_President of the Senate, pro tempore_.
_Ordered_, That the committee who prepared the Address, wait on the
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and desire him to acquaint the Senate at
what time and place it will be most convenient for him that it should be
presented.
Mr. DEXTER reported, from the committee, that they had waited on the
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and that he had acquainted them that he
would receive the Address of the Senate immediately, at his own house.
Whereupon, the Senate waited on the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and
the PRESIDENT of the Senate, in their name, presented the Address this
day agreed to.
To which the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES made the following reply:
_Gentlemen of the Senate:_
I receive with the most respectful and affectionate
sentiments, in this impressive address, the obliging
expressions of your regard for the loss our country has
sustained in the death of her most esteemed, beloved, and
admired citizen.
In the multitude of my thoughts and recollections on this
melancholy event, you will permit me only to say, that I
have seen him in the days of adversity in some of the
scenes of his deepest distress and most trying
perplexities; I have also attended him in his highest
elevation, and most prosperous felicity, with uniform
admiration of his wisdom, moderation, and constancy.
Among all our original associates in that memorable League
of the Continent in 1774, which first expressed the
sovereign will of a free nation in America, he was the only
one remaining in the General Government. Although, with a
constitution more enfeebled than his, at an age when he
thought it necessary to prepare for retirement, I feel
myself alone, bereaved of my last brother, yet I derive a
strong consolation from the unanimous disposition which
appears, in all ages and classes, to mingle their sorrows
with mine, on this common calamity to the world.
The life of our WASHINGTON cannot suffer by a comparison
with those of other countries who have been most celebrated
and exalted by fame. The attributes and decorations of
royalty could have only served to eclipse the majesty of
those virtues which made him, from being a modest citizen,
a more resplendent luminary. Misfortune, had he lived,
could hereafter have sullied his glory only with those
superficial minds, who, believing that characters and
actions are marked by success alone, rarely deserve to
enjoy it. Malice could never blast his honor, and envy made
him a singular exception to her universal rule. For
himself, he had lived enough to life, and to glory. For his
fellow-citizens, if their prayers could have been answered,
he would have been immortal. For me, his departure is at a
most unfortunate moment. Trusting, however, in the wise and
righteous dominion of Providence over the passions of men,
and the results of their councils and actions, as well as
over their lives, nothing remains for me but humble
resignation.
His example is now complete, and it will teach wisdom and
virtue to magistrates, citizens, and men, not only in the
present age, but in future generations, as long as our
history shall be read. If a Trajan found a Pliny, a Marcus
Aurelius can never want biographers, eulogists, or
historians.