descended to
the vault, and the funeral services of the church were read by the
Reverend Mr. Davis. He also pronounced a short discourse. The Masons
then performed their peculiar ceremonies, and the body was deposited in
the vault. Three general discharges of arms were then given by the
infantry and the cavalry; and eleven pieces of artillery, which were
ranged back of the vault and simultaneously discharged, "paid the last
tribute to the entombed commander-in-chief of the armies of the United
States." The sun was now setting, and mournfully that funeral assembly
departed for their respective homes.[143]

The federal Congress was in session at Philadelphia when intelligence of
the death of Washington reached that city. It was first communicated, on
the morning of the eighteenth of December (the day of the funeral), by a
passenger in the stage, to an acquaintance. The news spread rapidly, and
soon reached the house of representatives, when, immediately after the
journals were read, the Honorable John Marshall, of Virginia, arose, and
in a voice tremulous with the deepest emotion said:--

"Mr. Speaker, information has just been received that our illustrious
fellow-citizen, the commander-in-chief of the American army, and the
late president of the United States, is no more. Though this distressing
intelligence is not certain, there is too much reason to believe its
truth. After receiving information of this national calamity, so heavy
and so afflicting, the house of representatives can be but ill fitted
for public business. I move you, therefore, that we adjourn." The house
immediately adjourned until the next day at eleven o'clock.

When the house reassembled on the morning of the nineteenth, Mr.
Marshall addressed them as follows:--

"Mr. Speaker, the melancholy event, which was yesterday
announced with doubt, has been rendered but too certain. Our
WASHINGTON is no more! The hero, the patriot, and the sage
of America--the man on whom in times of danger every eye was
turned, and all hopes were placed--lives now only in his own
great actions, and in the hearts of an affectionate and
afflicted people.

"If, sir, it had even not been usual openly to testify
respect for the memory of those whom Heaven has selected as
its instruments for dispensing good to man, yet such has
been the uncommon worth and such the extraordinary incidents
which have marked the life