CHAPTER XVI THE END OF A NOBLE LIFE EVERY four years a great question arises in this country, and all the states and their people are disturbed until this question is settled. Even business nearly stops still, for many persons can think of nothing but the answer to this question.

Who shall be President? That is the question which at the end of every four years troubles the minds of our people. This question was asked for the first time in 1789, after the Constitution had been made and accepted by the states, but this time the people found it a very easy question to answer.

There were several men who had taken a great part in the making of our country, and who might have been named for President. One of these was Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence. Another of them was Benjamin Franklin, who got France to come to our aid, and did many other noble things for his country. But none of them stood so high in the respect and admiration of the people as George Washington, who had led our armies through the great war, and to whom, more than to any other man, we owed our liberty.

This time, then, there was no real question as to whom should be President. Washington was the man. All men, all parties, settled upon Washington. No one opposed him; there was no man in the country like him. He was unanimously elected the first President of the United States.

In olden times, when a victorious general came back to Rome with the splendid spoils brought from distant countries, the people gave him a triumph, and all Rome rose to do him honor and to gaze upon the splendor of the show. Washington had no splendid spoils to display. But he had the love of the people, which was far better than gold and silver won in war; and all the way from his home at Mount Vernon to New York, where he was to take the office of President, the people honored him with a triumph.

Along the whole journey, men, women and children crowded the roadside, and waited for hours to see him pass. That was before the day of railroads, and he had to go slowly in his carriage, so that everybody had a fine chance to see and greet him as he went by. Guns were fired as he passed through the towns; arches of triumph were erected for his carriage to go under; flowers were strewn in the streets for its wheels to roll over; cheers and cries of greeting filled the air; all that the people could do to honor their great hero was done.

On the 30th of April, 1789, Washington took the oath of office as the first President of our country and people. He stood on the balcony of a building in front of Federal Hall, in which Congress met, and in the street before him was a vast multitude, full of joy and hope. When he had taken the oath cannon roared out, bells were rung in all the neighboring steeples, and a mighty shout burst from the assembled multitude:

"Long live George Washington, President of the United States!"

This, I have said, was in New York. But Philadelphia was soon chosen as the seat of government, and the President and Congress moved to that city the next year. There they stayed for ten years. In the year 1800 a new city, named Washington, on the banks of the Potomac, was made the capital of our country, and in that city Congress has met ever since.

I must say something here about another of the great men of Revolutionary times, Alexander Hamilton. He was great in financial or money matters, and this was very important at that time, for the money-affairs of the country were in a sad state.

In the Revolution our people had very little money, and that was one reason why they had so much suffering. Congress soon ran out of gold and silver, so it issued paper money. This did very well for a time, and in the end a great deal of paper money was set afloat, but people soon began to get afraid of it. There was too much money of this kind for so poor a country. The value of the Continental currency, as it was called, began to go down, and the price of everything else to go up. In time the paper money lost almost all its value.

Such was the money the people had at the end of the Revolution. It was not good for much, was it? But it was the only kind of money Congress had to pay the soldiers with or to pay the other debts of the government. The country owed much more money than it could pay, so that it was what we call bankrupt. Nobody would trust it or take its paper in payment. What Alexander Hamilton did was to help the country to pay its debts and to bring back its lost credit, and in doing that he won great honor.

Hamilton came to this country from the West Indies during the Revolution. He was then only a boy, but he soon showed himself a good soldier, and Washington made him an officer on his staff and one of his friends. He often asked young Hamilton for advice, and took it, too.

Hamilton was one of the men who made the Constitution, and when Washington became President he chose him as his Secretary of the Treasury. That is, he gave him the money affairs of the government to look after. Hamilton was not afraid of the load of debt, and he soon took off its weight. He asked Congress to pay not only its own debt, but that of the states as well, and also to make good all the paper money. Congress did not like to do this, but Hamilton talked to the members till he persuaded them to do so.

Then he set himself to pay it. He laid a tax on whiskey and brandy and on all goods that came into the country. He had a mint, which is a building where money is coined from metal, and a national bank built in Philadelphia. He made the debt a government fund or loan, on which he agreed to pay interest, and to pay off the principal as fast as possible. It was not long before all the fund was taken up by those who had money, and the country got back its lost credit, for the taxes began to bring in much money.

Washington was President for eight years. That made two terms of four years each. Many wished to make him President for a third term, but he refused to run again. Since then no one has been made President for more than two terms.

George Washington had done enough for his country. He loved his home, but he had little time to live there. When he was only a boy he was called away to take part in the French and Indian War. Then, after spending some happy years at home, he was called away again to lead the army in the Revolutionary War. Finally, he served his country eight years as President.

He was now growing old and wanted rest, and he went back with joy to his beloved home at Mount Vernon, hoping to spend there the remainder of his days. But trouble arose with France, and it looked as if there would be a new war, and Washington was asked to take command of the army again. He consented, though he had had enough of fighting; but fortunately the war did not come, so he was not obliged to abandon his home.

He died in December, 1799, near the end of the century of which he was one of the greatest men. The news of his death filled all American hearts with grief. Not while the United States exists will the name of Washington be forgotten or left without honor. His home and tomb at Mt. Vernon are visited each year by thousands of patriotic Americans. As was said of him long ago by General Henry Lee, he was and is, "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

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