death? The chivalric sons of the South stood side by side with the gallant sons of the North. They fought for the same cause. They shed their blood in defense of the same soil. Their last dying prayers were uttered for their country, and their whole country one and inseparable. Thus that holy band of revolutionary martyrs, from the sunny South and the frigid North fought and bled side by side in every battle of the Revolution from Lexington to Yorktown.

The Articles of Confederation were not adopted until nearly a year and a half after they were reported by the committee. The committee reported twenty articles; only thirteen were finally adopted. This was but little more than a union of sovereign States in a firm league of friendship with each other for their common defense, binding themselves to assist each other to resist all force offered against either of the States. The powers of Congress were such only as were necessary in carrying on the war, and then it amounted to little more than power to recommend, advise, and entreat. Under the Articles of Confederation the Revolutionary War was prosecuted and terminated, and our independence achieved.

Eight years of desolating war had made almost every house in the land a house of mourning. Fathers, husbands, brothers, sons, were missed from the family circle. The illustrious Commander-in-chief disbanded the remnant of his victorious army, imploring upon them ample justice from their grateful country, and the choicest blessings of heaven from the God of battles. As the veteran soldier laid aside his arms and returned to the home of other days, neglected and deserted, he keenly felt the fearful price which had been paid for liberty. To the one hundred and thirty millions expended, and the debt of fifty millions incurred, was to be added individual ruin, personal suffering, and loss of life.

On the 4th of December, 1783, the officers of the army assembled at Francis' Tavern in Broad street, in this city, for a final parting with their beloved Commander-in-chief. On entering the room where they were assembled, Washington said: "With a heart full of love and gratitude I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious

and honorable." Each officer approached the chief, and Washington, incapable of utterance, bade each a silent farewell. Every eye was filled with tears and not one word interrupted the eloquent silence. They followed their chief to Whitehall in mute and solemn procession, where he entered a barge, and turning to his officers who stood uncovered upon the shore, and waving his hat bade them a silent adieu.

Immediately after the close of the Revolution the Confede. rated Congress recommended taxation and duties, but it had no power to levy and collect taxes or enforce the payment of duties. The Articles of Confederation were insufficient as a system of government. There was no longer the pressure of common danger which had given strength to the bonds of the Federal Union. The minds of the wisest and best men of the nation were filled with gloomy forebodings. They felt that there was an impending crisis in the affairs of the nation.

In 1784 Washington wrote: "The disinclination of the individual States to yield competent power to Congress for the Federal Government-their unreasonable jealousies of that body and of one another-and the disposition which seems to pervade each, of being all-wise and all-powerful within itself, will, if there be not a change in the system, be our downfall as a nation. I think we have opposed Great Britain, and have arrived at the present state of peace and independence. to but very little purpose, IF WE CAN NOT CONQUER OUR OWN PREJUDICES." There was a general conviction in the public mind that some step must be taken to avert the impending calamity which hung over the country.

At length a gleam of light broke through the darkness. Virginia proposed a Convention of the Confederated States to consider and adopt some uniform system of trade and commerce for all the States. Five States met in Convention. They drew up a report recommending another Convention. "to take into consideration the situation of the United States, and to devise such provisions as should seem to them necessary to render the Constitution of the Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union."

Delegates were soon after appointed from all the States except Rhode Island. The delegates, fifty-five in number, met and

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framed "The Constitution of the United States." They closed their sitting and adjourned. The members returned to their several States to advocate the approval and adoption of the Constitution they had framed. The following year, which is known as the year of suspense, at length drew to a close. The ratification of nine States was to be sufficient for the establishment of the Constitution between the States so ratifying the same. Before the 1st of July, 1788, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New-Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusets, Maryland, South-Carolina, New-Hampshire, and Virginia, in the order here named, had approved and adopted the proposed Constitution. The event was every where hailed by the people with enthusiastic delight. Long processions, with banners and devices, and martial music, and ringing of bells, and firing of cannons, paraded the streets. Cities and villages were illuminated, and bonfires blazed on every hilltop in the country. Ten of the columns which were to support the federal edifice had been erected. The others were nearly completed. During the month of July the Constitution was accepted and adopted by the State of New-York.

