Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. I.djvu/54

34 Reaching New York on the 23d, after a continuous triumphal journey through Alexandria, Baltimore, Wilmington, Philadelphia, and Trenton, he was welcomed by the two houses of congress, by the governor of the state, the magistrates of the city, and by great masses of the people. The city was illuminated in his honor. But he proceeded on foot from the barge that had brought him across the bay to the house of the president of the late confederation, which had been appointed for his residence. John Adams had been installed in the chair of the senate, as vice-president of the United States, on April 21, but congress could not get ready for the inauguration of the president until the 30th. On that day the oath of office was administered to Washington by Robert R. Livingston, chancellor of the state of New York, in the presence of the two houses of congress, on a balcony in front of the hall in which congress held its sittings, where a statue has recently been placed. Washington then retired to the senate-chamber and delivered his inaugural address. "It would be peculiarly improper to omit" said he, "in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect–that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States