Evening star., 1939-04-30
New Workers
Acclaimed
President
Oath of Office
Was Taken $50
Years Ago
By John Claeeft Proctor.

Washington as the first President
of the United States of America,
a position he reluctantly accepted,
and then did so only because he
felt he was performing sacred
duty. Indeed, he is probably the
only person elected to this Office
who did not seek 1t, and who would
much rather have had some one
else for such a responsible position,
and in many of his utterances ex-
presses himself emphatically to this
effect.
He felt he had rendered all the
public service his country could ex-
pect of him and felt he was entitled
to spend his declining years in the
peaceful pursuits of a gentleman
farmer at Mount Vernon, where he
had resided in peace after having
resigned his commission before the
Continental Congress, then meeting
In Annapolis, Md, December %,
1888, where he closed with these
words:
Having now finished the work
assigned me, retire from the great
theater of action, and, bidding an
affectionate farewell to this august
body, under whose orders I have so
long acted, here offer my COM
mission, and take my leave of all
the employments of public life"
Private Citizens.
And the next day we find him
writing from Mount Vernon to
Lafayette, saying: "At length I am
become a private citizen on the
banks of the Potomac, and, under
the shadow of my own vine and
fig tree. free from the hustle of
camp and the busy scenes of pub
Lie life, I am solacing myself with
those tranquil enjoyments of which
the soldier, who Is ever in pursuit
of fame; the statesman, whose
watchful days and sleepless nights
are spent in devising schemes to
promote the welfare of his own,
perhaps the ruin of other countries,
as If this globe were insufficient for
us all, and the courtier, who is al
ways watching the countenance of
his prince. in hopes of catching
gracious smile, can have very little
conception. Envious of none, I am
determined to be pleased with all.
And this, my dear friend, being
the order for my march, will
move gently down the stream Of life
until sleep with my fathers"
But Washington was not to en-
Joy for long the peace and tran
guilty of home life he sought, and,
on April IA, 1889, we find Charles
Thomson, secretary of the late Con-
tinental Congress, knocking at the
door of Mount Vernon with a Ger
tif1cate signed by the President
(maybe President pro tempore) of
the First Senate of the United
States. BY this document Gen.
Washington was informed that he
had been unanimously elected Pres
adent.
To Gen. Knox.
Though March was set for the
President to take the oath of Office,
yet Washington welcomed the de-
lay, even though it be just for a
few days, and in a letter to Gen.
Knox he makes these remarks:
GAS to myself, the delay may be
compared to a reprieve; for in con-
f1dence I tell you, with the world
1t would obtain little credit that
my movements to the chair of Gov
ernment will be accompanied by
feelings not unlike those of a cul-
prit who is going to the place of his
execution; so unwilling am I in the
evening of life nearly consumed in
public cares, to quit peaceful
abode for an ocean of difficulties,
without that competency of politi-
cal skill, abilities and inclination,
which are necessary to manage the
helm. am sensible that am
embarking the voice of the people,
and a good name of my own, on
this voyage, but what returns will
be made for them, Heaven alone
can foretell. Integrity and firmness
are all I can promise These, be the
voyage long or short, shall never
forsake me, although I may be
deserted by all men; for of the
consultations which are to be derived
from these, under any circum-
stances, the world cannot deprive
me-"
Aside from the formality of TAX
Ing the oath of Office the Importance
of Washington's presence at New
York cannot be minimized. and so,
two days after being notified of his
election to the highest Office under
the Constitution, he left Mount
Vernon for New York, and at every
hamlet, village, town and city on
the way crowds gathered to see him,
and militia and prominent persons
escorted him throughout the entire
journey.
At Alexandria.
However, at the first stop he
made at nearby Alexandria-he
received the most cordial and affec-
tionate welcome and farewell of all
from his own townsmen, those who
knew him most intimately, and if
possible those who loved him most.
Here Dennis Ramsay, Mayor Of
Alexandria, greeted him in the fol-
lowing words:
Again your country commands
Vour care. Obedient to its wishes,
unmindful of your ease, we see you
again relinquishing the bliss of re-
tirement, and this, too, at period
of life when nature itself seems to
authorize a preference of repose.
mot to extol your glory as a
soldier; not to pour forth our graf
itude for past services; not to ac-
knowledge the justice of the un-
exampled honour which has been
conferred upon you by the spon-
taneous and unanimous suffrage of
three millions of freemen, in your
election to the supreme magistracy,
nor to admire the patriotism which
directs your conduct, do your neigh
bors and friends now address you
Themes less splendid but more en-
dearing impress our minds. The
first and best of citizens must leave
us: our aged must lose their Or