nited States Capitol will be promoted by the exercise of
a general supervision and control of the whole work by a skillful and
competent officer of the Corps of Engineers or of the Topographical
Corps, and as the officers of those corps are more immediately amenable
to the Secretary of War, I hereby direct that the jurisdiction
heretofore exercised over the said work by the Department of the
Interior be transferred to the War Department, and request that the
Secretary of War will designate to the President a suitable officer
to take charge of the same.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

WASHINGTON, _April 20, 1853_.

The President has, with deep sorrow, received information that the
Vice-President of the United States, William R. King, died on the 18th
instant at his residence in Alabama.

In testimony of respect for eminent station, exalted character, and,
higher and above all station, for a career of public service and
devotion to this Union which for duration and usefulness is almost
without a parallel in the history of the Republic, the labors of the
various Departments will be suspended.

The Secretaries of War and Navy will issue orders that appropriate
military and naval honors be rendered to the memory of one to whom such
a tribute will not be formal, but heartfelt from a people the deceased
has so faithfully served.

The public offices will be closed to-morrow and badges of mourning be
placed on the Executive Mansion and all the Executive Departments at
Washington.

FRANKLIN PIERCE.

GENERAL ORDERS, No. II.

WAR DEPARTMENT,

ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,

_Washington, April 20, 1853_.

I. The following order announces to the Army the death of William Rufus
King, late Vice-President of the United States:

WAR DEPARTMENT,

_Washington, April 20, 1853_.

With deep sorrow the President announces to the Army the death of
William Rufus King, Vice-President of the United States, who died on the
evening of Monday, the 18th instant, at his residence in Dallas County,
Ala.

Called into the service of his country at a period in life when but few
are prepared to enter upon its realities, his long career of public
usefulness at home and abroad has always been honored by the public
confidence, and was closed in the second office within the gift of the
people.

From sympathy with his relatives and the American people for their loss
and from respect for his distinguis