COLUMBIA CRIED:
The Poetic, Romantic, and Enchanted Rituals
of Mourning for
George Washington
 | |
|
November
16, 2013
Immediately after
Washington’s death, the country went into momentous deep, and profound grief.
Each Americans approached grief for their leader with different expressions.
They crafted their feelings into words which others identified with. Artistic
testimonies of convicted loyalty leapt from the mourner’s pen to his paper.
Washington’s death created an agony, which the nation’s people had never seen
before. Anguish so great that commemoration of the man turned into its own
social religion.
But who shall venture with presumption
rude.
On sorrow's sacred silence to
intrude;
May no rash voice disturb that
deep repose.
- Richard Alsop, A Poem ca.1799-1800
Never before had any
American felt the death of a national leader. There was true and honest feeling
from Columbia’s children, and they publicly demonstrated it. Streets appeared
with classically religious like processions that led the way to a temple just
like those of old. The news of George Washington’s death created a land that
was completely consumed by mourning for their lost “brother, father, saint, and
savior.”[2]
Men and women, rich and poor, commemorated his or her sorrow by writing poetry.
By romanticizing the past, Columbia’s children compared Washington with classical
and Biblical heroes. Americans thought Washington stood with the greatest men
throughout time and showed their admiration with poetry.[3]
The custom of
mourning poetry was “undeniable,” William Francis Wilkinson believed “prayer
for the dead an holy and good thought.”[4]
He went on to say, “prayer for the departed was universal practice of the
Church of Christ from the time of the Apostles, [was] quite clear.”[5]
Quietus prose expressed a need to have a sacred being within the midst of
humans. Death and funerals were commonplace in the eighteenth century, said
Charles O. Jackson.[6]One person’s
death in a community held a sense of bereavement for everyone.[7]
Gary Laderman reminded “the dead also return to the imagination of the living
through mechanisms that exist outside the logic of conventional religious
discourse and popular expressions in various media.”[8]
Expressions of grief
went back before Biblical times. “Enoch’s exemption from the common death of
mankind, was indeed the special reward of his faith…”[9]
Archaic muses and saints were celebrated in feasts and merriment. Classical
heroes paraded their courageous deeds through towns and cities with arches as
commemorations. Gifts, songs and poetry were the worshippers symbols of love to
their demigod, who was born of a god and human.
Men and women all
over the country revered Washington. Not only did he have strength, he also had
patience. Reportedly, no one had ever heard him yell.[10]
Washington was a political genius and men from all political sides loved him,
if not his party. People loved to be around him and listen to him in his quiet
voice.[11]
He cared for others with a sense of paternal love.[12]
Washington was the Paterfamilias of the nation.[13]
Because Washington
led the American men into victory in the Revolutionary War, many considered him
the “savior of the country.”[14]
The American public began to deify him. Poems mention his being the savior of
the country, the savior of the people. Worshippers visited and laid wreaths or
flowers at commemorative hoping that he would live forever in thoughts and
deeds of Americans to come.[15]
Thrones of memorialization came in many sizes, shapes, and times. Bishop
Carroll warned that worshipping Washington the man was idolatry, and
should not be considered.[16]
But were Americans really worshipping Washington as God, a demigod, or a god
among men?
If Washington was
a god, was he a pagan god? Indeed, he was the idealization of an American man.
His accomplishments were greater than any living American could remember.
Everyone hoped to have the honor of knowing him. He did not belong to any of
the old countries. Washington was Columbia’s flesh and blood. Even if he was
not a deity himself, he surely was a gift from God. Americans compared him to
other Biblical heroes, second only to Jesus.[17]
Americans rushed
to honor their dead President with Parades. Processions of many (up to four
thousand in Philadelphia) men, women, and children marched down their town
streets. Many of these events also had women in white. Americanized Grecian
goddesses represented the personification of Columbia walked in their loose
gauzy gowns, hair down and flowing. These Columbianas met the spiritual needs
of the American public by being a visual representation of reverence for
Washington. Women supposedly felt more deeply then men. So, the young
maid’s “private virtues now had a public relevance.”[18]
Other women in
white dresses wore black armbands or a black rose on the left breast, which
symbolized their spiritualist movement.[19]
Columbia’s children, both male and female, felt a need to connect with their
lost leader.[20] Washington
staged elaborate tours, and was very formal in dress, manor, and speaking; yet
all Americans felt that they knew him.[21]
People of all positions in society wrote eulogies, memorials, lyrics, and
poetry to the memory of the great man.
Writings asked
questions. They searched the soul of each writer. They reached to answer what
lay beyond death. They asked, “is there light in the darkness?” By connecting
Washington with nature and the supernatural, they wanted to express their own
views of death.[22] Was George Washington the only muse of
America as a nation?[23]
Will there be no peace or happiness now that the Washington’s light was gone?
The nation mourned
their former President for a “required” time by governmental order and was
accepted by all. Small pockets mourned for six months or longer. Businesses
closed down. Schools let kids out, and even held memorials. Children received
new clothing specifically for honorific occasions. Churches held public sermons
and also had guest speakers. About 60% of the white populace attended church on
a regular basis. However, this percentage probably increased during special
services and events that eulogized Washington.[24]
There were memorials almost everywhere for six months. Many local communities
had some sort of memorial as late as one year later. The nation obsessed with
their leader’s death tried to commune with public mourning rituals and private
prose.
Washington was seen
in neo-classic forms as god, demigod, saint and hero. He was Christianized as
God and Christ-like idol, a gift from God, Saint, and Christian. Mystics,
deists, and the enlightenment had an impact on American’s view of the deceased
leader. The anti-government and anti-organized religion Romantics venerated
Washington with aesthetically beautiful words of majesty. As seen through
commemorative mourning poetry, American social religion held Washington in
specific categorical doctrines of neo-classic, Biblical, and new philosophical
roles.
Washington’s
death, around ten o’clock in the evening on December 14, 1899 created a
monumental sense of mourning. Contrary to popular oral tradition, he did not
die on the last hour of the day, the last day of the month, of the last month
of the year, of the last decade of the millennium.[25]
Americans liked to embellish the past, and make deeds appear greater or worse
and then they actually were. Therefore, wouldn’t it had been the natural next
step to glamorize Washington’s death? In fact, romanticized lamentations flew
through the populace.
From Heaven the awful mandate flies-
The
Father of his country dies.[26]
Proceedings in Connecticut,
ca. 1799-1800
Washington’s
funeral was held on December 18, 1799 did not include a large group of people.[27]
News trickled slowly through the country due to distance and roads. Weeks or
months passed before people realized that Washington was dead, depending on
where they were in the country.
