth, the reflection and forecast and self-command, that would do honour to mature years. He early formed habits of mental activity, and ac- customed himself to inquiry, to reading and thought. He united speculation with a strong turn for a spirit of observation, and a careful attention to facts and expe- rience. He examined freely the foundations of re- ceived opinions, without any disposition to extremes ; and without overlooking the essential principles of human nature, and the basis of truth often concealed under a superstructure of error. Although for a great portion of his life engaged 10 in business, at sea or on shore, he found time fo cul- tivate letters, to be conversant with books, and in- dulo-e that love of readino^, which continued without intermission to the end of his days. Without the stlmuhis of professional necessity? from a taste for intellectual enjoyment, and the inter- nal spring of his mental frame, he was constantly en- larging his knowledge and improving his powers. His mind was at once comprehensive and discrimi- nating ; full, yet accurate. He wa^ sagacious and acute in disentangling involved and difficult subjects, know- ing how to separate appearances from realities; to distinguish the probable, the true, the practical. The materials that constituted his intellectual store, lay in his mind in a methodical arrangement, ready to be applied to their proper uses, for argument, per- suasion, colloquial communication, or the conduct of life. Mr. Cabot at different times cultivated acquain- tance with natural science, and the laws of the phy- sical world. His favourite subjects were moral and political philosophy ; human nature, its faculties, pow- ers, and sources of enjoyment and excellence. He bent his attention to works, treatises, and questions relating to the foundation of morals, the good and evil of which man is susceptible, especially as a mem- ber of political society : what is to be done by civil regulation, and what left to individual skill and enter- prize. The principles of legislation and commerce, and the means of improving and perfecting the relations proceeding from human association, engaged his sedu- 11 ious inquiries, and became familiar to his mind. He studied the interesting periods of civil history, ancient and modern. He analysed the g-overnments, and in- vestigated the character, manners and progress of nations. He had a discriminating and lively percep- tion of the excellent in nature and art, in works of sentiment and elegant literature, and generally in the productions of genius and taste. The principles of Religion, what we should think and believe of our relation to the Supreme Being, and a future life, were subjects of his habitual inquiry and meditation. He availed himself of all means for judging of the evi- dences, the history, the doctrines and purpose and characteristics of the Christian system. These resources and acquirements were not hoard- ed by the possessor as a useless treasure and selfish luxury. He was communicative of his mind ; and ■with what skill, felicity and effect, they are witnes- ses, who heard him in public speaking, in the discus- sion of topics incident to the transaction of various concerns, and especially in the freedom of private conversation. It may be said of him, as of the Roman orator, that none ever left his presence WMth- out hearingsomething worthy to be remembered and not easily forgotten. The lucid order, the justness and pertinence of thought, the clearness and strength of argumentation, the appropriateness, the simplicity, the vivacity of diction, the aptness of illustration, •which characterized his discourse, made him in a sin- gular degree instructive and entertaining; sure always 12 to Inform and interest, and often able to overcome prejudice, and convince and persuade his hearer. Whilst we pay our tribute of respect to the ta- lents of our admired friend, we have a fund of im- proving contemplation in the moral excellence, that marked and adorned his character. We could not but perceive how he considered the moral nature of man as the basis of true dignity, the clucf seat and spring of his happiness. He was a disciple of that phi- losophy, which counsels us to substitute the enthusi- asm of virtue for that of the passions. His aim was rectitude, yea perfection, doing always the best which the occasion and means permitted ; and having this elevated standard, he attained to uncommon profi- ciency in moral wisdom and goodness. The enumeration of the principal virtues, consi- dered in their relation to ourselves, our fellow-men, and the Deity, is a delineation of the character of our venerated friend. He Avas distinguished by prudence, which seeks lawful advantages by right and appropriate means ; by contentment, which ac- quiesces in a moderate portion of good, is reasonable in wishes and expectation, and keeps at a distance from selfish repining; though not without keen sensi- bility, and a constitutional pre-disposition to anxie- ty ; by fortitude, a spirit collected and resolute in dif- ficulties and dangers, and evincing always an entire superiority to fear ; by patience, bearing trials with an equal mind, and especially showing exemplary composure in bodily sufferings ; and by modesty, refus- ing to make pretensions, and display superiority ; whilst 13 estimating highly the value of opinion, paying a de- licate respect to the impressions of other minds, and pleased with the favourable judgment of his fellovvmen. He exhibited the spirit of application and industry ; executing seasonably and