THE END OF A NOBLE LIFE
EVERY four years a great question arises in this country, and all the
states and their people are disturbed until this question is settled.
Even business nearly stops still, for many persons can think of nothing
but the answer to this question.
Who shall be President? That is the question which at the end of every
four years troubles the minds of our people. This question was asked for
the first time in 1789, after the Constitution had been made and
accepted by the states, but this time the people found it a very easy
question to answer.
There were several men who had taken a great part in the making of our
country, and who might have been named for President. One of these was
Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence. Another of
them was Benjamin Franklin, who got France to come to our aid, and did
many other noble things for his country. But none of them stood so high
in the respect and admiration of the people as George Washington, who
had led our armies through the great war, and to whom, more than to any
other man, we owed our liberty.
This time, then, there was no real question as to whom should be
President. Washington was the man. All men, all parties, settled upon
Washington. No one opposed him; there was no man in the country like
him. He was unanimously elected the first President of the United
States.
In olden times, when a victorious general came back to Rome with the
splendid spoils brought from distant countries, the people gave him a
triumph, and all Rome rose to do him honor and to gaze upon the splendor
of the show. Washington had no splendid spoils to display. But he had
the love of the people, which was far better than gold and silver won in
war; and all the way from his home at Mount Vernon to New York, where he
was to take the office of President, the people honored him with a
triumph.
Along the whole journey, men, women and children crowded the roadside,
and waited for hours to see him pass. That was before the day of
railroads, and he had to go slowly in his carriage, so that everybody
had a fine chance to see and greet him as he went by. Guns were fired as
he passed through the towns; arches of triumph were erected for his
carriage to go under; flowers were strewn in the streets for its wheels
to roll over; cheers and cries of greeting filled the air; all that the
people could do to honor their great hero was done.
On the 30th of April, 1789, Washington took the oath of office as the
first President of our country and people. He stood on the balcony of a
building in front of Federal Hall, in which Congress met, and in the
street before him was a vast multitude, full of joy and hope. When he
had taken the oath cannon roared out, bells were rung in all the
neighboring steeples, and a mighty shout burst from the assembled
multitude:
"Long live George Washington, President of the United States!"
This, I have said, was in New York. But Philadelphia was soon chosen as
the seat of government, and the President and Congress moved to that
city the next year. There they stayed for ten years. In the year 1800 a
new city, named Washington, on the banks of the Potomac, was made the
capital of our country, and in that city Congress has met ever since.
I must say something here about another of the great men of
Revolutionary times, Alexander Hamilton. He was great in financial or
money matters, and this was very important at that time, for the
money-affairs of the country were in a sad state.
In the Revolution our people had very little money, and that was one
reason why they had so much suffering. Congress soon ran out of gold and
silver, so it issued paper money. This did very well for a time, and in
the end a great deal of paper money was set afloat, but people soon
began to get afraid of it. There was too much money of this kind for so
poor a country. The value of the Continental currency, as it was called,
began to go down, and the price of everything else to go up. In time the
paper money lost almost all its value.
Such was the money the people had at the end of the Revolution. It was
not good for much, was it? But it was the only kind of money Congress
had to pay the soldiers with or to pay the other debts of the
government. The country owed much more money than it could pay, so that
it was what we call bankrupt. Nobody would trust it or take its paper in
payment. What Alexander Hamilton did was to help the country to pay its
debts and to bring back its lost credit, and in doing that he won great
honor.
Hamilton came to this country from the West Indies during the
Revolution. He was then only a boy, but he soon showed himself a good
soldier, and Washington made him an officer on his staff and one of his
friends. He often asked young Hamilton for advice, and took it, too.
Hamilton was one of the men who made the Constitution, and when
Washington became President he chose him as his Secretary of the
Treasury. That is, he gave him the money affairs of the government to
look after. Hamilton was not afraid of the load of debt, and he soon
took off its weight. He asked Congress to pay not only its own debt, but
that of the states as well, and also to make good all the paper money.
Congress did not like to do this, but Hamilton talked to the members
till he persuaded them to do so.
Then he set himself to pay it. He laid a tax on whiskey and brandy and
on all goods that came into the country. He had a mint, which is a
building where money is coined from metal, and a national bank built in
Philadelphia. He made the debt a government fund or loan, on which he
agreed to pay interest, and to pay off the principal as fast as
possible. It was not long before all the fund was taken up by those who
had money, and the country got back its lost credit, for the taxes began
to bring in much money.
Washington was President for eight years. That made two terms of four
years each. Many wished to make him President for a third term, but he
refused to run again. Since then no one has been made President for more
than two terms.
George Washington had done enough for his country. He loved his home,
but he had little time to live there. When he was only a boy he was
called away to take part in the French and Indian War. Then, after
spending some happy years at home, he was called away again to lead the
army in the Revolutionary War. Finally, he served his country eight
years as President.
He was now growing old and wanted rest, and he went back with joy to his
beloved home at Mount Vernon, hoping to spend there the remainder of his
days. But trouble arose with France, and it looked as if there would be
a new war, and Washington was asked to take command of the army again.
He consented, though he had had enough of fighting; but fortunately the
war did not come, so he was not obliged to abandon his home.
He died in December, 1799, near the end of the century of which he was
one of the greatest men. The news of his death filled all American
hearts with grief. Not while the United States exists will the name of
Washington be forgotten or left without honor. His home and tomb at Mt.
Vernon are visited each year by thousands of patriotic Americans. As was
said of him long ago by General Henry Lee, he was and is, "first in war,
first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."