Processions of “silent dejection and unspeakable anguish,” noted a
newspaperman, were “painted in the countenances of all.”[28]
The faithful, “under the most afflicting circumstances,” held national, local,
and personal reverential services.[29]
A national day of
mourning suggested by Congress to show respect and honor to the Father of the Country
to President Adams for agreement. Of course he agreed, and so “Of [the]
legislators, to whose labors and honors he was associated by all that was
useful and dignified,” created December 27, 1799 the national day of mourning.[30]
Funeral parades and services where an empty pier, firing guns, trumpeters
playing, and a horse with empty boots turned backwards in the stirrups gave
physical evidence where there had been none.[31]
Columbia’s
Sons may now lament,
Their
spear is broke, their bow unbent,
Their
glory fled:
Amongst
the dead Great Washington lies,
Forever
closed his eyes.[32]
- Sang by Miss Huntly, Funeral
Honors by Government, (1799)
Who was Columbia? Poet Phillis
Wheatley, an African American slave in Boston wrote that other nations envied
“The generous Spirit that Columbia fires” in her poem entitled “Columbia.” [33]
This poem honored Washington on his advancement to the position of Commander in
Chief. She was the first person to include Columbia in patriotic stance, and it
was the first time used in poetry. This could be the first instance, as well as
the reason for, the idea that the lands of Columbia gave birth to her
native son. Thus, she became a female figure of maternal and spirited nature. A
great eighteenth century fancy was to Greek and Romanize things. Therefore it
could have been easily followed to the conclusion that the motherland became a
Grecian style mother-war goddess whose indomitable spirit lead her children forward
into great possibilities.[34]
While
Wheatley wrote the first poem that connected Columbia with Washington, she was
not the last. Newman reported that there were over three hundred eulogies
published for Washington. She did not give accounting of any other types of
written memorials. These reported here may be the only ones, or, there could be
hundreds of them, but that has not been substantiated. Lamenter poetry held
Columbia grieving and weeping. Alsop’s poetry held Columbia with deep sorrow in
many refrains: “Columbia weeps her guardian genius fled;” /“Thou found’st Columbia
sunk in pale decay;”/ and “To plunge Columbia in the dire astray” were all
written within just one poem. [35]
Sons of Columbia, now lament,
Your
spear is broke, your bow’s unbent
Tour
glory’s fled
Anongst
the dead;
Your
Hero lies
Ever,
forever, clos’d his eyes.
Columbia
weep! Weep still in louder moan,
Your
Hero, Patriot, Friend and Father’s gone.[36]
-
Anacreontic and Philharmonic Societies, Words of Sacred
Music, ca. 1799.
Columbia groans
beneath the dreadful wound,
And Europe echoes
to the mournful sound;
The Sons of Freedom
shudder at the stroke,
And
Universal Virtue feels a shock!![37]
- Anonymous, Gen. Washington, 1799.
“Again to weep,
again to bid adieu,”[38]
townspeople again and again cried as they chose to mourn far past the National
Day. In fact, many areas did not find out that Washington was dead until after
the New Year. Local parades and fetes occurred everywhere after the first of
January, 1800. Phillippe Airees argued that Christians “must live and evolve
spiritually, moderation is not merely sensible behavior, it becomes a cardinal
virtue.”[39] However,
Christians throughout the country surrendered this ordination and succumbed to
the hedonistic rituals of formalized reverence. Washington became more popular
than anyone could remember. His memorial parades resembled religious
demonstrations, especially those that included religiously significant people,
such as a Pope or a theocratic religious leader. Federalists used the events to
get pledges to their Cult of Washington, with hopes recruiting them into their
governmental philosophy.[40]
Parade participants marched in ritualistic order, beginning with the highest
respected members leading the way. Following the military escort, Martha
Ballard reported that she saw approximately “sixteen misses clad in white, with
“black hats and cloaks and white scarves.” [41]
Ann Braude, the
director of Women’s Studies in Religion at Harvard Divinity School wrote
Victorian Spiritualists wore “white at funerals by transforming internments
into events that emphasized continuity, rather than the finality of death.”[42] Spiritualist mourners wanted “intimate
contact with the dead.”[43]
Wearing white at funerals occurred well before then, and was included within
Christian thought and prayer …
May the triumphant
army of martyrs,
Clad in white
robes, come out to meet thee…”[44]
-
William Francis Wilkinson, Commendation of a Departing Soul,
1845.
Ladies’ fashion at that time
appeared Grecian inspired, and the neo-classic being en vogue, anyway,
women did not have a lot of change to make in their wardrobe. The white robed
women appeared Grecian or Roman celestial beings. They were the humanization of
the American created Greek goddess. Columbia’s virgin priestesses “and choirs
of white robed virgins sing his welcome and his praise.”[45]
Strew, vir-gins, the cy-press ov’r
Wa-shing-ton’s bier. -
Whilst em-blems of sor-row excite
the big tear.[46]
-Music by Johann
Heinrich Rolle, nd., Lyric author,
Anonymous, Strew, Virgins, they
Cypress,
ca. 1800
Even before his
death, a Trenton newspaper reported, “three of the choir of young girls who,
dressed in white greeted Washington as he entered” town.”[47]
Apparently thirty –three clergymen wearing white scarves, twenty-four girls in
white robes with white surpluses, ladies dressed in white gowns with white
veils, scarves, wreaths, “who arranged [the] misses, as described in the order
of procession [with] their wreaths hanging in festoons in front of the of the
gallery.”[48] More mystic
style poetry revealed the hope of Washington arising with:
Angels ever bright and fair,
Take, O take him to your care,
Speed your own courts his flight.
Clad in robes of heavenly white![49]
-Anonymous, Angels Ever Bright and Fair, 1800.
The Reverend Br. Dr. Walter presented these
offerings after their “procession moved to the stone chapel where the “flowers
were then strewed and the cassia deposited” as if these neo-classic priestesses
celebrated Washington as a neo-classic god.[50]
Obviously, even the Christian leaders felt the pagan draw as George W. Bethune
wrote his poem with apropos situation.
No
more at Delos, or at Delphi now,
Or
even at mighty Ammon’s Lybian Shrine, [sic]
The white-robed
priests before the altar bow,
To
slay the victim and to pour the wine,
While
gifts of kingdoms round each pillar twine;
Scarce
can the classic pilgrim, sweeping free
From
the dim names of their divinity-
Gods
of the ruined temples, where, oh! Where are ye?[51]
-
Geo. W. Bethune, Invocation, nd.
