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Show v - 54XVms sToinror the ftost pskesii V3 ivy hie president' J-C 0 , The uiemBcrs of tb new ,.o..Kif, were so laggard In coming together that it was thd fth of April, mil. be foro both bouses could count a quorum, though tbe 4tu of March had been appointed tbo day for tbelr con-vowing. con-vowing. Washington Notified. Their first business was tbe opening and counting of the electoral votes; and ou tbe 7th Charles Thomson, tbo faithful and sedulous gentleman who bad been clerk of every congress since the first one In tbe old colonial days fifteen years ago, got away on his long rids to Mount Vernon to notify no-tify Washington of his election. Affairs waited upon the Issue of bis errand. Washington had for long known what waa coming, and was ready and resolute, as of old. There bad been no formal nominations nomina-tions for tbo presidency, and the votes of tbe electors bad lain under seal till tbo new congress met and found a quorum; but it was an open secret who had been chosen president, and Washington bad made up bis rolud what to do. Bids His Mother Farewsll. Mr. Thomson reached Mount Vernon Ver-non on the 14th, and found Washington Washing-ton ready to obey his summons at one. He waited only for a hasty ride to Fredericksburg to bid his aged mother farewell. fine was not tender In the parting Her last days bad come, and she bad set herself to bear with grim resolution resolu-tion the fatal disease that had long been upon her. She had never been i lender, and these latter days bad add , ed their touch of hardness, fiut It was a tonic to her son to take her farewell, none the less to besr her tnee more bid lilm Ood speed, ard once more command him. aa she did. to his duty. On tbe morning of April 16 Washington Wash-ington took the northern road as so often before, and pressed forward on the way for New York. Tbe setting out was msde with a very heavy heart; for duty had never seemed to him so unattrsctlve as It seemed now, and his difference had never been so distressing. "For myself the delay may Ue cum pared tf. a reprieve," he had written to Knox, v. hen he learned how slow congress con-gress wss In coming together, "for la confidence I tell you thst my movements move-ments to the chair of government will be accompanied by feeling not unlike those of a culprit who Is going to the place of enecutlon." Departs with a Heavy Heart. When the day for bis departure csme, his diary spoke the same heaviness heavi-ness of heart. "About ten o'clock," he wrote. "1 bade adieu to Mount Vernon, Ver-non, to private life, and to domestic felicity; and with a mind oppressed with more antlous and painful sensation sensa-tion than 1 have words to express, set out for New York." He did not doubt that he was doing right; he doubted his capacity In civil affairs, and loved the sweet retirement and the free life be was leaving behind be-hind him. Grief and foreboding did not In the least relax bis proud energy and promptness In action. He was not a wblt the less resolute to attempt this j new role and stretch his powers to the uttermost lo play It In masterful fash-Ion. fash-Ion. He wss only wistful nd full of a sort of manly sadness; lacking not resolution, but only alacrity, Obliged to Borrow Money. He had hoped to the last that he would be suffered to spend the rest of his days at Mount Vernon; hm knew tbe place must lack efficient keeping, and fall once more out of repair under un-der hired overseers; ho feared his strength would be spent and his last years come ere he could return to look to It and enjoy It himself again. He had but just now been obliged tr borrow a round sum of money to meet pressing obligations; and the eipenses of this very Journey hsd made It neces sary to add a full hundred pounds to Uut new debt. I (To k covrnruF.n.) Installment 21 The Ststss Apathetic. j Bnt when the commissioners assera-fled assera-fled they found only five states representedVirginia, repre-sentedVirginia, Pennsylvania, Dela- 1 ware, New Jersey and New York. 1 Maryland had suddenly fallen Indlf- 1 ferent, and had not appointed delegate. dele-gate. New Hampshire, Massachu- 1 setts, Rhodo Island and North Caro- Una had appointed delegates, but they had not taken tbe trouble to come. Connecticut. South Carolina and Oeor i gla h.id Ignored the call altogether. I The delegates who were In attend- I ance, besides, had come with only the t most Jealously restricted powers; only I New Jersey, In her great uneasiness t st being neighbor to the powerful states of New York and Pennsylvania, I had authorized her representatives to "consider how far a uniform