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Extract of a letter from a gentleman in New York to his friend in Philadelphia, dated May 1, 1789: 

Yesterday the great Patriot Washington took a solemn charge of the liberties of America.  The magnificence and splendor of the procession, from his house to the Federal Building, commanded the admiration of every beholder.  But above all, the solemnity which appeared while he took the oath of office, was truly affecting.  The silent joy which every rank of spectators exhibited in their countenances, bespoke the sincere wishes of their hearts.  I could have wished you to have been a spectator.

The fireworks exhibited in the evening were truly brilliant; and the illuminations and transparent paintings of the Spanish and French Ambassadors surpassed even conception itself.

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New York, May 2, 1789.  We feel satisfied in adding to the account given in yesterday’s paper of the inauguration of the President,—­that His Excellency on that great day, was dressed in a complete suit of elegant broadcloth of the manufacture of his country.—­Pennsylvania Packet, May 6, 1789.

From the Gazette of the United States: 

THE PRESIDENT, accompanied by His Excellency the Vice-President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and both Houses of Congress, went to St. Paul’s Chapel, where divine service was performed by the Right Rev. Dr. Provost, Bishop of the Episcopal Church in this State, and Chaplain to the Senate.

The religious solemnity being ended, the President was escorted to his residence.

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Evening Celebration

The transparent paintings exhibited in various parts of the city, on Thursday evening, were equal at least to anything of the kind ever before seen in America.

That displayed before the Fort at the bottom of Broad-way did great honor to its inventors and executors, for the ingenuity of the design, and goodness of the workmanship; it was finely lighted and advantageously situated:  The virtues, Fortitude,[13] Justice,[14] and Wisdom[15] were judiciously applied; of the first, all America has had the fullest evidence; and with respect to the two others, who does not entertain the most pleasing anticipations.

His Excellency Don Gardqui’s residence next caught the eye—­and fixed it in pleasing contemplation:  The Tout-en-semble here, formed a most brilliant front; the figures well fancied.  The Graces suggested the best ideas; and the pleasing variety of emblems, flowers, shrubbery, arches, &c., and above all the Moving Pictures, that figured in the windows or, as it were, in the background, created by fixing the transparencies between the windows, afforded a new—­an animated and enchanting spectacle.

The residence of his Excellency, Count Meustier, was illuminated in a stile of novel elegance; the splendid bordering of lamps round the windows, doors, &c., with the fancy pieces of each window; and above all the large designs in front, the allusions, of which we cannot at present particularly describe, did great honor to the taste and sentiment of the inventor.