lowing words, which were indicative of a scheme for civilizing the
Indians which had occupied his mind for a long time: "When you return to
your country, tell your nation that it is my desire to promote their
prosperity, by teaching them the use of domestic animals, and the manner
that the white people plough and raise so much corn; and if, upon
consideration, it would be agreeable to the nation at large to learn
those arts, I will find some means of teaching them, at such places
within their country as shall be agreed upon."

With the admission of Kentucky and Vermont into the Union as sovereign
states, and providing for the increase and pay of the army, the first
Congress closed its labors. They had, within two years, performed a
great work; and no body of men, except those who composed the
continental Congress during the earlier years of the Revolution, so
fairly deserve our sincere gratitude as they. Within that time, with
Washington at their head, they had set in motion the machinery of the
federal government, laid the foundations of its policy, and placed the
United States firmly in the position of a leading nation among the
states of the world.

The term of service of the first Congress expired on the third of March,
1791; but Washington did not leave Philadelphia for Mount Vernon until
late in the month.

FOOTNOTES:

[29] Washington's residence in New York was first at Osgood's house, No.
10 Cherry street, which by subsequent changes was made to front on
Franklin square. He afterward occupied the more commodious house of Mr.
M'Comb, where the French minister, M. de Moustier, had resided. It was
on Broadway, west side, below Trinity church. That was the one alluded
to in Washington's letter. An English traveller who visited the
president there described the drawing-room as "lofty and spacious; but,"
he added, "the furniture was not beyond that found in the dwellings of
opulent Americans in general, and might be called plain for its
situation. The upper end of the room had glass doors, which opened upon
a balcony, commanding an extensive view of the Hudson river and the
Jersey shore opposite."

[30] Mr. Custis relates that Fraunces, the steward, once purchased the
first shad of the season for the president's table, as he knew
Washington to be extravagantly fond of fish. He placed it before
Washington at table as an agreeable surprise. The president inquired how
much he paid for the shad. "Two dollars," was