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Show k HT'i -imZ:--- , rw-M,-, ' , , f- V1a Installment 22 If the estate brought money so slow-ly slow-ly In while he farmed it, he must count upon its doing even less while he was away; and yet he had determined deter-mined to accept no Ealary as president, presi-dent, but only his necessary expenses while in the discharge of his official duties, as in the old days of the war. Washington Perplexed. It had brought distressing perplexities perplexi-ties upon him to be thus drawn from his private business to serve the nation. na-tion. Private cares passed off, no doubt, and were forgotten as the journey jour-ney lengthened. ,But the other anxiety, anx-iety, how he should succeed In this large business of statemanship to which he had been called, did not. tass off; the incidents of that memorable mem-orable ride only served to heighten it. When he had ridden to Cambridge that anxious summer of 1773, he had been hailed by chering crowds upon the way, who admired the fine figure he made, and shouted for the cause he was destined to le-d; but he know himself a soldier then, was but forty-three, forty-three, and did not fear to find his duly uncongenial. The people had loved him and had thronged about him with looks and word3 it had quickened his heart to see and hear as he made his way from New York to Annapolis to resign his commission but six years ago; but that was upon the morrow of a task accomplished, and the plaudits he heard upon the way were but greetings greet-ings to speed him the more happily homeward. Things stood very differently, now. Though he felt himself grown old, he had come out to meet a hope he could not share, and it struck a subtle pain to his heart that the people 6hould so trust him should give him so royal a progress as he fared on his way to attempt an untried task. A ' Royal Welcome. No king in days of kings' divinity could have looked for so heartfelt a welcome to his throne as this modest gentleman got to the office he feared to take. Not only were there civil fete and military parade at every stage of the Journey; there was everywhere, besides, be-sides, a running together from all the country roundabouts of people who ' bore themselves not as mere sightseers, sight-seers, but as if they had come out of love for the man they were to see pass by. , It was not their numbers but their manner that struck their hero with a. new sense of responsibility; their earnest gaze, their unpremeditated, cries of welcome, their simple joy to see the new government put into the hands of a man they perfectly trusted. He was to bo their guarantee of Its good faith, of its respect for law and its devotion to liberty; and they made him know their hope and their yx confidence in the very tone of their " greeting. Strew Roses Before Him. There was the manifest touch of love In the reception everywhere prepared pre-pared for him. Refined women broke their reserve to greet him In the open road; put their young daughters forward, for-ward, in their enthusiasm, to strew roses before him in the way; brought tears to his eyes by the very artless-ness artless-ness of their affection. When at last the triumphal journey was ended, the display of every previous pre-vious stage capped and outdone by (lie fine pageant of his escort of boats from Newark and of his reception at I he ferry stairs in New York, the demonstration seemed almost more than he could bear. '"1 ae display of boats which attended attend-ed and joined us," he confessed In his diary, "the decorations of the ships, the roar of the cannon, and the loud acclamations of the people which rent the skies as I walked along the streets, filled my mind with sensa-4 sensa-4 tlons as painful as they are pleasant:" pleas-ant:" for his fears foreboded scenes the opposite of these, when he should have shown himself unable to fuli:l! the hopes which were the burden of all the present joy. It was the 27th of April when Washington Wash-ington reached New York. Notwithstanding his executive fashion fash-ion of making haste, the rising of the country to bid him God-speed had kept him four days longer on the way than Mr. Thomson had taken to carry the summons to Mount Vernon. Three days more elapsed before, congress had completed its preparations for his inauguration. On the 10th of April. In the presence pres-ence of a great concourse of people. 'hn first broke into wild cheers at fisht of him. and then fell silent "gain upon the instant to Bee him so moved. Washington stood face to face with the chancellor of the slate ur-on 'he open balcony of the Federal hall I" Wall street, and took the oath of office. Takes the Oath. "Do you solemnly sw-ear," asked , Livingston, "that you will faithfully execute the office of president of the United Slates, and will, to the st of Tour ability, preserve, protect and de-fi'tKl de-fi'tKl i. hp Constitution of the Unite-i St 2 1 ps?" - solemnly swear replied v'' i. -that I will faithfully 1 execute the office of president of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States," and then, bending to kiss tha nible held before him, bowed his head and said "So harlp me God!" in tonus no man could mistake, so deep was their thrill of feeling. , Hailed as President. "Long live George Washington, 'president of the United States!" cried Livingston to the people; and a groat shout went up with the booming of the cannon in the narrow streets. Washington was profoundly moved, mov-ed, and, with all his extraordinary mastery of himself, could not hide his agitation. It was a company of friends, the cenators , and representatives who stood about him within the sanate chamber as he read his address, after the taking of the oath. Some very old friends were there men who had been with him in the first continental congress, men who had been his intimate correspondents the long years Uirough, men who were now his close confidants and sworn supporters. Not many strangers stran-gers could crowd into the narrow hall; and It was not mere love of cereDiony, but genuine and