If the clergy
rationalized the neo-classic religious experience, then obviously regular
Americans saw Washington as a neo-classic god. Both Washington and his wife
were “transformed … into marble figures of rectitude whose dignity and decorum
fostered a sense of legitimacy for the new country.”[52] A popular image of weeping mortals at an
alter bearing Washington’s image appeared in a print with possibly Columbia
pointing to the sky.[53]
Revering his image as the ancients worshipped the seasons, Greeks worshipped
statues, Egyptians worshipped cats, all hoping to have their divine influence
bestowed upon the mere mortals requesting it.
When stern oppression o’er
Columbia’s plains,
In pride exulting
shook her ready chains.
……………………………………………………………………….
On thee thy country turn’d an eye of
hope.
In thee she saw her shield,
Her firmest prop.
Gave thee her raw untutor’d bands to
guide,
Yet, new to scenes of blood, in arms
untried.[54]
-
Richard Alsop, Sacred to the Memory of George Washington,
(1800)
Columbia’s genius
to her tomb repairs,
Deep, deep the
gloom, her brow majestic wears!
Fix’d to the
Sacred spot the mourner stands,
And views with
frenzied glare her marial bands:
Recalls that form,
which long before them strode,
With soul, and
source, and motion, like a god,
And sees that
sword, which when a foe was nigh,
Flam’d like Jove’s
lightning darting thro’ the sky.[55]
- John Lathrop, Monody, ca. 1799-1800
The two poems
above were written from Columbia’s, (the Americanized Grecian goddess), point
of view, while the one below from a person’s.
In “Monody,” Columbia, who was America herself, stared off into the
horizon lamenting Washington’s death. She looked back memorializing the time
when Washington, her demigod, smote America’s great enemy, King George III and
the English military. “Columbia smiling, crowns her son with bays” at every
victory.[56] The poem
below hallowed Washington as a demigod, but this time viewed from a human point
of view.
By coming glories,
and his nation hush’d
As though they
heard the farewell of a god-
A
great man is to earth as God to heaven.[57]
-Wallace, Words of Wallace, ca.
1799-1800
Washington, the
Neo-classic savior, “having reached the summit of human perfection,” appeared
celestial and magnificent in prose.[58]
Accounts of others assisting with the liberty of the nation all fell below the
horizon as Washington’s assistance in the annexation became grandiose. All of
his failures were forgiven or forgotten as Americans realized what they had
lost. He had been a half-man/half-god who led them from bondage to the “land of
milk and honey.”[59] “Columbia’s
Savior is no more” was a constant strain for the poetry reviewed, especially
from Thomas Pain.[60]
O
for a muse of fire, that would ascend
The
brightest heaven of invention!
An
empire for a stage, heroes to act,
And angels to behold the swelling scene!
Then
should the MIGHTY SHADE again assume
His
local habitation, and his name,
Mantling
our sphere with his supernal glory!
Virtue
and Fame Should pioneer his way
Through
planets wonder-struck; while at his heels
Valour
and Victory (Leasht in like hounds)
Crouch for employment![61]
- Thomas Paine, An Eulogy on the Life of General George
Washington, 1800.[62]
Columbia’s sons
likened Washington to Historical, Biblical, and classical men in rhyme and
reason.[63]
He was as great as a Greek god. He was as tough as a Roman hero. Charles
Caldwell compared Washington to Caesar, Cato, Cyrus, Fabius, Achilles, Scipio,
Cincinnatus, Hector and Ulysses.[64]
No man in history could stand next to Washington without being overshadowed.
Even Biblical heavyweights found themselves compared to.
Must our beloved Washington then
die?
Where is the chariot, where the
steeds of fire.
Which bore Elijah to his Heavenly
Sire?[65]
- John Lovett, Star-Deck’d Standards, ca. 1799-1800.[66]
A
nation’s annuls, on historic page,
Oft
point the advent of a better reign:-
With
Pericles there came the golden age,
With
Moses Israel broke her bondage chain.
……………………………………………..
He
wore the seal of promise on his face:
Peer
of fair Egypt’s found, adopted one;
And
the high virtues of a lyal race
Were born in him, Virginia’s worthy
son.[67]
- James M. Washington Stewart, The Hero and
Statesman. Eulogy, 1888.
Both Caesar and
Washington were great military leaders. Both men led troops who respected and
admired their leader. Caesar requested a triumphal, but was refused. Washington
never asked, yet received a “march tri-um-phal,” in prose and in America’s
hearts.[68]
King Minos’ only son traveled to Athens for the sports games, and won all the
contests against his Greek contestants. Androgeos, son of Minos, was awarded
with “song and dance and laurel crown.”[69]
“A lau-rel wreath th’m-mor-tal War-ren bears” for Washington to wear for his
victories.[70] Androgeos
lost his life to his opponents, though all admired Washington.
Deign,
Washington, to hear a British lyre,
That
ardent hero homage pays.
O’
would the muse immortal strains inspire,
That
high beyond all Greek and Roman fame,
Might
soar to times unborn, thy purer, nobler name![71]
-
John Aikins, Tribute to Washington, ca. 1799-1800.
Revering the Name Washington became so
grandiose, that he became godlike. Direct blaspheme hid within rhymes. Subtle,
or not so subtle, hints sprinkled from one author to another. Poems included
godlike actions that no mere mortal could have produced.
When war with bloody hand her flag
unfurl’d
And
her loud trump alarm’d the Western World;
His
awful voice bade all contention cease,
At
his command the storms were hushed to peace.[72]
-
Anonomous, New Year’s Address of a Hartford Paper, 1800
A Revolutionary
War veteran, Oliver Holden, founded his own church in Charlestown,
Massachusetts, and gave American’s another godlike comparison of Washington. He
wrote a composition, A Dirge, or Sepulchral Service, for a memorial
service for George Washington in 1800.[73] Oliver Holden’s words gave reminiscent to
the painting of Christ, Anastasis, apse in the Parekklesion of the Church of Christ, The Assumption
of The Virgin by Titian, or a combination of the two.[74]
An argument could be that this was a common theme in religious iconography. That
is true, but Americans were Christian during the late eighteenth century and
early nineteenth century. Therefore, this author pursued the godlike
comparison.
From Vernon’s Mount behold the HERO
rise,
Resplendent forms attend him through
the skies.[75]
- Oliver Holden, From Vernon’s
Mount Behold the Hero Rise, 1794.
Francis Adrian Van
Der Kemp, the Dutch patriot and Mennonite minister was credited for giving the
Revolution a Christian hue. He was a friend to Washington, Thomas Jefferson,
Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin.[76]
With his righteous views, he still exalted Washington through blasphemous
lines. He spelled out “George Washington” and gave glorified description that
he may have condemned him as heretic.
G
lorious as the Orb of day,
E
xpelling darkness with ray,
O
‘n all the nations shedding joy;
R
esound his virtues, - spred his fame,
G
rateful, record th’ illustrious Name;[77]
E
v’ry tongue his praise employ.
