Thibodaux minerva. [volume] (Thibodaux, La.) 18??-1858, 1854-02-04

DEATH OF WAsHINGToN.-We find the follow.
ing interesting description of the death of Wash
ington, in the New York Courier and Enquirer
Of the 9th inst, which, even at this distant day
cannot fail to be of interest to the reader:
proceeding still farther over very bad
road, we came suddenly in view of the Potomac
and Mount Vernon, with its mansion-house and
smooth, green lawn, was before US. Having sem
| in our address, we received permission from the
courteous brauch of the family, who now held
the estate, to enter and survey the interior. We
were struck with its extreme simplicity, the
| lowness Of the walls and ceilings, and the bare
| floors which were waxed, not as with us, car
peted,
"Passing through the great hall, ornamented
with pictures of English hunting scenes we as
cended the oaken staircase, with its carved and
antique balustrade; we stood at the door-we
pressed the handle-the room and the bed where
he died, were before us. Nothing in the lofty
drama of his existence, surpassed the grandeur
of that final scene; the cold which he had taken
freq, exposure, in overseeing some part Of his
grounds, and which had resisted the earlier
domestic remedies that were applied, advanced
in the course of two short days into that fright
full form of the disease of the throat largngits.
It became necessary for him to take to his bed.
His valued friend, DIR. Craik, was instantly sum-
moned, and assisted by the best medical skill of
the surrounding county, exhausted all the means
of his art, but without affording him relief. He
patiently submitted, though in great distress,
to the various remedies proposed, but it became
evident from the deep gloom settling upon the
countenances of the medical gentlemen, that the
case was hopeless; advancing insidiously, the
disease had fastened itself with deadly certainty.
Looking with perfect calmness upon the sobbing
group around him he said Grieve not my
friends; it is as anticipated from the first;
the debt which we all owe, is now about to be
paid; am resigned to the event. Requesting
Mrs. Washington to bring two wills from his
escritoire, he directed one to be burnt, and
placed the other in her hands, as his last tesla
ment, and then gave some final instructions to
Mr.. Lear, his secretary and relative, as to the
adjustment of his business affairs. He soon
after became greatly distressed and as in the
paroxysms which became more frequent and
violent, Mr.. Lear, who was at his side, assisted
him to turn, he, with kindness but with difficulty,
articulated-'I fear 1 give you great trouble,
sir-but-perhaps it is "a duty which we all owe
one to another-I trust that you may receive
the same attention when you shall require it,
Gas the night waned, the fatal symptoms be-
came imnlinent-his breath more labored and
suffocating, and his voice soon failed him. Per-
ceiving his end approaching, he Strengthened
himself to his full length, he folded his own
hands in the necessary attitude upon his chest
placing his finger upon the pulse of his left
wrist, and thus calmly prepared, and watching
his own dissolution, he awaited the summons Of
his Maker. The last faint hope of his friends
had disappeared; Mrs. Washington, Supplied
with grief, sat at the foot Of the bed, her eyes
fixed steadfastly upon him DR.. Craik, in deep
gloom, stood with his face buried in his hands
at the fire his faithful black servant Christie
pher, the tears, uncontrolled, trickling down his
face on one side, took the last look Of his dying
master; while Mr.. Lear, in speeches. grief,
with folded hands, bent over his pillow on the
other Ss 5ss n s7f. 9.t
Thought broke the stiffness of his last me-
ments, but the suppressed sobs Of the afectionate
servants collected on the staircase; the tick of
the large clock in the hall as it measured off
with painful distinctness, the last feeting mo-
ments Of his existence, and the low moan Of the
winter wind, as it swept through the leafess
snow-covered trees. The laboring and wearied
spirit drew nearer and nearer to its goal; the
blood languidly coursed slower and more slowly
through its channels-the noble heart stopped
struggle -stop't-futtered-t right hand
slowly slid from the wrist, upon which its finger
had been placed-it fell at the side-and the
manly ef6gy Of Washington was all that remained
extended upon the death couch!" 8.