tion. The projected centennial had grown into such enormous proportions as to bewilder its promoters, and the enthusiasm respecting it astonished the world. The visitors came from every quarter until the largest assemblage of people ever witnessed on this continent was congregated upon Manhattan Island. The skillful management of the extraordinary crowds during the three days of pageant and rejoicing, as well as the admirable manner in which the various exercises and parades were conducted, reflect

unspeakable credit upon the executive officers of the celebration; nothing went wrong, every contingency was provided for, every wheel rolled systematically, and no accident marred the splendor of the triumphal jubilee.

The Society of the Cincinnati was first in the commemorative field, with an elaborate banquet in honor of Washington, its first president-general, served in the elegant rooms of the Lawyers' Club at the Equitable Building, Saturday evening, April 27. It was a notable gathering, nearly every diner present being a veritable descendant of some revolutionary hero, as well as a man of distinction in his own right. In the forenoon of Sunday, the 28th, memorial services, as an appropriate prelude to the official performances of Monday, were held under the auspices of the society of the Cincinnati, in St. Paul's chapel-the historic institution attending in a body. The exercises were conducted by two of the chaplains of the society the Right Rev. William Stevens Perry, bishop of Iowa, and the Rev. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina, each of whom is a hereditary member-assisted by the clergy of the parish. Bishop Perry, in his eloquent discourse, called specific attention to the frequency with which "our beloved Washington" occupied "yonder pew, in this edifice ever sacred to patriotic memories," and how again and again the members of this honorable order assembled here in recognition of their trust in God. From nearly every pulpit throughout the length and breadth of the great city of New York on that eventful Sabbath morning, during the same precise hour, were delivered fervent and powerful memorial sermons. Said Rev. Dr. Parkhurst of the Madison Square Church: "There is only one centre around which this morning either our thoughts or our devotions can easily and unaffectedly crystallize. In form, we have taken our text out of the Bible: in fact, we take our text out of the air and the common heart. We stand together to-day on the threshold of an unwritten century. We can almost feel the passing away of the old and the incoming of the new." Dr. Armitage said: "The old world was rocked as in the throes of an earthquake when Washington came. His sincerity, his honesty, his courage, influenced the people quite as much as all the eloquent tongues and pens of the thirteen colonies. There was little about him that savored of Alexander or Napoleon. Instead of conquering a country, he was to work out a principle. His task called not for ambition, but for the highest elevation and the most perfect symmetry of character." Rev. E. Walpole Warren of Holy Trinity said: “Although an Englishman, I wish to be among the foremost in this city to pray that this nation may in future advance in both worldly and moral prosperity;" and in his glowing tribute to our first President, he said, "Look at him narrowly,

consider him carefully, for no grander character in history meets our gaze than George Washington." And not only in New York, but in Brooklyn, in all our sister cities, in every village and town, and before every organized body of Christians of whatever creed or shade of belief throughout the land, was voiced on that morning the one overwhelming thought and theme.

In the meantime the heavy storms of the previous few days had scoured the city clean, and a crop of bunting seemed to have taken root in the brown stone of every street and avenue. Immense reviewing stands had sprung up as if by magic about the principal squares, in extent such as never were seen before on Manhattan Island, and four triumphal arches spanned Fifth Avenue ready to blossom with fanciful decorations on Monday. Observant strangers promenaded the streets, and on all sides reigned the general hush and quiet of expectancy.

At midnight, while New York was sleeping, her ancient sister Elizabeth, on the Jersey coast, was using the hammer with a vigor which did her infinite credit. Miles of bunting were being stretched from door to window, and from porch to roof, and acres of flags were getting into position. At the same weird hour, the far-away capital city of the nation was conscious that something unusual was going on within her limits. The executive head of the nation was not in his accustomed chamber at the White House, but, attended by his cabinet ministers, his escort of honor from the metropolis, and the ladies of the party, was on the railway train for New York trying to catch "forty winks" before the ponderous wheels should turn and the gentle rocking of the coach lull him into restful repose. Six hours later he opened his eyes upon the rich fields of northern New Jersey. The train was swiftly approaching Elizabeth. What a contrast to the journey of Washington in his slow four-horse carriage one hundred years ago! President Harrison was carried to his destination. without effort or fatigue, in a car furnished with oriental elegance, and lighted with electricity and heated by steam, to which was attached ten other cars, including a library, a dining hall, a smoker, a sleeper, a complete barber's outfit and bath-rooms, all connected by vestibules so that passengers might move from one to another without danger. What would Washington and his contemporaries have said could they have foresighted these modern luxuries?

