Hero Tales From American History | Page 5

position there was no shadow of turning. He was one of
Virginia's delegates to the first Continental Congress, and, although he
said but little, he was regarded by all the representatives from the other
colonies as the strongest man among them. There was something about
him even then which commanded the respect and the confidence of
every one who came in contact with him.
It was from New England, far removed from his own State, that the
demand came for his appointment as commander-in-chief of the
American army. Silently he accepted the duty, and, leaving
Philadelphia, took command of the army at Cambridge. There is no
need to trace him through the events that followed. From the time when
he drew his sword under the famous elm tree, he was the embodiment
of the American Revolution, and without him that revolution would

have failed almost at the start. How he carried it to victory through
defeat and trial and every possible obstacle is known to all men.
When it was all over he found himself facing a new situation. He was
the idol of the country and of his soldiers. The army was unpaid, and
the veteran troops, with arms in their hands, were eager to have him
take control of the disordered country as Cromwell had done in
England a little more than a century before. With the army at his back,
and supported by the great forces which, in every community, desire
order before everything else, and are ready to assent to any
arrangement which will bring peace and quiet, nothing would have
been easier than for Washington to have made himself the ruler of the
new nation. But that was not his conception of duty, and he not only
refused to have anything to do with such a movement himself, but he
repressed, by his dominant personal influence, all such intentions on
the part of the army. On the 23d of December, 1783, he met the
Congress at Annapolis, and there resigned his commission. What he
then said is one of the two most memorable speeches ever made in the
United States, and is also memorable for its meaning and spirit among
all speeches ever made by men. He spoke as follows:
Mr. President:--The great events on which my resignation depended
having at length taken place, I have now the honor of offering my
sincere congratulations to Congress, and of presenting myself before
them, to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me and to
claim the indulgence of retiring from the service of my country.
Happy in the confirmation of our independence and sovereignity and
pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States of becoming a
respectable nation, I resign with satisfaction the appointment I accepted
with diffidence; a diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so arduous a
task, which, however, was superseded by a confidence in the rectitude
of our cause, the support of the supreme power of the Union, and the
patronage of Heaven.
The successful termination of the war has verified the most sanguine
expectations, and my gratitude for the interposition of Providence and
the assistance I have received from my countrymen increases with
every review of the momentous contest.
While I repeat my obligations to the Army in general, I should do
injustice to my own feelings not to acknowledge, in this place, the

peculiar services and distinguished merits of the Gentlemen who have
been attached to my person during the war. It was impossible that the
choice of confidential officers to compose my family should have been
more fortunate. Permit me, sir, to recommend in particular those who
have continued in service to the present moment as worthy of the
favorable notice and patronage of Congress.
I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my
official life by commending the interests of our dearest country to the
protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence
of them to His holy keeping.
Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great
theatre of action, and, bidding an affectionate farewell to this august
body, under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my
commission and take my leave of all the employments of public life."
The great master of English fiction, writing of this scene at Annapolis,
says: 'Which was the most splendid spectacle ever witnessed--the
opening feast of Prince George in London, or the resignation of
Washington? Which is the noble character for after ages to admire--yon
fribble dancing in lace and spangles, or yonder hero who sheathes his
sword after a life of spotless honor, a purity unreproached, a courage
indomitable and a consummate victory?"
Washington did not refuse the dictatorship, or, rather, the opportunity
to take control of