oyment, namely, a sincere
love for his country, and a ready willingness to labor for the promotion
of its best interests.

At the prescribed time the elections took place, and the college, by
unanimous voice, made choice of Washington for president of the United
States, and John Adams for vice-president. True to his convictions of
duty, the great leader of the armies of America consented to be the
pilot of the ship of state for four years, and prepared accordingly to
leave his beloved Mount Vernon for the stormy sea of public life. These
preparations were made with sincere reluctance; and the delay of a month
in forming a quorum of Congress, so that the votes for president were
not counted officially until the beginning of April, was regarded by
Washington with heartfelt satisfaction.

"The delay," he said in a letter to General Knox on the first of April,
"may be compared to a reprieve; for in confidence I tell _you_ (with the
_world_ it would obtain little credit) that my movements to the chair of
government will be accompanied by feelings not unlike those of a
culprit, who is going to the place of his execution; so unwilling am I,
in the evening of a life nearly consumed in public cares, to quit a
peaceful abode for an ocean of difficulties, without that competency of
political skill, abilities, and inclination, which are necessary to
manage the helm. I am sensible that I am embarking the voice of the
people and a good name of my own on this voyage; but what returns will
be made for them, Heaven alone can foretell. Integrity and firmness are
all I can promise. These, be the voyage long or short, shall never
forsake me, although I may be deserted by all men; for of the
consolations which are to be derived from these, under any
circumstances, the world can not deprive me."

The senate was organized on the sixth of April. The electoral votes were
counted, and Washington was declared duly chosen president of the United
States for four years from the fourth of March preceding. John Langdon,
a senator from New Hampshire, had been chosen president of the senate
_pro tempore_, and he immediately wrote an official letter to Washington
notifying him of his election. This was borne by Charles Thomson, the
secretary of the continental Congress from its first session in 1774. He
reached Mount Vernon at about noon on the fourteenth, and on the evening
of the sixteenth Washington wrote in his diary: "About ten o'clock I
bade adi