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.

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Happy in the confirmation of our independence and sovereignty, 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I accepted with diffidence ; a diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so arduous a task, which, however, was superseded by a confidence in the rectitude of our cause, the support of the supreme power of the union, and the patronage of Heaven.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 for 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 persons, 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 the service to the present moment, as worthy of the favourable notice and patronage of congress.

..

"I consider it as 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.

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*

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 long acted, I here offer my commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life."

This address being ended, General Washington advanced and delivered his commission into the hands of the president of congress, who replied as follows:

"The United States, in congress assembled, receive, with emotions too affecting for utterance, the solemn resignation of the authorities 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 whilst 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 famé 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 safety, freedom and independence; on which happy event we sincerely join you in congratulations.

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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 the great theatre of action with the blessings of your fellow-citizens; but the glory of your virtues will not terminate with your military command; it will continue to animate remotest ages. We feel with you our obligations to the army in general, and will particularly charge ourselves with the interest of those confidential officers, who have attended your person to this affecting moment.

"We join you in commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, beseeching him to dispose the hearts and minds of its citizens to improve the opportunity afforded them of becoming a happy and respectable nation; and for you we address to him our earnest prayers, that a life so beloved may be fostered with all his care; that your days may be happy as they have been illustrious, and that he will finally give you that reward, which this world cannot give."

The military services of General Washington, which ended with this interesting day, were as great as ever were rendered by any man to any nation. They were at the same time disinterested. How dear would not a mercena`

ry man have sold such toils, such dangers, and, above all, such successes! What schemes of grandeur and of power would not an ambitious man have built upon the affections of the people and of the army! The gratitude of America was so lively, that any thing asked by her resigning chief would have been readily granted. He asked nothing for himself, his family or relations; but indirectly solicited favours for the confidential officers, who were attached to his person. These were young gentlemen, without fortune, who had served him in the capacity of aidsde-camp. To have omitted the opportunity which then offered of recommending them to their country's notice, would have argued a degree of insensibility in the breast of their friend. The only privilege distinguishing him from other private citizens, which the retiring Washington did or would receive from his grateful country, was a right of sending and receiving letters free of postage.

The American chief, having by his own voluntary act become one of the people, hastened, with ineffable delight, to his seat at Mount Vernon, on the banks of the Potomac. There, in a short time, the most successful general in the world became the most diligent farmer in Virginia.

To pass suddenly from the toils of the first commission in the United States to the care of a farm, to exchange the instruments of war for the implements of husbandry, and to become at once the patron and example of ingenious agriculture, would, to most men, have been a difficult task. To the elevated mind of Washington it was natural and delightful.

His own sensations, after retiring from public business, are thus expressed in his letters:-"I am just beginning to experience the ease and freedom from public cares, which, however desirable, it takes some time to realize; for, strange as it may seem, it is nevertheless true, that it was not until lately I could get the better of my usual custom of ruminating, as soon as I awoke in the morning, on the business of the ensuing day; and of my surprise on finding, after revolving many things in my mind, that I was no longer a public man, or had any thing to do with public transactions. I feel as I conceive a wearied traveller must

do, who, after treading many a painful step with a heavy burden on his shoulders, is eased of the latter, having reached the haven to which all the former were directed, and, from his housetep, is looking back, and tracing with an eager eye the meanders by which he escaped the quicksands and mires, which lay in his way, and into which none but the all-powerful Guide and Dispenser of human events could have prevented his falling."

"I have become a private citizen on the banks of the Potomac; and, under the shadow of my own vine and my own fig-tree, free from the bustle of a camp, and the busy scenes of public life, I am solacing myself with those tranquil enjoyments, of which the soldier, who is ever in pursuit of fame,-the statesman, whose watchful days and sleepless nights are spent in devising schemes to promote the welfare of his own, perhaps the ruin of other countries, as if this globe was insufficient for us all,-and the cour. tier, who is always watching the countenance of his prince, in the hope of catching a gracious smile,—can have very little conception. I have not only retired from all public employments, but am retiring within myself, and shall be able to view the solitary walk, and tread the paths of private life, with heartfelt satisfaction. Envious of none, I am determined to be pleased with all; and this, my dear friend, being the order of my march, I will move gently down the stream of life, until I sleep with my fathers."

Mr. MARSHALL thus finishes this beautiful picture.-ED. For several months after reaching Mount Vernon, almost every day brought him the addresses of an affectionate and grateful people. The glow of expression, in which the high sense universally entertained of his services was conveyed, manifested a warmth of feeling seldom equalled in the history of man. It is worthy of remark, that this unexampled tribute of applause made no impression on the unassuming modesty of his character and deportment. The same firmness of mind, the same steady and well-tempered judgment, which had guided him through the most perilous seasons of the war, still regulated his conduct; and the enthusiastic applauses of an admiring nation appeared

only to cherish sentiments of gratitude, and to give greater activity to the desire still further to contribute to the prosperity of his country.

Alexander Wilson.-NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.

He was a Scotchman by birth. The first years of his residence in this country were devoted to school-keeping ir Pennsylvania. An early acquaintance with the venerable Bartram kindled within him a love of science; and after he commenced his ornithological inquiries, he pursued them for the remaining short period of his life with an enthusiasm, perseverance, and self-devotion, which have rarely been equalled. He died in Philadelphia, August 23d, 1813, at the age of forty-seven. His American Ornithology, executed under every possible disadvantage, and with encouragement so slender, as hardly to keep him from the heavy pressure of want, is a monument to his name that will never decay. The old world and the new will regard it with equal admiration. "We may add without hesitation," says Mr. Bonaparte, "that such a work as he has published in a new country, is still a desideratum in Europe." To accomplish such a work, with all the facilities which the arts and knowledge of Europe afford, would confer no common distinction. But when it is considered that Wilson taught himself, almost unassisted, the arts of drawing and engraving; that he made his way in the science with very little aid from books or teachers; that he entered a path in which he could find no companions, none to stimulate his ardour by a similarity of pursuits or communion of feeling, none to remove his doubts, guide his inquiries, or to be deeply interested in his success; when these things are considered, the labours of Wilson must claim a praise, which is due to a few only of the solitary efforts of talent and enterprise.

In the strictest sense of the terms, Wilson was a man of genius; his perceptions were quick, his impressions vivid; a bright glow of feeling breathes through his compositions. In the professed walks of poetry, his attempts