Note 21 — Chapter XI

The venerable Samuel Breck, of Philadelphia, now [1859] in the eighty-ninth year of his age, communicated to me in a letter dated May twenty-fifth, 1859, the following interesting reminiscences of Washington's visit to Boston on the occasion under consideration. After giving me a most interesting account of matters connected with the French vessels there, Mr. Breck says:—

“At the time when Admiral de Pondevez was lying with his fleet in the harbor of Boston, General Washington, the first president of the United States, who was making a tour East during the recess of Congress, arrived there. He was received with open arms and hearty cheers by the people. In his honor a triumphal arch was raised, with appropriate mottoes, near the old statehouse. Under this he passed in great state. I stood at a window close by, and saw him enter the balcony of that building and show himself to the thousands who came from far and near to greet him. I saw all that passed, heard the fine anthems that were composed for the occasion, and gazed with admiring eyes upon his majestic figure.

“The procession that had accompanied him from the entrance of the town took up its line of march again, after these ceremonies, and accompanied him to the house selected for his residence, which stood at the corner of Tremont and Court streets. It was a handsome brick building. A beautiful company of light-infantry served as a guard of honor, commanded by the well-known and greatly distinguished Harrison Gray Otis.

“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.”