to the command of the armies of the United States, with the rank of
lieutenant-general. He was a Freemason, and served as master of his
lodge. He died at Mount Vernon, Va., after a short illness, December
14, 1799, and was buried there.




PROCEEDINGS INITIATORY TO THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION.


[From the Washington Papers (Executive Proceedings, vol. 17), Department
of State.]

Charles Thomson, esq., Secretary of the late Congress, being appointed
by the Senate of the United States to carry to General Washington the
official information of his unanimous election to the office of
President of the United States of America, arrived at Mount Vernon on
the 14th day of April, A.D. 1789, when he communicated to General
Washington the purport of his mission in the following words:

Sir: The President of the Senate chosen for the special purpose, having
opened and counted the votes of the electors in presence of the Senate
and House of Representatives, I was honored with the commands of the
Senate to wait upon Your Excellency with the information of your being
elected to the office of President of the United States of America. This
commission was intrusted to me on account of my having been long in the
confidence of the late Congress, and charged with the duties of one of
the principal civil departments of Government.