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FUNERAL ORATION.

HAD I for the subject of my story the veteran warrior of the revolution-whose scar-indented breast bore attestation of his presence with embattled hosts-I should have found, in the variety of circumstance incident upon a course of lustrous events, a sufficiency of narrative to interest the feelings of my brethren. Or, were I endowed with the fascinating powers of an orator, I might presume, by the force of eloquence, to command the attention which I am now compelled to solicit.

Eulogy of the dead, in modern days, has nearly lost its force. Panegyric is blazoned forth to depict ideal virtues, which had been else unknown. Merit is confounded with baseness-honour with disgrace. Praise and encomium are indiscriminately lavished upon the virtuous and the immoral citizen. The laboured and pompous tribute of respect is now no longer viewed as a record of the public regret, but is regarded as the mere ebullition of sorrow, experienced by an honest heart, blind to the frailties and vices of his friend. It is found to be dictated by the warmth of personal attachment, more than by a strict regard for the un

erring laws of truth; and to represent what the man should have been, rather than what he was. But, my brethren, although by this perverted exercise of posthumous praise, the citizen, whose transcendent excellence had commanded the esteem of all who lived within the sphere of his worth, has sometimes slumbered in the dust, unnoticed, because undistinguished in the heterogeneal mass; yet this has not been the lot of the brave and meritorious youth, whose virtues we are now assembled to commemorate. The name of the gallant BUSH has resounded throughout the States, and joined with those of his renowned companions in arms, has added lustre to his country's fame. A national sympathy sweetens the sorrows, and assuages the grief, of the relatives of our departed brother. Testimonials of respect for his memory, have been in various places publicly announced; whilst his amiable and endearing manners, his correct and manly deportment, have been, by numerous circles of his acquaintance, loudly proclaimed to the world.

Accompany me, my brethren, to the cradle of our infant friend-proceed with me thence, o'er the gay and flowery paths of juvenile enjoyments, to the fatal scene of action, where the direful messenger of death arrested the valiant hero's course.

WILLIAM S. BUSH was born on the 27th of July, 1786, at Wilmington, in the state of Delaware. His father, John Bush, who was a native of that state, had resided in Philadelphia at the commencement of the revolution, when he volunteered in the service of his country as a private, but was afterwards promoted to the rank of a captain, in the Pennsylvania line. Towards the conclusion of the war, he

removed to Wilmington, and remaining there but a short time after the birth of his son WILLIAM, he settled with his family upon a farm in Talbot county, on the eastern shore of Maryland. After a residence there of about five years, he lost his affectionate consort, which induced him, soon after, to return, with his infant children, to Wilmington, at which place, however, he did not long continue. He again removed to his farm in Maryland, where he passed the residue of his days, and died in 1806.

The family of Mr. Bush was highly respectable, and furnished more champions than himself, for the cause of freedom. He had three brothers who were engaged in the glorious contest, "that tried men's souls." The eldest of these, major Lewis Bush, fell at the battle of Brandywine; the second, major George Bush, survived the revolution, and died in Wilmington about the year 1794; and the youngest, David Bush, who had been a surgeon of a vessel of war, died at Newcastle in the year 1803. Of the first of these gallant brothers, an interesting anecdote shall be related, as an example of the bold and patriotic spirit which pervaded the breasts of the family. When wounded by a musket ball which he received in his thigh, he mentioned it to one of his officers, who ordered a file of men to assist him off the field of battle. But he refused their aid, telling the officer, that they could be more serviceable by continuing to fight in defence of their country, than in saving him." On attempting to leave the theatre of action alone, his loss of blood became so excessive, that he paused-and, turning round to face the enemy, died, sword in hand!

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The subject of our present memoir, who had, at a very early age, been deprived of the kind endearments and caresses of a fond mother, was instructed under the immediate eye of his father, by a private teacher in his family. His education owing to the distance of his place of residence from a college, or, perhaps, to the circumscribed limits of his father's means, was not what is termed liberal, having been confined to the study of his native language, and to those branches of knowledge which are usually taught in an English school. His talents, however, were of a respectable order, and enabled him to acquire a fund of information, calculated to give him a dignified rank in the general round of conversation. His manners were soft, modest, and unaffected his disposition warm, generous, and humane-his attachment to his friends, ardent and sincere. His courage, even from childhood, was of the most determined cast, and claimed kindred to the blood which flowed from his gallant uncle's veins. Averse to quarrels and contentions, he was however, firm in support of his honour and his rights. He knew not how to give, or to take an insult-but, liable to the frailties of human nature, if guilty of error, he was as ready to make reparation, as he was, when due to him, to demand it.

When arrived to the period of life, at which a young man is expected to make choice of a profession, he was placed, by his father, under the care of a merchant, to acquire a knowledge of trade. But this avocation not being congenial to his turn of mind or inclination, he abandoned, after a trial of one or two years, and commenced the laborious employment of a farmer, which he prosecuted with great industry un

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