acknowledgments to the matrons and young ladies who received him in so
novel and grateful a manner at the Triumphal Arch, for the exquisite
sensations he experienced in that affecting moment. The astonishing
contrast between his former and his actual situation at the same spot,
the elegant taste with which it was adorned for the present occasion,
and the innocent appearance of the white-robed choir who met him with
the gratulatory song, have made such an impression on his remembrance
as, he assures them, will never be effaced."

[Illustration: RECEPTION OF PRESIDENT WASHINGTON AT NEW YORK, APRIL 23,
1789.]

Over the same route across New Jersey along which Washington fled toward
the close of 1776, with his wasting little army, before an exulting foe,
and in the midst of secret enemies on every side, he now made his way
among a happy and peaceful people, who received him everywhere with the
open arms of love and veneration, while the air was filled with the
shouts of multitudes, the booming of cannon, and the ringing of bells.
He arrived at Elizabethtown point, a few miles from New York, on the
morning of the twenty-third of April, and there he was received by
committees of both houses of Congress, officers of the federal, state,
and municipal governments, and a large number of citizens who had
collected from all parts of the country. A splendid barge had been
constructed for the occasion, to carry the president to New York, and in
it he embarked immediately after his arrival. It was manned by thirteen
masters of vessels in white uniforms, commanded by Commodore James
Nicholson; and other beautiful barges, fancifully decorated, conveyed
the Congressional committees and the heads of departments. Other boats
joined them on the way, some of them bearing musicians; and when they
approached the city, whose shores and wharves, and every part of Fort
George and the Battery, were covered with people, there was a grand
flotilla in the procession, the oars keeping time with instrumental
music.

All the vessels in the harbor but one were gayly decked with flags, and
upon two of them parties of ladies and gentlemen sang gratulatory odes
as the barge of the president approached. The exception was the Spanish
man-of-war _Galveston_, which displayed no token of respect. A general
feeling of indignation began to prevail, when in an instant, as the
president's barge came abreast of her, her yards were manned as if by
magic; every part