The New-Hampshire gazette and general advertiser. [volume], November 22, 1783, Image 2

About The New-Hampshire gazette and general advertiser. [volume] (Portsmouth [N.H.]) 1781-1784

Image provided by: Dartmouth College

                
-
3
A
&
.l
L O N D O N, September 28.
Bythe KIN G,
A PROCLAMATION
GEORGE R. '
WHEREAS a definirive treaty of peace
and fricndthip between us, the Most Chril
tian King,and the King of Spain, hath been
concluded atVerfaitles on the 3d day of this
instant, September, and the ratifications
thereof have been exchanged upon the
nineteenth inst, in conformity thereunto,
we have thought fit hereby to command,
that the fame be published throughout all
our dominions : And we do declare to all
our loving fubjeéts our will and pleasure,
that the said treaty of peace and friendfhip
be observed inviolably, as well by sea as
land, and in all places whatsoever ; ftri&ly
charging and commanding all our loving
fubjeéls to take notice hereof, and conformy
themielves thereunto accordingly.
Given at oar Court at'St. James’s,
the twenty sixth day of Septem
ber, one thousand seven hundred
and eighty three, in the twenty
third year of our reign. ’
God save the King,
PHILADELPHIA, November 5.
General WASHINGTONs farewsil or
ders to the Armies of the United States.
Rocky Hill, rear Princeton, November 2,
rFAHE Usiced States in Congress affem
. bled, after giving the most honorable
testimony to the merits of the federal armues,
and presenting themy with the tharks of
their country, for their long, emuent and
faichiul fervices,~—having thought proper,
by their proclamation,bearicg date the 18th
of O&ober laft,to discharge such part of the
erocps as were engaged for the wat, and
to permit the officers on furlough to retire
from {fervice, from aand after to morrow,
which proclamation having been commu
nicated in the public papers for the infor
mation and government of all concerned,
—lt only remains for the Commander in
Chief o address himfelt once -more, and
that for the last time, to the armies of the
United States(however widely dispersed the
individuals who compose them may be) and
to bid them an 2ffe@ionate—a long farewell.
But before the Commander in Chief
takes his final leave of those he holds most
dear, he wishes to indulge him(-if a {ew
moments ia calling to.mind a’flight review
of the paft,—he will then talee the liberiy
of explering, with his military friends, thew
future profpe@ts—of advising the general
fine of condu&t, which, in his opinion,ought
to be pursued ; ~~and he will conclude the
address by exprefling the obligations he feels
him{elf under for the spirited and able as
sistance he has experienced from them, in
the performaace of an arduous office.
- A contemplation of the complete at
tainment (at a period earlier than cauld
have beea expeéted) of the tbject for which
‘we contended, against {o formidable & pow
er, cannot but inspire Bs with astonishment
and gratitude —~The _difadvantageous ecir
cumftances on our party, under which the
war was undertaken, can never be forgot
ten.—The finguliar interpositions of Provi
dence, in our feeble condition, were such as
could scarcely escape the attention of the
most unobferving—while the unparalieled
p rfeverance of the armies of the Uhited
S:ates, thro” almost every possible fuffering
and discouragement, for the space of eight
Jong years, was listle (hort of a standing mi
gacle, ‘
~ At
e e
B N e LA TN s s
Tt is pot the meanirg, ‘nor within the
compass of this address, to detail the hard
fhips' peculiarly incident to our service, or
to describe the diftrefles, which in several
instances have resulted from the extremes of
hunger and nakednpefs, combined with the
rigours of an inclement season ;—por is it
necefiary to dweil on the dark fide of our
past aftairs.—Every American officer and
soldier muit now console himfelt for our
unpleasant circumstances which may have
eccured, by a recollettion of the uncommon
scenes in which he has been calied to a&kt
no ingloricus part 3 and the aftonithing
events of which he has beena witnels j-—
events which haye seldom, if ever before,
taken place on the stage of human a&ion,
nor can they probably ever happen again,
For who has before seen a disciplined army
formed at gnce from such raw materials ?
Who that was not a witness could imagine,
that the most violent local prejudices would
cease {o soon, and that menh who came from
the different parts of the continent,
firongly disposed by the habits of education,
to defpile and quarrel with each other,would
infiantly become but one patriotic band of
brothers ? or who that was not on the spot,
ean trace the steps by which such a won
derful revoiution has been effe&ted, aud such
a glorious period put to all cur walrike toil?
it 1s universally acknowledged that the
énlarged profpe@s of happiness, opened by
the confirmation of our independence and
sovereignty, almost exceeds the power of
delcription : And shall not the brave men
who have coniributed so essentially to these
meftimable acquisitions, retiring viorious
trom the ficid of war to the field of aggri
culture, participate in alt the bileffings which
have been obtained ? In foch a lepubiic,
