The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1889-05-02


promises of the confederacy were the |
scoff of its states; the pledge of the re-
public was the honor Of its people.
The constitution, which was to be |
strengthened by the strain of a CEN
tury, to be mighty conqueror without |
a subject province, to triumphantiy |
survive the greatest of civil wars with /
out the confScation of an estate or the |
execution of a political offender, to Gre |
ate and grant home rule and state SOW |
ereignty to twenty-nine additional |
commonwealth. and yet enlarge its |
scope and broaden its power, and to |
make the name of an American citizen |
title of honor throughout the world, |
came complete from this great conven- |
tion to the people for adoption. As Han |
cock rose from his seat in The old con-
gress, eleven years before, to sign the |
declaration of independence, Franklin |
saw emblazoned on the back of the |
Presidents chair the sun partly above |
the horizon, but it seemed setting in a |
blOod-red sky. During the seven years |
of the confederation ne had gathered |
no hope from the glittering emblem, |
but now as With clear vision he be- |
held fixed upon eternal foundations |
the enduring structure of constitution !
al liberty, pointing to the sign, he for
got his eighty-two years, and with the
vention with the declaration, Now
know that it IS the rising SUM-"
The pride of the states and the am
bitiOn of their leaders, sectional ieal-
Ousies, and the overwhelming distrust
of centralized power were all arrayed
against the adoption of the cOnstitu-
ton. North Carolina and Rhode Is
land refused to join. the union until
long after Washington's Inauguration.
1 ~,
ground. Her territory extending from
the sea to the lakes made her the
key stone of the arch. Had Arnold's
treason in the revolution not been
foiied by the capture of Andre, Eng
| land would have held New York and
subjugated the colonies, and in this
crisis, unless New York assented. a
hostile and powerful commonwealth
dividing the states made the union
| impossible.
Success was due to confidence in
Washington and the genius of Alex
ander Hamilton. Jefferson was the
inspiration of independence, but Ham
ilton was the incarnation of the con-
stitution. In no age FOR county has
there appeared more percocious or
amazing intelliger ee than Hamilton.
At seventeen he annihilated the presi-
dent of his college, upon the question
of the rights of the colonies, in a ser
les of anonymous articles which were
credited to the ablest men in the coun-
| try; at fOrty-Seven, when he died, his
| briefs had become the law of the land,
ard his fiscal system was, and after
hundred years remains, the rules and
policy of our government. He gave
| life to the corpse of national credit,
and the strength for self preservation
and aggressive power of the federal
union. Both as an expounder of the
principles and as an administrator of
the affairs of government he stands
supreme and unrivalled in American
h ms%nStic His Ii. elq Ss%g%ssa was
clear and his reasoning SO irresistible
that he swayed with equal ease, popu-s
lar assemblies, grave senates and
learned judges. He captured the peo-
pie of the whole country for the consti
tuition by his papers in the FederaliSts
and conquered the hostile majority in
the New York convention by the
splendor of his Oratory.
But the multitudes whom no argu-
executive power and centralized force
of the constitution, under another
name, the dreaded usurpatiOn of king
and ministry, were satisfied only with
the assurance, washington will be
president" Good - cried John Lamb,
the able leader of the Sons of Liberty,
as he dropped his opposition; for to
tY so enormous" Washington will
be president, was the battle-cry of
the constition. It quieted alarm and
gave confidence to the timid and cOur-
age to the weak. The country re-
spondee with enthusiastic unanimity.
} but the chief with the greatest reluc-
lance. In the supreme moment of
victory, when the world expected him
to follow the presidents of the past,
and perpetuate the power a grateful
country would willingly have lett in
his hands, he had resigned and retired
to Mount Vernon to enjoy in private
station his well-earned rest. The con-
J Vention created by his eXertions to
prevent, as he said, the decline of our
federal dignity into insignificant and
wretched fragments of empire" had
called him to preside over it's delibera-
tions. Its work made possible the re-
alization of his hope that, 1--WE might
survive as an Independent republic, y
! and again he sought the seclusion of
i his home. But, after the triumph of
: the war. and the formation of the con-
stitution, came the third and final
crisis; the initial movements of govern
r ment which were to teach the infant
state the Steadier steps OF empire.
| He alone could stay assault and in
: spire confidence while the great and
| complicated machinery of organized
{ government was put in order and set in
) motion. Doubt existed nowhere ex-
{ cept in his modest and unambitiOus
: heart. My movements to the chail
: of government he said Twill be acc
companied by feelings not unlike those
t of culprit who is going to the place
Q of his execution. So unwilling am /
5 in the evening of life, nearly consumed
/ in public cares, to quit a peaceful
q abode for an ocean of difficulties. with
1 out that competency of. political skill
/ abilities and inclination. which are
y necessary to manage the helm.n Hit
5 whole life had been spent in repeated
e sacrifices for his country's welfare, anC
: he did not hesitate now, though their
: is an undertone of inexpressibIe sad
4 ness in this entry in his diary on thu
o night of his departure: t.About ter
Y O'Clock babe adieu TO Mount Vernon
e to privase, and to domestic felicity
t and with mind oppressed with more
b anxious and painful sensations than
9 have words to express, set out TO
: New York with the best disposition t.
d render service to my country in Obedi
i ence to its call, but with less hope o
answering its expectations,
i No conQuerer was ever accorded sucl
= a triumph, 10 ruler ever received sucl
d a welcome. In this memorial maTcl
+ of six days to the capitol, it was tn
t pride of states to accompany him witt
l. the masses of their people TO their Dor
d ders, that the citizens of the mex
) commonwealth might escort hin
D through its territory. 1t was the gloT-
a of cities to receive him with every civi
: honor at their gates, and entertain hin
n as the savior of their liberties. He rod
e under triumphal arches from which
:. children lowered laurel wreaths upo
e his brow. The roadways were strewl
e with flowers. and as they were crushe,
e beneath his horses hoofs, their swee
e incense waited to Heaven the ever as
a cending prayers of his loving country
J. men for his life and safety. Tn
D swelling anthem of gratitude and rev
e erence greeted and followed him alon
le the country side and through tn
"A crowded streets. Long live Georg