2. The person having the greatest number of votes as vice president, shall be the vice president, if such number be a majority of the whole number of elec tors appointed; and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the senate shall choose the vice president; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two thirds of the whole number of senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice.

3. But no person constitutionally inelligible to the office of president, shall be eligible to that of vice president of the United States.

ART. 13. If any citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, receive, or retain any title of nobility or honour; or shall, without the consent of congress, accept and retain any present, pension, office, or emolument of any kind whatever, from any emperor, king, prince, or foreign power, such person shall cease to be a citizen of the United States, and shall be incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under them, or either of them.

BIOGRAPHY

OF

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

OUR Commonwealth possesses no richer treasure than the fair fame of her children. In the revolutions of empires, the present institutions of our land may perish, and new ones, perhaps more perfect, may arise; but the glory of our national existence cannot pass away, so long as the names of those who, in it, enlarged the boundaries of knowledge, gave tone to its morals, framed its laws, or fought its battles, are remembered with gratitude. The men who stamp the impressions of their genius or their virtues on their own times, influence also those which follow, and they become the benefactors of after ages and of remote nations. Of such the memorials should be carefully collected and preserved; and Americans, above all others, owe it to their country and the world to perpetuate such records, while it is possible to separate truth from fiction, in all that relates to those who laid the foundation of the republic-who have sustained it by their wisdom, or adorned it by their talents. It should be constantly borne in mind that our country stands conspicuous among nations, as a fair daughter amidst a family of elder sons; that as a nation it has passed through no age of fabulous obscurity, nor useless years of feeble infancy, but stepped forth at maturity, in the panoply of war, like Minerva from the brain of Jove. In its history there is no blank; it is full of striking incidents, of original

theories, and of bold experiments. In its governs ment it has exhibited, and is still demonstrationg to the world, under new and peculiar aspects, the abil ity of men to rule themselves, and to protect their own rights without injury to the rights of others. The men whose names are inscribed with honour on the pages of American history, were fitted to the times and the occasions which called them forth; they were men of iron nerves and fearless hearts, of deveted action and incorruptible integrity, of splendid talents and practical common sense; who lived for the glory of their country and the happiness of their race. Of these, there is one first in the hearts of his coun trymen;" as

In every public duty

"The first

Conspicuous like an oak of healthiest bough,
Deep rooted in his country's love he stood."

POLLOCK.

George Washington was born at Bridge's Creek, Westmoreland county, Virginia, on the 22d of February, 1732. Before he was ten years old, he was deprived of the guidance and example of an excellent father; but the judicious economy and prudent affection of his remaining parent provided for him instruction in the useful branches of knowledge, and above all, she trained him to a love of truth, and successfully cultivated that high moral sense which characterized his actions from his youth. There is no doubt that to the careful culture bestowed by his affectionate mother, the goodness and greatness of Washington are to be ascribed. And we will here call the attention of the reader to the fact, which bears honorable testimony to the female character, that a large proportion of the distinguished men whose names adorn the history of our country, were

left to the care of their widowed mothers at a very

early age.

"This tells to mothers what a holy charge

Is theirs, with what a kingly power their love
Might rule the fountain of the new born mind-
Warns them to wake at early dawn, and sow
Good seed before the world doth sow its tares."

At the age of fifteen, Washington received the appointment of midshipman in the British navy, but surrendered it at the earnest desire of his mother; he afterwards practised the profession of a surveyor, and when nineteen, he held, for a short time, the appointment of adjutant general, with the rank of major, in the forces of the colony.

In 1753 the French began to execute a project they had some time meditated, which was, to connect their Canadian possessions with Louisiana, by a line of posts from the lakes to the mouth of the Ohio. They marched a force into the country, and erected a fort on the Alleghany river; but these measures being regarded as encroachments on the rights of Great Britain, the lieutenant governor of Virginia, Dinwiddie, determined to require their withdrawal, and selected Washington for the performance of the hazardous enterprise of traversing the wilderness and making the demand. This journey was performed in the depth of winter. On his route he examined the country, noted the strongest military positions, secured the friendship of the Indian tribes, and made himself acquainted with the force and designs of the French. On his return he presented a journal of his progress and observations as part of his report, which, being published and extensively circulated, was read with interest in all the colonies, and gave him a prominent place in the regard of the public.

As the French were determined to hold the couns

try west of the mountains, the legislature of Virginia began to take measures for the maintenance of the British claim. They accordingly raised a regiment, and appointed Washington lieutenant colonel. Early in the spring, he marched with two companies in advance to the Great Meadows, where he learned from some friendly Indians, that the French had attacked and dispersed a party of workmen who were erecting a fort on the south easternbranch of the Ohio, and were themselves building a fortification at the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela, and that a detachment were on their march towards him, apparently with hostile intentions; these he surrounded in their encampment at night, and at break of day his troops, after delivering one fire, which killed the French commander, captured the whole party, except one man. Being joined soon after by the residue of the regiment, and a few other troops, making an aggregate of somewhat less than four hundred men, they erected a small stockade fort; here he was attacked by twelve hundred French and Indians, and after a brave resistance from ten in the morning until night, he capitulated. The assembly of Virginia voted their thanks for the gallantry and good conduct displayed on this occasion.

In the winter of 1754, orders were received from England, that officers of the royal troops should take rank over provincial officers of the some grade, without regard to seniority; on'this, Washington resigned his commission with indignation, and withdrew to Mount Vernon. From this retirement he was tempted by an invitation from General Braddock, to serve as a volunteer aid-de-camp in the campaign of 1755. The experience and advice of Washington might have been peculiarly valuable to the general,