in XV. 1788. The public upon Washthe first mind turned ington for president. It was no sooner ascertained, that the constitution would CHAPTER probably be adopted, than the eyes of the nation were turned upon Washington, as the individual to be selected for that office, the highest, most honorable, and most responsible, that could be conferred by the suffrages of a free people. His reluctance to being farther engaged public life was well known, but every one knew also, that he never refused to obey the call of his country, or to make personal sacrifices for the public good. This was a ground of hope and of confidence. In him the whole people would be united. As to other candidates, there would be differences of opinion, rivalships, and, it was feared, unhappy divisions, that might mar the work so successfully begun, and perhaps end in its overthrow and ruin. The interest felt in the subject, therefore, was intense; and at no period, even during the struggle of the revolution, was the strong support of Washington more necessary, than at this crisis. The public sentiment was too openly and loudly proclaimed to be concealed from him. Indeed those of his compatriots and associates, whose intimacy entitled them to use such a freedom, began early to prepare him for the result, by such arguments and advice, as they knew would be candidly considered, and be the best suited to act upon his mind. Some time before the election, in reply to a letter in which the subject had been brought pointedly before him by a gentleman, then a member of Congress, he wrote as follows. "Should the contingency you suggest take place, and should my unfeigned reluctance to accept the office be overcome by a deference to the reasons and opinions of my friends, might I not, after the declarations I have made, (and Heaven knows they were made in the sincerity of my heart), in the judgment of the impartial world and of posterity, be chargeable with levity and inconsistency, if not with rashness and ambition? Nay, farther, would there not be some apparent foundation for the two former charges? Now justice to myself and is relucgage again tance to en in public life. Sept. 22. XV. 1789. CHAPTER tranquillity of conscience require, that I should act a part, if not above imputation, at least capable of vindication. Nor will you conceive me to be too solicitous for reputation. Though I prize as I ought the good opinion of my fellow citizens, yet, if I know myself, I would not seek or retain popularity at the expense of one social duty or moral virtue. Chosen president of the United States. "While doing what my conscience informed me was right, as it respected my God, my country, and myself, I could despise all the party clamor and unjust censure, which might be expected from some, whose personal enmity might be occasioned by their hostility to the government. I am conscious, that I fear alone to give any real occasion for obloquy, and that I do not dread to meet with unmerited reproach. And certain I am, whensoever I shall be convinced the good of my country requires my reputation to be put in risk, regard for my own fame will not come in competition with an object of so much magnitude. If I declined the task, it would lie upon quite another principle. Notwithstanding my advanced season of life, my increasing fondness for agricultural amusements, and my growing love of retirement, augment and confirm my decided predilection for the character of a private citizen, yet it would be no one of these motives, nor the hazard to which my former reputation might be exposed, nor the terror of encountering new fatigues and troubles, that would deter me from an acceptance; but a belief, that some other person, who had less pretence, and less inclination to be excused, could execute all the duties full as satisfactorily as myself." Suffice it to say, that his scruples yielded to the earnest solicitations of his friends, to mature reflection, and to the counsels of his unerring judgment. The day of election came, and GEORGE WASHINGTON was chosen, by the unanimous vote of the electors, and probably without a dissenting voice in the whole nation, the first President of the United States. CHAPTER XVI. He receives official Notice of being chosen President. His Journey to the XVI. 1789. Leaves Mount Ver non to enter upon his ties. IT being known that the choice of the people had CHAPTER fallen on General Washington for President, he made preparations to begin the duties of the office as soon as his election should be notified to him by the proper authority. The 4th of March was assigned as the day for the meeting of Congress, but a quorum did not come public du together till a month later. The votes of the electors were then opened and counted; and a special messenger was despatched to Mount Vernon with a letter from the President of the Senate to General Washington, conveying official intelligence of his election. John Adams was at the same time declared to be chosen Vice-President of the United States. Two days after receiving the notification, Washington left home for New York, which was then the seat of Congress. His feelings on this occasion are indicated in the following extract from his Diary, written on the day of his departure. "About ten o'clock I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felicity; and, with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sensations than I have words to express, set out for New York in company with Mr. Thomson and Colonel Humphreys, with the best disposition to render service to my country in obedience to its call, but with less hope of answering its expectations." The whole journey was a April 16. Journey to the seat of Congress. XVI. 1789. CHAPTER kind of triumphal procession. He had hardly left his own house, when he was met by a company of gentlemen from Alexandria, who proceeded with him to that town, where an entertainment was provided for him, and where he received and answered a public address. The people gathered to see him as he passed along the road. When he approached the several towns, the most respectable citizens came out to meet and welcome him; he was escorted from place to place by companies of militia; and in the principal cities his presence was announced by the firing of cannon, ringing of bells, and military display. His public entry into New York. April 23. Takes the oath of office. April 30. A committee of Congress, consisting of three members of the Senate and five of the House of Representatives, was appointed to meet him in New Jersey and attend him to the city of New York. To Elizabethtown Point came many other persons of distinction, and the heads of the several departments of government. He was there received in a barge, splendidly fitted up for the occasion, and rowed by thirteen pilots in white uniforms. This was followed by vessels and boats, fancifully decorated, and crowded with spectators. When the President's barge came near to the city, a salute of thirteen guns was fired from the vessels in the harbor, and from the Battery. At the landing he was again saluted by a discharge of artillery, and was joined by the governor and other officers of the State, and the corporation of the city. A procession was then formed, headed by a long military train, which was followed by the principal officers of the State and city, the clergy, foreign ministers, and a great concourse of citizens. The procession advanced to the house prepared for the reception of the President. The day was passed in festivity and joy, and in the evening the city was brilliantly illuminated. The first public act of the President was that of taking the oath of office. It was decided by Congress, that this should be done with some ceremony. In the morning of the day appointed, April 30th, at nine o'clock, religious services suited to the occasion were performed The XVI. 1789. in all the churches of the city. At twelve the troops CHAPTER paraded before the President's door, and soon afterwards came the committees of Congress and the heads of departments in carriages, to attend him to the Federal Hall, where the two houses of Congress were assembled. procession moved forward with the troops in front, next the committees and heads of departments, then the President in a coach alone, followed by the foreign ministers, civil officers of the State, and citizens. Arrived at the Hall, he ascended to the senate-chamber, and passed thence to a balcony in front of the house, where the oath was administered to him in presence of the people by Chancellor Livingston. The President returned to the senate-chamber, in the midst of loud acclamations from the surrounding throng of spectators, and delivered to the two branches of Congress his Inaugural Speech. He then went on foot to St. Paul's Church, where prayers were read by the bishop, and the ceremonies were closed. Tokens of joy were everywhere exhibited, as on the day of his arrival, and at night there was a display of illuminations and fireworks. Under auspices thus favorable, Washington entered again upon the career of public life, surrounded and sustained by the eminent leaders, who had acted with him in establishing the liberties of his country, and cheered with the conviction of having received the voluntary suffrage and possessing the good wishes of every American citizen. Yet he was aware, that the task he had undertaken was one of no common responsibility or easy execution. The hopes and expectations of his countrymen, he knew, were in proportion to the unanimity with which they had crowned him with honors, and laid the burden of their public cares on his shoulders. A new system of government was to be put in action, upon which depended the destiny of his country, and with the good or ill success of which his future reputation would be identified. In his inaugural speech, after expressing his deep sense His inaugu ral speech. |