Debts. ed estates. 1783. inhabitants of both countries used at any time heretofore to fish ; and also that the inhabitants of the United States shall have liberty to take fish of every kind on such part of the coast of Newfoundland as British fishermen shall use (but not to dry or cure the same on that island); and also on the coasts, bays, and creeks of all other of his Britannic majesty's dominions in America; and that the American fishermen shall have liberty to dry and cure fish in any of the unsettled bays, harbours and creeks of Nova Scotia, Magdalen islands and Labrador so long as the same shall remain unsettled, but so soon as the same or either of them shall be settled, it shall not be lawful for the said fishermen to dry or cure fish at such settlement without a previous agreement for that purpose of the inhabitants, proprietors or possessors of the ground. By the fourth Article, it is agreed, that creditors on either side shall meet with no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value, in sterling money, of all bona Restitution fide debts heretofore contracted. By the fifth Article, it is of confiscat agreed, that the Congress shall earnestly recommend it to the legislatures of the respective states, to provide for the restitution of all estates, rights and properties which have been confiscated, belonging to real British subjects, and also of the estates, rights and properties of persons resident in districts in the possession of his majesty's arms, and who have not borne arms against the said United States; and that persons of any other description shall have free liberty to go to any part or parts of any of the thirteen United States, and therein to remain twelve months, unmolested, in their endeavours to obtain the restitution of such of their estates, rights and properties as may have been confiscated; and that Congress shall also earnestly recommend to the several states a reconsideration and revision of all acts or laws regarding the premises, so as to render the said laws or acts perfectly consistent not only with justice and equity, but with that spirit of conciliation, which, on the return of the blessings of peace, should universally prevail. And that Congress shall also recommend to the several states that the estates, rights and properties of such last mentioned persons shall be restored to them, they refunding to any persons who may be now in possession, the bona fide price (where any has been given) which such persons may have paid on purchasing any of the said lands, rights or properties, since the confiscation. And it is agreed that all persons who have any interest in confiscated lands, either by debts, marriage settlements, or otherwise, shall meet with no lawful impediment in the prosecution of their just rights. By the sixth Article, it is agreed, that there shall be no future confiscations made, nor any prosecutions commenced against any person or persons, for or by reason of the part which he or they may have No future confiscations. peace. taken in the present war; and that no person shall on that ac- 1783. count suffer any future loss or damage, either in his person, liberty, or property; and that those who may be in confinement on such charges, at the time of the ratification of the treaty in America, shall be immediately set at liberty, and the prosecution so commenced be discontinued. By the seventh Article, it is A firm and agreed, that there shall be a firm and perpetual peace between perpetual his Britannic majesty and the said states, and between the subjects of the one and the citizens of the other: Wherefore, all hostilities, both by sea and land, shall from henceforth cease; all prisoners on both sides shall be set at liberty; and his Britannic majesty shall, with all convenient speed, and without causing any destruction, or carrying away any negroes or other property of the American inhabitants, withdraw all his armies, garrisons, and fleets from the said United States, and from every post, place, and harbour within the same; leaving in all fortifications the American artillery that may be therein; and shall also order and cause all archives, records, deeds, and papers, belonging to any of the said states or their citizens, which in the course of the war may have fallen into the hands of his officers, to be forthwith restored and delivered to the proper states and persons to whom they belong. By the eighth Article, the navigation of the river Navigation Mississippi, from its source to the ocean, shall forever remain of the Mississippi. free and open to the subjects of Great Britain and the citizens of the United States. By the ninth Article, In case it should so Conquests happen that any place or territory belonging to Great Britain, or after the to the United States, should have been conquered by the arms of treaty to be either from the other before the arrival of the said provisional articles in America, it is agreed, that the same shall be restored without difficulty, and without requiring any compensation. By the tenth