become its
King and permanent ruler. The army worshipped the ground he walked on,
and he actually received a letter from one of his officers in which it
was suggested that he be named as King of the new state. But Washington
with his characteristic greatness refused to advance his own fortunes
at the expense of the liberty of his countrymen, and he wrote an angry
letter indignantly rejecting any such title or position, declaring that
nothing in his long and trying service had justified his fellows in
regarding him as an ambitious self-seeker.

His work was done, or so he considered it, and he proposed to return to
private life. And in Fraunces' Tavern in New York the great commander
bade farewell to the officers who had so gallantly served him and had
been his brothers in arms on so many hard fought fields.

It is said that on this occasion Washington's customary self-control
almost deserted him, as he spoke his words of parting to his fellow
officers. "With a heart full of love and gratitude," said he, "I now
take leave of you, most devoutly wishing that your latter days may be
as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and
honorable. I cannot come to each of you to take my leave," he
continued, "but shall be obliged if each of you will come and take me
by the hand."

But Washington's work was not over. He had counseled all the Governors
of the separate States to form a Federal Government as quickly as
possible, and while he had resigned as head of the army, he continued,
as a private citizen, to watch public matters with the utmost care and
attention. In 1787 Washington presided over the famous convention which
met in Philadelphia to draft the Constitution of the United States, and
largely in accordance with his ideas, which strongly influenced the
minds of all those present, the Government of the United States was
formed. The perfection of the form of government, as entered into by so
many separate and widely different States, seemed to Washington, as he
afterward said in a letter to Lafayette, "little short of a miracle."

It remained for the new country to choose its first President.
Washington was elected without a dissenting voice, and took the reins
of government into his hands on April 30, 1789. He did not desire the
Presidency, and would have greatly preferred to remain quietly at Mount
Vernon, "an honest man on his own farm," engaged in his private
affairs. But he felt that it was his