the very last the closing hours of this mortal life. Then he expressed a wish to see his old and tried friend and father in God, Bishop Potter, who came to him at once, and, after some conversation, gave him his benediction. Nor did he omit, in those last days, to set the seal of dying words to his life-long faith he said to us, as we stood beside him, "I believe in God, and have entire confidence in Christ my Redeemer. I am at enmity with no man."

During those painful hours no one heard a word of complaint; he was very patient and very calm. Gradually the pain ceased; he passed into a stage of mental excitement, during which, however, he knew us all, and was very loving and tender with us, but apparently anxious to save us trouble or distress. He understood perfectly all that was going on about him. Finally he became unconscious, sinking into a disturbed slumber. On Friday he sunk so rapidly that the physicians in attendance told us, at ten o'clock in the evening, that he would not live through the night. But they had not taken into account the amazing strength of his constitution, for he survived until the following week. It was, probably, one of the most remarkable cases on record of the persistency of the vital functions after death had actually commenced. For seventy-five hours he took no nourishment whatever, yet the heart and lungs continued their action. It may be said. that he was practically dead on Friday evening, the 18th. But he lay, unconscious, yet breathing, while the brave, strong heart maintained its regular pulsation, till Monday, the 21st. Then at last the flag was lowered above the citadel. At halfpast eleven o'clock that night the soul departed in peace. Those of us who had been hastily summoned to the bedside knelt by him, while, with an effort which now seems to me incredible, as I recall the trying scene, I commended his soul into the Hands of his gracious Creator and most merciful Saviour, and closed the eyes from which this world had receded forever.

XIII.

CONCLUSION.

THE HONORS TO THE DEAD.-THE OBSEQUIES

AND BURIAL.

Personal Communication from the President of the United States.-Meeting of the Cabinet: National Honors.-Message from the Governor of the State of New York: Legislative Honors.-Action of the Courts.— Message from the Mayor of New York: Civic Honors.-Directions for Burial: Military Escort Declined, in Obedience to General Dix's Instructions.-The Funeral in Trinity Church.-Decoration-day, May 30, 1879 Scene in the Church-yard.-Final Interment in Trinity Cemetery. Conclusion.

XIII.

To recount the honors paid to the dead is sometimes a duty, by way of expressing the thanks of the surviving relatives for the sympathy and affectionate interest disclosed in those sad tributes. It was eminently so in the case of our afflicted house; the wish to say how deeply we were touched, how profoundly moved, by the loving and tender words written or spoken at that time, dictates this acknowledgment of a part of them.

First to reach our home was a personal despatch from the President of the United States, sending a message of condolence from himself and Mrs. Hayes; next came a similar communication from the Secretary of State. On the day following his decease the death of General Dix was announced at a meeting of the Cabinet, and the following orders were issued the same afternoon:

I.

"Executive Mansion, April 22, 1879. "The President, in making public announcement of the death of Major-general John A. Dix, which occurred during the last night, in the city of New York, desires to commend to the attention of the people of the country the great public services through a long and eventful life of this eminent citizen, and the patriotic record of his military service, both in his early youth and at an advanced age.

"Appropriate honors will be paid to his memory under the direction of the War Department and of the Treasury Department, of which he was at an important period the head, and it is recommended to his fellow-citizens to participate in the general mark of respect to his worth as a private citizen, and to his eminent services as a Senator of the United States, Minister to France, and Governor of the State of New York.

"RUTHERFORD B. HAYES."