CHAP. XXXIX. END OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE.

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life sacrificed in the cause was that of Captain Wilmot, who was killed in a skirmish at Stono Ferry in September following.

The British had evacuated Savannah on the 11th of July, when General Wayne, in consideration of the eminent services of Colonel James Jackson, appointed the latter "to receive the keys" of that city "from a committee of British officers." So Georgia was redeemed forever from British rule, and Wayne joined his forces to those of Greene. Charleston was evacuated

on the 14th of December following. At daylight on that morning the British left Gadsden's wharf for their ships, and at eleven o'clock an American detachment marched in and took formal possession of the city, when General Greene escorted the governor and other civil officers to the Town Hall. From windows and balconies, and even from the house-tops, the American troops were greeted with cheers, waving of handkerchiefs, and cries of "Welcome! welcome! God bless you, gentlemen!" Before sunset the British fleet of transports, about three hundred sail, had crossed the bar and disappeared below the eastern horizon.

Measures had meanwhile been taken by the Congress and the British government to arrange a treaty of peace. The former appointed (September, 1782) four Commissioners for the purpose, that different States of the Union might be represented. These Commissioners were John Adams of Massachusetts, John Jay of New York, Dr. Franklin of Pennsylvania, and Henry Laurens of South Carolina, who were all in Europe at that time. The British government gave Mr. Oswald full power to treat for peace with these Commissioners. He had discussed the terms with Dr. Franklin, who assured him that independence, satisfactory boundaries, and a participation in the fisheries would be indispensable requisites in a treaty. In July the

British Parliament had passed a bill to enable the king to acknowledge the independence of the United States, and all obstacles in the way of negotiation were removed. The American Commissioners first named were joined by Laurens at Paris, where the negotiations were carried on. There, on the 30th of November, a preliminary treaty of peace, on the basis of independence, was signed by the American Commissioners and Mr. Oswald without the knowledge of the French government. This was in violation of the spirit of the terms of alliance, by which it was understood (and the Commissioners had been so instructed) that no treaty should be signed by either party to the alliance without the knowledge of the other. Some of the Commissioners doubted the good faith of Vergennes, believing him to be swayed by Spanish influence; but he acted honorably throughout. Dr. Franklin, who never doubted him, removed the dissatisfaction in the mind. of Vergennes, because of this affront, by a few soft words. In the meantime the States-General of Holland had acknowledged the independence of the United States by receiving John Adams as an ambassador from the Congress in April of that year; and on the 8th of October (1782) they concluded a treaty of amity and commerce with them. This was signed at the Hague by Mr. Adams and representatives of the Netherlands. It was not ratified until January, 1783.

Coincident with these preparations for a solid national existence, was the adoption of a device for a great seal-the symbol of sovereignty and authority for the inchoate republic. A committee for the purpose was. appointed on the afternoon of the 4th of July, 1776. That committee and others, from time to time, presented unsatisfactory devices. Finally, in the spring of 1782, Charles Thompson, the Secretary of Congress, gave to that body a device largely suggested to John Adams by Sir John Prestwich of England, which was made the basis of a design adopted on the 20th of June, 1782, and which is still the device of our great seal. It is composed of a spread-eagle, the emblem of strength, bearing on its breast an escutcheon with thirteen stripes alternate red and white. In his right talon he holds an olive-branch, emblem of peace, and in his left, thirteen arrows, emblems of the thirteen States, ready for war if it should be necessary. In his beak is a ribbon bearing the legend: E Pluribus Unum-"many in one "—many States making one nation. Over the head of the eagle is a golden light breaking through a cloud surrounding thirteen stars forming a constellation on a blue field. On the reverse is an unfinished pyramid, emblematic of the unfinished republic, the building of which is still going on, In the zenith is an All-seeing Eye surrounded by light, and over the eye the word Annuit Captis-"God favors the undertaking." On the base of the pyramid, in.

CHAP. XXXIX.

DISCONTENTS IN THE ARMY.

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Roman numerals, the date 1776, and below the words: "Novus ordo seclorum—“ a new series of ages." So the Americans showed their faith in the stability of the structure whose foundations they had laid. Only the side on which the eagle and escutcheon appear has ever been used, and that as a recumbent seal the size of the engraving here given.