W
hat nation round this spacious earth
A
dorn’d by such a Hero’s birth?
S
hall we not then his death bemoan?[78]
H
ail him! Ye angels, on his way.
I
llume his path, AUTHOR of day.
N
ote him, ye Seraphs, round the throne,
G o down, my soul,
- lament thy loss,
T hy mournful
country sits in tears,
O n ev’ry heart
his Name emboss;
N
or let it be effac’d by years.[79]
-
Francis Adrian Van Der Kemp, Eulogy of George Washington, 1800.
God the Son was
also represented in contemporary mourning poetry. The Christian Bible
prophesied their Lord’s birth during a dark night. Another part announced a
bright star, which beckoned the Magi to Christ’s side.[80]
Words that tell the same scene are in the below poem.
There is an awful
stillness in the sky
When, after
wondrous deeds and light supreme,
A star goes out in
golden prophecy.
There is an awful
stillness in the world,
When, after
wondrous deeds and light supreme[81]
-Wallace, Words of Wallace, ca. 1799-1800
From Vernon’s Mount behold the Hero
rise![82]
Resplendent forms, attend him thro’
the skies.
…………………………………………………
With port majestic guides the
glittering car,
Montgomery’s godlike form directs
the way,[83]
And Green unfolds the gates of
endless day!
While angels, “Trumpet-tongued,”
proclaim thro’ air,
“Due honors for the FIRST OF MEN
prepare.”[84]
-Samuel Sower, Mature in Years, Covered with Glory, and Rich
in the Affections of
the American People, 1799
Washington, the
savior of an infant nation was another ideal of the man. He was commemorated as
“savior” and “guardian angel.” Watching over the people of America was the
general theme. Perhaps the Calvinist doctrine of only “limited atonement” still
held on to American’s thoughts.[85]
So being afraid of not being a chosen one, they searched for additional
protection because divine protection was only for the gifted. Washington was
dead, so prayers to keep him in an attendant position seemed rational.
His mind was tranquil and serene,
No terrors in his looks were seen,
A Saviour’s smile dispell’d the
gloom,
And smoth’d his passage to the tomb.[86]
- Henry Holcombe, A Sermon
Occasioned by the Death of Washington, 1800
Seated in bliss
supreme on high
O
spirit dear attend our pray’r.
Our
guardian angel still be nigh
Make
thy lov’d land thy heav’nly care.[87]
- Benjamin
Carr, Dead March and Monody, 1799
Angels and death
have been a combination from Biblical times. They brought messages from God to
mankind. Sometimes, God’s gift to mankind came along. Washington was obviously
a blessed man. Mourning poetry demonstrated Washington as God’s gift and
sometimes as a priest. In any case, he was certainly blessed and did God’s
work.
So
When on angel by divine command,
With
rising tempests shakes a guilty Land,
Such
as of late o’er pale Britannia past,
Calm and serene he
drives the furious blast,
And pleas’d the
Almighty’s orders to perform,
Rides
in the whirlwind and directs the storm.[88]
- Anonymous, Addison’s Campaign, ca.
1799-1800
Whilst he, in heaven, mids sainted
souls is blest!
Shall we, with unavailing woe,
Lament the Hero’s everlasting fest?
No, dry each tear, each grief remove,
Great Washington is blest above.[89]
- John S. Gardner, Hymn, 1800.
If
Washington was God, then who was King George III? Was he a madman or the
Anti-Christ? Obviously George III did not want to give up any territory. The
English actually wanted to conquer more land. The President fought against a
terrible foe to keep them from consuming Columbia’s consecrated lands..
Washington fought against the king where everyone would see the monarch as a
destroyer.
See Attila his
course of havoc lead!
O’r Asia’s realms
in one vast ruin hrl’d, [90]
See furious
Zingo’s bloody flag unfurled.[91]
- Richard Alsop, Sacred to the Memory of George
Washington, (1800)
Alsop implicated King George III as
Satan, as well. This, then, punctuated the idea of Washington’s reverence.
Glorified Washington as savior seemed the natural consequence.
Or crafty serpent’s subtleties
display,
Nor e’er seduc’d let discord’s
fiends abhorr’d
Temp you to draw the parricidal
sword,[92]
Your country’s breast to wound with
mortal blow.[93]
- Richard
Alsop, Extract from a poem, Sacred to the Memory of George Washington,
(1800)
Americans were
warned not to venerate Washington the man. Idolatry lay down that road. John
Stoughton said “it is the impertiness of men thrusting their own words into articles
instead of the words of God.”[94]
Giving meanings upon the Words of God that were not true, and giving
significance to a person when that reverence should be Christ’s. That
absolutely was idolatry. Only by attributing Washington’s deeds to God, was it acceptable
to bolster the man.
Ay, leave him alone to sleep
forever,
Till the strong archangel calls for
the dead,
By the verdant bank of that rushing
river,
Where first they pillowed his mighty
head.[95]
-
Benson John Lossing, Sentiment of Every American, 1871.[96]
Great God of hosts! We own thy
sway,
Nor dare thy will explore;[97]
But when thy judgements we survey,
We tremble and
adore.
Thy potent hand hath far remov’d
The Man of war, and might:
The Prudent, Ancient, and Belov’d,
Sinks to the
shades of night.
To Thee we lift our sorrowing
eyes,
To Thee for aid repair;
Hve pity on a Nation’s sighs,
And listen to her
prayer.
- Anonymous, Hymm Composed and Sung at Cambridge, ca.
1799-1800
The nation’s religious freedom was paramount, as it
“provided for the freedom of religion but also the freedom from religion.”[98] Romantics were the beatniks of the turn of
the nineteenth century. Romantic philosophies pulsated against governmental
control and standardized religion. Charles Batten inferred there were very few
adventurers that chose “tourism for the Purpose of Enjoying Scenery” and to
feel a “rapturous response to nature”
that Romantics needed.[99]
Romantics believed
that people should be left alone to pursue feelings. Romantic poems were “often
described as the most essentially poetic of all the genres.”[100]
Poets writing in this genre wanted “self-revelation by inviting his audience to
equate the heroes…experiences as disclosing the deep truths of his [own] secret
self.”[101] The
Romantics lamented, “For nature’s treasure’s lost!” and never to return.[102]
Thus, tributes to Washington’s memory connected him with seasons, flora, and
fauna.
1.
The Daughters of America shall long lament they loss
2.
He was acceptable as the return of spring.
3.
He was ornamental as the flowers of summer.
4.
He was beneficial as the fruits of autumn.
5.
He was terrible to oppressors as the storms of winter.
6.
Washington was a stately oak.
7.
Washington as a sun illuminated the western hemisphere.
8.
The sun set, and gloom o’erspread the land.
