Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1854-02-22
DAILY EVENING STAR
DEATH OF WASHINGTON.

DEATH OF WASHINGTON
We find the following on the death Q
Washington in the New York Courier ant
Enquirer, which cannot fail to be of in
tereSt to the reader:
Proceeding still farther over a verv ba,
road, we came suddenly in view Of tb
Potomac: and Mount Vernon, with il
mansion-house and smooth green lawn
was before US. Having sent in our ad
dress, we received permission from tn
courteous branch of the family, who nov
held the estate, to enter and survey tn
interior We were struck with its ex
treme simplicity, the lowness of the wall!
and ceilings, and the bare floors which
were waxed, not as with US, carpeted.
Passing through the great hall, orna
mented with pictures of English hunting
scenes, we ascended the oaken staircase
with its carved and antique ballustrade
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, surpasses the
grandeur of that final scene: the cold
which he had taken from exposure, in
overseeing some parts of his grounds. and
which had resisted the earlier domestic
remedies that were applied. advanced in
the course of two short days into that
frlgntfnl form Of the disease of the throat,
laryng7tis. 1t became necessary for him
to take to his bed.
His valued friend, DR.. Craik, was in.
stantly summoned, and assisted by the
best medical skill of the surrounding
country, exhausted all the means of his
art, but without affording him relief
lie patiently submitted, though in great
distress, to the various remedies proposed,
but it became evident from the deep
gloom settling upon the countenances ol
the medical gentlemen, that the case was
hopeless advancing insiduously, the dis
ease had fastened itself with deadly GER
tainty. Looking with perfect ealmness
upon the sobblng group around him, he
SAID =" Grleve not, my friends it is as
L anticipated from the first the debt
which we all owe, is now about to be
paid; am resigned to the event" Re-
questing Mrs. Washington to bring two
wills from his escrutoire, he directed one
to be burnt, and placed the other in her
hands, as his last testament, and then
gave some final instructions to Mr.. Lear,
his Secretary and relative, as to the adj
justment of his business affairs. He soon
after became greatly distressed; and, as
the paroxysms which became more fire.
quent and violent, NIr. Lear, who was at
his side, assisted him to turn, he with
but with difficulty, ,articulated-
g fear | give you great trouble, sir
but-perhaps, it is duty which we all
owe one to another-I trust that YOU
may receive the same attention when you
shall require it.
''As the nj ght waned, the fatal symp-
toms became more imminent-his breath
more labored and suffocating and his
voice soon failed him. Perceiving his ond
approaching,S stretched himself to his
ull length, he folded his own hands in
the necessary attitude upon his chest
placing his finger upon the pulse of his
eft wrist, and thus calmly prepared, and
his own dissolution, he awaited
The summons of his Maker. The last
aint hope of his friends had disappeared.
Mrs. Washington, Supplied with grief,
sat at the foot of the bed, her eyes fixed
steadfastly upon him; DIR. Craik, in deep
gloom, stood with his face buried in his
hands at the fire; his faithful black SER
want, Christopher, the tears uncontrolled,
down his face, ON one side took
The last look of his dying master; while
Mr.. Lear, in speechless grief, with folded
hands, bent over his pillow on the other.
s'Nought broke the stillnessiof his last
but the suppressed sobs of bis
servants collected on the stair
case; the tick of the large clock in the
hall as it measured off with painful dis
tinctness, the last fleeting moments of bis
existence, and the low moan of the win.
ter wind, as it swept through the leafless
trees. The laboring and
wearied spirit drew nearer and nearer its
goal; the blood languidly coursed slower
and more slowly through its channels
the noble heart stopped-struggled-
right hand slowly slid from
The wrist, upon which its finger had been
placed-it fell at the side-and the manly
effisy of Washington was all that remain
ed upon the death couchn'