Part 47 (1/2)
THE PRESIDENT'S ANSWER.
”_23 December, 1799._
”_Gentlemen of the Senate:_
”I receive with the most respectful and affectionate sentiments, in this impressive address, the obliging expressions of your regret for the loss our country has sustained in the death of her most esteemed, beloved, and admired citizen.
”In the mult.i.tude of my thoughts and recollections on this melancholy event, you will permit me 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 a.s.sociates in that memorable league of this 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 const.i.tution 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 cla.s.ses to mingle their sorrows with mine on this common calamity to the world.
”The life of our Was.h.i.+ngton can not 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 only have 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 character 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 long 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 pa.s.sions of men and the results of their 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 Traian found a Pliny, a Marcus Aurelius can never want biographers, eulogists, or historians.
”JOHN ADAMS.”
[146] In compliance with these resolutions, President Adams wrote a letter to Mrs. Was.h.i.+ngton on the subject, and received the following reply:--
”MOUNT VERNON, _December 31, 1799._
”SIR: While I feel, with keenest anguish, the late dispensation of Divine Providence, I can not be insensible to the mournful tributes of respect and veneration which are paid to the memory of my dear deceased husband; and, as his best services and most anxious wishes were always devoted to the welfare and happiness of his country, to know that they were truly appreciated and gratefully remembered affords no inconsiderable consolation.
”Taught by the great example which I have so long had before me, never to oppose my private wishes to the public will, I must consent to the request made by Congress, which you have had the goodness to transmit to me; and, in doing this, I need not, I can not, say what a sacrifice of individual feeling I make to a sense of public duty.
”With grateful acknowledgments and unfeigned thanks for the personal respect and evidences of condolence expressed by Congress and yourself, I remain, very respectfully, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,
”MARTHA WAs.h.i.+NGTON.”
The president transmitted her letter to Congress, accompanied by the following message:--
”_Gentlemen of the Senate, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:_
”In compliance with the request in one of the resolutions of Congress on the twenty-third of December last, I transmitted a copy of those resolutions, by my secretary, Mr. Shaw, to Mrs.
Was.h.i.+ngton, a.s.suring her of the profound respect Congress will ever bear to her person and character; of their condolence in the late afflicting dispensation of Providence; and entreating her a.s.sent to the interment of the remains of General George Was.h.i.+ngton in the manner expressed in the first resolution. As the sentiments of that virtuous lady, not less beloved by this nation than she is at present greatly afflicted, can never be so well expressed as in her own words, I transmit to Congress her original letter.
”It would be an attempt of too much delicacy to make any comments upon it; but there can be no doubt that the nation at large, as well as all the branches of the government, will be highly gratified by any arrangement which may diminish the sacrifices she makes of her individual feelings.
”JOHN ADAMS.
”UNITED STATES, _January 6, 1800_.”
The proposed monument has not been erected. An unsuccessful effort was made, in 1832, to have the remains of the ill.u.s.trious dead removed to the federal capital, and placed beneath such monument. Now that the home and tomb of Was.h.i.+ngton have, through the efforts of the women of the United States, become the property of the nation, every American should rejoice that his dust will ever remain to consecrate them.
[147] The following is a copy of General Lee's oration:--
”In obedience to your will, I rise, your humble organ, with the hope of executing a part of the system of public mourning which you have been pleased to adopt, commemorative of the death of the most ill.u.s.trious and most beloved personage this country has ever produced; and which, while it transmits to posterity your sense of the awful event, faintly represents your knowledge of the consummate excellence you so cordially honor.
”Desperate, indeed, is any attempt on earth to meet correspondently this dispensation of Heaven; for while, with pious resignation, we submit to the will of an all-gracious Providence, we can never cease lamenting, in our finite view of Omnipotent Wisdom, the heart-rending privation for which our nation weeps. When the civilized world shakes to its centre; when every moment gives birth to strange and momentous changes; when our peaceful quarter of the globe, exempt, as it happily has been, from any share in the slaughter of the human race, may yet be compelled to abandon her pacific policy, and to risk the doleful casualties of war--what limit is there to the extent of our loss? None within the reach of my words to express; none which your feelings will not disavow.
”The founder of our federate republic, our bulwark in war, our guide in peace, is no more! Oh, that this were but questionable! Hope, the comforter of the wretched, would pour into our agonizing hearts its balmy dew; but, alas!
there is no hope for us. Our Was.h.i.+ngton is removed for ever!