9.
Washington sleeps with his fathers.
10.
Let the willow shade his grave.
11.
Let the grass mantle it.
12. Let the fragrant
herb perfume.
- Anonymous, Alexandria, VA: Proceedings in Virginia
1800
Mourn,
mourn all ye winds and –
Weep
ye – floods,
Mourn,
mourn and bow
Your
heads-
Ye
tow’r- in-woods:
Your
he-ro,
Your
he-ro,
Your he-ro’s gone.[103]
George K. Jackson, Dirge for
General Washington, ca. 1799-1800.
Washington was a
great leader, a hero, and a sage in memoriam poetry. David Waldstreicher argued
that Washington was the “preeminent national hero, whose death … only increased
his nonpartisan potential.”[104]
Poems represented heroic deeds and political prowess. Washington’s
accomplishments were just too many to calculate.
To
count them all, demands a thousand tongues,
A throat of brass, and adamantine
lungs.[105]
- Lunt, Men, Brethren, and
Fathers!, 1799.
To recount all the
plans by his wisdom contriv’d,
Or the deeds by his conduct and
valour achiev’d,
Were to number the gems that
heaven’s concave adorn,[106]
-
Jonathan Mitchel Sewall, Men, Brethren, and Fathers!,
1799
A chief in all the ways of battle
skill’d
Great in the council, mighty in the
field;
Whose martial arm and steady soul,
alone
Hath made the Britons shake, their
navy groan,
And their proud empire totter to the
throne.[107]
- David
S. Brooks, An Eulogy on the Death of George Washington Delivered at
Guilford,
1800.
Obviously,
Washington was admired as a military and political man. The memorial poetry has
proven that continually. Did this make him mere mortal in the public’s eyes?
The sheer number of times that he was given super human strength and abilities
showed that even if he were corporeal, he was greater than all the rest. He had
a “steady soul” amongst others who were less steady. He was a man, and all men
die, but Washington’s death created a chaotic flurry of memorial poetry.
News of
Washington’s death did not reach many areas of the nation until weeks after the
fact. There were only a few attendants at the funeral. However, when the people
found out about the sad news, grief like no other that had been seen before
swept through the nation like a hurricane full of weeping. People came together
in meetings to share their sadness with each other.
National, local,
and individual Commemorations were held in large numbers throughout the nation.
Even though the nation had an official day of morning, many areas continued
with their celebrations up to a year afterward after Washington’s death.
Thousands of people gathered to walk in, or watch memorial parades that
recreated the funeral tour. Empty biers, and white horses with boots turned
backwards in the stirrups represented the empty spot that Washington had left
in the hearts of the American people.
Columbia’s
children knew that Washington was a blessed man. They compared Washington with
Elija and Moses. He was a priest and their guardian angel. He was able to do
things that only someone only god could do. Americans fell into idol worship
and blasphemy. He was not just a man he was like god.
He was one of the
greatest men of all time. Americans romanticized the past by comparing
Washington with classical heroes and gods. He was better than Caesar.
Washington was the demigod, son of Columbia. He was her gift to the rest of her
children. He was America’s neo-classic god.
Based upon the
commemorative documents, Americans held assemblies that resembled religious
conferences. Washington rose to meet God, as Columbia wept at her temple. He
had his own effigies with worshiping mourners. Virgin priestesses in white
gowns strewed flowers upon biers. The death of Washington created questions of
political and religious consequences. Who would help them now that Washington
was gone? Was there life after death? Would they be remembered?
Three main
categorical doctrines were seen through the use of memento mori poetry.
Americans placed Washington in neo-classic, Biblical, and new philosophical roles. Subcategories
included nature, saint, gift from god, savior, demigod, pagan-like idol, and
god. There were mystical, Romantic, deistic, and Enlightenment thoughts
involved as well. Americans put their beliefs, feelings, and their soul into
their poetry. Columbia wept for the loss of her dearest son, and her grief
turned into its own type of social religion.
 |
| Mourning Washington with Supposed Lock of His Hair.
“Mann Page and Anne Corbin Page: Gold Mourning Brooch.”
Gold, enamel, and human
hair. 1792. Colonial Williamsburg. Williamsburg
VA. Photo by Tom Green. |
[1]Richard
Alsop, “A Poem,” (1800) as quoted in Franklin Benjamin Hough,, ed. Washingtoniana,
or Memorials of the Death of George Washington. (1865), in Forgotten
Books, (Hong Kong: Forgotten Books, 2013), 257.
[2]
Gerald E. Kahler, The Long Farewell:
Americans Mourn the Death of George Washington.
(Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press,
2008), 85.
[3]
Henry Holcombe, A Sermon Occasioned by the Death of Washington. In Sllis
Sandoz,
Political Sermons of the American Founding Era.
Vol. 2 (1789-1805). (1991)
http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php&title=817&search=%22death+of+washington%22&chapter=69454&layout=html#a_1670898
(accessed October 3, 2013)
[4]
William Francis Wilkinson, Prayers for the Dead, for the Use of Members of
the Church of England, With a Preface: To which are Added Mediations on the
Four Last Things, with Instructions for Using Them, and Other Devotions.
(London: James Toovey, 1845) in Google
Books, https://play.google.com/books/reader?printsec=frontcover&output=reader&id=3wMPAAAAIAAJ&pg=GBS.PP7
(accessed November 16, 2013)
[5]
Ibid.
The Church of Christ that Wilkinson is referring to
here was not a denomination, but the body of Christians throughout history.
[6]
Charles O. Jackson, “American Attitudes to Death” in Journal of American
Studies, Vol. 11, No. 3. (1977) in JSTOR. (2013)
http://0-www.jstor.org.rosi.unk.edu/stable/pdfplus/27553308.pdf?acceptTC=true&
acceptTC=true&jpdConfirm=true (accessed November
16, 2013)
[7]
Ibid.
[8]
Gary Laderman,. American Attitudes Toward Death, 1799-1883. (Preview)
(New Haven,
CT: Yale University, 1996). Google Books.
http://books.google.com/books?id=1nsn4u05
CsEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Gary+Laderman,+The+Sacred+remains:+American+Attitudes+Toward+Death,+1799-1883+Yale,+1996&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-Y5lUsytLI6I9ASQ64DYDw&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=
onepage&q=Gary%20Laderman%2C%20The%20Sacred%20remains%3A%20American%20Attitudes%20Toward%20Death%2C%201799-1883%20Yale%2C%201996&f=false
(accessed October 21, 2013)
[9]
Gen. in Wilkinson.
[10]
Real George Washington, The. Produced and Directed by Tucker Bowen.
