“Governor Hancock had prepared a great dinner at his house, to which he invited the French admiral, the officers of the fleet, and many of the principal citizens. A notion had got into Hancock's head, that the governor of a state was a kind of king or sovereign in his own territory, and that it would be derogatory to his station to pay the first visit to any one, even the president of the United States; and, acting always upon this rule, he sent an invitation to General Washington to dine with him, but excused himself from calling on him, alleging that sickness detained him at home; thus covering by a lame apology the resolution which he dared not openly exercise toward the president. Washington, who had received some hint of this absurd point of etiquette which sought to exalt the head of a part above the head of the whole, sent his aid-de-camp, Major William Jackson, with a message to his excellency, declining the invitation to dinner, and intimating that if his health permitted him to receive company, it would admit of his visiting him.
“My father dined at the governor's, and about sunset brought Admiral de Pondevez and several of his officers, who spent the evening with us. The dinner-party went off heavily, owing to the general disappointment in not meeting the president. Meantime the French ships-of-war in the harbor were dressed in variegated lamps, and bonfires blazed in the streets. The ladies wore bandeaux, cestuses, and ribands, stamped and embroidered with the name of Washington; some in gold and silver letters, and some in pearls.
“About ten o'clock I accompanied the admiral to the wharf of embarkation for his ship. As we passed the house where the president lodged, De Pondevez and his party expressed great surprise at the absence of all sort of parade or noise. 'What!' said he, 'not even a sentinel? In Europe,' he added, 'a brigadier-general would have a guard; and here this great man, the chief of a nation, does not permit it!'
“The next day was Sunday, and immediately after morning service, Mr. Joseph Russell, an intimate friend of the governor, called at our house, and told my father that his excellency had swallowed the bitter pill, and was then on his way to visit the president—to which step he had been urged by a report that the people generally condemned his false pride.”
[22] The address from the town was accompanied by a request, in behalf of the ladies of Boston, that he would sit for his portrait, to be placed in Faneuil hall, that others might be copied from it for their respective families. On account of a want of time he was compelled to decline, but promised to have it painted for them after his return to New York.
[23] “At half-after seven,” he says in his diary, “I went to the assembly, where there were about seventy-five well-dressed, and many of them very handsome ladies, among whom (as was also the case at the Salem and Boston assemblies) were a greater proportion with much blacker hair than are usually seen in the southern states.”
[24] Between Uxbridge and Pomfret, the president lodged at an inn kept by Mr. Taft, where he was so much pleased with the family, that on his arrival at Hartford he wrote the following letter to Mr. Taft:—
“Hartford, 8th November, 1789.
“Sir: Being informed that you have given my name to one of your sons, and called another after Mrs. Washington's family, and being moreover very much pleased with the modest and innocent looks of your two daughters, Patty and Polly, I do for these reasons send each of these girls a piece of chintz; and to Patty, who bears the name of Mrs. Washington, and who waited more upon us than Polly did, I send five guineas, with which she may buy herself any little ornament she may want, or she may dispose of them in any other manner more agreeable to herself. As I do not give these things with a view to have it talked of, or even to its being known, the less there is said about the matter the better you will please me. But, that I may be sure the chintz and money have got safe to hand, let Patty, who I dare say is equal to it, write me a line, informing me thereof, directed to 'The President of the United States at New York.' I wish you and your family well, and am your humble servant,
Geo. Washington.”