COUNTING THE ELECTORAL VOTE.

177

George Read, of Delaware; Pierce Butler, of South Carolina and William Few, of Georgia.

In the House were Nicholas Gilman, of New Hampshire; Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts; Roger Sherman, of Connecticut; George Clymer and Thomas Fitzsimons, of Pennsylvania; Daniel Carroll and John Francis Merof Maryland; James Madison, of Virginia, and Abraham Baldwin, of Georgia. Frederick Muhlenberg, who had presided over the ratifying convention of Pennsylvania, was elected Speaker of the House.

cer,

On the sixth of April, the electoral votes for President and Vice-President were counted, in the Senate chamber, in the presence of both Houses, and it was found that Washington, having received sixty-nine, was the unanimous choice for President, and that John Adams, of Massachusetts, who had received thirty-four, the next highest number, was elected Vice-President.1

New York, obedient to the influence of Clinton, had refused to appoint electors, and North Carolina and Rhode Island had not yet ratified the Constitution. Charles Thompson, the faithful secretary of the old Congress, throughout its history, was appointed to bear the news of the election to Washington, and Sylvanus Bourne was made a special messenger of the Senate to carry a like message to John Adams.2 Washington was reluctant to assume so novel, so trying a duty; but convinced that the successful inauguration of the new government depended upon his identification with it, he accepted the task.3 "The

1 Id., 17.

2 Id., 18.

3 See Washington's letters to John Armstrong, April 25, 1788; to Lafayette and Rouchambeau, April 28, 1788; to Hamilton, August 28; to Henry Lee, September 22; to Hamilton, October 3; to Benjamin Lincoln, October 26; to Gouverneur Morris, November 28; to Jonathan Trumbull, December 4; to Samuel Hansen, January 18, 1789, et al.

178

INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON.

first wish of my soul," said he, "is to spend the evening of my days as a private citizen on my farm." His progress from Mount Vernon to New York was a triumphant procession.

On the day of his arrival at the capitol, the Senate was engaged in discussing the style in which he should be addressed; and much difference of opinion prevailed. Should it be simply "Mr. President" or "Your Excellency"? A joint committee decided that it should be "The President of the United States," but the Senate, dissatisfied with so simple a title, disagreed with the report and recommended that the title should be "His Highness, the President of the United States and Protector of their Liberties." The more democratic House promptly rejected this title; further discussion ceased and the matter was left to be settled by practice. The inaugural ceremonies were simple and were arranged by a Joint Committee. On the thirtieth of April, the President should be received by both Houses in the Senate chamber, from whence they should proceed to the House of Representatives, where Robert R. Livingston, the Chancellor of the State of New York, should administer the oath to the President. Federal Hall, the new capitol building, was the old City Hall of New York, but now transformed for Federal purposes, and the change, which had been effected through the generosity of private citizens, had been made under the direction of Major Pierie Charles L'Enfant, a French officer of engineers and already famed as an architect.

Inauguration day was ushered in with a salute from Fort George at sunrise, and, at nine o'clock, the church

1 Letter to Samuel Hansen, January 18, 1789.

2 From the Senate, Langdon, Johnson and Few; from the House, Benson, Peter Muhlenberg and Griffin.

INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON.

179

bells were rung, summoning the people to special services in commemoration of the great event.1 At half past twelve o'clock, Washington, preceded by the military and accompanied by the officials of the city, by the foreign ambassadors and by a multitude of citizens, was conducted from the Executive Mansion to Federal Hall. The oath of office was administered on the balcony of the Senate Chamber in full sight of the people. Livingston proclaimed in a loud voice, "Long live George Washington, the President of the United States," which was a signal for an outburst of repeated huzzas and shouts of "God bless our Washington! Long live our beloved President!" Cannons were fired, and flags unfurled all over the city. The President then retired to the Senate Chamber, where he read an address. At its conclusion, the two Houses and all who had participated in the inaugural ceremonies, accompanied the President, the Vice-President and the Speaker to St. Paul's church, where services, suited to the occasion, were conducted by the Chaplain of the Senate, Samuel Provost, the Bishop of the Episcopal church in the City of New York. After the service was read, Washington was conducted back to the Executive Mansion. With these simple ceremonies the new government was inaugurated.

