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 the country, because he feared heavy responsibility,
but solely because, as a high-minded and patriotic man, he did not
believe in meeting the situation in that way. He was, moreover, entirely
devoid of personal ambition, and had no vulgar longing for personal
power. After resigning his commission he returned quietly to Mount
Vernon, but he did not hold himself aloof from public affairs. On the
contrary, he watched their course with the utmost anxiety. He saw the
feeble Confederation breaking to pieces, and he soon realized that that
form of government was an utter failure. In a time when no American
statesman except Hamilton had yet freed himself from the local feelings
of the colonial days, Washington was thoroughly national in all his
views. Out of the thirteen jarring colonies he meant that a nation
should come, and he saw--what no one else saw--the destiny of the
country to the westward. He wished a nation founded which should cross
the Alleghanies, and, holding the mouths of the Mississippi, take
possession of all that vast and then unknown region. For these reasons
he stood at the head of the national movement, and to him all men turned
who desired a better union and sought to bring order out of chaos. With
him Hamilton and Madison consulted in the preliminary stages which
were to lead to the formation of a new system. It was his vast personal
influence which made that movement a success, and when the convention
to form a constitution met at Philadelphia, he presided over its
deliberations, and it was his commanding will which, more than anything
else, brought a constitution through difficulties and conflictin