The President of the United States has just received the sad tidings of
the death of that illustrious citizen and ex-President of the United
States, General Ulysses S. Grant, at Mount McGregor, in the State of
New York, to which place he had lately been removed in the endeavor to
prolong his life.
In making this announcement to the people of the United States the
President is impressed with the magnitude of the public loss of a great
military leader, who was in the hour of victory magnanimous, amid
disaster serene and self-sustained; who in every station, whether
as a soldier or as a Chief Magistrate, twice called to power by his
fellow-countrymen, trod unswervingly the pathway of duty, undeterred
by doubts, single-minded and straightforward.
The entire country has witnessed with deep emotion his prolonged and
patient struggle with painful disease, and has watched by his couch of
suffering with tearful sympathy.
The destined end has come at last, and his spirit has returned to the
Creator who sent it forth.
The great heart of the nation that followed him when living with love
and pride bows now in sorrow above him dead, tenderly mindful of his
virtues, his great patriotic services, and of the loss occasioned by his
death.
In testimony of respect to the memory of General Grant, it is ordered
that the Executive Mansion and the several Departments at Washington
be draped in mourning for a period of thirty days and that all public
business shall on the day of the funeral be suspended; and the
Secretaries of War and of the Navy will cause orders to be issued for
appropriate military and naval honors to be rendered on that day.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, this 23d day of July, 1885, and of the
Independence of the United States the one hundred and tenth.