[_Then the music bursts forth again and the first president is inaugurated. The scene is best described in the words of Lear’s diary. “All the churches in the city were opened and prayers offered up to the Great Ruler of the Universe for the preservation of the President. The troops of the city paraded.... The procession moved forward, the troops marching in front with all the ensigns of military parade. Next came the committees and heads of departments in their carriages, the foreign ministers and a long train of citizens.... About two hundred yards before we reached the hall we descended from our carriages and passed through the troops who were drawn up on either side, into the hall and the Senate Chamber where we found the Vice-President and the House of Representatives assembled. They received the President in a most respectful manner and the Vice-President conducted him to a balcony. The oath was administered in public by Chancellor Livingstone who proclaimed him President of the United States.”_] WASHINGTON My station is new. I walk on untrodden ground. With God’s help, I readily engage with you in the task of making a nation happy. THE PEOPLE God save our Washington! Long live our beloved President! [_The celebration of Washington’s inauguration is then enacted with a torchlight procession, lanterns and transparencies and the frantic joy of the crowd and much singing of “Yankee Doodle.”_ _The scene darkens with the dying of the jubilation._ _The Chronicler rises._] THE CHRONICLER The eight years of administration pass. The faith of the people again grows cold. New voices speak flattery and falsehood and sow the seed of disaster to come. But the leaders are steadfast, always, and, even in farewell, the end of their leadership is wisdom. [_The only light, now, shines upon the group of Freedom, Washington and Hamilton. The people stand, in the shadow, absolutely still and unresponsive._] WASHINGTON The time has come for me to return to retirement. Choice and prudence invite me to quit the scene. But a solicitude for your welfare which cannot end but with my life prompts me to offer to your solemn contemplation some sentiments which appear to me all important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. FREEDOM This is the warning word. WASHINGTON The power and right to establish government presuppose the duty to obey government. Providence connects the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue. Avoid the necessity of overgrown military establishments! Be warned against the baneful effects of the spirit of party! Promote institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all. It is folly for one nation to look for disinterested favors from another. It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world. THE CHRONICLER