the company consisting of hardy soldiers and lively belles.

At a subscription ball in Philadelphia, the master of ceremonies distributed partners by lot. The dances related to politics. One was called "The Success of the Campaign;" another, "The Defeat of Burgoyne;" another, "Clinton's Retreat," &c. A young lady who in talking forgot her turn in the figure, was sharply reproved by a manager. "Take care, Miss!" he cried. "Do you think you come here for your own pleasure?”

The Birth-night Ball was instituted at the close of the war. Its first celebration was at Alexandria, and it became general in all the towns. Among the brilliant illustrations of a birth-night were groups of young ladies, wearing in their hair bandeaux or scrolls embroidered in ancient and modern languages with the motto: "Long live the President." The last celebration was attended by Washington, in Alexandria, February 22, 1798.

General Washington came to Annapolis in December, 1783, after his adieu to the army in New York, Generals Gates and Smallwood, with a large concourse of distinguished citizens, met and escorted him to the hotel, amid the firing of cannon, the display of banners, and other manifestations of popular respect. A dinner was given to him by the members of Congress, at which twɔ hundred persons were present; and he attended a grand ball in the State House, which was brilliantly illuminated. Washington opened the ball with Mrs. James Macubbin, one of the most beautiful women of the time.

Mr. Noah Webster visited Mount Vernon in 1785, when the old mansion of the retired chief was crowded with a succession of guests. He mentioned that the last course at dinner consisted of pancakes, with a bowl of sugar and one of molasses. Webster refused the molasses: "Enough of that in my own country," he said. General Washington then told the story of a hogshead of molasses upset in a wagon and stove in, at Westchester; and some Maryland troops being near, the soldiers running to fill their hats and caps.

The court end of New York before the Revolution had been Pearl Street, between Coenties Slip and the neighboring streets. Wall Street became a rival seat of fashion, surperseded by Park Place. "Few Americans," says Mr. Jay, "as they pass the northwest corner of Wall and Broad Streets, now faced by the Custom House on one side, and Broad Street with its throng of brokers on the other, recall the memorable historic scenes associated with the spot where stood the old Federal Hall, adorned with the portraits of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, presented by the French monarch-portraits that graced the chambers where assembled the first Congress under the new Constitution. Washington Irving was one of the latest survivors of the throng that, in 1789, witnessed from the balcony of the Hall the inauguration of the first President, and whose acclamations greeted the announcement by Chancellor Livingston: Long live George Washington, President of the United States!' It should not be forgotten by

New Yorkers that on the same pot were heard, in the Senate, the voices of John Langion, Cliver Ellsworth, Charles Carroll, Richard Henry Lee, and Ralph Izard: and, in the Chamber of Representatives, the voices of Elbridge Gerry, Roger Sherman, Jeremiah Wadsworth, Ellas Bondinot, Frederick A. Mahlenberg, James Madison, and that greatest of American orators. Fisher A mes."

A bail was given at the Assembly Rooms, on the east side of Broadway, above Wall Street (New York was then the capital), on the 7th May, 1789, to celebrate the inauguration. The members of Congress and their families were present, with the ministers of France and Spain, distinguished generals of the army, and persons eminent in the State. Among the most noted ladies were Mrs. Jay, Mrs. Hamilton, and Mrs. Montgomery, the widow of the hero of Quebec. A specialty at this ball was the presentation by the committee, to each lady, of a fan made in Paris, the ivory frame containing a medallion portrait of Washington, in profile. These fans were presented to the ladies as each couple passed the receiver of tickets. It was of this ball that an account was published by Jefferson in his "Ana,” upon insufficient authority. Washington danced in two cotillions and a minuet. Colonel Stone, in describing this ball, says: "Few jewels were then worn in the United States, but in other rospects the costumes were rich and beautiful, according to the fashions of the day. One favorite dress was a plain celestial-blue satin gown, with

a white satin petticoat. On the neck was worn a very large Italian gauze handkerchief, with border stripes of satin. The head-dress was a puff of gauze in the form of a globe, the head-piece of which was composed of white satin, having a double wing in large plaits, and trimmed with a wreath of artificial roses, falling from the left at the top to the right at the bottom in front, the reverse behind. The hair was dressed all over in detached curls, four of which, in two ranks, fell on each side of the neck, and were relieved behind by a floating chignon."

Some of the ladies wore hats of white satin, with plumes and cockades. A plain gauze handkerchief, sometimes striped with satin, was worn on the neck, the ends tied under the bodice.

In the evening of the inauguration, the house of Count de Moustier-near Bowling Green, in Broadway— was brilliantly illuminated, the doors and windows displaying borderings of lamps that shone on paintings suggestive of the past, present, and future in American history. There were large transparencies over the front of the house, said to be painted by Madame de Brehan, sister to the Count.

The subject of the President's title had caused much discussion in society. Madison recommended that he be spoken of simply as "The President," or or "The Chief Justice;" McKean proposed "His Serene Highness," without the "most," as a title that had not been appropriated in Europe. General Muhlenberg thought Washington would like the title "High Mightiness," used by

the Stadtholder of Holland. The General, dining with Washington, observed on the subject: If the office could always be held by men as large as yourself or Wynkoop, it would be appropriate; but if by chance a president as small as my opposite neighbor were elected, it would be ridiculous." He therefore voted against any title.

Her

More than a month after the inauguration, Mrs. Washington set out for New York with her grandchildren, Eleanor Custis and George Washington Parke Custis, traveling in her private carriage, with a small escort on horseback. She was received at Hammond's Ferry by a deputation of citizens; and fireworks, a supper, and a serenade celebrated her arrival. dress was entirely of American manufacture. Information being sent to Philadelphia that she would breakfast in Chester, two troops of dragoons, under Captains Miles and Bingham, left town early, with a numerous cavalcade of citizens, and halted at ten miles distance to await her appearance. The military formed and received her with honors, the procession defiling on either side for her carriage to pass. At Darby, seven miles from Philadelphia, she was met by a brilliant company of ladies in carriages, who escorted her to Gray's Ferry, on the Schuylkill. At that favorite resort a collation was prepared, at a fashionable inn, for more than a hundred persons.

Mrs. Robert Morris, who was to entertain Mrs. Washington, here took a seat in her carriage, resigning