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