States. In thus admitting their separation from the crown of these kingdoms, I have sacrificed every consideration of my own to the wishes and opinions of my people. I make it my humble and ardent prayer to Almighty God, that Great Britain may not feel the evils which might result from so great a dismemberment of the Empire, and that America may be free from the calamities which have formerly proved in the Mother-Country how essential monarchy is to the enjoyment of constitutional liberty. Religion, language, interests and affection may, and, I hope, will, yet prove a bond of permanent union between the two countries." This speech was delivered in the presence of the Lords and Commons, and in the audience were Copley, West, and some American ladies. It was reported by Elkanah Watson. The final treaty was signed at Fontainbleau, but not until September 3, 1783.

Meantime there had been no important military operations in America, and the British, shut up at first in a few seaboard towns,* had evacuated Savannah, July 11, 1782, Charleston, December 14, and New York, November 25, 1783. On the nineteenth of April, 1783, Washington disbanded the army, reminding them that the day completed eight years since the conflict at Lexington, and saying that, the victory having been won, nothing remained "but for the

Sir Henry Clinton was superseded in New York by Sir Guy Carleton, formerly Governor of Quebec, in the spring of 1782, and Washington established his headquarters at Newburg, to watch his movements. He was joined in September by Rochambeau with his forces, at Verplanck's Point, below Fishkill. There the two armies encamped side by side, the most friendly relations existing between both officers and men.

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actors of this mighty scene to preserve a perfect unvarying consistency of character through the very last act, to close the drama with applause, and to retire from the military theatre with the same approbation of angels and men which has crowned all their former virtuous actions.”

Before the army was disbanded the men were in a state of inquiet, and as their pay was in arrears, an anonymous address, said to have been written by Major John Armstrong, was circulated at Newburg in 1783, in which Congress was threatened. In the spring there was a mutiny in the Pennsylvania line, and a body of troops actually marched upon Congress itself. In both cases the coolness and tact of Washington proved equal to the emergency, and actual conflict was avoided.

On the thirteenth of May the officers of the army formed themselves into a society, called after the Roman patriot (who was taken as a man of like spirit with Washington), the society of the Cincinnati. General Knox drew up the plan of organization, and the first meeting was held at the headquarters of General Steuben, at the old Verplanck house, near Peekskill. The object was to establish a society of friends, who should cherish national honor and union between the States, and maintain brotherly kindness toward each other. The order still exists, composed of the descendants of the original members.*

The formation of this society was looked upon with much concern all through the country, as an attempt to elevate the military above the civil classes, and to establish a hereditary order of nobility. The Legislatures took the matter up, beginning with Massachusetts, and Judge Burke, of South Carolina, denounced it in a pamphlet, but the wisdom of Washington completely allayed the ill feeling.

As the dissolution of the army was about to be ordered, Washington on the eighth of June addressed a letter to the Governors of the States, in which he discussed the four essential basis for the prosperity of the States as an independent power. They were, in brief

I. An indissoluble union of the States, under one federal head, and a perfect acquiescence of the several

States in the full exercise of the prerogative vested in such head by the Constitution.

II. A sacred regard to public justice in discharging debts and fulfiling contracts made by Congress for the purpose of carrying on the war.

III. The placing of the militia of the several parts of the States on a regular, uniform and efficient footing. "The militia must be considered as the palladium of our security."

IV. A disposition to forget local prejudices and

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policies, to make mutual concessions, and to sacrifice individual advantages to the interests of the community.

On the second of November, Washington issued from Newburg his farewell address to the army, in which he reviewed the war, pronouncing the perseverance of the army little short of a standing miracle, exhorted them to the strongest attachment to the Union, and solemnly commended them to the protection of God, as he had already done in writing to the Governors.

Preparing now to go to Annapolis to deliver to Congress the commission that had been given him at the beginning of the struggle, Washington stopped. at New York, and there, at "Fraunces' Tavern," on Broad street, not far from Whitehall Ferry, he bade farewell to the officers of the army. Having drunk a health to them, he said, "I cannot come to each of you to take my leave, but shall be obliged if each of you will come and take me by the hand." General Knox was the first to advance, and Washington was affected to tears. Not a word was uttered as one after another of the veterans approached and pressed the commander's hand, and he passed from them on foot to the ferry in the same quiet manner.

His passage through New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland was like the progress of a conqueror, and he laid down his commission in the presence of an imposing company of ladies and public dignitaries, saying as he closed his remarks, "I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my official life by commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection

of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them to his holy keeping."

The next day he arrived at Mount Vernon, prepared to enjoy Christmas Eve, and, as he said in a letter to Governor Clinton, to spend the remainder of his days "in cultivating the affections of good men, and in the practice of the domestic virtues."

O, for a drop of that terse Roman's ink
Who gave Agricola dateless length of days,
To celebrate him fitly, neither swerve,

To phrase unkempt, nor pass discretion's brink,
With him so statue-like in sad reserve,

So diffident to claim, so forward to deserve!