When the magnificent train entered the old historic town of Elizabeth, there was an outbreak of tumultuous enthusiasm. The electric current announced the event among the fire-bells, all the church-bells joined in the clamor, cannons banged and roared, and every instrument capable of

sound contributed to the exciting din. Notwithstanding the early hour countless crowds had congregated. The President was received by Governor Robert Stockton Greene, at whose residence a delicious breakfast was served. At precisely half-past eight the President was conducted from the table to the drawing-room, and the doors were opened to the distinguished guests who had been invited to the reception, including many of the state officials and prominent citizens of Elizabeth and neighboring cities, nearly all of whom were grandsons and granddaughters of Revolutionary heroes. Shortly after nine o'clock the President passed to the grand stand on the lawn in the rear of the governor's house and reviewed the first two divisions of the military which was to escort him to Elizabethport. He then entered a carriage with New Jersey's governor, drawn by four black horses handsomely adorned with plumes and streamers of white, red, and blue; the Vice-President entered the next carriage with Mayor Joseph B. Grier, General Sewell, and Adjutant-General Stryker; and six other carriages with distinguished occupants followed, flanked on either side by carriages containing the guard of honor; then came forty more carriages devoted to the heads and representatives of important organizations, such as the Historical Society, the Cincinnati, the Board of Trade, the Board of Education, etc., with a host of paraders following. The President was conducted to Elizabethport over the same historic road which Washington immortalized, passing the old Presbyterian church, and the Boudinot house where the first President-elect lunched in company with the great-great-grandfather of the present President, as described in the May number of this magazine. The sun suddenly dispelled all clouds and shone forth as brightly as on a June morning. The whole line of march was brilliant with color and with novelties in the arrangements of bunting and banners, and all along the route the cheering was whole-souled and continuous. The President passed under three superb triumphal arches, one at Broad and Jersey streets, another at the cross-roads, upon which were stationed forty-nine pretty girls dressed to represent the fortytwo states and seven territories of our country, who showered a profusion of flowers upon the presidential head, and the third at First and Fulton streets in Elizabethport. Many of the members of the presidential party went in the special train to Elizabethport, arriving there at the same time as the procession.

Meanwhile New York, although left fast asleep on a recent page as a preparatory tonic for the coming three days and nights of no rest, was astir with the first glimmer of daylight, giving the final touches to her gorgeous decorations. The public pulse beat in a frenzied fashion as the

morning sun appeared after its long hiding under the clouds, and presently the whole body of the population and its visitors was proceeding with celerity toward the Battery and vicinity for a position of some sort to see the President arrive by water. The idea of this route, following as closely as practicable in the footsteps of Washington, was happily conceived, and took the entire country by storm as soon as it was fully understood. The row-boat of the first President, introduced into the midst of our stately shipping, gave the public an unparalleled opportunity to note the progress of the century with one sweep of the naked eye. The camera of the pictorial historian brings into the foreground the little barge in which the President and Vice-President, in charge of Major Asa Bird Gardiner, chairman of the committee on navy, and Captain Henry Erben, U. S. N., were rowed from Elizabethport to the graceful and honored Despatch, anchored a considerable distance from the shore. The members of the cabinet, the ladies, and others of the President's party, were conveyed to the vessel in its steam launch. When the President stepped upon the deck of the Despatch her yards were manned by the sailors and a salute of twenty-one guns announced the fact. He was courteously welcomed by the committee, and took his place on the bridge. Among those near him were Major Asa Bird Gardiner, Elbridge T. Gerry, Admiral Porter, Secre