more clearly "the immense extent and importance of the inland navigation of the United States. I shall not rest contented," said he, "till I have explored the western country and traversed great part of those lines which give bounds to a new empire." *

He wished at that time to visit the Niagara; but over the fort on the American side of that river the British flag still waved. Thrice Washington had invited the attention of congress to the western posts; and he was now instructed to demand them. He accordingly accredited Steuben to Haldimand, the British commander-in-chief in Canada, with power to receive them. At Sorel, on the eighth of August, Steuben explained his mission to Haldimand, who answered that he had not received any orders for making the least arrangements for the evacuation of a single post; and without positive orders he would not evacuate one inch of ground. † Nor would he permit Steuben to communicate with the inhabitants of any place occupied by the British.

On the seventh of August, just as Washington had returned from his northern tour, congress, ten states being present, unanimously voted him a statue of bronze, to be executed by the best artist of Europe. On the marble pedestal were to be represented, in low relief, the evacuation of Boston, the capture of Hessians at Trenton, the victory at Princeton, the action at Monmouth, and the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. "The statue," wrote Luzerne, "is the only mark of public gratitude which Washington can accept, and the only one which the government in its poverty can offer." #

But a greater honor awaited him. At the request of congress, he removed his quarters to the neighborhood of Princeton; and on the twenty-sixth, in a public audience, Boudinot, the president, said to him: "In other nations many have deserved and received the thanks of the public; but to you, sir, peculiar praise is due; your services have been essential in

* Washington to Chastellux, 12 October 1783. Sparks, viii., 489.

Baron Steuben to Washington, 23 August 1783. Letters to Washington, iv., 41, 42.

Journals of Congress, iv., 251. It still remains to give effect to the vote. # Luzerne to Vergennes, 25 August 1783. MS.

acquiring and establishing the freedom and independence of your country. It still needs your services in forming arrangements for the time of peace." A committee was charged to receive his assistance in preparing and directing the necessary plans.*

The choice of Washington for a counsellor proved the sincerity of congress in favor of union, and a series of national measures was inaugurated. For a peace establishment, he matured a system which was capable of a gradual development. He would have a regular and standing force of twenty-six hundred and thirty-one men, to be employed chiefly in garrisoning the frontier posts. Light troops he specially recommended as suited to the genius of the people. The people in all the states were to be organized and trained in arms as one grand national militia. He proposed a military academy like the Prussian schools, of which he had learned the character from Steuben. Vacancies in the class of officers were to be filled from its graduates; but promotions were not to depend on seniority alone. For the materials essential to war, there were to be not only national arsenals but national manufactories. The protection of foreign commerce would require a navy. All branches in the service were to look exclusively to congress for their orders and their pay. A penniless treasury, which congress knew not how to fill, made the scheme for the moment an ideal one.

To regulate intercourse with the tribes of Indians, Washington laid down the outlines of a system. Outside of the limits of the states no purchase of their lands was to be made, but by the United States as "the sovereign power." All traders with them were to be under strict control. He penetrated the sinister design of the British government to hold the western posts, and recommended friendly attention to the French and other settlers at Detroit and elsewhere in the western territory. Looking to "the formation of new states," he sketched the boundaries of Ohio and of Michigan, and, on his advice,† congress in October resolved on appointing a committee to re

* Journals of Congress, iv., 256.

+ Washington to Duane, 7 September 1783. Sparks, viii., 477. Secret Journals of Congress, i., 255–260.

port a plan of a temporary government for the western territory whose inhabitants were one day to be received into the union under republican constitutions of their own choice. Here the greatness of the intention was not impaired by the public penury, for the work was to be executed by the emigrants themselves. In anticipation of an acceptable cession of the north-western lands by all the claimant states, officers and soldiers who had a right to bounty lands began to gain the West by way of the lakes or across the mountains.* This was the movement toward union which nothing could repress or weaken. Especially Maryland insisted that "the sovereignty over the western territory was vested in the United States as one undivided and independent nation.” †

Among his latest official acts, Washington interceded with congress on behalf of Kosciuszko, pleading for him “his merit and services from the concurrent testimony of all who knew him;" and congress accordingly granted the Polish exile who was to become dear to many nations the brevet commission of brigadier-general. ‡

The last days of this congress were cheered by the arrival of Van Berckel as envoy from the Dutch republic, the first minister accredited to America since the peace.# An escort was sent out to meet him, and on the thirty-first of October, in a public audience, congress gave him a national welcome.

