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ON THE DEATH OF

BROTHER WILLIAM S. BUSH,

LIEUTENANT OF MARINES,

WHO WAS KILLED ON BOARD THE FRIGATE CONSTITUTION,
DURING HER ENGAGEMENT WITH THE BRITISH FRIGATE

GUERRIER, ON THE 19th OF AUGUST, 1812,

AS DELIVERED

ON THE 26th OF NOVEMBER FOLLOWING,

BEFORE THE
OFFICERS OF THE R. W. GRAND LODGE OF PENNSYLVANIA, THE
OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF SEVERAL RESPECTABLE LODGES, AND THE OFFI-
CERS AND MEMBERS OF LODGE NO. 51, OF WHICH THE DECEASED WAS A
MEMBER.

BY THE JUNIOR WARDEN OF SAID LODGE.

PUBLISHED AT THE REQUEST OF THE BRETHREN.

PHILADELPHIA:

PUBLISHED BY BRADFORD AND INSKEEP.

NOVEMBER, 1812.

James Maxwell, Printer.

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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

crring 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 Phila delphia 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 shorttime 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 young-. est, 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 attempt-" ing 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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