LESSON XVII.

Establishing the Government.

1. By the treaty of peace the United States was acknowledged as one of the independent nations of the earth. The next step was to establish a gov

ernment.

2. September 17th, 1787, the "Federal Constitution" was adopted. A constitution is a body of rules by which a people are governed. It was called

"Federal" because the several States confederated or united together to adopt it.

3. General Washington was elected the first President. John Adams was elected Vice-President.

4. On the 30th April, 1789, General Washington was inducted into office, in the presence of Congress and of a multitude of spectators.

5. General Washington continued in office eight years. Under his administration the United States, as they were now called, greatly flourished; and when he retired, it was said of him, "That he was first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen.

6. In 1797, General Washington declined being President again. John Adams was now chosen President, and Thomas Jefferson Vice-President.

7. The state of the country, at the time Mr. Adams was elected President, was prosperous; but soon after France threatened to make war upon the United States.

8. War being expected, Congress ordered an army to be raised, and appointed General Washington to command it. The difficulty, however, was settled, and the army reduced.

9. On the 14th December, 1799, General Washington died. This event filled the country with gloom. Every one felt that he himself had sustained a great loss.

10. In 1800, the city of Washington became the seat of government. Before this time, Congress had met in the city of Philadelphia.

11. In 1801, Mr. Adams's term of office as President expired, and Thomas Jefferson was chosen President in his room. Aaron Burr was chosen Vice

President.

Questions.

1. The war being over, what right had the people?

2. When was the Federal Constitution adopted? What is a constitution? Why was it called Federal?

3. Who was elected first President? Who Vice-President?

4. When was General Washington inducted into office?

5. How long did he continue in office? Did the country flourish while he was President? What was said of him when he retired?

6. When was John Adams chosen President? Who was chosen VicePresident?

7. What was the state of the country at this time? What nation soon after threatened the United States with war?

8. What did Congress do upon this? Whom did they appoint to command the army? What took place, however?

9. When did General Washington die? What is said of this event?

10. When did the city of Washington become the seat of govern ment?

11. When was Mr. Jefferson chosen President? Who was chosen Vice-President?

Story.

1. When General Washington left his peaceful and beautiful home at Mount Vernon to become the President of the United States, he bore with him the best wishes of his neighbors and friends.

2. All along his course many 66 rose up to call him blessed.” At Trenton, over the little stream rendered memorable by the campaign of 1776, was thrown an arch, wreathed with garlands of flowers and laurels, and on it, in large gilt letters, the inscription, "The Defender of the Mothers will be the Protector of the Daughters."

3. Matrons, and maidens, and children came forth to meet him, bearing baskets and garlands of flowers to scatter at his feet. He approached New York, then the seat of government, in a barge of thirteen oars, accompanied by boats gaily decorated and bands of music, and when he landed at Murray's wharf, the roar of cannon and joyful acclamations of the multitude rent the air.

4. On the 13th of April, the ceremony of inauguration took place. On the balcony of the old Federal Hall, Chancellor Livingstone administered to Washington the oath by which he swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States. The glad shouts of the people testified the feelings with which

they regarded their first President. This ceremony over, they went in procession to St. Paul's Church, and there prayed for God's blessing on the new government.

5. At the close of the War of the Revolution, New York, Philadelphia, and Boston had not as many people in them as some cities now in States which, then, had not a single inhabitant. The western portions of New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia were still a wilderness. The solitary hunter's cabin, or frontier fort, stood where now rise the spires of Utica, Buffalo, Syracuse, and Wheeling.

6. An historian, speaking of Washington, the "new seat of government," in 1801, calls it "a little village in the midst of the woods."

7. Farther west, the hunter's rifle or the stroke of the pioneer's axe alone awoke the echoes of the forest. Now, fair towns and cities adorn the west, and new villages are almost daily springing up along the borders of the great rivers and beautiful lakes and the tracks of the numerous railways.