General Bloomfield from the committee appointed to examine the records of the General Society reported as follows:
On inspecting the documents in the possession of the Secretary General, they do not find that any additional communications have been made from the several state societies, since the circular letter from the general meeting in 1796, on the subject of the proposed alteration above referred to.
From the silence which the state societies have observed, after the pressing circular letters of the general meeting, your Committee are led to conclude, that they do not acceed to the proposed reform, and your Committee conceive therefrom that they are authorized to report to the general meeting.
That the institution of the Society of the Cincinnati, remains as it was originally proposed and adopted by the officers of the American army at their Cantonments on the banks of the Hudson River in 1783.
General Beatty, General Doughty, Captain Shute, Captain Phillips, Major Shute, Major Kinney, Major Ballard.
General J. Dayton, General Bloomfield, General Doughty, General Beatty and Colonel Ogden.
Whereas, George Montgomery Ogden, eldest son of the late General Matthias Ogden, and George Clinton Barber, eldest son of the late Col. Francis Barber, are now attending and request to be admitted to membership with this Society, and it being made to appear to the Society that the said applicants are of mature age and of good characters. They were received in right of their respective fathers.
The Standing Committee have examined the accounts of the Treasurer and find the sum of $5,373.46 of six per cent, stock: and the sum of ^2.i~;^.;^7 of the deferred debt of the United States ; and the sum of $9.98 of three per cent; and $300 of the eight per cent, stock and also, the sum of $76.83 in cash, which is the balance of cash now in his hands.
He has received, since the last meeting, of Lieut. Mahlon Ford in lieu of his deposit of one month’s pay, $36.50; and for one year’s interest and dividend on the funds of the Society, $432.61. He has expended as follows: To the delegates who attended the General Society in Philadelphia in May, 1799, $84: the expenses of the Society at Joseph Lyon’s in Elizabeth Town, $145.50, and for the purchase of $300 of eight per cent, stock, $318, which leaves the above balance of $76.83 in the hands of the Treasurer.
The Society requested the Treasurer to make such exchange of the whole or any part of the funds of the Society for such other stock as to him might seem productive of a greater revenue.
Resolved, that the President express to General Giles the thanks of this Society for his excellent oration and that he be requested to deposit a copy of the same among the archives of this Society.
The President laid before the Society the proceedings of the General Meeting of May, 1799, and of the adjourned general meeting of May, 1800, which being read.
Ordered, That the same be entered at large on the minutes of this Society.
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It was moved by Mr. Bingham and seconded by General Bloomfield,
That a respectful testimonial to the memory of General Washington be entered on the records of the General Society of the Cincinnati which was unanimously agreed to — and
Mr. Bingham, Major Pinckney and Genl. Dayton were appointed a committee to prepare and report the same.
Mr. Bingham from the committee appointed for that purpose, reported the following testimonial of respect to the memory of General Washington, which was twice read, unanimously agreed to, and ordered to be entered on the records of the Society as the first act of the present general meeting after its organization.
Under the most profound impression of veneration and aft’ection, the Society of the Cincinnati, at a general meeting, are called upon to express the mournful tribute of their sorrow, at that awful dispensation of Providence, which has recently removed from their councils, their much revered and lamented President General.
The arduous, tho’ successful struggle which terminated in establishing the liberties of our country, and in which they fought under his banners, and shared with him the dangers and toils of the field, attached him to the Society by ties of the most intimate and endearing nature. His valor and prudence seemed to control the events of war, led the American armies to victory, and achieved the independence of their country. Whilst mingling their tears with those of their fellow citizens, they are naturally impelled to pour out the effusions of a deeper regret, for the irreparable loss which they have sustained.
But it is not only in their relationship to this illustrious character, as soldiers, that the Society of the Cincinnati have cause to deplore his loss.
When the storm of war had ceased to rage, and the blessings of peace had been restored, their country was suffering under the weakness of a confederation, which threatened the existence of that Union, which their joint efforts in arms had so essentially contributed to establish.
With his auspicious co-operation, a Constitution was formed, calculated by its wisdom and energy to redeem us from that prostrate state, to which we had been reduced, and to restore that representation which our country had lost, from the imbecility of the old system. The administration of the government was committed to his care, and his country will ever hold in grateful remembrance the inflexible virtue and fortitude, with which he conducted its affairs and saved from the effects of domestic faction and foreign intrigue.
After a second retirement from the active scenes of public life in which his merits as a Statesman, rivalled his fame as a soldier ; his country at the approach of danger, again required his services. The crisis was important and the situation delicate; a nation which had mingled its blood with ours in the defence of our liberties, had now assumed a hostile appearance. A war from this unexpected quarter threatened the peace of our country.
Washington, who never hesitated when urged by a sense of duty, obeyed the call of the government. He again abandoned his beloved retirement, hazarded a reputation, consummate in every point of view, and assumed the command of the armies. His military companions who had frequently witnessed the magnanimity of his conduct in seasons of adversity as well as of triumph, felt the full force of their country’s appeal to arms, whilst Washington was their leader.
In this momentous crisis of our affairs, by the inscrutable decrees of Heaven, he was snatched from America and the world.
Under this pressure of calamity, which more peculiarly operates upon the sensibilities of this Society, their only consolation is derived from the animating reflection, that although he is summoned to the enjoyment of the happy destinies of a future state, the bright example of his virtues and talents will still survive, and the inheritance of his name, prove a future incentive to heroes and legislators who will strive to emulate his fame, and merit the glory he has acquired.
Major Shute solicited the Standing Committee to order a diploma for him as he never received one. The Standing Committee reported in favor of the above solicitation.