rival in New York, and the family talk had ever since been about me; a lodging was prepared for me at Mr. Aitken's, and I was received with all the cordiality of an intimate friend." This was three and a half years before the meeting of the first Congress, but facilities for travelling had not increased much in that period.*

He

Philip Freneau describes in a satire of three cantos the "Journey from Philadelphia to New York, by way of Burlington and South Amboy;" and M. Brissot de Warville presents a particular account of his passage between the same cities, in “a kind of open wagon, hung with double curtains, of leather and woollen"-carriages "which keep up the idea of equality, the member of Congress riding beside the shoemaker who elected him, in fraternity.” also gives us in his amiable way a chapter of adventures from Boston to New York, both by the land route and the sea. He makes the best of every thing, but does not show that he had a very comfortable time, in the wagons or in the boats. On one occasion he says, "We left the place where we had slept at four o'clock in the morning, in a carriage without springs. A Frenchman who was with me began, at the first jolt, to curse the carriage, the driver, and the country. 'Let us wait a little,' said I, 'before we form a

Public conveyances were almost unknown except between a few of the principal cities. The Continental Congress had lately authorized the Postmaster General to contract for the transmission of the mail over the great route along the sea coast, by a line of stage-wagons, to carry passengers also; but this scheme was as yet very imperfectly executed, so that members derived from it but little advantage in their journeys to New York. To Philadelphia and Boston the mails were sent three times a week in the summer, and twice a week in the winter. The "Boston, Albany, and Philadelphia General Stage Office," was kept by Samuel Fraunces-more famous in his day than even Niblo, half a century afterward, as an almost universal caterer for the public entertainment-in Cortlandt street; and stages for Boston started every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; for Albany every Monday and Thursday; and for Philadelphia, from Paulus Hook, twice every day, except Saturdays and Sundays, when they left but once a day. The fare, from Paulus Hook to Philadelphia, was two dollars a passenger (only half what is now charged on the railroad!) or, by express, at eight miles an hour, one shilling per mile; or ten miles an hour, eighteen pence per mile. At the early season of the year in which the Congress was summoned to assemble, the roads in many places, and especially the fords of rivers, were frequently made impassable by floods.

judgment; every custom has its cause: doubtless there is some reason why this kind of carriage is preferred to one hung with springs. In fact, by the time we had run thirty miles, among the rocks, we were convinced that a carriage with springs would very soon have been overset and broken." In the same spirit he praises the inns; "you will not go into one," he says, "without meeting with neatness, decency, and dignity. The table is served by a maiden, well dressed, and pretty, by a pleasant mother whose age has not effaced the agreeableness of her features, and by men who have that air of respectability which is inspired by the idea of equality, and are not ignoble and base, like the greater part of our own tavern keepers." The Marquis de Chastellux, while travelling in the same region, was not so well satisfied; he contradicts indeed nothing which is advanced by M. de Warville, but avers that while the tables of the sitting-rooms were covered with the writings of Milton, Addison, and Richardson, the cellars contained "neither brandy, nor wine, nor even rum." The neophyte of democracy was every where attentive to the young women, and he finds the tediousness of the wagon beguiled by frequent sights, all through Massachusetts and Connecticut, of "fair girls, either driving a carriage, or alone on horseback, galloping boldly, with an elegant hat on the head, a white apron, and a calico gown: usages which prove at once the early cultivation of their reason, (since they are trusted so young to themselves,) the safety of the roads, and the general innocence of manners." Coming to New York by water* he was de

"I ought to say one word of the packet boats of this part of America, and of the facilities which they offer. Though, in my opinion, it is more advantageous and often less expensive to go by land, yet I owe some praises to the cleanliness and good order observable in these boats. The one which I was in contained fourteen beds, ranged in two rows, one above the other, and every one had its little window. The chamber was well aired, so that one did not breathe that nauseous air which infects the packets of the English Channel. It was well varnished, and the provisions were good. There is not a little town on all this coast which is without this kind of vessels, going to New York. They have all the same neatness, the same embellishments, the

tained by contrary winds, but assures us that the voyage from Newport is not unfrequently performed in twenty hours, and that the price of passage is but six dollars.

Miss Montgomery states that the journey from Wilmington to New York was so great an undertaking that few persons attempted it, and they were regarded as "travellers." Her grandfather's business often required his attention there, and on his return crowds of villagers would come to hear the news and accounts of all the wonders he had seen in that astonishing city.

