CHAPTER XX. First congress under the new constitution meet at New York, on the 4th of March, 1789---George Washington chosen president, and John Adams vice-president--President's inaugural speech, and answers of both houses---Congress lay tonnage and other duties---Give a preference to American shipping---Establish different departments---Determine the question about the removal of the heads of these departments---Power of removal vested in the president alone---Debate on this subject---The senate about equally divided upon it---Amendments to the constitution proposed---A national judiciary established---Its powers and jurisdiction---Vessels of North Carolina and Rhode Island placed on the same footing with those of the United States, until the 15th of January, 1790---Congress direct the secretary of the treasury to report, at their next session, a plan for the support of public credit---Request the president to recommend the observance of a day of public thanksgiving and prayer---Adjourn to the first Monday of January, 1790---North Carolina adopts the constitution in November---Speech of the president at the opening of the second session of congress---He recommends the promotion of such manufactures, as would render the United States independent on others for essential articles, the establishment of a good militia system, and adequate provision for the support of public credit---Financial plan of the secretary of the treasury, submitted to the house in January-Outlines of this plan-Secretary recommends funding the debt of the United States, and the assumption of the state debts-This creates great divisions and long debates in congress-Motion to discriminate between the original holders and the assignees of the domestic debt negatived-Assumption of the state debts violently opposed-Debates on this question-Finally carried-Terms of funding the debts-Commissioners appointed to settle the accounts between the states, and principles of settlement adopted-Census of the inhabitants to be taken on the first Monday of August, 1790—Third session commences the first Monday of December, 1790-Vermont and Kentucky admitted into the union-National bank established-Strongly opposed as unconstitutional-Cabinet divided on the question-President decides in favor of its constitutionality-Duties laid on spirits distilled within the United States-Opposed in congress, and in some of the states -Speech of the president at the opening of the first session of the second congress in October, 1791-Ratio of representation settled-Difference between the houses and the president as to the constitutional rule of apportionment-Gen. St. Clair and his army defeated by the Indians-Opposition to the internal duties increasesThe two great parties in the United States more distinctly marked-Cabinet divided -An inquiry into the official conduct of the secretary of the treasury, instituted in the house of representatives-Charges exhibited against him-Negatived by a large majority-Supreme court decides, that a state is liable to a suit in favor of individuals—An amendment altering the constitution in this respect proposed and adopted-The first term of president Washington's administration expires on the 4th of March, 1793. THE national legislature under the new system of government, convened at New York, on the 4th day of March, 1789, and consisted of senators and representatives from eleven states. A quorum of both houses did not attend until the 6th of April, when, on counting the electoral votes it appeared, that George Washington was unanimously chosen president, and that John Adams was elected vice-president. Whatever difference of opinion existed among the people of the United States, with respect to the government itself, there was none as to the person, who as their first chief magistrate, was to be selected to administer it. All eyes, from the beginning, were turned to general Washington, as the first president; and The received, what perhaps no individual in so high a station in any age ever before received, the unanimous and voluntary suffrages of a whole nation. Informed of his election by a special messenger, the president immediately left his beloved retreat, and set out for the seat of government. He was received on his way, by the sincere congratulations of numerous public bodies, as well as individuals.* He was met at Elizabethtown, by a committee from both houses of congress, and escorted into the city of New York, amidst the acclamations of thousands. On the 30th of April, the oath of office was administered to him by the chancellor of the state of New York, in the gallery in * His reception at Trenton was peculiarly interesting. The inhabitants of that village had not forgotten the memorable scenes of December, 1776. On the bridge over the creek where the progress of the enemy was arrested twelve years before, the ladies of Trenton erected a triumphal arch, ornamented with flowers, on the front of which was inscribed, "the defender of the mothers will be the protector of the daughters." He was here met by the ladies, attended by their little daughters, who as he passed, literally strewed his way with flowers, as they sung the following ode-- "Welcome mighty chief, once more Now no mercenary foe Aims again the fatal blow, Aims at thee the fatal blow. "Virgins fair and matrons grave Strew your Hero's way with flowers." front of the senate chamber, in the presence of the members of the senate and house of representatives, and a vast concourse of citizens; and he was proclaimed president of the United States. Every countenance beamed with inexpressible joy, at the sight of the venerated chief, to whom, under God, they were so much indebted not only for their independence, but that form of government, in the administration of which he had consented to take a share, and which he had in their presence solemnly sworn to support. Soon after taking the oath, he retired to the senate chamber, and made the following address to both houses. "Fellow citizens of the senate, and house of representatives, Among the vicissitudes incident to life, no event could have filled me with greater anxieties, than that of which the notification was transmitted by your order, and received on the 14th day of the present month. On the one hand, I was summoned by · my country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest predilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with an immutable decision, as the asylum of my declining years, a retreat which was rendered every day more necessary as well as more dear to me, by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent interruptions in my health to the gradual waste committed on it by time. On the other hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my country called me, being sufficient to awaken in the wisest and most experienced of her citizens, a distrustful scrutiny into his qualifications, could not but overwhelm with despondence, one, who, inheriting inferior endowments from nature, and unpractised in the duties of civil administration, ought to be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies. In this conflict of emotions, all I dare aver, is, that it has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just appreciation of every circumstance by which it might be affected. All I dare hope, is, that, if in executing this task, I have been too much swayed by a grateful remembrance of former instances, or by an affectionate sensibility to this transcendant proof of the confidence of my fellow citizens, and have thence too little consulted my incapacity as well as disinclination, for the weighty and untried cares before me, my error will be palliated by the motives which misled me, and its consequences be judged by my country, with some share of the partiality in which they originated. "Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being, who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States, a government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration, to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own; nor those of my fellow citizens at large, less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency. And in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their united government, the tranquil deliberations, and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities, from which the event has resulted, cannot be compared with the means by which most governments have been established, without some return of pious gratitude, along with a humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage. These reflections arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there are none under the influence of which the proceedings of a new and free government can more auspiciously commence. "By the article establishing the executive department, it is made the duty of the president, to recommend to your consid eration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.' The circumstances under which I now meet you, will acquit me from entering into that subject, further than to refer to the great constitutional charter under which you are assembled, and which, in defining your powers, designates the objects to which your attention is to be given. It will be more consistent with those circumstances, and far more congenial with the feelings which actuate me, to substitute, in place of a recommendation of particular measures, the tribute that is due to the talents, the rectitude, and the patriotism which adorn the characters selected to devise and adopt them. In these honorable qualifications, I behold the surest pledges, that as on one side no local prejudices or attachments, no separate views, nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests; so on another, that the foundations of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality; and the pre-eminence of free government be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its citizens, and command the respect of the world. "I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my country can inspire. Since there is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness-between duty and advantage-between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity. Since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which heaven itself has ordained. And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment intrusted to the hands of the American people. "Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care, it will remain with your judgment to decide, how far an exercise of the VOL. II. 41 |