Rare pamphlet entitled “Greatness the Result of Goodness. A Sermon, Occasioned by the Death of George Washington, Late Commander in Chief of the Armies, and First President, of the United States of America, Who Died December 14, 1799, aged 68.,” by Samuel West, D.D. pastor of the church in Hollis Street, Boston. Printed by Manning & Loring of Boston, Massachusetts (1800), 5.25 x 8.75, 38 pages (originally bound with 40 pages; the last two pages are no longer present), containing West’s opening sermon and a section entitled “The Legacy of the Father of His Country. Address of George Washington, on Declining Being Considered a Candidate for the Presidency of the United States,” which he delivered on September 17, 1796.
West’s sermon begins: “UNDER the deep impression of that great event which has clad a nation in mourning, you will feel the propriety of my addressing you, in the words of David, on the death of the General of the armies of Israel, 2d Samuel, iii. 38. ‘A GREAT MAN IS FALLEN.’
The start of Washington’s address: “THE period for a new election of a citizen, to administer the executive government of the United States, being not far distant, and the time actually arrived, when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person, who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those, out of whom a choice is to be made.”
In very good condition, with wear and folds to the edges, some light spotting, and a missing lower right corner to cover, which also bears an affixed label.