thoroughly what he undertook ; and though less willing than was desired, to assume responsible employments, he was far removed from any thing like indolence. He maintained a wise and careful self-oovernment. disdaining the bondage of sense; in pleasures, re- garding the boundaries prescribed by nature, by health and by duty. He saw the value of the gol- den mean in conduct, and cultivated the moderation which prevents virtue from degenerating into vice, by irregularity and excess, and which, in relation to distmction and place, rather avoids than courts pre- eminence. The social virtues, the kind affections, placed Mr. Cabot among the most amiable, as well as estimable of men. Who ever disputed his justice in transac- tions between man and man, his respect to the rights of others, his observance of truth, his fidelity in every trust? How careful was he to mingle gentleness with authority, and in the use of power and influence, to show himself considerate of our common nature? Not merely the several parts of a right and equit- able conduct were scrupulously observed by him, he Avon the hearts, he ministered to the improvement and happiness of those Avith whom he was connected, by all the acts and expressions of benevolence ; by a temper most bland, affectionate and generous. In 14 the near relations of life, and in the circle of par- ticular friends, he was devoted, cordial, sincere, rea- dy to sympathetic joy and tender compassion, mak- inof their interests and feelings his own. In o-encral intercourse, he was a conspicuous instance of dignifi- ed courtesy, of affability of conversation, of gentle- ness to the faults and condescension to the weaknes- ses of men, united with depth of principle, and entire independence and frankness. He carried with hira a discretion and urbanity, which prevented offensive inadvertencies, and dictated a deference to the rights, and a consideration of the wishes and expectations of men in society. What a care did he show to be equitable and candid in his judgment of men, whilst he estimated their characters with exact discrimina- tion. How did he delight in Avhat was done well by others, and how pleased was he to find cause for commendation? Whilst he was prompt to offices of kindness to individuals, he embraced opportunities of wider usefulness by co-operating in good institutions, selecting from the various calls of this kind, such as he most approved. His feeling of citizenship and of patriotism was deep and powerful, producing habi- tual solicitude upon all subjects connected with the safety, interest and honour of his country. He took a lively interest in the state of the world. He was not an unmoved spectator of events affecting the condition and prospects of the family of man- kind. He attended to the causes, the progress, the actual and probable results of the political revolu- tions of modern times, with animated interest. 15 Religion presented itself to Mr. Cabot's mind as an august and affecting subject. He viewed the great fundamental principles of religion as entirely adapted to the nature and state of man, the surest basis of morals, and the chief source of consolation. Chris- tianity appeared to him as true and excellent, the guide of faith and practice, and the foundation of hope, and eminently a moral system. He honoured and supported the institutions of reli- gion ; believing the duty of Christian temples to be the command of the Deity, the dictate of reason and the call of nature, a means of improvement and of comfort, a friend to the dignity of human beings, to the melioration of the social character, the bles- sing of individuals and of families, as well as condu- cive to the welfare of the community, to the glory of the Creator, and the salvation of souls. How much he concerned himself in these services, and de- sired they might be efficacious, is known to you with whom he Avalked to the house of God, and the Christian ordinances, in company ; you, who perceived with what attention, candour and patience, he heard the word, and with what reverence and feeling- he joined in acts of devotion : and who experienced his counsel and assistance in all the affairs relating to your religious society. For his pastors, those who have gone to rest, and those who survive,let me speak of his faithful friendship to them, the affectionate interest he took in their usefulness, reputation and comfort ; ever forward to strengthen their hands and encou- rage their hearts. 16 The talents and excellencies, Avhich Ave have described, were exercised and displayed by Mr. Cabot, principally in the relations of private life ; hrst in the pursuit of his vocation, when at the early age of fifteen deprived of his father, by death, he left aca- demic life; and entered upon the sea and mercantile employments, in which he Avas distinguished by skill, activity and enterprize, and while a youth, acted the man. They Avere displayed in an extensive circle of friends and acquaintances ; in the part he took in se- veral important institutions ; the duties he discharged, and the offices he filled, connected with commerce ; and occasionally in public political stations ; soon after in the State constitution, in the senate of the Com- moiiAvealth, but to which he declined a re-election ; in the Convention for framing the constitution of the State, and for ratifying that of the United States ; in the Senate of the United States, for a fcAV years, Avhere he Avas the friend of Washington, and of Washington's friends, during the most critical period of his presidency ; and at a recent period, Avhen in the late war, the exigencies of the country seemed to Mr. Cabot to require his co-operation, he pre- sided over a body designated from New England, in a season of extreme solicitude, to attempt means for averting a dreadful storm of public calamity. The occasional duties of this nature which he un- dertook, he discharged Avith signal ability as Avell as faithfulness. He was often desired for public employ- ment, but he thought himself at liberty to follow his inclination, and be for the most part a private citizen. 