Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-05-02
the New York convention By the splendor

| COQlQ CONVINCE, WHO saw In the Executive
! power and centralized force OF the const1
tuition, under another name the dreaded
!; usurpation of King and Ministry. were sat
} isfied only with the assurance. washington
will be President" 1t quieted alarm anC
gave confidence to the umid and couragt
to the weak
He alone could stay assault and inspire
confidence while the great and complicated
machinery of organized government wa:
put in order and set in motion Doubt ex-
lsted nowhere except in his modest and un:
ambitious heart His whole life had
his country's welfare, and he did not
hesitate now. though there is an under
tone of inexpressible sadness in this entry
in bis diary on the night of his departure
About ten o'clock I bade adieu to Mount
Vernon, to private life, and to domestic
felicity. and with a mind oppressed with
more anxious and painful sensations than
have words TO express set out for New York
with the best disposition to render service
to my country in obedience to its call, but
tions."
No conqueror was ever accorded such a
| triumph, no ruler ever such a welcome In
this memorable march of six DAYS to the
Capitol, it was the pride of States to ac-
company him with the masses of their peo-
pie TO their borders that the citizens of the
next commonwealth might escort him
! through its territory.
! He had visited New York thirty three
years before, also il the month of April, in
the rull perfection of his early manhood,
| fresh from Braddock's bloody field, and
| wearing the only laurels OF the battle, bear
| ing the prophetic blessing of the venerable
President Davies of Princeton College,
as That heroic youth, Colonel Wash
ington, whom l can not but hope Prov
a manner for some important service to
| the country" 1t wasa fair daughter of our
State whose smiles allured him here, and
whose coy confession that her heart was
another's recorded his only failure and sad
dened his departure. Twenty years passed,
and he stood before the New York Con-
gress, on this very spot the unanimously
chosen Commander-in-Cbief of the CONT
mental army, urging the people to more Wig
orous measures, and made painfully aware
OF the increased desperation of the strug-
gle, from the aid to be given to the enc
my by domestic sympathizers, when
he knew that the same local military COM
pany which escorted him was to perform
the like service for the British Governor
Tryon on his landing on the morrow. Re
turning for the defense Of the city the next
summer, Re executed the retire at from Long
Island which secured from Frederick the
Great the opinion that a great commander
had appeared, and at Harlem Heights
he won the first American vic
tory of the Revolution, which gave
the famous veterans OF Europe which car
ried our army triumphantly through the
war. Six years more of untold sufferings,
of freezing and starving camps, OF marches
over the snow by bars-footea soldiers to
heroic attack and splendid victory, of de-
the generous assistance Of France, and
peace had come and independence
triumphed AS the Last soldier of
the invading enemy embarks, Wash
ington at the head of the patriot host
enters the city, receives the welcome and
gratitude of its people, and in the tanerv
which faces us across the way, in silence
more eloquent than speech, and with tears
which choke the words, he bids farewell
forever to his companions in arms Such
were the crowding memories of the Sast
suggested to Washington in 17S9 by his ap-
proach to New York
Washington was never dramatic, but on
great occasions he not only rose to the full
ideal Of the event he became himself the
event One hundred years ago to-day the
procession Of foreign Ambassadors, of
statesmen and Generals of civic societies
him, marched from Franklin square to
Pearl street, through Pearl to
Broad, and up Broad to this
spot, but the people saw only
Washington. As he stood upon the
steps of the old Government building here,
the thought must have occurred to him that
it was a cradle of liberty, and as such Civ
ing bright omen for the future. In these
halls in 1875, in the trial of John Zenger, |
had been established for the first time in its
history the liberty of the press. Here the |
New York Assembly, in 1864, made the pro- |
test against the Stamp act and proposed |
the general conference. which was |
the beginning of the United Colonial |
action. In this old State House in |
100 the Stamp act congress, the
first and the father of American |
Congresses. assembled and presented to the |
English Government that vigorous protest |
which caused the repeal of the act, and |
checked the first step towards the usurpa-
ton which lost the American colonies to |
the British empire. Within these walls the /
Congress OF the Confederation had commits
stoned its Ambassadors abroad, and in inef-
fectual efforts at government had created |
the necessity for the concentration of Fed
eral authority, now to be consummated
The first Congress of the United States
gathered in this ancient temple OF liberty,
greeted Washington and accompanied him
TO the balcony. The famous men visible
about him were Chancellor Livingston,
Vice-President John Adams, Alexander
Hamilton, Governor Clinton, Roger Sher-
man, Richard Henry Lee, General Knox and
Baron Steuben But We believe that among
the invisible host above him, at this supreme
OF the elimination in permanent
triumph of the thousands of years of strug-
gle for self government, were the spirits of
the soldiers Of the revolution who had
died that their countrymen might enjoy
this blessed day, and with them were the
Barons of Runnymede and William the
Silent, and Sidney and Russell, and Crom-
well and Hampden and the heroes and
martyrs OF liberty OF every race and age.
As he came forward, the multitude in the
streets, in the windows, and on the roofs
sent up such rapturous shout that
WASHINGTON
emotion. As he slowly rose and his tall
and majestic form again appeared, the
people. deeply affected, in awed silence
viewed the scene. The Chancellor sol
repeating, said: Il do solemn
y swear that will faithfully execute the
office of President of the United States, and
will, to the best of my ability, preserve,
protect and defend the Constitution of the
United States" Then he reverently
ng with profound emotion: 80 help me.
iod." The Chancellor waved his robes and
shouted: 1T is done; long live George
Washington, President of the United
Statesw Long live George Washington,
,ur first Presidentl" was the answering
-ang the bells and from forts and ships
numbered the cannon, echoing and repeat
ng the cry with responding acclaim all
,ver the land: Longslive George Washing
on President of the United States!" =
No man ever stood for so much to his
country and to mankind as George Wash
ngton. Hamilton, jefferson and Adams.
Madison and Jay. each represented some of
he elements which formed the Union.
Y shington embodied them all.
Do his counuymen exaggerate his vir-
,ues? Listen to Guizot, the historian of
civilization: Washington did the two great
,st things which in politics it is permitted
20 man to attempt. He maintained by peace
he independence of his country which he
by war He founded
rec Government in the name of the
principles OF order and by re-establishlng