Preface. — ae 
Every field, smiling under the toils and economy of the hus- 
bandman,—every sail wafting the treasures of commerce,— 
every fabric raised by wealth and taste, for comfort and 
convenience,—or splendor and enjoyment,—all the blessings 
which religious or civil institutions shed around them,—all 
the products of the useful, or elégant, arts,—and,—the ce- 
ment and security of the whole,—the freedom and indepen- 
dence of our country,—are the rich and invaluable materials, 
of which this monument is composed ;—and AGRICULTURE 
IS ITS BASE. 
This capacious monumental pyramid,—thus splendidly 
ornamented,—visible to all the civilized world;,—limit- 
ed in its site, only by the territorial boundaries of our 
nation,—has, inimitably, anticipated the faltering chissel of 
the tardy sculptor. Unless the desolating volcano of :pis- 
CORD, should whelm his and our beloved country, in its ex- 
terminating lava, it will, through ages yet to come, defy the 
tooth, and the ravages, of time. 
Fame, long the faithful eulogist of the atchievements of 
our departed MILITARY CHIEF, and those of the brave and 
patriotic band,—his companions in arms,—now intermits its 
clangors, or lays aside, her justly boastful and far-sounding 
trump. She attires herself in the peaceful garb, and is 
decked with the emblems, of Cerzs. Admiring this stupen- 
dous memorial of the civic virtues of the father of his 
country, and his venerated compatriots, she displays them 
for imitation. She hovers o’er its pinnacle, or visits its 
apartments ; and encourages, by recitals of WasHINGTON’s 
precepts and example, cur own citizens, in the ways of well- 
doing. She invites,—not the ambitious, the visionary, or the 
restless and disappointed ; but the worthy and ingenious, of all 
descriptions and countries ;—and peculiarly the industrious 
and sober husbandman and artizan,—from the troubles and’ 
oppressions which afflict them, in the desolated and subjugat- 
ed portions of Europe. She allures, without anxious or un- 
