"to keep it steady." There are representations of the personal appearance of Dr. Cooper, having inscribed on them this notice of his eloquence, melle dulcior fluebat oratio. The most distinguished men of that time were his parishioners, and among others, Governors Bowdoin and Hancock.

Dress was

It may not be uninteresting to sketch the condition and usages of society about the time of the adoption of the constitution, according to the impression now retained of them. There were families who were affluent and social. They interchanged dinners and suppers. The evening amusement was usually games at cards. Tables were loaded with provisions. Those of domestic origin were at less than half the cost of the present time. The busy part of society dined then, as now, at one, others at two o'clock; three o'clock was the latest hour for the most formal occasions. There were no theatrical entertainments; there was a positive legal prohibition. There were concerts. About the year 1760, Concert Hall was built by a gentleman named Deblois, for the purpose of giving concerts; and private gentlemen played and sang for the amusement of the company. There were subscription assemblies for dancing, at the same place, and it required a unanimous assent to gain admission. much attended to by both sexes. Coats of every variety of color were worn, not excepting red; sometimes the cape and collar were of velvet, and of a different color from the coat. Minuets were danced, and contrè dances. Cotillions were of later date. They were introduced by the French, who were refugees from the West India Islands. A very important personage, in the fashionable world, was Mrs. Haley, sister of the celebrated John Wilkes. She came over in the year 1785, and purchased the house in which the late Gardiner Greene lived, at the head of Court Street. She was then advanced in life, of singular personal appearance, but a lady of amiable deportment. She afterwards married a gentleman who was the uncle of a celebrated Scotch reviewer; but after some years returned to England. Her house was a place of fashionable resort. Marriages and funerals were occurrences of much more ceremony than at the present day. The bride was visited daily for four successive weeks. Public notice was given of funerals, and private invitations also. Attendance was expected; and

there was a long train of followers, and all the carriages and chaises that could be had. The number of the former in town was not more than ten or twelve. There were no public carriages earlier than the beginning of 1789; and very few for some years afterwards. Young men, at their entertainments, sat long and drank deep, compared to the present custom. Their meetings were enlivened with anec

dote and song.

Among the remarkable visiters of this country was Brissot de Warville, in 1788, afterwards chief of a faction in the French Revolution called the Girondists. He was executed in Robespierre's time, at the age of thirty-eight. He came over to learn how to be a republican. He was a handsome, brisk little Frenchman, and was very well received here. He wrote a book on this country. He was much delighted with the Quakers, and is said to have respected their simplicity of dress, and to have introduced, in his own country, the fashion of wearing the hair without powder.

The means of education have greatly improved. There were two Latin Schools. One in School Street, and one at the north part of the town. The only academies recollected were one at Exeter (New Hampshire) and one at Andover, and one near Newburyport, called Dummer Academy. The latter was the seminary at which some eminent men were instructed; among others, Parsons, and Sewall, Chief Justices in Massachusetts; Willard, President of Harvard College; S. Phillips, Lieutenant Governor; Rufus King; Commodore Preble. It was a common practice for clergymen to receive boys into families to prepare them for college. The means of educating females were far inferior to those of the present time. The best were ،، boarding-schools," and there were but two or three of these. The accomplishments acquired were inferior to those which common among hundreds of young females of the present time. The sum of acquirements now, in the process of education, greatly surpasses that of forty years ago in both sexes. The moral condition of society, among the well informed, (so far as is seen on the surface,) is greatly improved. There is more occupation of various sorts. Society, collectively, is undoubtedly better. Whether its members, in all things then and now, innocent, are happier or not, one cannot judge from youthful impressions.

are

In one respect there is a change of immeasurable value; that is, in the intercourse of parents and children. It is very possible that there are some who prefer the strict discipline of former days; and who believe that as much of substantial benefit has been lost as gained, in the changes which have occurred. If this be so, it arises from the quality of education, and not because there is more of it.

LETTER X.

FEB. 22, 1833.

THE first occurrences under the new national government, are known from the most authentic sources, and eminently so from the fifth volume of Marshall's Life of Washington.

