"That a marble monument be erected by the United States at the city of Washington, and that the family of General Washington be requested to permit his body to be deposited under it; and that the monument be so designed as to commemorate the great events of his military and political life.
"That there be a funeral procession from congress hall to the German Lutheran church, in memory of General Washington, on Thursday, the 26th instant, and that an oration be prepared at the request of congress, to be delivered before both houses on that day; and that the president of the senate, and speaker of the house of representatives, be desired to request one of the members of congress to prepare and deliver the same.
"That it be recommended to the people of the United States to wear crape on the left arm as a mourning for thirty days.
"That the President of the United States be requested to direct a copy of these resolutions to be transmitted to Mrs. Washington, assuring her of the profound respect congress will ever bear to her person and character, of their condolence on the late affecting dispensation of Providence, and entreating her assent to the interment of the remains of General Washington in the manner expressed in the first resolution.
"That the President be requested to issue his proclamation, notifying to the people throughout the United States the recommendation contained in the third resolution."
These resolutions passed both houses unanimously, and those which would admit of immediate execution were carried into effect. The whole nation appeared in mourning. The funeral procession was grand and solemn, and the eloquent oration, which was delivered on the occasion by General Lee, was heard with profound attention and with deep interest.
Throughout the United States, similar marks of affliction were exhibited. In every part of the continent funeral orations were delivered, and the best talents of the nation were devoted to an expression of the nation's grief.
To the letter of the President which transmitted to Mrs. Washington the resolutions of congress, and of which his secretary was the bearer, that lady answered, "Taught by the great example which I have so long had before me, never to oppose my private wishes to the public will, I must consent to the request made by congress which you have had the goodness to transmit to me;—and in doing this, I need not, I can not say what a sacrifice of individual feeling I make to a sense of public duty."
The monument, however, has not been erected. That the great events of the political as well as military life of General Washington should be commemorated, could not be pleasing to those who had condemned, and who continued to condemn, the whole course of his administration. This resolution, although it passed unanimously, had many enemies. That party which had long constituted the opposition, and which, though the minority for the moment, nearly divided the house of representatives, declared its preference for the equestrian statue which had been voted by congress at the close of the war. The division between a statue and a monument was so nearly equal, that the session passed away without an appropriation for either. The public feelings soon subsided, and those who possessed the ascendancy over the public sentiment employed their influence to draw odium on the men who favoured a monument; to represent that measure as a part of a general system to waste the public money; and to impress the idea that the only proper monument to the memory of a meritorious citizen, was that which the people would erect in their affections.
