A FUNERAL ORATION ON THE DEATH OF GEORGE WASHINGTON LATE PRESIDENT & COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.DELIVERED AT THE REQUEST OF CONGRESS.TO WHICH IS SUBJOINED, AN EULOGY: BY JUDGE MINOT

A FUNERAL ORATION ON THE DEATH OF GEORGE WASHINGTON LATE PRESIDENT & COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.DELIVERED AT THE REQUEST OF CONGRESS.TO WHICH IS SUBJOINED, AN EULOGY: BY JUDGE MINOT.

[4],28pp. Half title. Printed self-wrappers, not stitched. Light soiling and toning of half title. Minor internal soiling, a bit heavier on final leaf. About very good. Untrimmed and partially unopened. In a half morocco clamshell case. Of the scores of funeral orations delivered on the occasion of George Washington's death, that of Henry Lee (the official oration delivered in Congress) is the most famous and memorable. Reprinted many times in many versions, this is the first London printing of Lee's oration. Lee, popularly known as "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, was personally summoned by Washington in 1776 to join the Continental Army, and he served Washington faithfully and well during the Revolution. Lee was a Federalist Representative from Virginia when Washington died in late 1799, and was assigned the task of drafting a congressional resolution commemorating the great leader. In that resolution, and a few days later in this address delivered to both houses of Congress in Philadelphia on Dec. 26, 1799, Lee pronounced his famous phrase, placing Washington firmly at the head of the pantheon of American leaders. Lee recalls Washington's military service in the French and Indian War, recounts his many triumphs in the Revolution and his service as president. He declares: ".the founder of our federate republic - our bulwark in war, our guide in peace, is no more.[but] his fame survives! bounded only by the limits of the earth, and by the extent of the human mind. He survives in our hearts, in the growing knowledge of our children, in the affection of the good throughout the world; and when our monuments shall be done away; when nations now existing shall be no more; when even our young and far-spreading empire shall have perished, still will our Washington's glory unfaded shine, and die not, until love of virtue cease on earth, or earth itself sinks into chaos." Lee's pronouncement that Washington is "first in war - first in peace - and first in the hearts of his countrymen" is second only to the idea of Washington as "father of his country" in the popular lexicon and mythology of Washington. Lee's funeral oration is a fundamentally important document in the shaping of George Washington's image in American culture, and in the apotheosis of Washington. Also included in this London printing is George Minot's eulogy on Washington, delivered in Boston at the request of the town's "Committee of Arrangements." Minot's speech, urging his fellow citizens to carry on following Washington's example, is also highly regarded. STILLWELL, WASHINGTON EULOGIES 137. ANB 13, pp.372-74. SABIN 39749. ESTC T141505. REESE, FEDERAL HUNDRED 83 (ref). Nº de ref. del artículo: 41537

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