how has it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights, to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. 2. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. To that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend, or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance? 3. I have lived, sir, a long time; and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth-that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, sir, in the Sacred Writings, that "except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it." 4. I firmly believe this; and I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel; we shall be divided by our little, partial, local interests; our projects will be confounded; and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a by-word down to future ages. And, what is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing governments by human wisdom, and leave it to chance, war, and conquest. 5. I therefore beg leave to move, that henceforth, prayers, imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business; and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service. "The motion was evaded by an adjournment. It was feared, according to Madison, lest prayers for the first time, at that late day, might alarm the public, by giving an impression that matters were already desperate."-Hildreth. Election of President and Vice-President.-The first election for President of the United States resulted in the choice of George Washington, who received the whole number of electoral votes. At the same time John Adams, of Massachusetts, was elected Vice-President. New York was then the capital; and in that city Washington appeared before the first constitutional Congress, and was inaugurated on the 30th of April, 1789. SECTION V. THE NATION. Inauguration of Washington.—Hildreth. 1. FROM the moment it had become certain that the Constitution was to go into effect, Washington had been very warmly pressed by numerous correspondents not to decline that post, for which he was so singularly qualified by the choice and the confidence of the entire nation. The general expectation that he would be president had contributed not a little to calm down the excitement against the new Constitution, and to give to its friends so decided a predominance in the choice of members of the first Congress. Fortunate, indeed, it was for the nation to possess, at this crisis of its fate, a man not only fit to fill the office of president, but one in whose fitness the whole people were agreed. 2. Washington desired to proceed to New York in the most private manner, but the flow of veneration and gratitude could not be suppressed. Having been entertained at a public dinner by his neighbors of Alexandria, he was welcomed to Maryland by a collection of citizens assembled at Georgetown. At the frontier of Pennsylvania he was met by a large escort, headed by Mifflin, recently elected president of that State, to whom it thus again fell, to be the instrument of paying honors to the man he had once wronged. A magnificent reception and a splendid entertainment were prepared at Philadelphia, where the Executive Council, the trustees of the University, the judges of the Supreme Court, the officers of the Cincinnati,* and the mayor and common council of the city, hastened to wait on the president elect with their congratulations. 3. Ascending the left bank of the Delaware, Washington crossed the next day into New Jersey. The people of Trenton remembered the battles fought in their neighborhood twelve years before, and if his reception at other places was more splendid, nowhere was it so graceful and touching. On the bridge across the Assumpink, which flows through the town into the Delaware-the same bridge across which Washington had retreated before Cornwallis's army on the eve of the battle of Princeton-a triumphal arch had been erected, supported on thirteen pillars, twined with evergreens, flowers, and laurel. 4. Beneath this arch, which bore for inscription "The Defender of the Mothers will be the Protector of the Daughters," were assembled a party of matrons, mixed with young girls dressed in white, and holding baskets of flowers in their hands. As Washington approached they began to sing a little ode prepared for the occasion: Welcome, mighty chief, once more; Now no mercenary foe Aims again the fatal blow, Aims at thee the fatal blow. Virgins fair and matrons grave, Strew your hero's way with flowers. Suiting the action to the words, they ended the chant in strewing their flowers before him. * The "Society of the Cincinnati" was an association formed by some of the officers of the army a short time before it was disbanded, at Newburg, in 1783. Its objects were, to cultivate friendship among themselves, to commemorate the events in which they had been engaged in the great struggle just closed, to promote the cause of free government in the country, and to afford benevolent assistance to such of their members as might need it. Washington was elected the first president. 5. Having crossed New Jersey, Washington was received at Elizabethtown Point early in the morning, in accordance with a previous arrangement, by a committee of both Houses of Congress, with whom were Jay, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, General Knox, Secretary of War, Samuel Osgood, Arthur Lee, and Walter Livingston, Commissioners of the Treasury, and Ebenezer Hazard, Postmaster-General, then heads of departments, still continuing to act under their appointments from the Continental Congress, until new arrangements could be made. 6. A barge splendidly fitted up, and manned by thirteen pilots in white uniforms, had been provided to convey the president to New York; and quite a naval procession was formed at of a multitude of other boats and barges. After a voyage of several hours, the approach to New York was welcomed by artillery salutes from the battery and the ships in the harbor. At the landing-place at the foot of Wall-street, appropriately decorated for the occasion, Governor Clinton was in waiting, with the principal State officers and those of the city corporation, and a vast concourse of citizens. 7. A procession, headed by a numerous detachment of the city militia, having been formed under a salute of cannon, the president elect was escorted to the house lately occupied by the President of the Continental Congress, and which the new Federal Congress had ordered to be fitted up for his reception. Thence he proceeded to Governor Clinton's, where he was entertained at dinner. The evening closed with a brilliant display of fireworks. 8. As the new Federal Hall was not yet entirely finished, a week elapsed before preparations were completed for administering to the president elect the oath of office. The place selected for that purpose was the outer gallery or balcony of the Senate Chamber,* visible for a long distance down Broad-street, which it fronted, thus affording opportunity to witness the ceremony to a large number of eager spectators. At nine o'clock all the The United States Treasury building now occupies the site. churches in the city were opened for prayer and religious services. A little after noon, the president elect left his house, escorted by the city cavalry, and attended by a committee of Congress and the heads of departments in carriages, followed by the two or three resident foreign ministers, and by a long procession of citizens... 9. Having entered the Senate Chamber, where the two Houses were assembled to receive him, he was conducted to an elevated seat at the head of the room. After a momentary silence, all being seated, the vice-president rose and stated to the president elect that all was ready for the administration of the oath, whenever he was prepared to receive it. Upon this intimation, Washington proceeded to the balcony, followed by the senators and representatives. The oath was administered by the Chancellor of New York, Robert R. Livingston, Jay's predecessor as Secretary for Foreign Affairs. As he finished the ceremony, he exclaimed aloud, "Long live George Washington, President of the United States!" to which the assembled multitude responded in long and enthusiastic shouts.-History of the United States. The Launching of the Ship.-Longfellow. [In these lines the poet graphically describes the launching of a ship, to which he compares the commencement of our national government - the completion of the Union-the launching of the Ship of State.] ALL is finished! and at length Has come the bridal day Of beauty and of strength. To-day the vessel shall be launched! With fleecy clouds the sky is blanched, Slowly, in all his splendors dight The great sun rises to behold the sight. The ocean old,-centuries old, Strong as youth, and as uncontrolled, Paces restless to and fro, Up and down the sands of gold. |