The ladies in general seem more partial to the light, various, and dashing drapery of the Parisian belles, than to the elegant and becoming attire of our London beauties, who improve upon the French fashions. The winter is passed in a round of entertainments and amusements. The servants are mostly negroes or mulattoes ; some free and others slaves. Marriages are conducted in the most splendid style, and form a most important part of the winter's entertainments. For three days after the marriage ceremony the newly married couple see company in great state.

26 The Hudson River

It is a sort of levee. Sometimes the night concludes with a concert and ball.

Of all the comings and goings, the arrivals and the departures that form the kaleidoscopic story of old New York, and are associated particularly with the Battery, none has been more significant than the evacuation and embarkation of the British forces in 1783. For two years the peace negotiations had been going forward, and since Yorktown nothing decisive had occurred. When at last, in March, the news reached America that Great Britain had acknowledged the absolute independence of the American States, there was a mighty thanksgiving that reached from the general commanding the army to the poorest private in the ranks, and included all classes of citizens, save those whose hearts were with the cause of royalty. New York, which had been in British hands since 1776, had been the stronghold and base of operations for their cause. During that time it had been almost abandoned and had again filled up; it had suffered hardship and endured privation ; a fire had devastated a large part of its stores and dwellings; the people were heartily tired of war even when gilded by the gaiety of a garrison city.