Article, The solemn ratifications of the present treaty To be ratiexpedited in good and due form, shall be exchanged between fied in six the contracting parties in the space of six months, or sooner if possible, to be computed from the day of the signature of the present treaty. restored. months. Before the dissolution of the army, the American officers, Society of in their cantonment on Hudson's river, instituted a society, Cincinnati. which, from some similarity in their situation to that of the celebrated Roman, was to be denominated "The Society of the Cincinnati." The Society was to be designated by a medal of gold, representing the American eagle, bearing on its breast the devices of the order, which was to be suspended by a deep blue ribbon edged with white, descriptive of the Union of America and France. The immutable principles of the Society required the members to preserve the rights and privileges of human nature for which they had fought and bled, and to promote 1783. and cherish union and honour between the respective states. Its objects were, to perpetuate the remembrance of the American revolution, as well as a cordial affection among the officers; and to extend acts of beneficence to those officers and their families, whose situation might require assistance. A common fund was to be created by the deposit of one month's pay on the part of every officer becoming a member.1 Oct. 18. tion for dis army. Congress issued a proclamation for disbanding the army. The Proclama proclamation states, that in the progress of an arduous and diffibanding the cult war, the Armies of the United States of America have displayed every military and patriotic virtue, and are not less to be applauded for their fortitude and magnanimity in the most trying scenes of distress, than for a series of heroic and illustrious achievements, which exalt them to a high rank among the most zealous and successful defenders of the rights and liberties of mankind; and that, by the blessing of divine Providence on our cause and our arms, the glorious period is arrived when our national independence and sovereignty are established, and we enjoy the prospect of a permanent and honourable peace. "The United States in Congress assembled, thus impressed with a lively sense of the distinguished merit and good conduct of the said armies, do give them the thanks of their country for their long, eminent, and faithful services. And it is our will and pleasure, that such part of the federal armies as stand engaged to serve during the war, and as by our acts of the 26th of May, the 11th of June, the 9th of August, and the 26th of September last, were furloughed, shall, from and after the third day of November next, be absolutely discharged, by virtue of this our proclamation, from the said service." Gen. Washington's Farewell Orders. On the day preceding the discharge of the army, general Washington issued his farewell orders, which were replete with salutary advice respecting their future conduct, and with affectionate wishes for their present and future happiness. 1 This Society excited no inconsiderable degree of jealousy and opposition. The ablest dissertation against it was entitled "Considerations on the Society or Order of Cincinnati," dated Charlestown (S. C.) October 10, 1783, and signed Cassius. It was the production of Ædanus Burke, one of the judges of the supreme court of South Carolina; who undertook to prove, that the Cincinnati creates two distinct orders among the Americans: 1. A race of hereditary nobles, founded on the military, together with the most influential families and men in the state; and, 2. The people, or plebeians." More than twenty years have elapsed," says colonel Humphreys, " and not one fact has occurred to countenance these jealous insinuations." Speech to the Governor and Council of Connecticut, November 2, 1803, in support of a Memorial of the Society of the Cincinnati in Connecticut.-The commutation act, passed by congress this year, as a substitute for the previous half pay act, excited great uneasiness in the several States, especially in Connecticut; and it was augmented by the appearance of judge Burke's publication; but it soon subsided. 66 American The eulogy of a living statesman, delivered in congress upon 1783. the revolutionary army more than forty years after its dissolution, while pleading the cause of its survivors, is at once a suitable Eulogy memorial of the dead, and of the few who still live. "In the upon the history of this army there is something so prominent, that though army. we were to shut our eyes against it, the whole world would yet see it; a monument of their worth so solid, that every coming generation will contemplate it. I mean their conduct at the end of the war. I cannot well describe that scene of patriotism, tempted, yet not yielding; of honour, goaded by the sense of injustice, yet bearing itself with unquestionable loyalty; of military power, proud in its victory, yet not seduced by injury, by suffering, by poverty, by real or supposed coldness