The government, though one of deliberate consent, encountered, from the first moment of its being, a powerful opposition. This gradually strengthened, and at the end of twelve years, acquired an ascendency, and converted the founders of the government into an opposition. It will appear, in distant times, to those who study the records of times recently passed, that when the government has been administered well, the principles developed by those who were its founders have been adhered to. How long the fabric on which the liberties of this nation depend, can endure the shocks which it must inevitably encounter, is beyond the power of conjecture. It may continue through many generations, or expire before another is gone. Its form and name may continue, though the true purposes for which it was instituted, may have been entirely perverted. There is an unceasing peril in the intrinsic difficulty of preserving the exact line between state and national authority. The same population, in each of the states respectively, being subjected to the two governments (national and state) may honestly divide in opinion as to rights and duties under each. This has been one of the causes of dissension, sometimes operating in one part of the Union, and sometimes in another. The end of the Union must come from this cause, or from the extinction of state

governments, by the establishment of tyranny in the federal head. Such results were foreseen at the commencement, and faithfully considered in the FEDERALIST.

At the beginning of this government, there were causes of party bitterness, which have long since disappeared. Besides the jealousy as to state rights, and the necessity of effective national administration, there were the embarrassments arising out of the measures which Congress, and the states, respectively adopted, during the war; the claims on the government; and the delicate and difficult initiation of the exercise of its powers. There existed, also, a vindictive and, perhaps, justifiable feeling against Great Britain, and a natural partiality for France, whether justifiable or not. The destruction of the French monarchy soon followed; and the seeming of republican freedom began in that country. War ensued between England and France. French politics, enthusiasm, and power, sought dominion in this country. The Americans who opposed this, were considered as devoted to England. Thus the war of Europe actually raged in this country to the full extent, excepting that no blood flowed. Then came the whiskey insurrection of Pennsylvania. Amidst all these difficulties, the national government would probably have perished in its infancy, if it had not been for the wisdom and firmness of Washington.

The respect, confidence, and affection universally entertained for this eminent man, were fully manifested in his journey from Mount Vernon to New York to assume his office. He arrived in April, 1789, wearing, it is said, a suit of domestic manufacture. The members of Congress whom he met there, were, in part, distinguished men, who had assisted in framing the constitution, and who had taken a conspicuous rank in the conventions in which it was discussed. The Vice President, Mr. Adams, who had been in Europe during most of the war, and who had recently returned, had taken his place at the head of the senate. There were in both branches some members who had been opposed to the constitution. Among the federal members, who may be hereafter described, were Caleb Strong, George Cabot, Robert Morris, Theodore Sedgwick, James Madison, Egbert Benson, William Smith, Elias Boudinot. Mr. Ames has already been mentioned as being of this Congress.

It is said that the executive officers began their official life, with more parade and ostentation than was thought becoming; and that Mr. Adams walked the streets with his hat under his arm, wearing a sword. Possibly this may have been so, because it was said, and believed in Richmond, in 1796, that Mr. Adams was always preceded by four men bearing drawn swords; which is no very extraordinary amplification, if there were any thing to rest upon. Washington's forms and ceremonies were complained of as amounting to royal customs. What these forms and ceremonies were, will be hereafter shown; and why adopted, may be found in Marshall's 5th vol. p. 163, where a letter of Washington to Dr. Stuart, is quoted, stating the reasons; what Mr. Jefferson says (in one of his posthumous volumes) to the contrary, notwithstanding.

Congress continued in session till the 29th of September, (1789) employed in framing the laws necessary to the organization of the government. In this space of time, the construction of the powers intended to be given, was very ably discussed. The number of senators did not then exceed eighteen. The number of representatives attending was about eighty. Soon after the adjournment, Washington made his eastern tour. He did not then visit Rhode Island, but did this in the following autumn.

Among the subjects strenuously debated at this Congress, was the President's power of appointment, and removal of the officers of his cabinet. The appointment was constitutionally subject to the assent of the senate. The removal was then settled to be, in the power of the President alone. The history of the country shows, in what manner this power may be used; and some who were then opposed to leaving it to the President alone, would have seen their predictions realized, if they had continued to the present day. It is perceived now, that the framers of the constitution erred in not restricting executive power; and that the first legislators erred in like manner. Though they could not have expected a succession of Washingtons, they are excusable for not dreaming of Jeffersons and Jacksons. Another point much discussed was, whether the secretaries of the executive should make reports to Congress. The duties and difficulties of the treasury department may be discerned in Mr. Ames's remarks in support of the propo