lties,
without the competency of political skill, abilities, and inclinations
which are necessary to manage the helm."

His journey to New York was accomplished in his own carriage, drawn by
four horses. No king or conqueror was ever treated to a more
enthusiastic ovation than was he from Mount Vernon to New York. The
expression of a lad to his father indicates the exalted notions which
the common people entertained of the great general. On getting a good
view of him the lad exclaimed:

"Why, pa, he is only a man, after all!"

At Trenton, where he crossed the Delaware with his retreating, depleted
army, his welcome was both imposing and beautiful. Upon the bridge an
arch was erected, adorned with laurel leaves and flowers. Upon the
crown of the arch, formed of leaves and flowers, were the words:

"DECEMBER 26TH, 1776."

Beneath was the sentence:

"THE DEFENDER OF THE MOTHERS WILL BE THE
PROTECTOR OF THE DAUGHTERS!"

The president was obliged to pass under this arch to enter Trenton,
where the female portion of the population met him. On one side little
girls dressed in white stood, each one bearing a basket of flowers. On
the other side were arranged the young ladies, and behind them the
married women. The moment Washington and his suit approached the arch,
the girls scattered their flowers before him, and the whole company of
females sung the following ode, written for the occasion by Governor
Howell:

"Welcome, mighty chief! once more
Welcome to this grateful shore!
Now no mercenary foe
Aims again the fatal blow.
Aims at thee the fatal blow.

Virgins fair and matrons grave,
Those thy conquering arm did save,
Build for thee triumphal bowers.
Strew, ye fair, his way with flowers!
Strew your hero's way with flowers!"

The reader may well suppose that his reception in New York as the
_first_ President of the United States, and the "greatest general on
earth," as many supposed, was grand indeed. No expense or pains were
spared to make it worthy of the occasion.

Washington called to his cabinet, Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State;
Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury; General Knox, Secretary
of War; Edmund Randolph, Attorney-General; and John Jay, Chief Justice.

He said, in his inaugural address:

"When I contemplate the interposition of Providence, as it was visibly
manifested in guiding us through the Revolution, in prepar