After this the President, accompanied by both Houses of Congress, proceeded on foot to St. Paul's Church (where divine service was performed by the Right Rev. Dr. Provost, suitable to the immediate occasion) in the following order, viz.:
Troop of Horse
Infantry
Door Keeper and Messenger of Representatives
Clerk
Representatives
Speaker
President and Vice-President
President's Suite
Senators
Secretary
Door Keeper and Messenger of the Senate
Gentlemen admitted into the Senate Chamber
Sheriff
Citizens
Constables, marshals, etc., on each side of the Members of Congress at proper distances, from the front of the Representatives to the rear of the Senators.
In the evening fireworks were displayed under the direction of Colonel Bauman.—The brilliancy and excellency of them does honor to the projector.
The houses of their Excellencies the French and Spanish Ambassadors were most elegantly illuminated on this auspicious occasion.
Extract of a letter from a gentleman in New York to his friend in Philadelphia, dated May 1, 1789:
Yesterday the great Patriot Washington took a solemn charge of the liberties of America. The magnificence and splendor of the procession, from his house to the Federal Building, commanded the admiration of every beholder. But above all, the solemnity which appeared while he took the oath of office, was truly affecting. The silent joy which every rank of spectators exhibited in their countenances, bespoke the sincere wishes of their hearts. I could have wished you to have been a spectator.
The fireworks exhibited in the evening were truly brilliant; and the illuminations and transparent paintings of the Spanish and French Ambassadors surpassed even conception itself.