Washington and His Colleagues | Page 4

That
bustling town of 30,000 population desired to be the capital of the
nation, and, in the splendid exertions which it made, it went rather too
far. Federal Hall, designed as a City Hall, was built in part for the
accommodation of Congress, on the site in Wall Street now in part
occupied by the United States Sub-Treasury. The plans were made by
Major Pierre Charles l'Enfant, a French engineer who had served with
distinction in the Continental Army but whose clearest title to fame is
the work which he did in laying out the city of Washington when it was
made the national capital. Federal Hall exceeded in dignified
proportions and in artistic design any public building then existing in
America. The painted ceilings, the crimson damask canopies and
hangings, and the handsome furniture were considered by many

political agitators to be a great violation of republican simplicity. The
architect was first censured in the public press and then, because of
disputes, received no pay for his time and trouble, although, had he
accepted a grant of city lots offered by the town council he would have
received a compensation that would have turned out to be very
valuable.
Federal Hall had been completed and presented to Congress before
Washington started for New York. The local arrangements for his
reception were upon a corresponding scale of magnificence, but with
these Washington had had nothing to do. The barge in which he was
conveyed from the Jersey shore to New York was fifty feet long, hung
with red curtains and having an awning of satin. It was rowed by
thirteen oarsmen, in white with blue ribbons. In the inauguration
ceremonies Washington's coach was drawn by four horses with gay
trappings and hoofs blackened and polished. This became his usual
style. He seldom walked in the street, for he was so much a public
show that that might have been attended by annoying practical
inconvenience; but when he rode out with Mrs. Washington his
carriage was drawn by four--sometimes six--horses, with two outriders,
in livery, with powdered hair and cockades in their hats. When he rode
on horseback, which he often did for exercise, he was attended by
outriders and accompanied by one or more of the gentlemen of his
household. Toward the end of the year there arrived from England the
state coach which he used in formal visits to Congress and for other
ceremonious events. It was a canary-colored chariot, decorated with
gilded nymphs and cupids, and emblazoned with the Washington arms.
His state was simplified when he went to church, which he did
regularly every Sunday; then his coach was drawn by two horses, with
two footmen behind, and was followed by a post-chaise carrying two
gentlemen of his household. Washington was fond of horses and was in
the habit of keeping a fine stable. The term "muslin horses" was
commonly used to denote the care taken in grooming. The head groom
would test the work of the stable-boys by applying a clean muslin
handkerchief to the coats of the animals, and, if any stain of dirt
showed, there was trouble. The night before the white horses which
Washington used as President were to be taken out, their coats were

covered by a paste of whiting, and the animals were swathed in
wrappings. In the morning the paste was dry and with rubbing gave a
marble gloss to the horses' coats. The hoofs were then blackened and
polished, and even the animals' teeth were scoured. Such arrangements,
however, were not peculiar to Washington's stable. This was the usual
way in which grooming for "the quality" was done in that period.
The first house occupied by Washington was at the corner of Pearl and
Cherry streets, then a fashionable locality. What the New York end of
the Brooklyn Bridge has left of it is now known as Franklin Square.
The house was so small that three of his secretaries had to lodge in one
room; and Custis in his Recollections tells how one of them, who
fancied he could write poetry, would sometimes disturb the others by
walking the floor in his nightgown trying the rhythm of his lines by
rehearsing them with loud emphasis. About a year later Washington
removed to a larger house on the west side of Broadway near Bowling
Green. Both buildings went down at an early date before the continual
march of improvement in New York. In Washington's time Wall Street
was superseding Pearl Street as the principal haunt of fashion. Here
lived Alexander Hamilton and other New Yorkers prominent in their
day; here were fashionable boarding-houses at which lived the leading
members of Congress. When some fashionable reception was taking
place, the street was gay with coaches and sedan-chairs, and the attire
of the people