Washington immediately appointed the members of his Cabinet, having been for some time in correspondence with them, and having received assurance that their nominations and those of others in other departments would be accepted by them. Naturally he chose to summon to his aid those who had sympathized with him in his efforts to secure a more perfect Union. Hamilton he made Secretary of the Treasury; Randolph, who, though he had re

1 A description of the inauguration from the diary of Tobias Lear, the President's Secretary, is given in Sparks, X, 363-364.

180

ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT.

fused to sign the Constitution, had voted for its ratification in Virginia, was named for Attorney-General; John Jay, to whom ratification in New York was largely due, became Chief-Justice of the United States; and associated with him were John Rutledge, "of South Carolina, James Wilson, of Pennsylvania, and John Blair, of Virginia, all of whom had served with Washington in the Federal Convention; Gouverneur Morris, who at this time was in Europe, was appointed commissioner to England.

Long before all these appointments were made, Congress had taken up the question of amendments, the discussion of which began on the eighth of June. Though Delaware, New Jersey and Georgia had proposed none, and though none came up officially from the Pennsylvania convention, the aggregate from the eleven ratifying States was one hundred and seventy-five, and it was known before the discussion ceased that North Carolina had rec

ommended forty-six more. On the twenty-fifth of September, 1789, Congress sent forth twelve1 for the approval of the State legislatures.

There is no evidence that the members of the North Carolina Convention of 1788, who had voted to reject the Constitution, had any notion of keeping the State permanently out of the Union. They realized almost as clearly as did their federal opponents that the Confederation had failed and that a stronger general government was necessary, but they were tenacious of the rights and powers of the separate States and fearful lest, under the Constitution as submitted to them, these might be infringed; therefore the North Carolina convention preferred to keep the State out of the Union rather than ratify a Constitution, which as the majority of its dele

1 The history of these amendments is given in detail post, pp. 199-330. The twelve submitted are reprinted in Elliot, I, 338.

CHANGE IN PUBLIC SENTIMENT.

181

gates believed, did not guarantee the rights of the States. The safeguard which they would throw around the State would be found in amendments, such as they had proposed.1 North Carolina did not reject the Constitution in 1788, but proposed amendments and left the question of ratification for future consideration.

During the fifteen months following the adjournment of the Philadelphia Convention, public sentiment toward the new Constitution greatly changed all over the Union. In North Carolina, opposition to it ceased in great measure because Congress, it was known, intended to submit a number of amendments to the States, and some of these would remove many objections which North Carolina had raised. Federalists and Anti-Federalists, in the State, quite agreed that it ought to come into the Confederation, as the Union was then termed, in order to preserve the balance of power for the South.2

3

On the sixteenth of November, 1789, this change in the opinion of its people resulted in the assemblying of its second ratifying Convention at Fayetteville. Among its members were Hugh Williamson, of Tyrrell county; William Blount, of Tennessee, and William R. Davie, of Halifax, who had represented the State in the Philadelphia Convention, and, with the exception of Iredell, nearly all the members of the Convention of the year before.

1 For these amendments see Documentary History, III, 266, et seq.

2 Pierce Butler to Iredell; McRee's Iredell, II, 264.

3 Three hundred and fifty copies of the Journal of this Convention were ordered by it to be printed. From the copy deposited with the Secretary of State a reprint was made in the State Chronicle of Raleigh, North Carolina, November 18, 1889. A copy of this reprint which I have consulted belongs to Professor Stephen B. Weeks of Washington, D. C., and forms a part of his extensive collection of historical material relating to the State of North Carolina.