heartfelt respect, that made the whole company com-pany stand while he read. Washington Visibly Moved. He visibly tremr'.f d, nevertheless, SB he stood in their presence, strong and steadfast man though he was, "and several timps could scarce make out to read;" shifted his manuscript uneasily from hand to hand; gestured with awkward effort; let his voice fail almost inaudible; was every way unlike himself, except for the simple majesty and sincerity that shone In him through it all. His manner but gave emphasis, after all, to the words he was reading. "The magnitude and difficulty of the trust," he declared, "could not but overwhelm with despondence one who, inheriting inferior endowments from nature, and unpracticed in the duties of civil administration, ought to be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies;" and no one there could look at him and deem him insincere when he added, "All I dare aver is that it has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just apprecia-! tion of every circumstance by which it might be affected. All I dare hope is that, if in executing 'this task I have., been too much .swayed by a grateful remembrance of former instances, in-stances, or by an affectionate sensibility sensi-bility to this ' transcendent proof of the confidence of my fellow-citizens, and have thence too little consulted my incapacity as well as disinclination disinclina-tion for the weighty and untried cares before me, my error will be palliated by the motives which misled me, and its consequences be judged by my country with some share of the partiality par-tiality with which they originated." Some Vital Truths. His hearers know how near the truth he struck when he said, "The. smiles of Heaven can never be expected ex-pected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself ' has ordained; and the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, the destiny of the republican repub-lican model of government, are justly just-ly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment intrusted in-trusted to the hands of the American people." It was, no doubt, "a novelty In the history of society to see a great people peo-ple turn a calm and scrutinizing eye upon Itself," as the people of America Amer-ica had done; "to see it carefully ex- , . i fj.- : :: :vi 'vVSt-iv... l.-fc-t '. ft. 'v -'-i-.t.-i'S? -1 k' First Presidential Mansion, New York, amine the extent of the evil" into which disunion and disorder had brought it; "patiently wait for two years until a remedy was discovered;" and at last voluntarily adopt a new order and government "without having hav-ing wrung a tear or a drop of blood from mankind." Overcome by Responsibility. Rut Washington knew that the oraise deserved for such mastery and self-possession would be short-lived enough if the new government should fail or be discredited. It was the overpowering thought that he himself would be chielly responsible re-sponsible for Its success or failure that shook his nerves as he stood '.here at the beginning .of his task: nnd no man of right sensibility in that audience failed to like him the better and trust hign Che mora implicitly im-plicitly for Wis emotion. "It was a very touching scene," wrote Fisher Ames, of Massachusetts. Massachu-setts. "It seemed to me an allegory in which virtue was personified as addressing ad-dressing those whom she would make her votaries. Her power over the heart was never greater, and the illustration il-lustration of lier doctrine by her own example was never more perfect." Words of Appeal. "I feel how much I shall stand in need of the countenance and aid of every friend to myself, of every friend to the Revolution, and of every lover of good government," were Washington's words of appeal to Edward Ed-ward Rutledge, of South Carolina; and he never seemed to Ms friends more attractive or more noble than now. Turns to New Duties. The inauguration oer, the streets fallen quiet again, the legislative business of the houses resumed, Washington Wash-ington regained his old self-possession, and turned to master his new duties with a calm thoroughness of purpose which seemed at once to pass into the action of the government itself. Perhaps it was true, as he thought, that he had been no statesman hitherto; hith-erto; though those who had known him would have declared themselves of another mind. He had carried the affairs of the Confederation upon his own' shoulders, while the war lasted, after a fashion the men of that time were not likely to forget, so full of energy had he been, so provident and capable upon every point of policy. His letters, too, since the war ended, had shown his correspondents the country over suoh an appreciation of the present, so sure a forecast of the future, so masculine an understanding of what waited to be done and at the means at hand to do it," that they, at least, accounted him their leader in peace no less than in war. But statesmanship hitherto had been only incidental to his duties as a soldier sol-dier and a citizen. It had been only an accident of the Revolution that he had had himself, oftentimes, to supply the foresight and the capacity in action ac-tion which the halting congress lacked. He had had no experience at all in actual civil administration. He did not know his own abilities, or realize real-ize how rich his experience in affairs had, In fact, been. He went about his new tasks with diffidence, therefore, but with the full-pulsed heartiness, too, of the man who thoroughly trusts himself, him-self, for the capacity at any rate of taking pains. Statesmanship was now his duty his whole duty and it was his purpose to understand and execute the office of president as he had understood under-stood and administered the office of general Need for Caution. He knew what need there was for caution. This was to be, "in the first Instance, In a considerable degree, a government of accommodation as well as a government of laws. Much was to be done by prudence, much by conciliation, con-ciliation, much by firmness." "I walk," he said, "on