1985. Washington DC: National Geographic Channel. 2011. YouTube. Uploaded Nov
5. 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCrD15VKgr0 (accessed October 16, 2013)
[11]
Joanne Freeman, “Importance of George Washington, The” YaleCourses
(2010), (New Haven, CT: Open Yale Courses, Yale University Library, 2011)
http://oyc.yale.edu/history/hist-116/lecture-16 (accessed October 16,
2013)
[12]
Mary Higgins Clark, Mount Vernon Love Story: A Novel of George and Martha
Washington (Aspire to the Heavens). (New York: Pocket Books, 1969), Kindle
Sample Edition.
http://www.amazon.com/Mount-Vernon-Love-Story-ebook/dp/B000FC0S00/ref=sr_1_5?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1378572228&sr=1-&keywords=martha+washington
(accessed September 26, 2013.)
[13]
Francis Johnston and William Hamilton, Washingtoniana Containing a Sketch of
the Life and Death of the Late Gen. George Washington; With a Collection of
Elegant Eulogies, Orations, Poems, &c. Sacred to His Memory. Also, An
Appendix Comprising All His Most Valuable Public Papers, and His Last Will and
Testament. (Lancaster: Personally
Published, 1802) in Google Books (accessed September 26, 2013)
[14]
Hough.
[15]
T. Clark, “Washington Memorial Print” Paper and ink. June 1800. in Ketchum
House. The
Morgan Library, Warwick Historical Society. New
York.
http://www.warwickhistoricalsociety.org/edu/Ketchumhouse.htm#Artifacts
(accessed October 18, 2013)
[16]
John. R.C. Carroll, Bishop. “First Bishop Eulogized First President.” (C.
1799), McNamara’s Blog. (2009)
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/mcnamarasblog/2009/02/first-bishop-eulogizes-first-president.html
(accessed October 16, 2013)
[17]
“Tributary Honors at Mount Hope” Dec. 31, 1799. Jenks’s Portland Gazette.
January
1800. in “Death of George Washington and Boston
Testimonials. History Gallery. N.d.
ttp://www.historygallery.com/newspapers/1800washington/1800washington.htm
(accessed October 16, 2013)
[18]
Julia Reidhead, ed. The Norton Anthology: English Literature. Vol. 2,
8th ed. (New York:
W.W. Norton & Comapany, 2006), 5.
[19]
Ann Braude, Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women’s Rights in
Nineteenth-Century
America, 2nd Ed. (Preview) (Bloomington and
Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2001) http://books.google.com/books?id=iGP2t8lxsToC&pg=PA215&dq=great+harmonia+david&hl=en&sa=X&ei=OJplUoClFJPW9QSqzIFQ&ved=0CGMQ6AEwCQ#v=snippet&q=death&f=false
(accessed October 21, 2013)
[20]
Braude.
[21] Ibid,
120-122.
[22]
Reidhead; George Bull, Harmonia Apostolica: or, Two Dissertations; in the
Former of Which The Doctrine of St. James on Justification by Works is
Explained and Defended: In the Latter, The Agreement of St. Paul with St. James
is Clearly Shewn. (New Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1842)
http://books.google.com/books?id=PthUAAAAcAAJ&pg=
PA219&dq=great+harmonia+david&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gbVlUtXYDJTs8AT4vICAAw&ved=0CFQQ6AEwBzge#v=onepage&q=death&f=false
(Accessed October 21, 2013)
[23]
“Poems”
[24]
Catherine L. Albanese, America:
Religions and Religion, 3rd ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company,
1999), 124.
[25]
Common saying.
[26]“Proceedings
in Connecticut”, as quoted in Hough.
[27]
Notice that even his funeral was not the last hour of the last day….
[28]
Newport Rhode Island Newspaper, (Dec. 22, 1799) in Hough.
[29]
Johnston.
[30]
William Jackson, “Eulogium on the Character of General Washington; pronounced
before the Pennsylvania society of the Cincinnati” in Johnston.
[31] “pier” also
spelled pyre is pronounced “peer,” which is a supporting prop carrying a body
for the funeral, usually for burning.
[32]
Miss Huntly, sang by,”Funeral Honors by Government”, in Hough.
[33]
“The Name ‘Columbia.’,” “Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society,
Vol. II – Second Series. 1885-1886” (1886) Committee Publication. In Google
Books. https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=BaxpalYegj0C&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&authuser=0&hl=en&pg=GBS.PR5
(accessed November 18, 2013); Phillis Wheatley, ”Columbia” in “Liberty and
Peace” as quoted in Sondra A. O’Neale,
“Phillis Wheatley: 1753-1784”, Poetry Foundation. (2013),
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/phillis-wheatley (accessed November 18,
2013)
[34]
Author’s speculation based upon history of “Columbia” with many poems leading
to ideals of Manifest destiny of American’s special virtues, re-make the west
in their own Anglo image, and the irrefutable destiny to accomplish and pursue
that way of life. See. Painting by John Gast called “American Progress.”
http://picturinghistory.gc.cuny.edu/item.php?item_id=180
[35]
Alsop.
The slash was used to indicate same poem, yet numerous
lines betwixt, too many to use the periods to generate lines with.
[36]
Anacreontic and Philharmonic Societies, “Words of Sacred Music” in Hough.
[37] “Gen. Washington,” The New York Spectator,
Monday, December 23, 1799.
Title created by author using the bolded letters above
the poem.
[38]“
Masonic Dirge” in Hough.
[39]
Philippe Aries, The Hour of Our Death. trans Helen Weaver. (New York:
Vintage Books,
1982), 309.
[40]
Newman, Parades and the Politics of the Street: Festive Culture in the Early
American Republic. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997),
69.
The Cult of Washington was an informal group of men
who held Washington’s Republican ideals with passionate and confronatational
zeal.
[41]
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based
on Her Diary, 1785-1812. (New York: Vintage Books, 1990), 32.
Martha Ballard was a respected midwife who was the
local healer as well as baby deliverer.;
[42]
Braude.
[43]
Ibid.
[44]
Wilkinson.
[45]
“Mighty Chief! Illustrious Patriot! Benevolent Sage!” in Johnston.
The word “his” in this line meant George Washington.
[46]
“Strew, Virgins, they Cypress”, Original music by Johann Heinrich Rolle,
n.d. (ca. 1800) as quoted in “Weeping
and Mourning: Funeral Dirges in Honor of General Washington” in Journal of
the American Musicological Society, Vol. 31, No. 2. (1978) in JSTOR, (2013)
[47]
“Washinton at Trenton” in Johnston.
