"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."

After advancing to the chair, and delivering his commission to the
President, he returned to his place, and received standing, the
answer of Congress which was delivered by the President. In the
course of his remarks, General Mifflin said:

"Having defended the standard of liberty in this new world: having
taught a new 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."[1]

[Footnote 1: Marshall, IV, 563.]

The meeting then broke up, and Washington departed. He went that same
afternoon to Virginia and reached Mount Vernon in the evening. We can
imagine with what satisfaction and gratitude he, to whom home was the
dearest place in the world, returned to the home he had seen only once
by chance since the beginning of the Revolution, eight years before.
Probably few of those who had risen to the highest station in their
country said, and felt more honestly, that they were grateful at being
allowed by Fate to retire from office, than did Washington. To be
relieved of responsibility, free from the hourly spur, day and night,
of planning and carrying out, of trying to find food for starving