President Washington and the members of Congress then retired to the Senate Chamber, where Washington delivered the first inaugural address to a joint session of Congress. Washington humbly noted the power of the nations' call for him to serve as president and the shared responsibility of the president and Congress to preserve "the sacred fire of liberty" and a republican form of government.
At that auspicious moment marking the birth of the federal government under the Constitution, Senator William Maclay of Pennsylvania observed that even the great Washington trembled when he faced the assembled representatives and senators. Paul's Church, where a service was conducted. In these honorable qualifications, I behold the surest pledges, that as on one side, no local prejudices, or attachments; no seperate views, nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests: so, on another, that the foundations of our National policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality; and the pre-eminence of a free Government, be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its Citizens, and command the respect of the world.
I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my Country can inspire: since there is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity: Since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained: And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply , perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.
Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care, it will remain with your judgment to decide, how far an exercise of the occasional power delegated by the Fifth article of the Constitution is rendered expedient at the present juncture by the nature of objections which have been urged against the System, or by the degree of inquietude which has given birth to them.
Instead of undertaking particular recommendations on this subject, in which I could be guided by no lights derived from official opportunities, I shall again give way to my entire confidence in your discernment and pursuit of the public good: For I assure myself that whilst you carefully avoid every alteration which might endanger the benefits of an United and effective Government, or which ought to await the future lessons of experience; a reverence for the characteristic rights of freemen, and a regard for the public harmony, will sufficiently influence your deliberations on the question how far the former can be more impregnably fortified, or the latter be safely and advantageously promoted.
To the preceeding observations I have one to add, which will be most properly addressed to the House of Representatives. It concerns myself, and will therefore be as brief as possible. After taking the oath of office on the portico before a cheering crowd, George Washington proceeded into the Senate chamber to deliver his First Inaugural Address. According to assembled members of Congress, President Washington was visibly nervous, spoke in a surprisingly quiet voice, and maintained a serious, modest demeanor.
The First Inaugural Address contains elements that remained consistent throughout his writings as President. Washington expressed a self-effacing caveat regarding his "own deficiencies," a humble indication of his submission to the call of public duty when "summoned by my Country," and a rationalistic determination that "the foundations of our national policy" must "be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality" by its elected officials, given the "indissoluble union between virtue and happiness.
In mid-afternoon, the inaugural party proceeds to St. Paul's Chapel in New York. Te Deum, an early Christian hymn of praise, is sung by the attendees. The skies in New York City were filled with fireworks that evening. A tired Washington wants to go home. The oath was administered on a second-floor balcony of Federal Hall, above a crowd assembled in the streets to witness this historic event. President Washington and members of Congress then retired to the Senate Chamber, where Washington delivered the first inaugural address to a joint session of Congress.
After concluding his remarks, the President and Congress proceeded through crowds lined up on Broadway to St.
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