[48]
Sanuel Sower, The Washingtoniana: Containing A Biographical Scetch of the
Late Gen. George Washington, with Various Outlines of His Character, From the
Pens of Different Eminent Writers, in Europe and America; And An Account of the
Various Funeral Honors Devoted to His Memory. To Which are Annexed His Will and
Schedule of His Property. (Baltimore: Samuel Sower, 1800) in Google
Books
http://books.google.com/books?id=_T8FAAAAYAAJ&q=poem#v=onepage&q=white&f=false
(accessed November 16, 2013)
A festoon is a chain of flowers – garland - used to
decorate themselves, others, or buildings.
[49]
“Angels Ever Bright and Fair” Sheet Music, 1800. Saint Paul’s Church of New
York, New York as quoted in Sterling E. Murray, “Weeping and Mourning: Funeral
Dirges in Honor of General Washington” in Journal of the American
Musicological Society, Vol 31, No. 2. (1978), in JSTOR, (2013)
[50]
Reverend Br. Dr. Walter in Hough.
[51]
Geo. W. Bethune, “Invocation,” Lays of Love and Faith with Other Fugitive
Poems, (Philadelphia: Lindsay and
Blakiston, 1847) in GoogleBooks.
http://books.google.com/books?id=bQE8AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=white&f=false
(accessed November 16, 2013)
[52]
Charles A. Mills, How Martha Washington
Lived: 18th Century Customs (Kindle Edition)
N.d. (accessed September 26, 2013.)
[53] Clark.
[54]
Richard Alsop, “Sacred to the Memory of George Washington, Late President of
the United States and Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States.”,
“Dedicated to Mrs. Martha Washington. As quoted in Hough;
[55]
John Lathrop, “Monody” in Hough.
[56]
John Lovett, “A Tribute to Washington.” (1800) in Hough.
[57]
Wallace, “Words of Wallace,” (ca. 1799-1800) as quoted in Benson John Lossing,. The
Home of Washington or Mount Vernon and Its Associations, Historical,
Biographical, and Pictorial. (1871),
(Hong Kong: Forgotten Books, 2013)
http://www.forgottenbooks.org/readbook/The_Home_of_Washington_or_Mount_Vernon_and_Its_Associations_Historical_1000324791#297
(accessed October 28, 2013)
[58]
Thomas Paine, “An Eulogy on the Life of General George Washington” (1800), as
quoted in
“Eulogies and Orations on the Life and Death of
General George Washington, First President
of the United States”. N.d. in On the Life and
Death of General George Washington, First President of the United States of
America. (Boston: Manning & Loring, 1800) https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=fzUFAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&authuser=0&hl=en&pg=GBS.PP21
(accessed
October 28, 2013)
[59] Exodus,
3:8.
[60] Thomas
Paine, “Ode”, as quoted in Hough
[61]
Ibid.
[62]
“A Biography of Thomas Paine (1737-1809)” n.d. as quoted in American
History: From Revolution to Reconstruction and Beyond. N.d.
http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/biographies/thomas-paine/ (accessed November 16,
2013)
Thomas Paine, born in England, is most famous for
writing Common Sense, which argued that America’s annexation from England was
immanent. Government should be for the people, as simple as possible, and continually regulated. Later, Pain would
be considered heretical because of his deist reasoning
[63]
Common saying.
[64] Charles
Caldwell, “Extract from an Elegiac poem, on the death of general George
Washington,” as quoted in Hough.
[65] John
Lovett, “Star-Deck’d Standards,” (ca. 1799-1800), in Hough.
Congressman Lovett wrote this poem anonymously, but
contemporaries gave credit of authorship to him due to style and wording.
Lovett purchased land, laid out, and created the Perrysburgh, Ohio. - Hough.
[66] Title
created by author using first words in poem due to no name in document.
[67]
James M. Washington Stewart, The Hero and Statesman. Eulogy. (Washington,
D.C.:
Personally Published, 1888)
http://archive.org/stream/washingtonheros00stew#
page/n5/mode/2up (accessed September 26, 2013)
[68] Olilver
Holden, “Mount Vernon” (Complete) as quoted in Murray, “Weeping…”
[69] James
Baldwin, Old Greek Stories, (no location: Publish This, LLC – Publisher,
2013). In Google Books.
https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=xWB7AAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&authuser=0&hl=en&pg=GBS.PP1
(accessed November 18, 2013)
Apollo wore a crown of laurel leaves in memory of Daphne,
his love that was repulsed by his sight. Cupid shot his love arrow to Apollo,
and a led one to Daphne. He was insanely in love and pursued her
mercilessly. She tried to get away, and
as Apollo reached for her, he found he was holding a tree trunk of a laurel
tree instead of the maiden.
[70] “Mount
Vernon” in “Weeping”
[71] John
Aikins, “Tribute to Washington,” (ca. 1799-1800), as quoted in Hough
[72]
“New Year’s Address of a Hartford Paper” (1800) in Hough.
[73]
Christie Finn, “Oliver Holden: About” n.d. in Song of America. N.d.
http://www.songofamerica.net/cgi-bin/iowa/composer/53.html (accessed November
16, 2013)
[74] Anastasis,
apse fresco in the Parekklesion of the Church of Christ in Chora, (ca.
1310-1320) Constantinople (Instabul), Turkey, ca. 1310-1320. in Fred S.
Kleiner, Gardner's Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective, 13th
ed., Vol. 1. (Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010), 256.; Titian, Assumption
of the Virgin, (1516-1515), Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice. in Fred
S. Kleiner, Gardner's Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective, 13th
ed., Vol. 2. (Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010), 607.
[75]
Oliver Holden, “From Vernon’s Mount Behold the Hero Rise” (1794) as quoted in
Oliver Ayer Roberts, History of the Military Company of the Massachusetts,
Now Called The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, Vol II
– 1738-1821, (Boston: Alfred Mudge
& Son, Printers, 1897) in Google Books.
http://books.google.com/books?id=VS24OKpV-9gC&pg=PA336&lpg=PA336&dq=%22mercer's+hand%22&source=bl&ots=7O17trQidT&sig=C3PZjGVtd3hlUw_piw0mRD565ck&hl=en&sa=X&ei=c7SJUri6KMnOkQfW9YHgAw&ved=0CE4Q6AEwBzgK#v=onepage&q=%22mercer's%20hand%22&f=false
(accessed November 16, 2013)
[76]
Donovan Penaluna, “Francis Adrian Van Der Kemp (1752 – 1829)” as quoted in Geni:
A My Heritage Company. (2013)
http://www.geni.com/people/Fran%C3%A7ois-Adriaan-van-der-Kemp/6000000017638810727
(accessed November 16, 2013)
[77]
Notice the capital “N”, again, another example of a capital as in God, Christ,
Him, etc.
[78]
The second portion of the poem seems to have made Van Der Kemp more aware of
his reference to God without capatilizing “his” throughout. However, when
looking at the words of the second part as a whole, there is a direct
Christ-like, or God, the Son type of reference.
