UNITED STATES, _Dec. 19, 1799_.
"MOUNT VERNON, _Dec. 15, 1799_.
"SIR: It is with inexpressible grief that I have to
announce to you the death of the great and good General
WASHINGTON. He died last evening, between ten and eleven
o'clock, after a short illness of about twenty hours. His
disorder was an inflammatory sore throat, which proceeded
from a cold, of which he made but little complaint on
Friday. On Saturday morning, about three o'clock, he became
ill. Doctor Craik attended him in the morning, and Doctor
Dick, of Alexandria, and Doctor Brown, of Port Tobacco,
were soon after called in. Every medical assistance was
offered, but without the desired effect. His last scene
corresponded with the whole tenor of his life; not a groan,
nor a complaint, escaped him in extreme distress. With
perfect resignation, and in full possession of his reason,
he closed his well spent life.
"I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient and very
humble servant,
"TOBIAS LEAR.
"The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES."
Mr. MARSHALL, from the committee appointed to wait on the PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES, to know when and where it will be convenient for him
to receive this House in condolence of the national calamity, reported
that the committee had, according to order, performed that service, and
that the PRESIDENT signified to them it would be convenient for him to
receive this House at one o'clock this afternoon, at his own house.
A message from the Senate informed the House that the Senate have agreed
to the resolution passed by the House of Representatives for the
appointment of a joint committee of both Houses to report measures
suitable to the occasion, and expressive of the profound sorrow with
which Congress is penetrated on the loss of a citizen, first in war,
first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen; and have
appointed Mr. DAYTON, Mr. BINGHAM, Mr. DEXTER, Mr. GUNN, Mr. LAURANCE,
and Mr. TRACY, a committee on their part.
The SPEAKER, attended by the House, then withdraw to the house of the
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, when Mr. SPEAKER addressed the PRESIDENT
as follows:
SIR: The House of Representatives, penetrated with a sense
of the irreparable loss sustained by the nation in the
death of that great and good man, the illustrious and
beloved WASHINGTON, wait on you, sir, to express their
condolence on this melancholy and distressing event.
To which the PRESIDENT replied as follows:
_Gentlemen of the House of Representatives_:
I receive, with great respect and affection, the condolence
of the House of Representatives, on the melancholy and
affecting event, in the death of the most illustrious and
beloved personage which this country ever produced. I
sympathize with you, with the nation, and with good men
through the world, in this irreparable loss sustained by us
all.