WASHINGTON. 179 



CHAPTER XVI. 



Presidents of the United States since the declaration of its Independ- 

 ence :— Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James 

 Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, 

 Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James H. 

 Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James 

 Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, 

 Rutherford Hayes, James Garfield, Chester Arthur, Grover 

 Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison. 



WASHINGTON. 



^OTaS election, as President of the United States, was 

 |ASl| formally announced to him on the 14th of April, 1789. 

 He accepted the office with unfeigned reluctance, occasioned 

 by his love of retirement, and by tenderness for his reputation. 

 As his presence at New York, then the seat of the Govern- 

 ment, was immediately required, he set out from Mount 

 Vernon on the 16th, the second day after he received notice 

 of his appointment. His journey was a triumphal procession, 

 such as no conqueror can boast. Since leaving his house, 

 he was accompanied by a company of gentlemen from 

 Alexandria, who entertained him in that town. The people 

 gathered to see him as he passed. When he approached the 

 towns the most respectable citizens came out to meet and 

 welcome him, he was escorted from place to place by com- 

 panies of militia, and in the principal cities, his presence was 

 announced by the firing of cannon, ringing of bells, and 

 military display. A committee of Congress, consisting of three 

 members of the Senate, and five of the House of Representa- 

 tives, was appointed to meet him in New Jersey, and attend 

 him to the City of New York. 



To Elizabeth-town Point, came many other persons of 

 distinction, and the heads of several departments of the 

 Government. He was there received in a barge, splendidly 

 fitted up for the occasion, and rowed by thirteen pilots in 

 white uniforms. This was followed by vessels and boats, 

 fancifully decorated, and crowded with spectators. When the 

 President's barge approached the city, a salute of thirteen 

 guns was fired from the vessels in the harbour, and from the 

 battery. At the landing, he was again saluted by a discharge 