17 He would not come within the circle of ambition. It. was one cause of his rejecting the calls to place, that his delicate temperament could ill bear the collisions, contests and anxieties incident to public life. But al- though for most of his time a private character, he operated extensively upon the community, by the ef- fect of his opinions, his counsels and his example. He was much consulted upon great public questions. His advice was asked in affairs of consequence, more frequently than almost ever happens to any individu- al, and it was given with the same seriousness with which it was asked. A kind Providence, with a measure of disappoint- ment and affliction, assigned him a large portion of the chief blessings of existence ; health, easy circum- stances, favour and consideration with mankind, do- mestic endearment and happiness, with all the satis- faction inseparable from his disposition and character, his constant use and exercise of his mind, and his social temper, his belief in the wisdom and rectitude of the divine administration, his conscientious endea- vour to excel in virtue, and his hope and expectation of a better life. Within two years of his death, he was subject to the attacks of the disease, Avhich in the few last months, became very much aggravated, and was at- tended with paroxysms of extreme pain, till it destroy- ed the springs of life. Without complaint, with as few external indications of suffering as possible, with a peculiar sweetness, and the overflowings of affec- tion to the devoted friends, who ministered at his 3 18 sick and dying bed; with entire resignation to the will of God, he saw the advancing step, and sunk into the arms of death. What man is he that liveth and shall not see death? Whilst I we regard the call to cherish the memo- ry and honour the character of the estimable who have ceased to live, let us take other lessons of wis- dom and piety from their departure. We are instructed to moderate our earthly attach- ments, and to repress our passions. The night will soon overtake us by age, disease or casualty. We will not indulge the expectation of any lasting good in this fugitive state. We perceive the uncertainty of our enjoyments, the frailty of our hopes. Were our condition less precarious and mutable, mortality re- minds us that our lives may fail, and that those on whom our chief happiness here depends, may also fail. Let the consideration of the few and evil days of our pilgrimage exert a kindly influence upon our so- cial intercourse and relations. Let it compose ani- mosities, and promote aflfection and fellow-feeling. We Avill not by unkindness or neglect, mingle unne- cessary bitterness in the cup, which Providence has ordained shall have enough of sorrow. The Supreme Disposer calls into exercise at once our gratitude and our submission, when he dis- plays his liberality in forming here and there a limit- ed number, to impart wisdom and virtue to many ; and his dominion over the noblest as well as the humblest of his works, by removing those, who have been instruments of his benign purposes, and supply- ing their places by others. 19 The death of those, who have performed an im- portant part in the community, should enHven the di- ligence of all in their respective stations and charac- ters, and engage them to such conduct as may miti- gate the evil we have suffered, in the removal of the eminent. It is the part of generous youth, to be emulous of equalling, nay, of surpassing,distinguished predecessors. The welfare of the commuaity, civil and religious, social order and the happiness of private life, not less than your individual well-being, are involved in the course you take. Let not any of you, capable of high improvement, be willing to act an inferior part. Aspire to an extended and honourable reputation, and la- bour to be acknowledged as benefactors to your race. Follow the footsteps of the great and good. Aim at a finished character ; deeming that nothing is done? ■while any thing remains to be done, for attaining in- tellectual and moral excellence ; and expect a large reward. We learn the infinite value of that religion, which gives us a remedy for the evils of death and the sorrows of life, teaches us to join the future with the present, and to look for a revived or continued exis- tence, when the body has ceased to live. Let us seek, above all things, the character which this faith requires, and to this end be followers of the good who have gone before us. Have Ave observed the elevation of their views, the strength of their principles, the usefulness of their lives ? Have we 20 seen them consistent and sincere in the various parts of behaviour, partaking the consolations whilst ful- filhng the duties of religion, and experiencing the se- renity it is fitted to impart, when most necessary, when nature is sinking, and all other resources fail ? Do we honour and cherish the memory, and lament the loss of such persons? Let us seek to live and die by the same principles and hopes, and be prepared