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This black-bordered issue of J. Russell’s Gazette, published in Boston, reports an array of reactions to news of the death of George Washington on December 14, 1799. From President John Adams and the Senate of the United States to Congressman John Marshall and Major General Alexander Hamilton, mourners poured forth tributes to the “Father of Our Country.” Inhabitants of many cities resolved to wear mourning badges for periods ranging up to two months, and editor John Russell reprinted a portion of Washington’s 1796 Farewell Address to the nation, full of advice for the future.

[GEORGE WASHINGTON]. J. Russell’s Gazette, Commercial and Political, January 2, 1800. Boston: John Russell. 4 pp., 12 x 19¾ in.

Inventory #27762       Price: $1,500

Excerpts
“Mr. Russell; The Editor of the Columbian Centinel [Benjamin Russell] (whose promptitude and judgment in selecting appropriate performances for great and interesting occasions has long been acknowledged and justly appreciated,) deservedly receives much praise for republishing on the melancholy event of the death of WASHINGTON, the POLITICAL LEGACY of that illustrious character on withdrawing from the chair of government of the United States. It is calculated not to please the giddy multitude, not to flatter the popular opinions of the day; but, to correct error, to restrain passion, and guide our judgment in the varying course of human affairs. As your Gazette and the Centinel probably circulate much in the same direction, it may not be necessary for you to give it a place at present, but I am clearly of the opinion that the sentiments it contains, cannot be too frequently presented to the public, and never in more impressive language than that used by our departed father and friend. And, I cannot but request you to insert the following passages, which refer to evils and dangers, with which we are constantly assailed, and point to those remedies which can be opposed to their progress, and which ensure (as far as is in our power to) public safety and permanent prosperity. Your compliance will greatly oblige your very obedient humble servant.                      A. I.” (p1/c2)

[Followed by approximately 30 percent of Washington’s Farewell Address of September 19, 1796, drawn from the last part of that document.] (p1/c2-p2/c1)

[U.S. Senate to President John Adams, December 23, 1799, Philadelphia:]
“The Senate of the United States respectfully times leave, Sir, to express to you their deep regret for the loss their country sustains in the death of General GEORGE WASHINGTON.

“This event, so distressing to all our fellow citizens, must be peculiarly heavy to you, who have long been associated with him in deeds of patriotism. Permit us, Sir, to mingle our tears with yours: On this occasion, it is manly to weep. To lose such a man at such a time is no common calamity to the world: Our country mourns her father. The Almighty disposer of human events has taken from us our greatest benefactor and ornament.” (p2/c1)

[President John Adams to the U.S. Senate, December 23, 1799, “United States”:]
“The life of our WASHINGTON cannot 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 have only served to eclipse the Majesty of those virtues which made him, from being a modest citizen, a more resplendent luminary....

“For himself he had lived 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 passions of men, and the results of their councils and 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.” (p2/c2)

[Alexander Hamilton, General Orders to the Military:]
“Major-General Hamilton prefaces his Orders to the Military of the United States, after receiving The President’s orders, as follows: ‘The impressive terms, in which this great national calamity is announced by the President, could receive no new force from any thing that might be added. The voice of praise would in vain endeavour to exalt a character, unrivalled in the lists of true glory. Words would in vain attempt to give utterance to that profound and reverential grief, which will penetrate every American bosom, and engage the sympathy of an admiring world. If the sad privilege of pre-eminence in sorrow may justly be claimed by the companions in arms of our lamented Chief, their affections will spontaneously perform the dear, though painful, duty. ’Tis only for me to mingle my tears with those of my fellow-soldiers, cherishing with them the precious recollection, that while others are paying a merited tribute to “The Man of the Age,” we in particular, allied as we were to him by a closer tie, are called the mourn the irreparable loss of a kind and venerated Patron and Father!”’” (p2/c2)

“Baltimore, Dec. 23. / The Legislature of this state has requested the Governor to appoint a day of mourning throughout the state, to testify their veneration of the memory of the immortal Washington.” (p2/c3)

“New York, Dec. 27. / Tuesday next, the 31st inst. is appointed to be observed in this city as a day of solemn mourning in testimony of respect for the departed father of his country.” (p2/c3)

“Providence, Dec. 28. / The Ladies of this town, have in contemplation to wear a mourning badge, for two months, as expressive of their patriotic sorrow for the deceased Washington....” (p2/c3)

Historical Background
The response to George Washington’s death on December 14, 1799, included an outpouring of oratorical and eventually pictorial tributes to the departed leader and “Father of the Country.” Several cities held memorial funerals, complete with orations eulogizing the virtues of the first President. Because most Americans revered Washington, his death took on religious significance, and many Americans wanted to memorialize his life.

In the House of Representatives, Congressman John Marshall reported a series of five resolutions from a committee formed to consider a suitable mode of commemorating the death of Washington. The resolutions, which passed the House unanimously, called for the erection of a marble monument in Washington, D.C. (which became the capital in November 1800), under which the body of Washington would be buried; a funeral procession on December 26 from Congress Hall to the German Lutheran church in Philadelphia, where an oration would be delivered (Major-General Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee was the orator); a recommendation that the people of the United States wear crape for thirty days; the transmittal of the resolutions to Martha Washington; and a request that President Adams issue a proclamation regarding wearing mourning symbols for thirty days.

Although Martha Washington consented to have George Washington buried in a vault in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., arguments over the details delayed the transfer of Washington’s remains, which were placed in a separate crypt at Mount Vernon. A bungled 1830 attempt to steal George Washington’s skull led to the construction of a new brick crypt at Mount Vernon, where it remains. In 1833, then Chief Justice John Marshall co-founded the Washington National Monument Society and served as its first president. Construction of the Washington Monument began in 1848 but was not completed until 1884.

Additional Content
This issue also includes additional plans for memorial processions and commemorative funerals for Washington; an excerpt from a July 1797 Oration upon Genius delivered at Harvard University that characterized Washington as “our greatest boast, our brightest ornament, the pride of Columbia, the delight of mankind, and the richest gem in the cabinet of humanity” (p2/c4); news of the evacuation of Holland in October 1799 after the failure of the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland during the War of the Second Coalition against revolutionary France (p3/c1); an account of Washington’s final illness by physicians James Craik and Elisha C. Dick (p3/c1-2); and a variety of notices and advertisements, including one by editor John Russell proposing a volume entitled The Political Legacies of Geo: Washington; the advertisement is headed by a stanza (which begins, “Oh, Washington! thou hero, patriot, sage!”) from a 1795 poem entitled The Invention of Letters by Thomas Paine, son of Declaration-signer Robert Treat Paine, at the request of the President of Harvard University (p3/c2). John Russell and John West published Washington’s Political Legacies in March 1800 in Boston and dedicated it to Martha Washington.

J. Russell’s Gazette, Commercial and Political (1798-1800) was a semi-weekly newspaper published in Boston by John Russell (1764-1832) as a continuation of his Boston Price-Current, and Marine-Intelligencer (1795-1798). In 1800, he took James Cutler (1774-1818) as a partner and changed the title to the Boston Gazette, Commercial and Political (1800-1802), which was shortened to Boston Gazette, beginning in 1803. In 1813, Simon Gardner joined the partnership, and in 1817, the title changed to Boston Commercial Gazette, which continued until 1840. John Russell’s brother Benjamin Russell (1761-1845) edited the Massachusetts Centinel / Columbian Centinel from 1784 to 1828.

Condition: Light toning; stitch holes; minor wear.