system 1 In their commercial regulations and i other Important matters might be nee- j esrary to the common Interest and t permanent harmony of -the several states." t Hamilton's Stirring Appeal. The other delegates had no such scope: all deemed It futile to attempt r their business In so small a convention; conven-tion; and It was resolved to make another an-other opportunity. , Alexander Hamilton of New York t drew up their address to the states, g and In It made bold to adopt New Jer- t sey's bint, and ask for a conference which should not merely consider . questions of trade, but also "devise such further provisions as should ap- r pear to them necessary to render the 8 constitution of the federal govern- ment adequate to the exigencies of the Union." u Hamilton held with Washington for a national government. Congress Indifferent. He had !' n horn, and bred aa a lad, y In the West Indies, and had never t( nceivcd the local pride of any colony- n state Into bis blood. He bad served c with the army, too. In doe Intimacy with Washington, and, though twenty- I' five years his captain's Junior, had n seen as clearly as be saw the deep ' hazards cf a nation's birth. o The conpress was Indifferent. If not h hostile, to tbe wiearurcs which the ad- dress proposed: and tbe states would have acted on the call as slackly as be- T fore, bad not the winter brought with it something like a threat of social o revolution, and fairly startled them a out of tbfir negligent humor. a The Rebellion of Shays. I" Tho central countlea of Massachusetts Massachu-setts broke Into violent rebellion, under un-der one Shays, veteran of the Revolu- r tion not to reform the government, a: but to rid themselves of It altogether; V to shut tbe courts and escape the pay. pi ment of debts and taxes. The Insurgents worked their will for u weeks together; drovt out tha officers la of the law, burned and plundered at w pleasure through whole districts, II v. c Ing upon the land like a hostile army, to ft id were brought to a reckoning at hi Ust only when a force thousands D( strong had been levied against them. K States Sympathize With Shays. n, The contagion spread to Vermont p, tod New Hampshire; and, even when p, the outbreak had been crushed, the states concerned were Irresolute In tbe punishment of the leaders. f( Rhode island declared her sympathy tt with tho Insurgent; Vermont offered g, them asylum; Massachusetts brought the leaders to trial and conviction, convic-tion, only to pardon and set tbem free . aKain. Congress dared do no more than make (overt preparation to check a M general rising. a? Washington's Indignant Protest. . "You talk, my good sir," wrote . Washington to Henry ieo In congress, '' of employing Influences to appease the rrwnt tumults In Massachusetts. I know riot where that Influence is to ' be ft-jfcd. or, If attained, that It would be a proper remedy tor tho disor " ders. Influence Is i,o government Ijet us havt, cue by which our Jives, liberties liber-ties .nt properties will be secured, or 0 let us know the worst at once." It cs an object lessen for the whole v coun r; ; th dullest and the most u ktharic knew now what slack government gov-ernment and financial disorder would ,V prcd its. 1 b Tt, ststes one and aJl save Rhode l Islat d -twthought Jum of tbe eon- J' veiitku called to meet In Philadelphia $' on ih. second Mcnday In May, HS7, and d legato were appointed Vi E'a rougrees took the lesson to ' heart, and gave It sanction to tbo conference. Tbe legislature of Virginia put th Washington s Dame at the head of Ita :U own list of deh gatM, and after bis m name the names of Patrick Henry, nc "Mund Randolph. John lilalr, James im yadsson. George Mason, and George fci Wythe tbe leading names of the rtte, no man could doubt. n hut Wssbing'oa hesitated. Ha bad bt Iresd; dH lined to meet tbo Society pr f the Cincinnati In Philadelphia about hi 'l.o same time, be ssld. abd thought It he r aid be disrerpectful to that body, to cc hem be owed much, "to b there oa to nr 'hrr oersslon " or He fven feinted a doubt whether the rr:ver.t!n wss eonstltottonal. Its p . f,v e.f ftirposet being what they so ra nidi agrees tardily sanction- fo ! s bs His real reasons bis Intimate frteuds must have dlvlued from tbe first. Tboy kuew blm bolter In auch tnattoro than be knew himself. He not only lovod bla retirement; he doomed hlmseJf a soldier and man of action, and do statesman. Tho floor of assemblies bad Dover emed to blm bis principal sphoro of duty. Ho bad thought of stsying away from tbo house of burgesses on private priv-ate business 20 yeara ago, when he knew that the stamp act was to bo