a
silver plate was the record--

GENERAL

GEORGE WASHINGTON,

DEPARTED THIS LIFE ON THE 14TH DECEMBER,

1799, AET. 68.

The coffin was lined with lead: and upon a cover of the same
material, to be put on after the coffin was laid in the vault, was
a silver shield, nearly three inches in length, inscribed--

GEORGE WASHINGTON,

BORN FEB. 22, 1732.

DIED DECEMBER 14, 1799.

[143] _Mount Vernon and its Associations._

[144] These resolutions were drawn by General Henry Lee, who was not
present at the time.

[145] The following is a copy of the senate's address, and the
president's reply:--

_To the President of the United States:_

"The senate of the United States respectfully take leave, sir, to
express to you their deep regret for the loss their country
sustains in the death of General George Washington. This event, so
distressing to all our fellow-citizens, must be peculiarly heavy to
you, who have long been associated with him in deeds of patriotism.
Permit us, sir, to mingle our tears with yours.

"On this occasion it is manly to weep. To lose such a man, at such a
crisis, is no common calamity to the world. Our country mourns a
father. The Almighty Disposer of human events has taken from us our
greatest benefactor and ornament. It becomes us to submit with
reverence to him 'who maketh darkness his pavilion.'

"With patriotic pride we review the life of our Washington, and
compare him with those of other countries who have been pre-eminent
in fame. Ancient and modern times 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 virtues. 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 travelled 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.