untrodden ground. There is scarcely an action the motive of which may not be subjected to a double interpretation. There is scarcely scarce-ly any part of my conduct which may not hereafter be drawn into precedent." prece-dent." But, though he sought a prudent course, he had no mind to be timid; though he asked advice, he meant to be his own master. Washington had, no doubt, a more precise understanding of what the new government must be made to mean than any other man living, except, perhaps, Hamilton and Madison, the men whom he' most consisted. The Confederation had died in contempt, despised for its want of dignity and power. The new government must daserve and get pre-eminent standing from the first. Its policy must make the states a nation, must stir the people out of their pettiness as colonists col-onists and provincials, and give them a national character and spirit It was not a government only that was to be created, but the definite body of opinion also which should sustain and perfect it. It must be made worth believing in, and the best spirits of the country must be rallied to its support. sup-port. It was not the question simply of how strong the government should be. Us action must, as Washington said, be mixed of firmness, prudence and conciliation, if it would win liking and loyalty as well as respect. It must cultivate tact as well as eschew weakness; weak-ness; must win as well as compel obedience. Gives Dignity to Office. It was of the first consequence to the country, therefore, that the man it had -chosen to preside in this delicate deli-cate business of establishing a government gov-ernment which should be vigorous without being overbearing was a thoroughbred gentleman, whose instincts in-stincts would carry him a great way toward the solution of many, a nice question of conduct. VWiile he waited to be made president presi-dent he called upon every senator and representative then in attendance upon congress, with the purpose to show them upon how cordial and natural nat-ural a basis of personal acquaintance ho wished, for his part, to see the government coiducted; but, tt oath of office once taken, he was no longnr a simple citizen, as he had een during dur-ing those two days of waiting; the dignity of the- government had come into his keeping with the office. Henceforth Hence-forth he would pay no more calls, accept ac-cept no invitations. On a day fixed he would receive calls; and he would show himself once a week at Mrs. Washington's general receptions. lie would invite persons of official rank or marked distinction to his table at suitable intervals. There should be no pretense of seclusion, seclu-sion, no parade of inaccessibility. The president should be a republican officer, offi-cer, the servant of the people. But he would not be common. It should be known that hla office and authority were the first in the land. Every proper outward form of dignity, dig-nity, ceremony and self-respect should be observed that might tell whole-semely whole-semely upon, the imagination of the people; that might be made to serve as a visible sign, which no man could miss, that there was here no vestige of the old federal authority, at which it had been the fashion to laugh, but a real government, and that the greatest great-est In the land. Prestige for Government. Some thought him stiff, but only the churlish could deem him unrepubllcan, so evident was it to every candid man that it was. not himself but his office he was exalting. His old passion for success was upon him, and he meant that this government of which he had been made the head should have prestige pres-tige from the first. Count de Moustier, the French minister, min-ister, to the United States, deeming America, no doubt, a protege ol France, claimed the right to deal directly di-rectly with the president in person, as if upon terms of familiar privilege, when conducting his diplomatic business busi-ness but was checked very promptly. It was not likely a man bred in th proud school of Virginian country gentlemen gen-tlemen would miss so obvious a poini of etiquette as this. To demand Intimacy Inti-macy was to intimate superiority, and Washington's reply drew from the count an instant apology. TTiat the United States had every reason to hold France in loyal affection affec-tion Washington gladly admitted with all stately courtesy; but affection became be-came servility when it lost self-respect, self-respect, and France must approach the president of the United States as every other country did, through the properly constituted department. "If there are rules of proceeding," he said, quietly, "whioh have originated from the wisdom of statesmen, and are sanctioned by the common assent o! nations, it would not be prudent for a young state to dispense with them altogether" al-together" particularly a young state (his thought added) which foreign states had despised and might now try to patronize. These small matters would carry an infinite weight of suggestion with them, as he knew, and every suggestion sugges-tion that proceeded from the president should speak, of dignity and independence. indepen-dence. Stricken With Illness. He had been scarcely six weeks in office when he was stricken with a 6harp illness. A malignant tumor in his thigh seemed to his physicians -for a time to threa'en mortification It was three weeks before he could take the air again, stretched painfully at length in his coach; even his stalwart strength was slow to rally from the" draft made upon it by the disease, and its cure with the knife. There was deep anxiety for a little among those who knew, so likely did It seem that the life of the government govern-ment was staked upon his life. Ha himself had looked very calmly into the doctor's troubled face, and had bidden him tell him the worst with that placid firmness that always cama to him in moments of danger. "I am not afraid to die," ha said. "Whether -tonight or twenty years hence makes no difference.1 I know that I am in the hands of a good Providence." Prov-idence." ' (TO BE CONTINUED.) |