To those hardy soldiers who are actuated by the spirit of adventure, the fisheries will afford ample and profitable employment; and the extensive and fertile regions of the West will yield a most happy asylum to those who, fond of domestic enjoyment, are seeking personal independence. Little is now wanting to enable the soldier to change the military character into that of a citizen but that steady and decent behavior which has distinguished not only the army under this immediate command, but the different detachments and separate armies through the course of the war. To the various branches of the army the General takes this last and solemn opportunity of professing his inviolable attachment and friendship. He can only again offer in their behalf his recommendations to their grateful country and his prayers to the God of armies. May ample justice be done them here, and may favors, both here and hereafter, attend those who, under the divine auspices, have secured innumerable blessings for others! With these wishes and this benediction the commander-in-chief is about to retire from service. The curtain of separation will soon be drawn, and the military scene to him will be closed forever! WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS (_To the People of the United States--September 17, 1796_) Friends and Fellow-Citizens: The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive Government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made.... [Illustration: Statue of Washington at West Point Presented to the United States Military Academy by a Veteran of the Civil War Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.]