o have been preeminent in fame.
Ancient and modern names are diminished before him. Greatness and guilt
have too often been allied, but his fame is whiter than it is brilliant.
The destroyers of nations stood abashed at the majesty of his virtue. It
reproved the intemperance of their ambition and darkened the splendor of
victory. The scene is closed, and we are no longer anxious lest
misfortune should sully his glory. He has traveled on to the end of his
journey and carried with him an increasing weight of honor. He has
deposited it safely, where misfortune can not tarnish it, where malice
can not blast it. Favored of Heaven, he departed without exhibiting the
weakness of humanity. Magnanimous in death, the darkness of the grave
could not obscure his brightness.

Such was the man whom we deplore. Thanks to God, his glory is
consummated. Washington yet lives on earth in his spotless example; his
spirit is in Heaven.

Let his countrymen consecrate the memory of the heroic general, the
patriotic statesman, and the virtuous sage. Let them teach their
children never to forget that the fruit of his labors and his example
are their inheritance.

SAMUEL LIVERMORE,

_President of the Senate pro tempore_.

DECEMBER 23, 1799.

To which the President replied as follows:

UNITED STATES, _December 23, 1799_.

_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 m