Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 February 1891 — WASHINGTON’S BURIAL. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WASHINGTON’S BURIAL.

Scene at the Last Ke <ting Place at Mount Vernon. On Dec. 20, 1799, George Washington laid in his final resting place, and the Utetcr County G<tec.tte, published atKiqgstot, cN. Y., did honor to the great Chief in a write-up of which q, copy 4« gl ven below. The few hundreds, of ■words that were printed in honor of the dead meant more at that time W" many columns mean now, and the mourning borders, poony printed from ttly cut wooden blocks, were significant from their width and blackness. ' ENTOMBED. ; *"GeorG etown, Dee. "2()‘.—On Wednesday last the mortal part of Washington the Great, the father of his country and the friend of man, was consigned to the tomb with solemn honors and funeral /pomp. A multitude of persons assembled rfroin many miles around at Mount Vernon, the choice abode and late resi4fdnce of the illustrious chfbf. There 4 -were the groves, the spacious avenues, 'the beautiful and sublime scenes, the <noble mansion; but, alas, the august in’’liabitant was now no more. That gfeat -•oul was gone. His mortal part was there, indeed, but ah, how affecting! 'how awful the spectac o of such worth -And greatness thus to mortal eyes fallen ■—yea, fallen! fallen! In the long and lofty portico where last the hero walked in all his glory, ►now lay the shrouded corpse. The ijogntenancc, still composed and serene, -seemed to depress the dignity of the /Mrtrit which J lately d.wejt in that lifeless form! Then those who paid the last -ead honors to the benefactor of his -country took an impressive a farewell ▼tew. On the ornament at the “head of the -eeffin was tliC inscription; i<-,- “Surge act Jndicinms’’'- ... . iaboiit the middle of the,coffin, t “Gloria Deo;” . -and on the silver plate, “General Georoe Washington, (Departed this lite dM.ihwMtfchDeceinber, 1790, JEt. 08.” Between 3 and 4 p ! cleck.- the sqqpd of artillery from a vessel in the river firing minute guns awoke a fresh and solemn •sorrow—the* corpse. was removed —a 4»nd of music with mournful -melody ■melted the soul into a 1 the tenderness -of woe. - , oa The procession was formed and moved ■on in the following order: Cavalry, in- ' fan try, guard, music,'clergy; the General’s horse, with his saddle, holsters, and pistols. Colonels Bims,Ramsey, Payne, Gilpin, Marsteller, Little, pall.bearers, escorting the corpse. Mourners, (Masonic brethren, citizens. ,<, V 1 When the procession had arrived at .iff* 1 ®bottom of the elevated lawn, on the wapk of the Potomac, where, the family .vault is placed, the cavalry halted- the 'infantry marched toward the Mount, and lines—the ? clergy, Masonic brothers, and the citizens descended to 4he vaqlt, and the funeral service of the

church was perforated. The firing was repeated from the vessel in the river, and the sounds echoed from the woods and Aills around. Three genera! discharges, by the In-

fantry, the cavalry, and e evdi? pleoes of artillery, which lined the banks of the Potomac back of the vaults, paid the last tribute to the entombed Commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States and of the departed hero. The sun was,now setting. Alas! the son of glory was set forever. No —the name of Washington, the American President and General —will triumph over death. The unclouded brightness of his glory will illumine the future ages.

WASHINGTON'S TOMB.