III.

A SUFFICIENT number of members having appeared, the House of Representatives at length on the thirtieth of March proceeded to organize itself, and on the following week the Senate was also ready for business. This first Congress under the Constitution embraced a large portion of the talents, experience and respectability of the country. John Langdon, Oliver Ellsworth, Charles Carroll, Richard Henry Lee, and Ralph Izard, were in the Senate, and among the members of the House were Elbridge Gerry, Roger Sherman, Jeremiah Wadsworth, Elias Boudinot, Frederick A. Muhlenberg, James Madison, and young Fisher Ames, soon to be acknowledged the greatest of American orators.

The Continental Congress had sat in the old City Hall, at the corner of Wall and Nassau streets, where now stands the Custom House. This building had been erected nearly a century, and in it had been held the sessions of the Provincial Assembly, the Supreme Court, the Admiralty Court, and the Mayor's Court. Here too had been the city prison, and in Broad street, nearly opposite, had stood the whipping post and the pillory. The City Hall, in

same convenience. You may be assured there is nothing like them in the old countries."-New Travels in America, c. iv.

deed, had been the centre of all important business, in legislation, administration, and politics; it was also the principal resort of the lovers of literature, as it contained the public library; and it served the purposes of the Athenian stoæ, for gossips, newsmongers, and speculators. Anxious for the proper accommodation of the various branches of the federal government, and not without expectations that a liberal course on her part might cause New York to be made the permanent capital of the nation, several wealthy citizens contributed thirty-two thousand dollars for the purpose of remodeling, repairing and renovating this building, which, when completed, received the new name of Federal Hall, and was placed by the City Council at the disposal of Congress.

The appearance of Federal Hall was for that period very imposing, and its front, toward Broad street, was particularly admirod. The basement story was in the Tuscan style, with seven openings, and four massive pillars in the centre supported heavy arches, above which rose four Doric columns. The cornice was ingeniously divided to admit thirteen stars in the metopes, which with the eagle and other insignia in the pediment, and the sculptures of thirteen arrows surrounded by olive branches over each window, marked it as a building set apart for national purposes. The entrance on Broad street opened into a large and plainly furnished room, to which every one had free access, and beyond this was the vestibule, which led, in front, to the Hall of the Representatives, and through arches on each side, by a public stairway on the right, and a private one on the left, to the Senate chamber and the galleries. The vestibule was paved with marble, and was very lofty, and elegantly finished. The lower part was of a light rough stone, which supported a handsome iron gallery, and the upper part, which was in a less massive style, was lighted from a richly ornamented dome. The Hall of the Representatives was sixty-one feet long, fifty-eight feet

wide, and thirty-six feet high, and had an arched ceiling, increasing its height in the centre about ten feet more. Its form was slightly octangular, and on its sides were niches for statues. The windows were large, and placed sixteen feet from the floor, the space below being finished with a plain wainscot, interrupted only by four fireplaces, above which were Ionic columns and pilasters. In the panels between the windows were trophies, carved, and the letters U. S. in a cipher, surrounded with laurel. The speaker's chair was on an elevated platform, opposite the principal entrance. Each member had a separate chair and desk. There were two galleries in front of the speaker's seat-the lower one projecting fifteen feet, and the upper one, less spacious-both supported without pillars. These were intended for the accommodation of the friends of the members. The public were admitted only to an area on the floor outside the bar. There were three small doors, for common use, besides the larger and less convenient entrance. The curtains in this room were of light blue damask, and the chairs of the members were covered with the same material.

The Senate chamber was approached by the stairs on the east side of the vestibule, through an ante-chamber, nineteen feet wide and forty-eight feet long, finished with Tuscan pilasters, and communicating with the iron gallery already mentioned, as well as with the galleries of the Hall of the Representatives. This room was forty feet long, thirty feet wide, and twenty feet high, with an arched ceiling; it had three windows at each end, those toward Wall street opening into an external gallery, twelve feet deep, and guarded by an iron railing. In this gallery the President of the United States was expected to take his oath of office. The Senate chamber was decorated with light and graceful pilasters, with capitals, devised by the architect, Major l'Enfant, composed of foliage, in the midst of which appeared radiant stars, and below each was