ch in
abeyance. The tear of manly sensibility was in every eye, and in
dignified silence they all followed their beloved chief as he left the
room, passed through a corps of light-infantry, and walked to Whitehall
to embark. Having entered the barge, he turned to the tearful friends
upon the wharf, and waving his hat, bade them a silent adieu. They stood
and watched the barge until it was hidden from their view by an angle of
the battery, when, in silent and solemn procession, they all returned to
the place where they had assembled.

Washington stopped a few days in Philadelphia, where he adjusted his
accounts with the comptroller of the treasury. These were all in perfect
order, from the beginning of the war until the moment of settlement, on
the thirteenth of December. They were entirely in his own hand-waiting.
The gross amount was almost seventy-five thousand dollars, in which were
included moneys expended for secret service and in various incidental
charges. For his own services he would receive nothing.

Washington's journey from New York to Annapolis, in Maryland, was one
continued ovation. The people everywhere received him with enthusiasm;
and public meetings, legislative assemblies, and learned and religious
institutions, greeted him with addresses. He arrived at Annapolis on
Friday, the nineteenth of December, where he was joined by Mrs.
Washington and many warm personal friends. On the following day he
addressed a note to the Congress, inquiring when, and in what manner it
would be proper to offer his resignation; and on Monday he was present
at a dinner ordered by that body. In the evening he attended a grand
ball given in his honor.

On Tuesday, the twenty-third, Washington wrote to the Baron
Steuben--"This is the last letter I shall write while I continue in the
service of my country. The hour of my resignation is fixed at twelve
to-day; after which I shall become a private citizen on the banks of the
Potomac."

At the hour named the chief was before the assembled Congress, of whom
General Thomas Mifflin was president. The hall was filled with public
functionaries and military officers, accompanied by ladies; and in the
gallery was Mrs. Washington and many more ladies than were on the floor
below.

Washington was conducted to the hall by Secretary Thomson, when the
president said, "The United States in Congress assembled, are prepared
to receive your communication." Washington then arose, and in a