Gazette Of The United States

FROM THE FEDERAL GAZETTE

To the Memory of FRANCIS HOPKINSON, Esq.

Sweet Spring advance and deck with flow'rets gay
The tomb where Hopkinson's remains are laid,
Ye muses there your constant vigils pay,
And guard from ills the consecrated shade.

Ye city trees protect your patron's grave,
He once from ruin av'd your leafy charms,
Then to his honor, bid your green tops wave,
And fold his urn in your embracing arms.

Around the sod may roses ever bloom,
And lilies pour their aromatic tide,
There oft the lyre th' elegiac task assume,
And notes like his be offer'd at his side.

Notes such as once he pour'd at Bremner's urn,
Lays such as those he offer'd at his shrine,
But ah, what muse can make a just return,
For lays so mournful, or a note so fine!

Lost to his country is that sprightly vein,
That attic wit that grac'd his classic pen,
He now assumes a more exalted strain,
And quits for angels the pursuits of men.

In those bright realms where patriot shades repose
He joins his FRANKLIN, gone not long before;
There nature all her mystic wonders shows,
There opens all her variegated store.

From those high orbs he sees with rapture rise,
The Roof he labor'd when on earth t' erect,
And as its turrets reach their destin'd skies,
His guardian genius shall the frame protect.

Adieu, sweet bard, long may thy mem'ry live,
Thy country, grateful, long thy merits own,
This artless verse is all a friend can give,
'Tis for that country to erect the stone.

S.

TO the above Poem it may not be amiss to add, for the information of those residing at a distance who may see it, and be unacquainted with the subject of it, the late ingenious Judge Hopkinson, that at one time the many beautiful and verdant trees, ornamenting Philadelphia, were threatened with destruction by a legislative act, to prevent, as it was said, danger from fire, and a stagnation of air: It was then the vivacious Mr. Hopkinson gave new life to the trees, by exploding the ridiculous objections made to them, in a speech of a Pillar in the House of Assembly to the Legislature of the State, which was so successful as to put a total stop to a measure, that would have been deemed a profanation of the rights of many of the Sylvan Deities under the Heathen Mythology, and which, had it succeeded, would have deprived Philadelphia of many an agreeable and shady walk, and of much of its present stateliness and beauty.—Mr. BREMNER was a Musician of great eminence, and a gentleman of much social merit, formerly residing in Philadelphia, to whose memory Mr. Hopkinson composed a very pathetic and soft Dirge, to the tune of "The Lass of Pattie's Mill": This he set to music, and performed with admirable taste and force of expression on the Harpsichord: Mr. Hopkinson, now claims, alas! but claims in vain, a tribute from the Muses, of equal elegance: It is not often that a genius like Bremner's, finds an eulogist like Hopkinson!—The New Roof, his last celebrated performance, was in defence of our present excellent frame of government, which he had very justly compared to a great Cupola or Dome, supported by the States, as by so many Pillars, and yielding to all an equal and efficient protection.—It is only necessary to add, that Mr. Hopkinson was the intimate friend, and one of the testamentary executors of the Great FRANKLIN—with whom he had often indulged those philosophical researches and enquiries into the operations of nature, which now, it is probable, in a Superior State, are fully gratified and elucidated, as a just and proper retribution for their industry and zeal in the pursuit of useful discoveries, while bounded by the veil of our present mortal infirmities and imperfections.