painting is, therefore, a genuine success. Mrs. Washington stands, dignified, but not constrained, upon a raised platform; behind her is Alexander Hamilton, talking to a lady; near by is John Jay; Washington is approaching the ladies with a foreign guest. We recognize forms and faces at a glance-Mrs. Jay, Mrs. Adams, Mrs. Rufus King, Mrs. Theodore Sedgwick, Mrs. Robert Morris, General Greene, Jonathan Trumbull, Oliver Ellsworth, Mrs. Duer, Clinton's venerable mother, Jefferson, the Duke of Cambridge (on a visit to America), Mrs. Bingham, pretty Nelly Custis, naïvely standing beside her (grand) mother, Mrs. Knox, Mrs. Rutledge, Mrs. Phillipe, Mrs. Schuyler—all the heroic and lovely faces, the statesmen and the belles, familiar to us through the portraits and miniatures. Huntington has painted the costumes with rare taste and skill; they are elegant, and as authentic as they are picturesque. The drawing is for the most part masterly; the color full of the richest contrast, yet harmoniously toned. All of the portraits are copied from Copley, Stuart, Malbone, and from family likenesses in the possession of the living descendants of many of the persons represented.”

At the extreme left in the picture, Mrs. Adams, the wife of the VicePresident, and Mrs. Hamilton, will be recognized; Mrs. Robert Morris stands beside Mrs. Washington on the raised platform. Jonathan Trumbull is seated at her left in an arm-chair; Mrs. Bingham and Mrs. Jay are conspicuously in the foreground, and little George Washington Parke Custis is attracting the attention of Mrs. Winthrop and Mrs. Randolph, at the extreme right. In all its parts the picture is a pleasant study, and doubly dear at the present moment when thousands are groping in the dark for bits of the glorious past in our history—particularly that which relates to its social manifestation.

The most important business of the first Congress was to create the department of State, and the Treasury and War departments, the Constitution having left the details of administration to this august body. Troublesome questions arose on the start. The President for instance had been empowered to appoint the heads of departments, but the Constitution was silent as to where the powers of removal should be lodged. Equally acute thinkers and interpreters of the law stood opposed in the discussion, which was finally decided in favor of the President. That this should not be regarded as a grant of actual power by Congress, the bill was carefully worded so as to imply a constitutional power already existing in the President, thus, "Whenever the secretary shall be removed by the President of the United States," etc. It is to this day a question whether our first legislators acted wisely in the matter.

It was not until September that the permanent secretaries were appointed by Washington, after which the intricate machinery of each department was to be devised, set in motion, and with much experimenting adjusted to its purposes. Thomas Jefferson was made Secretary of State;

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Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury; Knox, Secretary of War; ExGovernor Edmund Randolph of Virginia, Attorney-General; and Samuel Osgood of New York, Postmaster-General.

These officers were Washington's auxiliaries rather than his counselors, for the Cabinet as an advisory body was unknown to the Constitution and to the laws of Congress. The President called them together at intervals, but it was chiefly to give them instructions, as he was held responsible for the good conduct of the departments. He could take advice of them if he chose, but at his own option. While the house was vigorously debating several knotty questions in connection with the establishment of the departments-chiefly the contemplated revenue system, and the matter of the salaries to be paid the President, Vice-President, and other officials of the government-the senate took up the subject of the national judiciary, and established the supreme court and circuit and district courts, an organization which has remained substantially the same to the present time. It seemed eminently fitting that John Jay, who had been the first chief-justice of the state of New York in the most critical of all periods, should become the first chief-justice of the United States, and he received the appointment, although the court was not fully organized until the following April. Oliver Ellsworth was chairman of the committee that prepared the bill creating this tribunal, which was to hold two sessions annually at the seat of government. Six associatejustices were appointed-William Cushing, James Wilson, Robert H. Harrison, John Blair, John Rutledge, and Patrick Henry. Harrison declined, and James Iredell of North Carolina was appointed in his stead. These gentlemen procured homes and brought their families to reside in. New York city.

There were not many good houses then to rent, and the varied experiences of the new-comers would form an amusing chapter. The salary fixed for the attorney-general was only $1,500 a year; and Mr. Conway, in his recent work on Randolph, says that "Madison was unable to find a house in New York fit for his friend to live in for less than $250, though Randolph had begged him to get one for less. Frugality is my object, and therefore a house near the town which is cheap in point of rent would suit me. An hundred and sixty-six and two-thirds dollars, £50 Virginia currency, is what I think I may allow per annum.'" Randolph wrote soon after to his wife: "I have a house at a mile and a half or thereabouts from Federal Hall-that is from the most public part of the city. It is, in fact, in the country, is airy, has seven rooms, is well finished and gentlemanlike. The rent, £75 our money. Good water is difficult to be found