The term of service of the first Congress expired on the third of March, 1791; but Washington did not leave Philadelphia for Mount Vernon until late in the month.
[29] Washington's residence in New York was first at Osgood's house, No. 10 Cherry street, which by subsequent changes was made to front on Franklin square. He afterward occupied the more commodious house of Mr. M'Comb, where the French minister, M. de Moustier, had resided. It was on Broadway, west side, below Trinity church. That was the one alluded to in Washington's letter. An English traveller who visited the president there described the drawing-room as "lofty and spacious; but," he added, "the furniture was not beyond that found in the dwellings of opulent Americans in general, and might be called plain for its situation. The upper end of the room had glass doors, which opened upon a balcony, commanding an extensive view of the Hudson river and the Jersey shore opposite."
[30] Mr. Custis relates that Fraunces, the steward, once purchased the first shad of the season for the president's table, as he knew Washington to be extravagantly fond of fish. He placed it before Washington at table as an agreeable surprise. The president inquired how much he paid for the shad. "Two dollars," was Fraunces's reply. "Take it away," said the president--"I will not encourage such extravagance in my house." Fraunces had no scruples of that kind, and the fish was devoured by himself and other members of the household.
[31] The act imposed a duty varying from twenty to forty cents a gallon, according to strength, on imported liquors; and an excise on domestic liquors varying, according to the strength, from nine to twenty-five cents a gallon on those distilled from grain, and from eleven to thirty cents on those made from molasses or other imported product. Stringent regulations were made for the collection of this excise.
WASHINGTON JOURNEYS TO MOUNT VERNON--HIS TOUR THROUGH THE SOUTHERN STATES--VISITS THE MORAVIANS AT SALEM--RESULTS OF HIS OBSERVATIONS--CONDITION AND RESOURCES OF THE COUNTRY--THE FEDERAL CITY--OPENING OF THE SECOND CONGRESS--LAFAYETTE AND HIS PERPLEXITIES--THE JACOBIN CLUB--FLIGHT AND ARREST OF THE KING--THE CONSTITUTION ACCEPTED BY HIM--GRAND FETE ON THE OCCASION--PARTY LINES DRAWN IN THE UNITED STATES--VIEWS OF HAMILTON AND JEFFERSON--ADAMS'S _DISCOURSES ON DAVILA_--PAINE'S _RIGHTS OF MAN_--JEFFERSON'S ENDORSEMENT OF THE LATTER--HIS UNGENEROUS CHARGES AGAINST ADAMS AND HAMILTON--WASHINGTON DISTURBED BY PARTY FEUDS.