A HYMN, ON THE DEATH OF GEN. WASHINGTON Words: Sung at Hartford, 27 December 1799, printed in Connecticut Courant, 30 December 1799; attributed to Theodore Dwight (1764-1846) by Samuel Griswold Goodrich, in Recollections of a Lifetime, 1856. Tune: MOUNT-VERNON, by Stephen Jenks (Sacred Harp, p. 110) What solemn sounds the ear invade! What wraps the land in sorrow's shade! From Heaven the awful mandate flies, The Father of his Country dies. Let every heart be fill'd with woe, Let every eye with tears o'erflow, Each form, oppress'd with deepest gloom, Be clad in vestments of the tomb. Behold that venerable Band! The Rulers of our mourning land, With grief proclaim from shore to shore: "Our Guide, our Washington's no more!" Where shall our country turn its eye! What help remains beneath the Sky! Our Friend, Protector, Strength and Trust Lies low and mould'ring in the Dust. Almighty God, to thee we fly-- Before thy Throne above the sky, In deep prostration humbly bow, And pour the penitential vow. Hear, O most High! our earnest prayer: "Our Country take beneath thy care; When dangers press, and foes draw near, May future Washingtons appear."