The Republic of France—­Wisdom and stability to her councils, success to her armies and navies, and may her enemies be compensated for their defeats by the speedy and general diffusion of that liberty which they are vainly attempting to suppress.

     May Columbia be ever able to boast a Jefferson in council, a
     Hamilton in finance, and, when necessary, a Washington to lead her
     armies to conquest and glory.

     The Day—­May such auspicious periods not cease to recur till every
     day in the year shall have smiled on Columbia with the birth of a
     Washington.

Our Unfortunate Friend the Marquis de Lafayette—­May America become shortly his asylum from indignity and wrong, and may the noon and evening of his life be yet honorable and happy in the bosom of that country where its morning shone with such unclouded splendor.

“In conclusion, the newspaper account of this celebration states that ’the afternoon and evening were agreeably spent in social pleasures and convivial mirth, and the conduct of the whole company was marked by that politeness, harmony, and friendship which ought ever to characterize the intercourse of fellow-citizens and gentlemen.’

“Balls and banquets, it will be seen, were the chief methods employed in celebrating the day, and there was hardly a town so small that it could not manage to have at least one of these functions in honor of George Washington.  The early newspapers for a month, and often longer, after the 22d of February, were filled with brief accounts of these celebrations from different localities.  Many of them are very interesting, showing, as they do, the patriotism of the people, as well as their customs and habits in their social entertainments.  For instance, when Washington’s Birthday was celebrated in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1791, the Baltimore Advertiser gives us the following amusing account of a ball held at Wise’s tavern: 

“’The meeting was numerous and brilliant.  Joy beamed in every countenance.  Sparkling eyes, dimpled cheeks dressed in smiles, prompted by the occasion, with all the various graces of female beauty, contributed to heighten the pleasure of the scene.  At an interesting moment a portrait of the President, a striking likeness, was suddenly exhibited.  The illustrious original had been often seen in the same room in the mild character of a friend, a pleased and pleasing guest.  The song of “God Bless Great Washington, Long Live Great Washington,” succeeded.  In this prayer many voices and all hearts united.  May it not be breathed in vain.’”

In course of time Washington’s Birthday was made a legal holiday in one State after another, until to-day it is legally recognized in every State but Alabama.

But as it gradually became legalized, so it also became formalized little by little, until, in some parts of America, the very phrase, “a Washington’s Birthday celebration,” came to mean a sort of exercise in hypocrisy,—­a half-hearted attempt to galvanize a dead emotion into life.