What was the atmosphere like in washington in april of 1865?

According to Harold Holzer's article in Smithsonian Magazine in March 2015 newspaper summarized the reaction of people including in Washington as follows:The initial reaction to the president's death was a wild mixture of grief, exultation, vengefulness and fear.

A Copperhead shouted with joy "They’ve shot Abe Lincoln,” to the horror Yankee neighbors.  “He’s dead and I’m glad he’s dead.”

In Washington within  8 hours of Lincoln's assassination the Republican Caucus met. The universal feeling was that his death was a god-send, reported Republican Congressman George Julian of Illinois. Those who worked in his cabinet including Supreme Court Chief Justice Chase who had been a competitor truly grieved. People filled the streets near the executive mansion within hours after hearing of Lincoln's death.

The New York Times reported on April 20th on Lincoln's funeral  of the previous day in Washington DC. It is the grieving reaction of the common man in the North that eventually dominated.

"As early as 8 o'clock, people in Washington began to throng the avenue, and by 11 o'clock many thousands were assembled in the vicinity of the departments and the Executive mansion.

After the funeral the corpse was then removed to the hearse, which was in front of the door of the Executive Mansion and at 2 o'clock the procession was formed. It took the line of Pennsylvania-avenue. The sidewalks were densely lined with people from the White House to the Capitol, a distance of a mile and a half. The roofs, porticos, windows and all elevated points were occupied by interested spectators. As the procession started minute guns were fired near St. John's Church, the City Hall and the Capitol. The bells of all the churches in the city and of the various engine-houses were tolled."

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the first proposition is to question economic materialism and victorian christianity. the lines are:

“it moves us not.—great god! i'd rather be

a pagan suckled in a creed outworn; ”

wordsworth is stating that nature no longer interests mankind, that the latter is not “moved” by it and explains that ancient western paganism had a more positive attitude concerning nature since it lacked the perv erted judaeo-christian interpretation of having received the world and all its animals and elements from god to use as we , instead of humans actually being not only part of nature but its wardens, meant to appreciate it and protect it.

the next lines are:

“so might i, standing on this pleasant lea,

have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;

have sight of proteus coming from the sea;

or hear old triton blow his wreathed horn.”

wordsworth here make it very clear that by actually looking and contemplating nature, human beings would reconnect with happiness, serenity and purpose. the use of mythological figures is quite evocative as well, proteus is a greek mythological god of the changing sea. he personifies the sea that changes, which symbolizes the way nature changes and inevitably can change to be destructive not only due to natural causes but to human pollution. furthermore, the sea is even more symbolic since all life originated in the sea so it is not only our past but our future since no life form in our planet can survive without water and if all water is destroyed in earth all life will be gone as well.

he then uses triton which is symbolic of the synthesis of both nature and mankind. triton is a mythological greek god that has the upper body of a man and the lower body of a fish (a merman). this human fish duality evokes the fact that humans are not only human but also part of nature, the fish tail representing nature. the main attribute of this god was that he used a conch shell as a horn to calm the roaring seas. in other words, triton uses nature through science for the benefit of human sailors who risk death during tempests. with the use of such metaphor, wordworth is conveying the message that human technology   is supposed to use nature to preserve nature and thereby humanity as well.