rt of
cavalry and citizens. At Middletown and other places on the way he was
received by escorts, and greeted with the ringing of bells, and
sometimes the firing of cannon. Increasing demonstrations of respect met
him as he proceeded. At Hartford all business was suspended during his
stay; and, in all the towns, every class of citizens thronged the places
of his presence to see the face of their beloved friend.

Grateful as these demonstrations were to the feelings of Washington, as
evidences of personal and official respect, they were not consonant with
his desires. He wished to travel in the quiet manner of a private
citizen, for he was ever averse to ostentatious displays of every kind.
But his wishes could not control the actions of his fellow-citizens, and
he yielded with a good grace to their receptions.

Near Brookfield, between Palmer and Worcester, the president was met by
a messenger sent by John Hancock, then governor of Massachusetts, to
give notice of measures that had been arranged for the chief
magistrate's reception on his approach to, and entrance into the city of
Boston, the capital of the commonwealth. Governor Hancock also invited
him to make his house his home while in Boston.

Washington courteously declined the governor's invitation to partake of
his hospitality. "Could my wish prevail," he said, "I should desire to
visit your metropolis without any parade or extraordinary ceremony. From
a wish to avoid giving trouble to private families I determined, on
leaving New York, to decline the honor of any invitation to quarters
which I might receive while on my journey; and, with a view to observe
this rule, I had requested a gentleman to engage lodgings for me during
my stay in Boston."

On the receipt of this letter, Governor Hancock wrote by the return
courier to the president, expressing his regret that he could not have
the honor of entertaining him at his house as a guest, and begging that
he and his _suite_ would honor him with their company at dinner, _en
famille_, on the day of their arrival. Washington accepted the
invitation, and on Saturday, the twenty-fourth of October, he passed
through Cambridge, and approached Boston toward meridian.

Preparations had been made for the reception of the president by
Governor Hancock and the municipal authorities of Boston, each
independently of the other, and without consultation. This produced a
disagreeable, but in some respects laughable scene in