as elevated by the unanimous voice of Congress
to the command of her armies, will you follow him to the high grounds of
Boston, where, to an undisciplined, courageous, and virtuous yeomanry,
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, combating 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 praises of the he