New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-12-23
TILE SCENE 1T ANNAPOLIS.


response bility:
THE SCENE At ANNAPOLIS.
One hundred years ago this day the Com
mander-in- Chief of the Continental Army re-
signed his commission. Parting from his OFF,
GERS at Frauncc's Tavern nine days after
Evacuation Day, he had been escorted to
| Whitehall Ferry by few companies OF soldiers
and great thrOng of citizens, and had crossed
the Hudson to Paulus Hook on his way to An
napolis. Apparently he was in in hot haste to
be released from military responsibilities when
| he had assumed after Lexington ana
| Concord eight years before. At Philadelphia
he tarried few days in order to close MS ac-
counts with the Treasurer of the Colonies, de-
posting in the Controllers Office bill OF
expenses amounting TO $64,315, the Secret Ser
vice money being included. He then fastened
| to Annapolis, where the Continental Congress
was in session. On December 20 the presldlng
officer read communication from him, stating
that the withdrawal of the British troops from
| New-York and the disarmament of the
| Colonial troops rendered his commission
superAuous, and that he was anxious
! to resign it as speedily as possible.
He suggested that the resignation could be
offered in writing or at a public audience at
the discretion of Congress. A resolution was
at once adopted, admitting the COMMANDMENTS
! Chief to public audience on December rs,
and Offering him q reception on the previous
evening o..o.,,
ouce of delegates in the Senate Chamber OF the
! State House, and the gallery was crowded with
| ladies. Washington, upon entering the ROOM
WAS received with cOnsidera BILE formalty,
| after the fashion of those days, and was
conducted TO the table where the Presl-
dent and the Secretaries were sitting.
As he unfolded his commission and began TO
sneak with that stately courtesy which was ms
habltual manner, the delegates grouped them
selves behind him, all standing until he had
finished. Beginning with an exchange OF con-
gratulations upon the termination of the war;
he closed with the simple words: q" Having now
" finished the work assigned me, retire from the
" great theatre of action, and bidding an af1cc-
" tomato farewell to this august body, under
"whose orders have so long acted, here oiier
q" nv commission and take my leave OF all the
emplOyments of public life"
The reply to this brief address was made by
Thomas Miflin, president of the Continental
Congress, who had accompanied Westinghouse
Cambridge in 1875 as his aid -de-camp, but had
subsequently plotted against him in the dark
est hour of the Revolution. General Mltfiln had
been connected with COnway's cabal, the object
of which was to make General Gates the COM
mandcr-in- chief of the army. That was during
the winter of 1777, when John Adams had de-
nounccd Fabian tactics and demanded "a
short and violent war;" and when a power
full faction of Congress had persistently
neglected and insulted the COMMANDMENTS
Chief and openly supported the intrigues against
him. The duty of receiving the commission
and of expressing the thanks of Congress for the
paticnce. fortitudc. practical wisdom and mill
tary genius of the COmmander-in-C Chief had de-
volvcd upon one of his hostile critics and Sc
crct enemies General MiIllin was at once gen
erous, patriotic and eloquent. His reply was
most apprcciative acknowledgment of Wash
ington's services TO the united colonies.
This historic scene ended with the exchange
orcOrdial greetings and congratulations between
Washington and the delegates. Yorktown had
followed Valley Forge, disaster had been re-
trcvcd by browning success, and faction
spirit had disappeared i'll Congress.
When General Miilin predicted that the glory
of their leaders virtues would not terminate
with his military command, but would continue
to animate TcmOtcSt ages, the delegates as
scented with one voice. They did not know,
however, that nothing which ho had done
while in command OF the army would give
greater distinction to his fame as a diSin-
tcrested patriot than the haste which he was
making to lay aside military hOnOrs and to re-
sumo the occupation of a planter at Mount
Vernon. His mOdcsty, the purity of his char
acter, and the dignity with which he had
spurned the suggestion of a Nicola that
he should accept crown, appealed at once
to the sober judgment of Englishmen, and to
the Imagination of Frenchmen. He was recog-
nized almost Immediately by public opinion in
Europe as a IevOlutiOnist without faint of am
bition towering in APPEAL dignity and grandeur
of character above a nation of patriOts-an army
of heroes. The Judgment of his contempora
res in the colonies and in Europe has been sus-
tanned as time has passed. The COmmander-in-
Chief, who retired to his home and farm when
his work done, and who died. as FOntanes
has said, ain peace as a private citizen, in his
native land, where he had held the first rank"
is still the highest ideal of American character.
THE PORTE AND THE FALSE PROPHET.
1t appears to be not improbable any longer
that Turkish troops will be allowed TO oppose
the False Prophet in the Soudan. THE TRIB-
UNE several weeks ago pointed out that the
employment of these troops was the most Obvi- !
GUS solution of an otherwise difficult problem. |
England, with forty millions of Mahometan
subjects in northern India, cannot afford to be
put in false position with regard to them. 1t |
is impossible, moreover, for English troops to
carry on campaign in the desert. Anglo Indian |
troops might no doubt be brought over, and |
could stand the climate, and could be relied |