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.