do-bated. do-bated. Hut It was not for the floor of tbo approaching convention that bis friends wanted him; tboy told him from the first he must preside. He was known to be In favor of giving giv-ing tbe Confederation powers that would make it a ren! government, and he thought that enough; but tbey wanted tbo whole country to aeo him pledged to the actual work, and, when they had persuaded blm to attend, knew that they had at any rate won tho confidence of tho people In tbelr patriotic purpose His mere presence would give tbem power. Tho Virginians First to Arrive. Washington aud tho other Virginians were prompt to be In Philadelphia on the day appointed, but only tho Pennsylvania Penn-sylvania delegates were thero to moot them. They had to wait an anxious week before so many as seven states were represented. Mesuwblle, those who gathered from day to day were norv-ous norv-ous and apprehensive, and there was talk of compromise and halfway measures, meas-ures, should the convention prove weak or threaten to miscarry, Washington's Bravo Worda. They remembered for many a long year afterwards how nobly Washington, Washing-ton, "standing self collected In the midst of them," bud uttered bravo counsels of wisdom In their rebuke. . "It Is too probable," he said, "that no plan we propose will be adopted. Perhaps Per-haps another dreadful conflict Is to be sustained, if, to please the people, we offer what wo ourselves disapprove, how can we afterwards defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair. -The event is In tbe hand of God." It was an utterance, they knew, not of statesmanship merely, but of character; char-acter; and It waa that character, if anything could, that would win tbe peoplo to their support. President of tho Convention. , When at last suvtu states were representeda rep-resenteda quorum of the thirteen an organization was effected, and Washington wss unanimously chosen president of tbe convention. He spoke, when led to the chair, "of the novelty of the scene of business In which be was to act, lamented bis . want of better qualifications, and . claimed tho Indulgence of tho house towards the Involuntary errort which , bla Inexperience might occasion;" but j no mere parliamentarian could have y given that anxious body such steadl , ness In business of such grave earn- , estness In counsel as it got from hi presence and influence in tbo chair. Five more states wero In attendance before deliberation waa very far ad vanced; but be had the satisfaction to see his own friends lead upon tbe , floor. t Washington's Friends Lead. j It was tho plan which Edmund Ran-dolph Ran-dolph proposed, for his fellow Virgin- ( lans, which the convention accepted as a model to work from; it was James j Madison, that young master of coun- ( e, who guided tbo deliberations from day to day, little as bo showed his t hand In tbe work or seemed to put trimself forward In debate. No speeches came from tbo presl dnt; only once or twice did bo break . the decorum of his office to temper omo difference of opinion or facilitate , ivnie measure of accomodation. ( It vis the 17th of September when t Uie convention at last broke up; tbe . 14th vben the Constitution it bad t wrobglt out was pullUhed to the Miuutry. All the slow summer through 4 Washington bsd kept counsel with . ih rest a to the anxious work that aa going forwsrd U-fejod tbe closed ( J.rs of the lor conference; It was a grateful relief to be rid of tbe pain- 1 ful strain, and be returned to Mount l Vernon like one be part In the t work was done. Keen for New Govern set. t "1 never saw blm o keen for any- 1 thing In my life as b is for tbo adop- 1 :ion of tbo new sc-.tme of govorn- " stent." wrote a visitor at Mount Ver- j Don to Jefferson; but ho took no other I art than bis rorreifcndence afforded f ilm In the agita'lon .rr Ita acceptance 0 Throughout a.i Vioso long fonr t months in Phili-delpiiia he bad gives t Ms whole m tnd ami energy to every process of difficult U'Unsei by which It bad ben wrought ( completion; but t He was no politicise. Earnestly as bo i wramended tbo pis to hi friends, b e ,00k no public pan sltber in defense :r lo advocacy of It e Ho read not only tbo Federalist pa- 1 era, in which HamUtoo and Msdl- ( ion and Jar tasds tbelr masterly plea 'or tbo adoption of tbo Constitution, a jut also "every performance which ha t been printed on th ono aide and tbe other on tbo great question." he said, o far aa bo was able lo obtain them; nd he felt as poignantly aa any man tho deep excitement of tho moraouV-ous moraouV-ous oootost. It disturbed him kesinly to find Ooorgo Mason opposing tbo constitution constitu-tion tho dear