It was during this tour that a question of etiquette occurred about which there was a great stir at the time.

John Hancock, then Governor of Massachusetts, did not call upon Washington but wrote inviting Washington to stay at his house, and when this invitation was declined, he wrote again inviting the President to dinner _en famille_.

Washington again declined, and this time the failure of the Governor to pay his respects to the President of the United States was the talk of the town.

Some of Hancock's aides now called with excuses on the score of his illness.

Washington noted in his diary, "I informed them in explicit terms that I should not see the Governor unless it was at my own lodgings." This incident occurred on Saturday evening, and the effect was such that Governor Hancock called in person on Sunday.
The affair was the subject of much comment not to Governor Hancock's advantage.