who will exclu’e them from the rights of
citizens, and the fruits of their Jabours 2
In such a country, fo"happily circamitasced,
the pursuits of commerce and the cultivari
on of the foil will vntold to industry the
certain road to comperence.~~To those
hardy soldiers, who are aétuared by the fpi
rit’ of adventuce, the fitheries will aford
ample and profitable employment § and
the exterfive and fertile regions of the Welt
will yield a most hapf){ afytum t 9 those
who, fond of demeftic enjoyment, are
tecking for personal independence. Nor is
it possible to conceive that any one of the
United States will prefer a national bank
raptcy, and a difolution of the union, to a
compliance with the requisitions of Con
grels, and the payment ofirs julls debts, so
that the officers and soldiers may expeét
considerable afiiltance, in re commencing
their civil gecupations, from the sums due
to them ‘from the public, which must and
will most inevitably be paid. -
In order to efle& this defitable purpose,
and to remove the prejudices which may
have taken possession of the minds of any
of the good people of the states, it is ear
nestly recommended to all the troops that,
with strong attachment to the ‘union, they
should carry with them into eivil fociety,the
most conciliating dispositions ; and that they
should prove themselves sot lels virtuous
and ufeful as citizens, than they have been
persevering and victorious as soldiers.—
What though there should be some ervious
individuals, v ho are unwilling to paythe debt
the public has contracted, or to yield the
tribute due to merit, yet let (uch unworthy
treatment produce no invetive, or any in
stance of intemperate condut,=-let it be
. g, & o
remembered that the unbiailed voice of the
tree citizens of the United States has pro
mifled the just reward, and giventhe me
rited applaufe,—~llet it be known and re
membered, that the reputation of the fede
ral armies 15 eftabiifhed beyond the reach
of malevoleace, and let a confcioufoefs of
their atchievments and fame, fill excie the
men who composed them, to henorable
actions, under the perfuation, that the prie
vate virtues of csconomy, prudence and
industry, will not be less amible in civil lite,
than the more splendid quaiuies of valour,
perseverance and enterprise, were in the
field :—Every ore may rest aflured thae
much, very much of theturure happine(s
ot the officers and men, will depend upon
the wife and manly conduét which thall be
adobted by them, when they are mingled
with the great boedy of the communuy.
And although the General has so trequens
ly given it as hisopinion, ia the most pub
lrc and explicit manner, that unleis the prin
ciples of the [cederal government were pro
periy supported, and the powers of itk
union encieafed,the honor,dignity & justice
of the nation,would be loft forever: yet he
caanot help repeating on this occalion,{u ins
terefting a sentiment, ana leaving i as his
Jaft injustion to every officer and every
soldier, who may view the subject in the
fame serious point of light, to acd to his
best endeavors, to thole of his worthy tel
low citizens, towards eflecting these greag
gnd valuable purpoies, on which our very
exiftance as a natton so materially depends,
The Commander in Chiel conceives
Jittle is now wanting to enable the foidier to
change the military charalter woto that of
the citizen,but that fieady &decent tenor of
behaviour, which has generally diftinguith
ed, not only the army under his immediate
command, bat the different detachments
sod feparzte-%im chrough" {hfi COU!"C of
¥ ; 3
tle war 3 from. thewr gfiod ferife Xand pru
dence he anticipated che happiest conse
quences 3 and while he congratulates theny
on the glorious occasion that renders their
services in the field no longer necessary, he
wishes to express the firopg oblgations he
feels himfelf under, for theaffiftance he has
received from every clals, and in every in
stance. He presents his thanks in the most
serious and affeftionate manner to the Ge
neral officers, as well for their counsel, on
many interfting occalions, as for their ara
dour in promoting the success of the plans
he had adopted ; to the Commandants of
regiments and corps, and (0 the other offi.
cers, for their great zeal and attention in
carrying his orders promptly into execution 5
to the Staff, for their alacrity and exaétnefs
in performing the duties of their several de
partments 3 and to the non commissioned
officers and private foidiers, for their extra.
ordinary patience in [uffering, as well as cheir
invincible fortitude 1 aftion 3 to the varis
~cus branches of the army, the General takes
this last and solemn epportunity of profef
fing his inviolable atrachment and friend
fhip— He wishes more than bare profeffions
were in his power, that he was really able
to be ufeful to them in all future life~He
flatters himfelf,however,theywill do him the
justice to believe, that whatever could with
propriety be -attempted by him, has been
‘done.~=And being now to conclude chefe his
last public orders to take his ultimate leave,
in a thort time, of the military charaéter—
and to bid final adieu to the armies he
has so long had the honor to command—=