With the joyful prospect of returning peace came many shadowing forebodings of evil in the near future for the poor soldiers, when the army

should be disbanded and they be compelled to seek other employment for a livelihood among the desolations caused by war. Many of them were invalids; and for a long time neither officers nor private soldiers had received any pay, for the treasury was empty, and the prospect of a continuance of the poverty of the government had produced widespread discontent in the army. The officers had been promised half-pay for life; but would that promise be fulfilled? was a question that pressed upon the minds of many. Contemplating the evidently inherent weakness of the government, many were inclined to consider it a normal condition of the republican form and to sigh for a stronger one-like that of Great Britain. This feeling became so manifest in the army, that Colonel Nicola, a foreigner by birth and of weighty character, at the head of a Pennsylvania regiment, addressed a well-written letter to Washington in May, 1782, in which, professing to speak for the army, he urged the necessity of a monarchy to secure for the Americans an efficient government and the rights of the people. He proposed to Washington to accept the headship of such a gov

ernment with the title of king, and assured him that the army would support him. Possibly a budding conspiracy to that end existed in the army, but it was crushed by the stern rebuke administered by the chief in a letter to Nicola. "If I am not deceived," Washington wrote, "in the knowledge of myself, you could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable."

Many months later discontents in the army assumed a more dangerous form. The headquarters of the army had been, during the autumn of 1782, at Verplanck's Point, on the Hudson, when the troops numbered about ten thousand men. There they formed a promised junction with the French army on their return from Virginia. From that point the latter marched to New England ports and embarked for France, and the Americans went above the Highlands and spent the ensuing winter in huts in the vicinity of Newburgh. At the latter place Washington made his quarters in a house yet standing in the southern portion of that rural city, on the brow of a slope extending to the river.

In the latter part of the winter of 1783, the discontent in the army appeared more formidable than ever. In December (1782), the officers. seeing in the continued weakness and poverty of their government no apparent security for a future adjustment of the claims of the army for backpay or for the promised half-pay for a term of years for themselves, sent a respectful memorial to the Congress by the hands of General McDougall, the head of a committee appointed for the purpose, in which they asked (1) for present pay; (2) a settlement of arrearages of pay and security for what was due; (3) a commutation of the half-pay or an equivalent in gross; and (4) a settlement of the accounts of deficiencies of rations, clothing, and compensation. The Congress adopted a series of resolutions on the subject, late in January, which were not very satisfactory. Feeble in resources, they made no definite promises of present relief or future justice, and the discontents of the army were greater than before. Early in March a wellwritten address to the army was circulated extensively through the camps. It bore no name of author, but was calculated to stir up the spirit of revolt in the hearts of the soldiers. It advised the army to take matters into their own hands, make demonstrations of power and determination that should arouse the fears of the people and of the Congress, and so obtain justice for themselves. With this address was circulated privately a notification of a meeting of officers at a large building called The Temple, which had been erected for public meetings and a gathering-place for the Freemasons of the army.

These papers were brought to the notice of Washington on the day

CHAP. XXXIX.

SEDITIOUS MOVEMENTS CHECKED.

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when they were issued, and he determined to guide and control the movement. In general orders the next morning he referred to them; expressed his disapprobation of the whole proceedings as disorderly, and requested the general and field officers, with one officer from every company in the army, to meet at the "New Building" (The Temple) on the 15th at noon. General Gates, the senior officer, was requested to preside. On the appearance of this order, the writer of the anonymous addresses issued another,

more subdued in tone, in which he tried to give the impression that Washington approved the scheme, the time of meeting being changed. There was a full attendance, and deep solemnity pervaded the assembly, when the commander-in-chief stepped upon the platform to read an address which he had prepared for the occasion. As he put on his spectacles, he remarked: "You see, gentlemen, that I have not only grown gray, but blind in your service." This simple remark, under the circumstances, had a powerful effect upon the assemblage. When he had read his address, so compact in form and construction, so clear in expression and meaning, so dignified and patriotic, so mild yet so severe, and withal so vitally important in its relations to the well-being of the unfolding republic, the men before him and the army they represented, as well as the best interests of human freedom, he immediately retired and left the officers to discuss the matter unrestrained