For a full generation this eminent citizen has occupied a conspicuous and influential position in the nation.  His first public service was in the legislature of his State.  Afterwards for fourteen years he was a member of the national House of Representatives, and was three times chosen its Speaker.  In 1876 he was elected to the Senate.  He resigned his seat in that body in 1881 to accept the position of Secretary of State in the Cabinet of President Garfield.  After the tragic death of his chief he resigned from the Cabinet, and, devoting himself to literary work, gave to the public in his Twenty Years of Congress a most valuable and enduring contribution to our political literature.  In March, 1889, he again became Secretary of State, and continued to exercise this office until June, 1892.  His devotion to the public interests, his marked ability, and his exalted patriotism have won for him the gratitude and affection of his countrymen and the admiration of the world.  In the varied pursuits of legislation, diplomacy, and literature his genius has added new luster to American citizenship.

As a suitable expression of the national appreciation of his great public services and of the general sorrow caused by his death, I direct that on the day of his funeral all the Departments of the executive branch of the Government at Washington be closed, and that on all public buildings throughout the United States the national flag shall be displayed at half-staff, and that for a period of thirty days the Department of State be draped in mourning.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 27th day of January, A.D. 1893, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and seventeenth.

BENJ.  HARRISON.

By the President: 
  JOHN W. FOSTER,
    Secretary of State.