estimate that four-sevenths of the population of New York A.D. 1788 state were opposed to the Union, we must also believe the ET. 31 contemporary accounts, which assure us that on his return to the city it seemed as if a unanimous people had come out to celebrate his victory. It was not only the Convention of Poughkeepsie which had been conquered by his masterful and persuasive influence. The minds also of the men who welcomed him with hymns and banners1 had been subdued and fascinated by the dramatic spectacle of a visionary young man' struggling against the discipline of overwhelming odds, day after day for six weary weeks, and in the end overcoming all opposition, by the prowess of a great character strung to its highest pitch by the inspiration of a great idea. 1 History, iii. p. 528. The feudal system may have worn out, but its main principle, that the tenure of property should be the fulfilment of duty, is the essence of good government. The divine right of kings may have been a plea for feeble tyrants, but the divine right of government is the keystone of human progress, and without it governments sink into police, and a nation is degraded into a mob.-DISRAELL BOOK III THE FEDERALISTS CHAPTER I President Washington CONGRESS met at New York in April 1789. Upon a canvass A.D. 1789 of the returns from the electoral colleges, it was found that T. 32 General Washington had been chosen President by a unanimous vote. "As he approached the Hall of Congress, he was seen to ' retain the firm, elastic step of a yet vigorous soldier's frame. 'His thin hair of hazel brown, covered with powder, was ' clubbed behind, in the fashion of the day. His dress was of 'black velvet. On his side hung a dress sword, and around 'his neck a ribbon to which was attached, concealed, a minia'ture of his wife, worn, it is stated, from his nuptials until his death. Time,' wrote Fisher Ames, had made havoc upon 'his face. He addressed the two Houses in the Senate 'Chamber; it was a very touching scene, and quite of the 'solemn kind. His aspect grave, almost to sadness; his modesty, actually shaking; his voice deep, a little tremulous, ' and so low as to call for close attention-added to the series ' of objects presented to the mind, and overwhelming it, pro'duced emotions of the most affecting kind upon the members. 'I sat entranced.'"1 1 Fisher Ames, 3rd May 1789, History, iv. p. 8. |