As soon as nine States had accepted and adopted the Constitution, the Confederated Congress, then in session in the city of New-York, passed an act for the election of President, VicePresident, and members of Congress, under the new Constitution. The election was held. The new Congress met in the city of New-York on the 4th of March, 1789. On the 6th of April, a quorum being present, the ballots for President were examined and counted. George Washington was found to be unanimously elected. He was informed of his election. He proceeded at once to the city of New-York. All along the route he was greeted with irrepressible enthusiasm. All ages and sexes and conditions rushed forth to meet him. Triumphal arches were erected, and his pathway strewn with flowers. He was every where greeted with the roar of cannon, the sound of martial music, with songs and shouts of wel

come.

At length the day arrived-the 30th of April, 1789—when Washington was to be inaugurated the first Chief Magistrate of this united and consolidated Republic. At nine o'clock the

people assembled in their churches to implore the divine blessing upon the President and the Nation. At twelve o'clock Washington appeared on the colonnade of the City Hall, at the corner of Nassau and Wall streets, attended by his Cabinet and both Houses of Congress. In the presence of the hundred thousand freemen who thronged Wall, Nassau, and Broad streets, Chancellor Livingston read to the President the following oath:

"You do solemnly swear that you will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of your ability, PRESERVE, PROTECT, and DEFEND the CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES."

Washington pronounced the words of the oath clearly and distinctly after the Chancellor, and closing his eyes, with his whole soul absorbed in the supplication, he added, "So help me God!" and kissed the Bible lying before him. Chancellor Livingston then said to the multitude: "It is done. Long live George Washington, President of the United States!" Then was uttered such a shout of united and consolidated freemen as was never before heard on earth. The nation from that day entered upon the path of prosperity, greatness, and happiness, without a parallel in the history of the race.

The idea of a special Providence controlling, and aiding, and cherishing this nation, had long pervaded the mind of Washington and other leading minds in this country. At the close of the Revolution, when Washington had taken leave of the army, and appeared before the Confederated Congress to return his commission, he closed his memorable address to that body by saying: "I consider it an indispensable duty to close this, my last act of official life, by commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of those interests to his holy keeping. Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the theatre of action, and bidding an affectionate farewell to this august body, under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my commission and take my leave of all the employments of public life." The reply on the part of Congress was as follows: "We join with you in commending the interests of our country to Almighty God, beseeching

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him to dispose the hearts and minds of its citizens to improve the opportunity afforded them of becoming a happy and respectable nation. And for you we address to him our warmest prayers that a life so beloved may be fostered with all his care, that your days may be as happy as they have been illus trious, and that he will finally give you that reward which this world can not bestow."

After Washington had taken the Presidential oath of office, he returned to the Senate Chamber in the City Hall, and in the presence of his Cabinet and both Houses of Congress, he delivered his inaugural address. In the course of this address he said: "It would be peculiarly improper to omit in this my first official act, my fervent supplication to the Almighty Being who presides in the councils of nations, WHO RULES OVER THE UNION, and whose providential aid can supply every human defect, that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States, A GOVERNMENT

INSTITUTED BY THEMSELVES FOR THEIR ESSENTIAL PURPOSES.

"In tendering this homage to the great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of our fellow-citizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency; and in the revolution just accomplished in the system of this united government, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities, from which the event has resulted, can not be compared with the means by which most governments have been established without some return of pious gratitude, with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seems to presage.

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Admitting that God is the Supreme Legislator, and Ruler, and Judge that his law is above all human compacts and constitutions and laws-that he presides in the councils of nations and controls the affairs of men, that he judges the world in righteousness and the people with his truth-let us compare