ly we were favored in the weather; the whole procession had been completely finished, and we had repaired to the Governor's, before it began to rain. When the President was on the wharf an officer came up and, addressing him, said he had the honor to command his Guard, and that it was ready to obey his orders. The President answered that, as to the present arrangement, he should proceed as was directed, but that after that was over, he hoped he would give himself no farther trouble, as the affection of his fellowcitizens (turning to the crowd) was all the guard he wanted.”

The house to which Washington was conducted, and which became his official residence, was that which still exists at the corner of Cherry street and Franklin square. It was owned by Mr. Osgood, of the Treasury Board, and had been occupied by the presidents of the Continental Congress. As his domestic establishment was not yet organized his table for a few days was supplied from Fraunces's tavern, and on the evening of his arrival he was entertained at dinner by Governor Clinton, with the Vice President, the heads of departments, the committee of Congress appointed to receive him, the foreign ambassadors, and several other eminent persons. "The occasion of the President's first arrival at the seat of government," says Fenno, "arrested the public attention beyond all powers of description; the hand of industry was suspended, and the various pleasures of the capital were centered in a single enjoyment." Some who were advanced in years, and hardly expected to see him till they should meet in heaven, could with difficulty "restrain their impatience at being in a measure deprived of the high gratification, by the eagerness of the multitude of children and young people, who probably might long enjoy the blessing; and others were heard to say they should now die contented, nothing having been wanted previous to this auspicious time but a sight of the Saviour of his Country."

John Adams, in a speech to the senate on taking his place as president of that body, two days before Washington's arrival in the city, said of him, "Were I blessed with powers to do justice to his character, it would be impossible to increase the confidence and respect of his country, or make the smallest addition to his glory. This can only be effected by a discharge of the present exalted trust, on the same principles, with the same abilities and virtues, which have uniformly appeared in all his former life, public and private. May I, nevertheless, be indulged to inquire, If we look over the catalogues of the first magistrates of nations, whether they have been denominated presidents or consuls, kings or princes, where shall we find one whose commanding talents and virtues, whose overruling good fortune, have so completely united all hearts and voices in his favor; who enjoyed the esteem and admiration of foreign nations and fellow citizens with equal unanimity?.... By these great qualities, and their benign effects, has Providence marked out the head of this nation, with a hand so distinctly visible, as to have been seen by all men and mistaken. by none."

Yet the modest estimate which the Chief entertained respecting his own abilities had brought a melancholy foreboding to mingle with the patriotic joy awakened by all these recent triumphs. The day after he thus entered New York he wrote in his private journal: "The display of boats which attended and joined us on this occasion, some with vocal and some with instrumental music on board, the decorations of the ships, the roar of cannon, and the loud acclamations of the people which rent the skies as I passed along the wharves, filled my mind with sensations as painful (considering the reverse of this scene, which may be the case, after all my labors to do good,) as they are pleasing."

It is noted among the incidents of the day that the schooner

Columbia, Captain Philip Freneau, eight days from Charleston, came up the bay in time to take a part in the proceedings. Philip Freneau, the bard of the revolution, was destined to act no unimportant part in the secret history of Washington's administration.

THE INAUGURATION.

I.

Ar length the important day arrived when the great leader who had maintained our independence in the field with so much wisdom, prudence, energy, and indomitable perseverance, was to be inaugurated the first chief magistrate of the united and consolidated republic. For nearly a fortnight the taverns and boarding-houses in the city had been thronged with visitors, and now every private house was filled with guests, from all parts of the Union, assembled to witness the imposing ceremonial which was to complete the organization of the government. "We shall remain here, even if we have to sleep in tents, as so many will have to do," wrote Miss Bertha Ingersoll to Miss McKean;* "Mr. Williamson had promised to engage us rooms at Frauncis's, but that was jammed long ago, as was every other decent public house; and now, while we are waiting at Mrs. Vandervoort's, in Maiden Lane, till after dinner, two of our beaus are running about town, determined to obtain the best places for us to stay at which can be opened for love, money, or the most persuasive speeches." Another young woman, after recounting the vicissitudes of a journey from Boston, and various difficulties in finding agreeable accommodations in the metropolis,

*Afterward Marchioness d'Yrujo.

adds in a postcript, "I have seen him! and though I had been entirely ignorant that he was arrived in the city, I should have known at a glance that it was General Washington: I never saw a human being that looked so great and noble as he does. I could fall down on my knees before him and bless him for all the good he has done for this country."

II.

THE anxiously expected morning of Thursday, the thirteenth of April, was greeted with a national salute from the Bowling Green, and at an early hour the streets were filled with men and women, in their holiday attire, while every moment arrived new crowds from the adjoining country, by the road from King's Bridge, by ferry boats from more distant places, or by packets which had been all night on the Sound or coming down the Hudson. At eight o'clock some clouds about the horizon caused apprehensions of an unpleasant day; but when, at nine, the bells rung out a merry peal, and presently with a slower and more solemn striking, called from every steeple for the people to assemble in the churches. "to implore the blessing of Heaven on the nation, its favor and protection to the President, and success and acceptance to his administration," the sun shone clearly down, as if commissioned to give assurance of the approbation of the Divine Ruler of the world.

As the people came out from the churches, where Livingston, Mason, Provost, Rogers, and other clergymen,* had given passion

* The list of clergymen, for the city, in 1789, comprised only fourteen names, as follows:— Presbyterian Church, Rev. Dr. John Rogers; Scotch Presbyterian Church, Rev. Dr. John Mason; Episcopal Church, Rev. Dr. Samuel Provost, Bishop, and Rev. Mr. Beach and Rev. Benjamin Moore; United Lutheran Church, Rev. Dr. John Christopher Kunzie; Methodist Church, Rev. Mr. Morrill and Rev. Mr. Cloud; Reformed Dutch Church, Rev. Dr. John H. Livingston and Rev. Dr. William Linn; German Church, Rev. Mr. Gross; Baptist Church, Rev. Mr. Foster; Jewish Synagogue, Rev. Gershom Seixas. While the ministry of peace exhibited this meagre catalogue, that of contention-the list of Supreme Court attorneys-embraced one hundred and twenty. two.