ing the superscription of
this letter, Washington wrote, in a bold hand, and with a broad dash
under it--PEACE.

On the nineteenth of April, the seventh anniversary of the earlier
bloodshedding in the War for Independence, at Lexington and Concord, the
intelligence of peace was officially proclaimed to the army in general
orders. "The generous task," Washington said, "for which we first flew
to arms, being accomplished; the liberties of our country being fully
acknowledged, and firmly secured, and the characters of those who have
persevered through every extremity of hardship, suffering, and danger,
being immortalized by the illustrious appellation of _the patriot army_,
nothing now remains, but for the actors of this mighty scene, to pursue
a perfect, unvarying consistency of character through the very last act;
to close the drama with applause, and to retire from the military
theatre with the same approbation of angels and men, which has crowned
all their former virtuous actions."

Ever mindful of the interests of his soldiers, Washington had procured
the passage of a resolution in Congress, that the services of the men
engaged in the war, did not expire until the definitive treaty of peace
should be ratified, but that the commander-in-chief might grant
furloughs according to his own judgment, and permit the men to take
their arms home with them. Washington used this prerogative freely, but
judiciously, and, by degrees, the continental army was virtually
disbanded, except a small force at headquarters; for those dismissed on
furlough were never called back to service. "Once at home," says Irving,
"they sank into domestic-life; their weapons were hung over their
fireplaces--military trophies of the Revolution, to be prized by future
generations."

On the sixth of May Washington held a personal conference with Sir Guy
Carleton, at Tappan, in relation to the transfer of certain posts in the
United States occupied by British troops, and other arrangements; and
two days afterward, Egbert Benson, William S. Smith, and Daniel Parker,
were appointed commissioners on the part of the Americans, to inspect
and superintend the embarkation of the tories, who were about to leave
for Nova Scotia, with their property. Several thousands of these
unfortunate people left New York for that far-east country, where, one
of them observed, were "nine months of winter, and three months of cold
weather every year."

In view of the approac