Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. I.djvu/66

44 take no more trouble about me." He had previously said to Dr. Craik: "I die hard, but I am not afraid to go." About ten o'clock he succeeded with difficulty in giving some directions about his funeral to Mr. Lear, his secretary, and on Mr. Lear's assuring him that he was understood, he uttered his last words: "It is well." And thus, between ten and eleven o'clock on Saturday night, December 14, 1799, the end came, and his spirit returned to God who gave it.

The funeral took place on the 18th. Such troops as were in the neighborhood formed the escort of the little procession; the general's favorite horse was led behind the bier, the Freemasons performed their ceremonies, the Rev. Thomas Davis read the service and made a brief address, a schooner lying in the Potomac fired minute-guns, the relatives and friends within reach, including Lord Fairfax and the corporation of Alexandria, were in attendance, and the body was deposited in the vault at Mount Vernon. At Mount Vernon it has remained to this day. Virginia would never consent to its removal to the stately vault prepared for it beneath the capitol at Washington. Congress was in session at Philadelphia, and the startling news of Washington's death only reached there on the day of his funeral. The next morning John Marshall, then a representative from Virginia, afterward for thirty-four years chief justice of the supreme court