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378 of his country, and now found himself growing blind." He then proceeded to read a most forcible and noble paper, in which, after acknowledging the just claims of the army on the government, and as- suring them that those claims would not be disre- garded, he conjured them " to express their utmost horror and detestation of the man who wishes, under any specious pretences, to overturn the liber- ties of our country, and who wickedly attempts to open the floodgates of civil discord and deluge our rising empire in blood." The original auto- graph of this ever-memorable address, just as it came from Washington's own pen, is in the archives of the Massachusetts historical society, and a litho- graphed copy was published by them, together with the letters of eye-witnesses to the scene, as a contribution to the centennial papers of 1876. Washington retired at once from the meeting, but resolutions were forthwith unanimously adopted, on motion of Gen. Knox, seconded by Gen. Put- nam, reciprocating all his affectionate expressions, and concurring entirely in the policy he had pro- posed. "Every doubt was dispelled," says Maj. Shaw in his journal, "and the tide of patriot- ism rolled again in its wonted course." The treaty of peace was signed in Paris on 20 Jan., 1783. On 17 April following, a proclamation by congress was received by Washington for the cessa- tion of hostilities. On 19 April, the anniversary of the shed- ding of the first blood at Lexington, which com- pleted the eighth year of the war, the cessation was proclaimed at the head of every regi- ment of the army, after which, said Washington's general orders, "the chaplains of the several brigades will render thanks to Almighty God for all his mercies, particularly for his over- ruling the wrath of man to his own glory, and caus- ing the rage of war to cease among the nations." On the following 8th of June, in view of the disso- lution of the army, Washington addressed a letter to the governors of the several states — a letter full of golden maxims and consummate wisdom. "The great object," he began, "for which I had the honor to hold an appointment in the service of my country being accomplished, I am now preparing to return to that domestic retirement which, it is well known, I left with the greatest reluctance — a retirement for which I have never ceased to sigh through a long and painful absence, and in which, remote from the noise and trouble of the world, I meditate to pass the remainder of my life in a state of undisturbed repose." Then, after remarking that " this is the favorable moment for giving such a tone to the Federal government as will enable it to answer the ends of its institution," he proceeded to set forth and enlarge upon the four things that he conceived to be essential to the well-bejng, or even the existence, of the United States as an independent power: "First, an indissoluble union of the states under one federal head ; second, a sacred regard to public justice ; third, the adoption of a proper peace establishment ; and, fourth, the prevalence of that pacific and friendly disposition among the people of the United States which will induce them to forget their local prejudices and policies, to make those mutual concessions which are requisite to the general prosperity, and, in some instances, to sacrifice their individual advantages to the interest of the community. These are the pillars," said he, " on which the glorious fabric of our independency and national character must rest."

Washington took final leave of the army in general orders of 2 Nov., in accordance with a proclamation by congress of 18 Oct. He accompanied Gov. Clinton in a formal entry into New York, after its evacuation by the British, on 25 Nov. On 4 Dec, after taking affectionate leave of his principal officers at Fraunce's tavern, he set off for Annapolis, and there, on 23 Dec, 1783, he presented himself to " the United States in congress assembled," and resigned the commission that he had received on 17 June, 1775. " Having now finished," said he, " the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of action, and, bidding an affectionate farewell to this august body, under whose orders I have long acted, I here offer my commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life." "You retire," replied the president of congress, " from the theatre of action with the blessings of your fellow-citizens; but the glory of" your virtues will not terminate with your military command : it will continue to animate remotest ages." The very next morning, Irving tells us, Washington left Annapolis, and " hastened to his beloved Mount Vernon, where he arrived the same day, on Christmas eve, in a frame of mind suited to enjoy the sacred and genial festival." Once more, at the close of the fifty-second year of his age, Washington was permitted to resume his favorite occupations of a farmer and planter, and to devote himself personally to his crops and cattle. Indeed, throughout his whole military campaign, he had kept himself informed of what was going on in the way of agriculture at Mount Vernon, and had given careful directions as to the cultivation of his lands. His correspondence now engrossed not a little of his time, and he was frequently cheered by the visits of his friends. Lafayette was among his most welcome guests, and passed a fortnight with him, to his great delight. Afterward Washington made a visit to his lands on the Kanawha and Ohio rivers, travelling on horseback, with his friend and physician, Dr. Craik, nearly seven hundred miles, through a wild, mountainous country, and devising schemes of internal navigation for the advantage of Virginia and Maryland. His passion for hunting, also, was revived, and Lafayette and others of the French officers sent him out fine hounds from their kennels. But the condition of his country was never absent from his thoughts, and the insufficiency of the existing confederation weighed heavily on his mind. In one of his letters he writes: "The confederation appears to me little more than a shadow without the substance, and congress a migratory body." In another letter he says : " I have ever been a friend to adequate powers in congress, without which it is evident to me we shall never establish a national character. . . . We are either a united people under one head and for federal purposes, or we are thirteen independent sovereignties, eternally counteracting each other." In another letter, to John Jay, he uses still more emphatic language : " I do not conceive we can exist long as a nation without lodging somewhere a power which will pervade the whole Union in as energetic a manner as the authority of the state governments extends over the several states. . . . Ketired as I am from the world, I frankly acknowledge 1 can-