and neglect,to turn its sword against the parental bosom of the country. The occurrence stands without a precedent. No other history shows it and the honour which it confers on our own annals is worth more, far more, than we shall, or, indeed, than we could now bestow. . . . It disbanded itself; it stripped off its armour; it laid down its sword. Unpaid, as it was; unclothed, as it was; unprovided, as it was, for a day's maintenance, it dissolved, at the bidding of that voice of public liberty, which had originally formed it; and it left the great and sacred cause of the revolution unstained by a single instance of military excess."1 2 N. York. New York was evacuated by the British on the 25th of No- British vember; and the Americans took possession of the city the evacuate same day. Soon after, general Washington, having taken leave of his officers, repaired to Annapolis; where, at an audience in congress, he with equal dignity and sensibility delivered to the banded. president his military commission. Army dis confiscated estates to ists. After the peace, a joint committee from the senate and house s. Carolina of representatives in South Carolina, chosen to hear the petitions restores of the loyalists, who had incurred the penalties of the confiscation, banishment, and amercement laws, made a report to the the loyalseparate houses in favour of a great majority of the petitioners; and a great part of those names which were upon the confiscation, banishment, and amercement lists, were struck off. The petitions of others were afterward presented from year to year, and ultimately almost the whole of them had their estates restored to them, and they were received as citizens.3 Congress recommended to the several states, to secure to the Copy right authors or publishers of any new books not hitherto printed, to authors. being citizens of the United States, and to their executors, ad 1 Hon. Daniel Webster's Speech in Congress, on a bill for the relief of surviving officers and soldiers of the Revolution. 2 See NOTE XI. 3 Moultrie's Memoirs, ii. 326. 1783. ministrators and assigns, the copy right of such books for a certain term of time not less than 14 years from the first publication; and if they shall survive the time first mentioned, to secure to them the copy right of such books for another term of time not less than 14 years, by such laws and under such restrictions as to the several states may seem proper. Proclamation forbidding settle ments on Indian lands. Constitu tion of Charles In conformity with the ninth article of confederation, vesting congress with the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the trade, and managing all affairs with the Indians, not members of any of the states, congress issued a Proclamation, prohibiting all persons from making settlements on lands inhabited or claimed by Indians without the limits or jurisdiction of any particular state, and from purchasing or receiving any gift or cession of such lands or claims, without the express authority and directions of the United States in Congress assembled. The Constitution of New Hampshire was formed by a convention of delegates of the people of that state held at Concord in June, and established on the 31st of October. It was to go into operation on the first Wednesday of the following year. Charlestown, the capital of South Carolina, was incorporated made a city. by the legislature of that state by the name of The City of Charles town, S. C. Dickinson Earthquake. Canada. Deaths. ton. Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was founded. It was thus named in memory of the great and important services rendered to his country by John Dickinson, the president of the executive council, and in commemoration of his very liberal donation to the institution. A Grammatical Institute of the English Language by Noah Webster was published.1 An earthquake was felt from New Hampshire to Pennsylvania, on the 29th of November. The inhabitants of the province of Quebec, by enumeration, amounted to about 113,000 English and French, exclusive of 10,000 loyalists, who had recently settled in the upper parts of the province.2 William Alexander, earl of Stirling, major general in the American army, died at Albany, aged 57 years; Samuel Cooper, one of the ministers of Boston, aged 58 years; and James 1 At the beginning of 1801, more than one million and a half of copies of this work had been sold. Miller, ii. 384. 2 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. vi. 49. 3 The Rev. Dr. Cooper was a son of William Cooper, who was one of the ministers of Brattle street, and whom this son succeeded in the ministry in 1746, as colleague with Dr. Colman. He was a distinguished preacher, and a zealous and influential patriot. His various talents and virtues, with a peculiarly engaging address, procured for him an unusual share of estimation in private and in public life. During the contest with Great Brittain, he rendered very important services to his country. "He did much to obtain foreign alliances, |
