them."

* * * * *

XIV.--THE FIRST PRESIDENT.

Washington was now fifty-two years old.

The country was still in an unsettled condition. True, it was free from
English control. But there was no strong government to hold the states
together.

Each state was a little country of itself, making its own laws, and
having its own selfish aims without much regard for its sister states.
People did not think of the United States as one great undivided nation.

And so matters were in bad enough shape, and they grew worse and worse
as the months went by.

Wise men saw that unless something should be done to bring about a
closer union of the states, they would soon be in no better condition
than when ruled by the English king.

And so a great convention was held in Philadelphia to determine what
could be done to save the country from ruin. George Washington was
chosen to preside over this convention; and no man's words had greater
weight than his.

He said, "Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can
repair. The event is in the hand of God."

That convention did a great and wonderful work; for it framed the
Constitution by which our country has ever since been governed.

And soon afterwards, in accordance with that Constitution, the people of
the country were called upon to elect a President. Who should it be?

Who could it be but Washington?

When the electoral votes were counted, every vote was for George
Washington of Virginia.

And so, on the 16th of April, 1789, the great man again bade adieu to
Mount Vernon and to private life, and set out for New York. For the city
of Washington had not yet been built, and New York was the first capital
of our country.

There were no railroads at that time, and so the journey was made in a
coach. All along the road the people gathered to see their
hero-president and show him their love.

On the 30th of April he was inaugurated at the old Federal Hall in New
York.

"Long live George Washington, President of the United States!" shouted
the people. Then the cannon roared, the bells rang, and the new
government of the United States--the government which we have
to-day--began its existence.

Washington was fifty-seven years old at the time of his inauguration.

Perhaps no man was ever called to the doing of more difficult things.
The entire government must be built up from the beginning, and all its
machinery put into order.