"Your most ob't s'vt, "SILAS E. BURROWS." The offer was gladly accepted. Work on the monument was at once commenced. The handsome marbles were finished, and the corner-stone laid in the presence of Andrew Jackson, then President of the United States. On this occasion President Jackson said: "Mary Washington acquired and maintained a wonderful ascendency over those around her. This true characteristic of genius attended her through life, and she conferred upon her son that power of self-command which was one of the remarkable traits of her character. "She conducted herself through this life with virtue and prudence worthy of the mother of the greatest hero that ever adorned the annals of history. There is no fame in the world more pure than that of the mother of Washington, and no woman, since the mother of Christ, has left a better claim to the affectionate reverence of mankind." This monument was completed but never erected. The stone-mason and the contractor died before the shaft was placed on the foundation, and, soon after, Mr. Burrows died also. The work ceased, and the unfinished structure stood as the contractor left it, until torn down for the present finished monument. The non-completion of the old monument, therefore, seems to have been providential, and no fault of the projector or contractor. During the Civil War between the North and the South, the guns of the contending armies were fired across the stones, and they became a prey to the vandalism of strangers. In 1857 Captain George Washington Ball (grandson of the patriot, Colonel Burgess Ball, and his wife--Frances Washington) circulated an appeal throughout the country, asking for donations to complete the monument. For eleven years Captain Ball worked zealously and faithfully. He desired to erect near the monument a noble charity,--an institution of learning for young women,--but it seemed ordained that he should be not immediately successful, and in time he became discouraged. It was a heart-breaking disappointment to "this old man eloquent,"--the author of the monograph so freely quoted on these pages. [Illustration: Mary Washington's Monument.] Finally the women of America reared a shaft over the desecrated spot, and by a hereditary office, held by six hundred of their number, provided a perpetual Guard of Honor over the grave of Mary, the mother of Washington. The corner-stone of this last monument was laid Oct. 20, 1893. The monument--the first ever reared by women in honor of a woman--is a classic shaft of granite. It was dedicated by President Cleveland on May 10, 1894, in the presence of a large concourse of people. Fredericksburg made the occasion one of rejoicing and festivity. The day was a glorious one. The sun never looked down upon a brighter scene,--garlands and festoons of flowers, "ripples of ribbons in the air," officers in uniform, maidens in white, music, and song! There was a grand masonic banquet, and a ball.