CHAPTER pass Act of New York, authorizing the owners of real XLV. estate in the city to recover rents and damages against 1783. such persons as had used their buildings under British au thority during the war. This act had been passed be

June 8.

fore news arrived of the terms of the preliminary treaty; another act, subsequently to the evacuation, disfranchised all who had held any British commission, civil or military, or had been concerned in fitting out privateers.

During the invasions of Virginia and the Carolinas a considerable number of slaves had joined the British under promise of protection. When reminded by Washington of the clause which Laurens had procured to be inserted in the treaty, prohibiting the carrying away of slaves or other property, Carleton refused to understand that article as stipulating the surrender of any slaves who had taken refuge under the British flag-a surren der which, as he conceived, would be in the highest degree dishonorable to Great Britain. He took care to secure the safety of these negroes by sending them away in the very first embarkation; but, not to put any obstacle in the way of claims for indemnity, he caused an accurate list of them to be taken. These liberated slaves were carried to Nova Scotia, whence many of them emigrated to Sierra Leone. Their descendants, as merchants and traders, now constitute the wealthiest and most intelligent population of that African colony.

Washington had already addressed a farewell letter to the governors of the states, in which he had urged obliv ion of local prejudices and policies, indissoluble union, a proper peace establishment, and a sacred regard to public

justice; in other words, provision for the public debt. Aug. 26. On the point of a peace establishment he also had an Oct. 18. interview with Congress. That body presently published Nov. 2 a proclamation for disbanding the troops; and on the day

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previous to that appointed for the disbandment, Wash- CHAPTER ington issued his farewell orders to the army. Furloughs

had been already granted to the larger part of the sol- 1783 diers, and all, except a small force still retained in the service, were now finally discharged.

The following table shows the number of soldiers, or, rather, of annual terms of service, furnished to the Continental ranks by each state during the war:

The greater part of the British being at length embarked, Carleton gave up the city of New York, and an American detachment under Knox marched in and took pos. Nov. 25 session. The same day the American commander-inchief called his officers together for a final parting. Tears, freely bedewing the manly cheeks of these veteran companions in arms, evinced the strength of the mutual at tachment which so many hard-fought fields, so many tedious campaigns and dreary encampments had cemented.

A few days after, Long Island and Staten Island were Deo. 4 given up. The evacuation of the sea-board was thus complete; but the frontier western posts, Oswegatchie (now Ogdensburg), Oswego, Niagara, Presque Isle (now Erie), Sandusky, Detroit, Mackinaw, and some others of less note, continued to be held by British garrisons.

The last British soldier having departed, Washington proceeded to Annapolis, where Congress was in session. As he passed through Philadelphia, he deposited in the Controller's office an account of his expenses, amounting, secret service money included, to £19,306 11s. Id., lawful money of Virginia, equivalent to $64,315. Admit

CHAPTER ted to a public audience by Congress, in a brief and ap XLV. propriate speech he expressed his congratulations on the

1783. termination of the war. "Having now finished the work Dec. 25. assigned me," he concluded, "I retire from the great the

ater of action, and bidding an affectionate farewell to this august body, under whose orders I have so long acted, 1 here offer my commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life."

It fell to the lot of Mifflin, the lately-elected president of the newly-organized Congress, to reply-a reply the more emphatic, coming from a man whom Washington's warmer friends had suspected of having wished, and even plotted, in a dark hour of the Revolution, to remove him from the chief command. "The United States, in Congress assembled," said Mifflin, "receive, with emotions. too affecting for utterance, the solemn resignation of the authority under which you have led their troops with success through a perilous and doubtful war. Called upon by your country to defend its invaded rights, you accepted the sacred charge before it had formed alliances, and while it was without friends or a government to support you. You have conducted the great military contest with wisdom and fortitude, invariably regarding the rights of the civil power through all disasters and changes. You have, by the love and confidence of your fellow-citizens, enabled them to display their martial genius, and transmit their fame to posterity. You have persevered till these United States, aided by a magnanimous king and nation, have been enabled, under a just Providence, to close the war in freedom, safety, and independence, on which happy event we sincerely join you in congratulations. Having defended the standard of liberty in this new world; having taught a lesson useful to those who inflict and to those who feel oppression, you retire from

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the great theater of action with the blessings of your fel- CHAPTER low-citizens; but the glory of your virtues will not terminate with your military command-it will continue to 1783. animate remotest ages."

Previous to their final separation, the officers of the army constituted themselves into a society, called the Order of the Cincinnati, after the Roman Cincinnatus, who left his plow to repel the invaders of his country. This orderan imitation, in some respects, of the European orders of knighthood, and distinguished, like them, by its appropriate ornaments and badges-was to be perpetuated through the eldest male descendants of the original members, or, failing such descendants, by the admission of such collateral relations as might be deemed worthy. There was also a provision for admitting a proportion of leading persons not connected with the army.

The matter of the half pay had already rendered the officers sufficiently obnoxious. This Order of the Cincinnati excited a vast deal of additional jealousy, as tending directly to the introduction of an hereditary aristocracy. The outcry raised against it in America was presently re-echoed from Europe, where hereditary aristocracies were losing their popularity. The afterward so celebrated Mirabeau, already well known as a writer, sent forth a pamphlet against it. Franklin, the Adamses, Jay, Gerry, and many other distinguished civilians, shared, to a certain extent, in these sentiments. The Legislatures of three states, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania, passed resolutions against the order, and it was severely censured by the governor of South Carolina in his address to the Assembly. At the first general meet- 1784 ing, through the efforts of Washington and others, the May. constitution was essentially modified by striking out the hereditary principle. But even this change did not give

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CHAPTER entire satisfaction, and the society still continued an ob ject of a good deal of jealousy.

1784.

The American refugees, quite a number of whom had been sustained throughout the war by pensions from the crown, perceiving that the treaty of peace contained no effectual provision on their behalf, appointed a committee of one from each colony, which applied to the British Parliament for indemnity. This application was favorably 1783. received, and a commission was appointed to inquire into the extent of their losses and the character of their claims. The whole business was brought to a close in 1791, when it appeared that five thousand and seventy-two claims had been put in, of which nine hundred and fifty-four had been abandoned or rejected. The whole amount claimed was £8,026,045, or about $38,000,000, of which the com missioners allowed £3,293,455. All claims of £10,000 or under were paid in full; on the larger claims a deduction was made, amounting in the whole to £180,000. The balance, upward of $15,000,000, was paid in a three and a half per cent. stock, worth about par. There were also two hundred and four claimants whose loss consisted in their deprivation of lucrative offices. They were provided for by pensions, amounting in the whole to £25,785. 'The refugees had clamored loudly at the delay of payment and the curtailment of their claims; but no defeated and discomfited faction ever fared so well. The Penn and Calvert families came in for a handsome share of this parliamentary allowance.

The bitterness against the Tories rapidly diminished. Many presently obtained leave to return to America. The confiscating laws were generally repealed, and such estates as had not been disposed of were restored to their original owners. Many others were subsequently recov ered by reason of informalities in the process of forfeiture.