on the 23d of April. A week was spent in festivity. It is the 30th of
April. In all the churches of New York there have been prayers for the
new government and its chosen head. The streets swarm with people as
the hour of noon approaches. Every house-top and porch and window near
to Federal Hall is packed with a dense mass. The president has been
presented to the two houses of Congress. The procession is formed.
Washington follows the senators and representatives to the balcony.
Around and behind him are his staff and distinguished patriots of the
Revolution. Every eye is fixed on the stately, majestic man. A little
over six feet high, his form perfect in outline and figure, a florid
complexion, dark blue eyes deeply set, his rich brown hair now tinged
with gray, firm jaws and broad nostrils, lighted by a benignant
expression. Such was the Father of his Country. The brave soldier
trembles with emotion as the chancellor of the State of New York reads
the oath; the hand of Washington is on the open Bible. Was it a
providence that they rested on the words, "His hands were made strong by
the mighty God of Israel?" The secretary would have raised the sacred
book to the president's lips. Washington said solemnly, "I swear, so
help me God," and then bowed reverently kissed the book. He went to the
senate chamber, and with stammering words, for his heart was almost too
full for utterance, he delivered his inaugural address, and then turning
to his friends said, "We will go to St. Paul's Church for prayers." It
had been the habit of his life. His pastor, Rev. Lee Massey, said, "No
company ever withheld him from church."' His secretary, Harrison, said,
"Whenever the general could be spared from the camp on the Sabbath, he
never failed to ride to some neighboring church to join in the worship
of God." He claimed no praise for his matchless victories, but
reverently gave all the glory to the blessing and protection of God. He
knew, in the words of my friend Robert C. Winthrop, that "There can be
no independence of God." The poet will sing and the orator describe