"Before I sit down, Mr. President, I will suggest another matter; and I am really surprised that it has not been proposed by some other member, at an earlier period of our deliberations. I will suggest, Mr. President, the propriety of nominating and appointing, before we separate, a chaplain to this convention, whose duty it shall be uniformly to assemble with us, and introduce the business of each day by imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing upon our deliberations."

The doctor sat down, and never did a countenance appear at once so dignified and so delighted as that of Washington, at the close of this address. The motion for appointing a chaplain was instantly seconded and carried. The convention also chose a committee, by ballot, consisting of one from each state, to sit during the recess, and then adjourned for three days.

The three days were spent in the manner advised by Doctor Franklin. On re-assembling, the chaplain appeared and led the devotions of the assembly, and the minutes of the last sitting were read. All eyes were now turned to the venerable doctor. He rose, and in a few words stated, that during the recess he had listened attentively to all the arguments, pro and con, which had been urged by both sides of the house; that he had himself said much, and thought more, on the subject; he saw difficulties and objections, which might be urged by individual states, against every scheme which had been proposed; and he was now, more than ever, convinced that the constitution which they were about to form, in order to be just and equal, must be formed on the basis of compromise and mutual concession. With such views and feelings, he would now move a reconsideration of the vote last taken on the organization of the senate. The motion was seconded, the vote carried, the former vote rescinded, and by a successive motion and resolution, the senate was organized on the present plan.

On the seventeenth of September, the final debate closed, the last amendment was adopted, and the result of the convention's

labors was the formation of a constitution establishing a national government on the following prescribed principles: That the affairs of the people of the United States were thenceforth to be administered, not by a confederacy, or mere league of friendship between the sovereign states, but by a government, distributed into the three great departments — legislative, judicial, and executive; that the powers of government should be limited to concerns pertaining to the whole people, leaving the internal administration of each state, in time of peace, to its own constitution and laws, provided that they should be repub lican, and interfering with them as little as possible in case of war; that the legislative power of this government should be divided between the two assemblies, one representing directly the people of the separate states, and the other their legislatures; that the executive power of this government should be vested in one person chosen for four years, with certain qualifications of age and nativity, and invested with a qualified negative upon the enactment of the laws; and that the judicial power should consist of tribunals inferior and supreme, to be instituted and organized by congress, the judges removable only by impeachment.

Thus, finally amended, the constitution was signed by all the members present, except by Messrs. Randolph and Mason, of Virginia, and Gerry, of Massachusetts. The scene is described as one of historic solemnity, rising almost to the sublime. When Washington, whose turn came first, was about to sign the instrument ordained to be henceforth-if ratified by the several states the palladium of his country's national existence, and the formation of which he had watched over with such anxious solicitude, he rose from his seat, and holding the pen in his hand, after a short pause, pronounced these words:

"Should the states reject this excellent Constitution, the probability is that an opportunity will never again be offered to cancel another in peace-the next will be drawn in blood."

And when, following the example of their illustrious leader, the other members of the convention appended their signatures, Doctor Franklin, with his eye fixed upon the presiding officer's seat, in the rear of which was the picture of a halo or sun, made the characteristic remark:

"I have often and often, in the course of the session, and in the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that sun behind the president, without being able to tell whether it was rising or sinking; at length I have the happiness to know it is a rising and not a setting sun."

The convention, however, which framed the constitution, was not clothed with legislative power, nor was the congress of the confederation competent to accept it or reject the new form of government. It was referred by them to the several states,

represented by conventions of the people; and it was provided in the instrument itself, that it should become the supreme law of the land, when adopted by nine states. It was not till the summer of 1788 that the ratification of nine states was obtained, beginning with Delaware, some by large, and some by very small majorities. The violence of the opposition party was in some sections very great, resulting, in New York, in tumultuous riots. Of the thirteen original states, Rhode Island was the last to accept the constitution, which she did in May, 1790.

The year of suspense, while the American people were debating the great question whether to accept or reject the constitution offered them by Washington and his associate compatriots, was, on the announcement of the result, succeeded by a national jubilee.

depend. The struggle, on his part, between inclination and duty, was long and severe, as is evident by the letters which he wrote on the subject, in response to the appeals and importunities constantly made by his friends. Colonel Lee, then a distinguished member of congress, communicating to Washington the measures which that body were adopting to introduce the government just ordained, thus alludes to the presidency: "Without you, the government can have but little chance of success; and the people, of that happiness which its prosperity must yield." So, also, Mr. Gouverneur Morris, a patriot who had been one of the most valuable members of congress during a great part of the war, and who had performed a splendid part in the general convention, wrote: "I have ever thought, and have ever said that you must be the president; no other man can fill that office." The great Hamilton likewise urged him to accept the office, and thus yield to the general call of the country in relation to its new and untried government.

"You will permit me to say," wrote Hamilton, "that it is indispensable you should lend yourself to its first operations. It is to little purpose to have introduced a system, if the weightiest influence is not given to its firm establishment at the outset." Such arguments and entreaties as these poured in upon Washington from all quarters of the broad land, that he should consent to assume the presidential chair.

But the election had taken place, in obedience to the fundamental law; and at length, the votes for the president and vice-president of the United States were, as prescribed in the constitution, opened and counted in the senate. The result showed, that neither the animosity of parties, nor the activity of the enemies of the newly-formed government, could deprive General Washington of a single vote in the electoral college. By the voluntary and spontaneous voice of a great people, he was called to the chief magistracy of the nation. The second number of votes was given to Mr. John Adams, of Massa

chusetts. George Washington and John Adams were therefore declared to be duly elected president and vice-president of the United States, to serve for four years from the fourth of March, 1789.

At Mount Vernon, on the fourteenth of April, 1789, the appointment of General Washington as supreme executive of the republic was officially announced to him. This commission was performed by Mr. Charles Thomson, secretary of the late congress, who presented to him a certificate signed by John Langdon, president pro tempore of the senate, stating that he was unanimously elected.

Accustomed to respect the wishes of his fellow-citizens, Washington did not think himself at liberty to decline an office conferred upon him by the unsought suffrage. of an entire people. His acceptance of it, and the expressions of gratitude he indulged in for this fresh proof of the esteem and confidence of his country, were mingled with declarations of extreme diffidence in himself. "I wish," he said, "that there may not be reason for regretting the choice, for, indeed, all I can promise is, to accomplish that which can be done by an honest zeal." In this spirit of devoted self-sacrifice, and realizing that the urgency of public affairs must require the immediate attendance of the president at the seat of government, he hastened his departure; on the sixteenth of April, therefore, the second day after receiving the certificate of his election,-he bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felicity, and, in company with Mr. Thomson and Colonel Humphreys, proceeded to New York, where congress was then in session, to assume the administration of the new government. But, notwithstanding the weight of anxiety upon his mind concerning the public business, he did not omit to pay a parting visit to his venerable mother. Embracing his mother, Washington bowed his head upon her shoulder and wept, murmuring at the same time something of a hope that they should meet again. "No, George," she replied, "this is our last parting; my