Page:American History Told by Contemporaries, v2.djvu/656

628 at a public audience, the following Tuesday at twelve o'clock. The general had been so reserved with regard to the time of his intended resignation, that congress had not the least apprehension of its being either so soon or so sudden.

When the day was arrived, and the hour approached for fixing the patriotic character of the AMERICAN CHIEF, the gallery was filled with a beautiful group of elegant ladies, and some graced the floor of congress. On this were likewise the governor, council and legislature of Maryland, several general officers, the consul general of France, and the respectable citizens of Annapolis. Congress were seated and covered, as representatives of the sovereignty of the Union, the spectators were uncovered and standing. The general was introduced to a chair by the secretary, who, after a decent interval, ordered silence. A short pause ensued, when the honorable Thomas Mifflin, the president, informed the general, that "the United States in congress assembled were prepared to receive his communications : "on which he rose with great dignity, and delivered this address "Mr. President, The great events on which my resignation depended having at length taken place, I have now the honor of offering my sincere congratulations to Congress, and of presenting myself before them, to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to claim the indulgence of retiring from the service of my country.

"Happy in the confirmation of our independence and sovereignty, and pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States, of becoming a respectable nation, I resign with satisfaction the appointment I accepted with diffidence — a diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so arduous a task ; which however was superseded by a confidence in the rectitude of our cause, the support of the supreme power of the union, and the patronage of Heaven.

"The successful termination of the war has verified the most sanguine expectations ; and my gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and the assistance I have received from my countrymen, increases with every review of the momentous contest.

"While I repeat my obligations to the army in general, I should do injustice to my own feelings not to acknowledge, in this place, the peculiar services and distinguished merits of the gentlemen who have been attached to my person during the war. It was impossible the choice of confidential officers to compose my family should have been more fortunate. Permit me, sir, to recommend in particular, those who have