to unite with all the holy and virtuous in one glorious and happy society in heaven. Died in this city, on Friday the 18th, the Hon. George Cabot, in the 72cl year of his age. In the death of Mr. Cabot, the public have sustained a loss which will not soon be repaired ; his connexions and friends one, which can never be supplied. If we should be influenced by a recol- lection of his modesty and his aversion to public display ; if we should obey what we know would have been his injunc- tions, we should refrain from any notice of his character. But it is an occasion, in which public feeling must have ut- terance ; and it seems better that this notice should come from one, who has known him long and intimately, than from those, who are more able, but who have had less op- portunity to know, that his talents seemed the most extraordi- nary, his virtues the most bright, to those who had the hap- piness to see him most familiarly. His character is a public property ; to perpetuate its influence is a public duty ; and in such a case all private considerations must yield. Mr. Cabot's mind was distinguished by the capacity of investigating profoundly the most difficult subjects, of em- bracing the fundamental principles, and at the same time, all the details of the subjects he investigated ; and of form- ing respecting them the most simple and the most grand conceptions. He was possessed at the same time of an elo- 22 quence, which was displayed not so much in public debate^ as in private conversations : — an eloquence which charmed at once by its beauty and its simplicity, and which brought within the comprehension of common minds, the principles which his deep investigations had developed. He had an ardent and constant thirst for knowledge, which was evinced not so much in great enterprises for the attainment of it, as in his exact observation and skilful analysis of all the ob- jects about him. His industry and his powers of applica- tion fitted him for the pursuit of every species of know- ledge : his choice of objects was determined not by his powers, but by his feelings. — Sensible to all the beauaes of nature, and an admirer of all the works of creation, his be- nevolence, his true philanthropy, fixed his attention most strongly on whatever appertained to the cause of humanity and the welfare of society. — Hence, his mind was devoted to the study of political economy and the science of go- vernment. In regard to these subjects, it may be said most truly, his eye was single; he had no personal objects to warp his judgment ; and he was thus enabled to see instant- ly and to point out clearly, every deviation from the path of political wisdom, which was occasioned by political ambi- tion, and which political sophistry attempted to hide or to excuse. — Practically wise, he would not be strenuous in small things ; — elevated and pure, he could never consent to attain his purpose by what was base or false. Engrossed as was Mr. Cabot's mind by public affairs during many years — years most memorable in the history of our nation and of mankind, his feelings were never ab- sorbed in the great things of this world. Full, too full of the most genuine sensibility, he more than satisfied all the claims of friends and kindred. His knowledge, his powers to de- light and to serve, his means, and his labours were most cheerfully employed, even for those who could not make 23 claims upon him. But in the circle of his more intimate friends, in the intercourse of domestic life — if not forbidden to intrude on the sacred privacy of such topics at this mo- ment — who would dare attempt to describe the fulness, the constancy, the depth, the delicacy of the feelings and atiec- lions which he displayed ? The delight of all around, his task might seem easy to the young and the thoughtless. It was easy to appear good and pure, for to this end he had only to expose his whole heart without disguise. But how could it be easy to remember the circumstances and feelings of every one who approached him, and to strengthen the good feelings of every one by his sympathy — to control and cor- rect what was bad, so that men seemed to wash away their impurities in their intercourse with him — to feel the joy and participate in the grief of all with whom he was conver- sant ; how could all this be easy, except to a man of most extraordinary talents and virtues ? This was the great charm about him — that while he made men wiser, he made them better ; and if in all that he did there seemed to be no labour, it was, that the strength, with which he grasped every subject, was accompanied by a grace and a sweet- ness of discourse, by which the effort was hidden. Mr. Cabot devoted the early period of his life to com- merce. For many years he encountered the dangers of the sea, as a shipmaster. He was one of that class of citizens, w^ho had contributed so much to the prosperity of the Unit- ed States, and Avho gave occasion to the splendid encomium of Burke on the enterprise and intelligence of the naviga- tors of New England. But even amidst the difficulties and dangers of a seafaring life, he did not neglect the cultiv^ation of his mind. That mind was too deep, and contemplative, and sound, and clear, to be checked by any obstacles ; or rather it found food in every thing, and was strengthened by every exercise in which it was engaged. His early 24 visits to foreign countries were means of his education. What he saw, he perceived with the eye of a philosophical statesman. He came home from every voyage improved and enlightened with large and