On the first of November the third congress under the confederation came together for the last time. It made persistent attempts to invigorate the union; declared the inviolable sanctity of the national debt; asked of the states a general revenue; prepared for planting new states in the continental domain; and extended diplomatic relations. Its demand of powers of government did not reach far enough, but it kept alive the desire of reform. It appointed a day of public thanksgiving, that "all the people might assemble to give praise to their Supreme Benefactor for the freedom, sovereignty, and independence of

* Journals of Congress, iv., 294–296.

+ Journals of Congress, iv., 265. In the original MS. the word "one" is twice underscored.

Washington to Congress, 2 October 1783. Sparks, viii., 487. # Van Berckel to the states general, 3 November 1783. MS.

the United States;" and, as the day came, the pulpit echoed the prayer: "May all the states be one."*

The principle of rotation drove Madison from the national councils. He was unmarried and above care; and, until he should again be eligible to congress, he devoted himself to the study of federal government and to public service in the legislature of his own state, where with strong convictions and unselfish patriotism he wrought with single-mindedness to bring about an efficient form of republican government. He was calm, wakeful, and cautious, pursuing with patience his one great object, never missing an opportunity to advance it, caring not overmuch for conspicuousness or fame, and ever ready to efface himself if he could but accomplish his design.

On Sunday, the second of November, the day before the discharge of all persons enlisted for the war, the commanderin-chief addressed the armies of the United States, however widely their members might be dispersed. Mingling affectionate thanks with praise, he described their unparalleled perseverance for eight long years as little short of a standing miracle, and for their solace bade them call to recollection the astonishing events in which they had taken part, the enlarged prospects of happiness which they had assisted to open for the human race. He encouraged them as citizens to renew their old occupations; and, to those hardy soldiers who were fond of domestic enjoyment and personal independence, he pointed to the fertile regions beyond the Alleghanies as the most happy asylum. In the moment of parting, he held up as an example to the country the harmony which had prevailed in the camp, where men from different parts of the continent and of the most violent local prejudices instantly became but one patriotic band of brothers. "Although the general," these are the words of his last order, "has so frequently given it as his opinion in the most public and explicit manner, that, unless the principles of the federal government were properly supported, and the powers of the union increased, the honor, dignity, and justice of the nation would be lost forever, yet he cannot help leaving it as his last injunction to every officer and every soldier to add * John Murray's thanksgiving sermon, Tyranny's grove destroyed, p. 71.

his best endeavors toward effecting these great purposes.' "* Washington sent forth every one of his fellow-soldiers as an apostle of union under a new constitution.

Almost all the Germans who had been prisoners preferred to abide in the United States, where they soon became useful citizens. The remnant of the British army had crossed to Staten Island and Long Island for embarkation, when, on the twenty-fifth of November, Washington and the governor and other officers of the state and city of New York were met at the Bowery by Knox and citizens, and in orderly procession made their glad progress into the heart of the town. Rejoicings followed. The emblem chosen to introduce the evening display of fireworks was a dove descending with the olivebranch.

cause.

For their farewell to Washington, the officers of the army, on the fourth of December, met at a public-house near the Battery, and were soon joined by their commander. The thoughts of the eight years which they had passed together, their common distresses, their victories, and now their parting from the public service, the future of themselves and of their country, came thronging to every mind. No relation of friendship is stronger or more tender than that between men who have shared together the perils of war in a noble and upright The officers could attest that the courage which is the most perfect and the most rare, the courage which determines the man, without the least hesitation, to hold his life of less account than the success of the cause for which he contends, was the habit of Washington. Pledging them in a glass of wine, he thus addressed them: "With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. May your latter days be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious. I shall be obliged to you if each of you will come and take me by the hand." With tears on his cheeks, he grasped the hand of Knox, who stood nearest, and embraced him. In the same manner he took leave of every officer. Followed by the company in a silent procession, he passed through a corps of light infantry to the ferry at Whitehall. Entering *Farewell address to the armies of the United States. Rocky Hill, near Princeton, 2 November 1783. Sparks, viii., 495.