friend from whom b bad always accepted conusel hitherto In public affairs and Richard Henry Leo and Patrick Henry, too. in tbelr passionate attachment to what they deemed tho Just sovereignty of Vlr-glnla. Vlr-glnla. He could turn away with all his old self possession, nevertheless, to discuss dis-cuss questions of culture and tillage, In the midst of the struggle, with Arthur Ar-thur Young over sea, and to write very gallant compliments to the Marquis Mar-quis do ChasteUiy- on his marriage. Compliments tho Marqul. "80 your day has st lengtb come," ho laughed. "I am glad of It with all my heart and soul. It Is quite good enough for you. Now you are well 1 served for coming to fight In favor of tbo American rebels all the way across the Atlantic ocean, by catching that terrible contagion domestic felicity which, like tho smallpox, or the plague, a man can have only once In hi life, because It commonly lasts him (st ltast wltb us In America I don't know how yeu manage such matters In Franco) for Ms whole lifetime." Ten months of deep but quiet agitation agi-tation the force of opinion In close grapple and th futur oemed to clear. The constitution wa adopted, only two states dissenting. It had been a tense and stubborn fight; lu sucb states as Massachusetts and Now York, the concerted action of men at the centers of trade against the Instinctive dread of centralisation or change In the regions that lay back from the rivers and the sea; In states like Virginia, where the mass of men sailed to be led tbe leaders who bad vbion against those who had only the slow wisdom of caution and presentiment. presenti-ment. Virginia Maintained th Initiative. But, though ah acted late Id the Jiuslness. and some home-keeping "spirits among even her greater men held bark, Virginia did not lose tbe place of Initiative she had had In all this weighty business of reform. Something lit her air or ber life bad given her In these latter years an extraordinary ex-traordinary breed of public men men liberated from local prejudice, possessed pos-sessed of a vision and an efficacy in affairs worthy of tbe best traditions of statesmanship among the English race from which they were sprung, capable of taking tbe long view, of seeing tho permanent lines of leadership leader-ship upon great question, and shaping shap-ing ordinary views to meet extraordinary extraor-dinary ends. Even Henry and Msson could tske tbelr discomfiture gracefully, loyally, like men bred to free Institutions; and Washington bad the deep satisfaction to see bis state come without hesitation hesita-tion to bi view and hope. Country Demands Washington. Tbo hew constitution mado sure of, and a time set by congress for tbe 1 lections and tho organization of a Dew government under it, the country coun-try turned as ono man to Washington to b tbo first president of tbo United Btates. "Wo cannot, sir, do without you," cried Governor Johnson tf Maryland, "and 1 and thousand raore can explain ex-plain to anybody but yourself why we cannot do without you." To make any one else president. It teemed to men every bare, would be like crowning a aubject while (be king was by. WashinWon Holds Back. Hot Washington held back, as he bad beld back from attending tbe con-itltutlonal con-itltutlonal convention. He doubted his civil rapacity, callni himself an old man, said "It would be to forego repose re-pose and domestic enjoyment for trouble, perhaps for public obloquy." , "Tbo acceptance," be declared, "would be attended with more diffidence diffi-dence and reluctance than I over experienced ex-perienced before In my life." fiut he was not permitted to de-d'.im. de-d'.im. Hamilton told blm that bi attendance at-tendance upon the constitutions! contention con-tention must be taken to hare pledged blm lo tbe view of tbo country to lake part also In the formation of the ovrntr.ent. "In a matter so essential essen-tial to tbe well being of society aa the prosperity of a newly instituted lovernment," said the great advocate, 'a cltlien of so much consequence as rouraelf to Its success has no option but to lend his services. If called for. Permit me to say It would be Inglorl-oa. Inglorl-oa. In such a situation, not to hazard th glory, however great, which be rulgbt have previously acquired " Yield to Popular Will. Washington, of court, yielded, like h siinple-mluded gentleman and soi-llr soi-llr h was. when it waa mad (bua a natter of duty. When tho vote of tbo elector were opened la tho new congress, and it sas found that tbey wero on and all tor blm, b no longer doobtod. Ho did lot know how to decline such a call, tad turned wltb all bi old coursje to b bow task. |