[79]
Van Der Kemp, Francis Adrian. Eulogy of George Washington: Pronounced at
Oldenbarneveld, (Oneida County, New York,
February 22, 1800.) in Google Books.
http://books.google.com/books?id=tIr4svZajpEC&pg=PA7&dq=Van+Der+Kemp+Eulogy+of+George+Washington:+Pronounced+at++Oldenbarneveld,+Oneida+County,+New+York&hl=en&sa=X&ei=py6KUrOqAYWPkAeN9oDgDQ&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Van%20Der%20Kemp%20Eulogy%20of%20George%20Washington%3A%20Pronounced%20at%20%20Oldenbarneveld%2C%20Oneida%20County%2C%20New%20York&f=false
(accessed September 15, 2013)
[80]
Matthew 2, (New International Version Bible, 2011)
[81]
Wallace.
[82]
Notice the capital “H” in Hero, as in “Him” referring to God.
[83]
Donald N. Moran, “Major General Richard Montgomery” n.d. in Sons of Liberty
Chapter: Sons of the American Revolution.
http://www.revolutionarywararchives.org/montgomery.html (accessed November 16, 2013).
Major General Richard Montgomery was born in Ireland
and graduated from Trinity College in Dublin. He joined the 17th Regiment of
Foot soldiers under General James Wolfe. He was stationed in New York at the
end of the French and Indian War. He fell in love with the area, apparently
because he returned to England for a short time, but then migrated back to the
colony to make it his home. Montgomery was considered the first of the
Revolutionary War hero’s to many people. He was the one in charge of the failed
attach on Quebec, yet his death there was felt strongly by everyone in the
Second Continental Congress. In this line , Montgomery is the godlike entity.;
[84]
Sower “Mature in Years, Covered with
Glory, and Rich in the Affections of the American People,” (1799) as quoted in
Sower. (Poem quoted within the main piece so that there are different
footnotes, but only one in the Bibliography.
[85] Albanese,
121.
[86]
Henry Holcombe, “A Sermon Occasioned by the Death of Washington”, (1800) as
quoted in Henry Ware, A Sermon, Occasioned by the Death of George
Washington, Supreme Commander of the American Forces During the Revolutionary
War: First President and Late Lieutenant General and Commander in Chief of the
Armies of the United States of America; Who Departed this Life at Mount Vernon,
December 14, 1799, in the 68th Year of His Age. Delivered in Hingham, by
Request of the Inhabitants. January 6, 1800. (Boston: Samuel Hall, 1800.)
https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=duUrAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&authuser=0&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA3
(accessed October 28, 2013)
[87]
Benjamin Carr, “Dead March and Monody” Sheet Music. (1799.)Lutheran Church of
Philadelphia, Philadelphia. in John Tasker Howard,
“The Music of George Washington’s Time”, AmericanRevolution.Org. N.d.
http://www.americanrevolution.org/washingtonsmusic.html (accessed October 18,
2013)
[88]
“Addison’s Campaign”, ca. 1799-1800. in Johnston.
[89]
John S. Gardner, “Hymn,” (1800), in Hough.
[90] George III is being compared with Attila,
the Hun and the ruination of Asia compared with the idea of ruination of
America if they had stayed English colonies.
[91]
Alsop.
[92]“
Parricidal” is someone who murders their parents. Current tense “parricide” is
to murder a parent, mother, father.
[93] Alsop, “Extract from a poem, Sacred to the
Memory of George Washington,” in Johnston.
[94]
John Stoughton, History of Religion in England from the Opening of the Long
Parliament to 1850, Vol. VI: Church in the Georgian Era, 4th ed. (London:
Hodder and Stoughton, 1901), in Google Books,
https://play.google.com/books/reader?printsec=frontcover&output=reader&id=eskYAQAAIAAJ&pg=GBS.PR4
(accessed November 16, 2013).
[95]
George Lunt as quoted in Benson John Lossing, The Home of Washington or
Mount Vernon and Its Associations, Historical, Biographical, and Pictorial.
(1871), Reprint. (Hong Kong: Forgotten Books, 2013.)
http://www.forgottenbooks.org/readbook/The_Home_of_Washington_or_Mount_Vernon_and_Its_Associations_Historical_1000324791#297
(accessed October 28, 2013)
[96]
Title created by author due to no title by Lossing. The title created from last
three words of the paragraph before the poem. “and, the glowing words of Lunt
should express the sentiment of every American:”
[97] “Hymm
Composed and Sung at Cambridge), (ca. 1799-1800) in Hough.
[98] Edwin
Gaustad and Leigh Schmidt. The Religious History of America: The heart of the
American Story from Colonial Times to Today. (New
York: Harper Collins, 2002), 126.
[99]
Charles L. Batten, Jr. Pleasurable Instruction: Form and Convention in
Eighteenth-Century Travel Literature. (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1978). In Google Books. http://books.google.com/books?id=BGFuSbuDCSQC&pg=PA98&lpg=PA98&dq=%22rapturous+response+to+nature%22&source=bl&ots=Br60LcKKUM&sig=eNDyIEhMFhiL_iYmiVNZjmjlSts&hl=en&sa=X&ei=DXmKUo3XMZHGkQff94CwBg&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22rapturous%20response%20to%20nature%22&f=false
(accessed November 18, 2013).
[100]
Reidhead.
[101]
Ibid.
[102]
“Alexandria, VA: Proceedings in Virginia” 1800.as quoted in Hough.
[103]
George K. Jackson, “Dirge for General Washington (Complete)” Sheet Music. Ca.
As quoted in Murray, “Weeping and Mourning” (This is second citation this
particular dirge, thus the shortened version. Inclusion of title was because
Murray has two pieces represented.)
[104] David Waldstreicher, In the Midst of Perpetual Fetes: The
Making of American Nationalism, 1776-1820. (Chapel Hill, NC: The University
of North Carolina Press, 1996),
191.
[105]
Sewall.
[106]
Jonathan Mitchel Sewall, “Men, Brethren, and Fathers!,” (1799), in “Eulogies
and Orations on the Life and Death of General George Washington, First
President of the United States”. N.d. in On the Life and Death of General
George Washington, First President of the United States of America.
(Boston: Manning & Loring, 1800.)
https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=fzUFAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output
=reader&authuser=0&hl=en&pg=GBS.PP21
(accessed October 28, 2013)
[107]
David S. Brooks, An Eulogy on the Death of George Washington Delivered
at Guilford
(February 22, 1800) Branford, CT: The Blackstone
Memorial Library, 1920.
http://archive.org/stream/eulogyondeathofg00broo#page/n5/mode/2up
(accessed
September 26, 2013)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
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