comprehensive views of human nature and of human society. Before he was twen- ty six years' of age, he was chosen to the Provincial Con- gress, which met at Concord with the visionary project of ordaining a maximum of prices — at a time, when our com- merce being cut off, men foolishly hoped that they could cheapen commodities, by forcing the holders to sell at re- duced and fixed rates. Good sense triumphed over folly, and Mr. Cabot there first displayed that profound acquain- tance with the correct principles of political economy, for which he was, above all the men in our nation, throughout his life, most remarkable. It is well known to his friends, that even before Adam Smith was known in this country, and twenty years before Say and the continental writers had formed any correct notions on the subject, Mr. Cabot maintained the present prevailing and enlightened doctrines, and strenuously contended for the entire liberty of domes- tic and international commerce. In the State Convention, which was called to deliberate on the adoption of the Federal Constitution, Mr. Cabot was a most influential member. How important the decision of that Convention was, is now well known. In that Convention he was associated with King, and Ames, and Parsons, in maintaining and securing the dearest interests of the country. Shortly after the adoption of that Constitution, he was in- duced by a sense of public duty, and against his inclina- tion, to accept the otfice of Senator of the United States. In that office he not only possessed the confidence of the Senate — but he was one of the most confidential friends of Washington and of Hamilton, then the eye and the ear of this 25 nation. If there "be any merit in our financial system report- ed by Hamilton, and preserved through all the changes of parties, Mr. Cabot is entitled to a large share of that merit; for upon his commercial knowledge and profound views, not only of finance, but of political economy, Gen. Hamil- ton reposed the most unlimited confidence. The friendship and mutual confidence of these two distinguished statesmen continued till the premature and lamented death of Hamil- ton. Nor was the intimacy and affection between Mi\ Cabot and Mr. Ames less close. They were like brothers — one in feeling, principle, purity, and patriotism. The day has gone by, never to return, in which the delicacy, genius, in- dependence, public services of Ames can be called in ques- tion. Mr. Cabot was, in short, for forty years, the Nestor, the wise, cool, considerate Counsellor of most of the intel- ligent Statesmen on the Federal side in our state and na- tional Governments. Asking nothing for himself, hoping, wishing nothing for his friends, with a mind capable of comprehending the most abstruse points or questions, and ready to discuss the most simple — without parade — without assumption, applying the powers of a most persuasive elo- quence, in the most finished and correct language, pouring forth the stores of a mind, enriched by various literature and research, he never failed to convince, or inform, or persuade. The great characteristics of his mind, in which friends and foes (if he had any) would agree, were sim- plicity and profoundness. It is impossible to calculate how great and how extensive were the effects of such a mind on the happiness and welfare of a state. We can only know it by our loss. Perhaps we ought here to finish this simple, but correct portrait of this lamented individual. But can we do it con- scientiously ? Can we satisfy those numerous friends. 26 Whom he has comforted in sorrow, relieved hy his wise counsels and advice from mental distress, in circumstances embarrassing and apparently irremediable? To whom he has devoted, even amidst corporal anguish, so much of his time, and his healing and persuasive eloquence? Who is there, who had any, even the most remote, claims, that did not find him at all moments, in sickness and in health, a steady, wise, considerate, judicious, feeling counsellor and friend ? What man ever possessed or enjoyed out of the sphere of public life so much personal respect and confi- dence ? Who can say among those to whom he was known, that he would not have relied on his integrity and justice, if his whole fortune was at stake ? Who will say, that when his own mind was in doubt, he did not feel an entire confidence in the clear, impartial judgment and discretion of George Cabot? No — Such men are seldom permitted to exist, by the decrees of the Almighty Governor of the world, — but when they are sent among us, they should en- kindle our zeal for virtue — for self devotion — for the dis- play of our talents for the public good, and for the happi- ness of all around us. We should not be deterred by the hopelessness of equalling him. Mr. Cabot was a sincere and devout Christian, and died in the hopes which that religion offers. He was a member of the Church under the care successively of Kirkland, Thacher, and Greenwood. His life is the best proof of his pious feelings and religious principles. The last sickness of this most excellent man was long continued, painful and distressing. This he bore with the patience and fortitude, which would have been expected by all who knew him ; and to the last moments, in which his mind retained its powers, he continued to manifest the most entire submission to the divine will, and the most per- fect confidence in the divine goodness. Boston Daily Advertiser^ April 22, 1823. »R 5 .A ' O u o ' .0 .^' X. ^'W^ V '^^ V ^0^ ''-(/', :^^ iV^^. LISNARV BINDING 32084 a: ifi^'im' J