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' msamsmm llpllMtl ( vwm j v - y )rdet-ofthe W$ lincinnati Dy ELMO SCOTT WATSON """Vr WAS just lfK) years ago that the cur-r cur-r tain was rung down on the last act of J the mighty drama known as the Amer- lean Revolution and, appropriately enough, the stage setting for this act p was along the Hudson river, which L had been the scene of so many impor- j tant events during that struggle. More Us! particularly the locale was the town of New-burgh, N. T. mJ It was here that Washington and his nental army, after the victory over Corn-s Corn-s at Yorktown, had settled down on their ; camp ground of the war. In the Hasbrouck Ion, a small, sloping-roofed stone farm-Washington farm-Washington had established his head-" head-" ' cry and here were living with him Martha Jfciingtou and members of his military fami-!I"-'ei'S who had followed his fortunes falth-'jS falth-'jS during the war Col. Tench Tllghman, Col. A Humphries, Maj. Benjamin Walker, Col. St&m Stevens Smith, Hedijah Baylies and ;)mn Trumbull, Jr., son of the famous Jier Jonathan" Trumbull, governor of Con- ,mh camp of the soldiers was pitched In a 'r "'circle extending from four miles southwest ief "nvhurgh to the village of New Windsor on 'vest hank of the Hudson, now a suburb 80 'Wburgh. On the summit of a high, tree-n tree-n the 111 overlooking the valley had been erected 'oel oblong wooden building, known as the . ,e or the New Public building which was for holding religious services for the Con- als. ,. April 19, 1783 (the anniversary of the Bat-AXi Bat-AXi Lexington), a courier rode hastily through :reets of Newburgh and drew up before the TOwrouck mansion. The burden of his des- ,es was the proclamation of congress for ssntion of hostilities. At noon of the same -he proclamation was read to the officers i army who were assembled In the Temple 5 jmt purpose and in the evening It was read , ery regiment In the array. Although the ig of the treaty of peace was still several is In the future (It was not signed until niber 3, 17S3) the . American Revolution ut an end. v began the work of demobilization and -tncers prepared to take leave of each perhaps forever, It occurred to Gen. Hen-iox, Hen-iox, commander at West Point, to whom Meen given the delicate task of dlsbnnd-sio dlsbnnd-sio army, that there should be some way ipetuntlng the ties that had bound them 1 icr during the dark days of, their struggle ibeity. Then, too, there was the Idea of K tribute to their fellow officers who had , -helr lives In the struggle and of finding J method of support for the widows and ins of the dead heroes. , 'i proposal of Knox to found a patriotic " Memorial society met with the Instant np-1 np-1 of the other officers of the army and It had "the acquiescence and hearty appro- Heni-Lj ' Knox bility," set themselves and their posterity aparV from their fellow citizens of the Republic In an exclusive order Invested with all the privileges and Insignia of aristocracy. Probably the most Influential enemy of the new order was Samuel Adams, the "father of the Revolution." While his views were statesmanlike, states-manlike, they were severe. No man, he said, was more ready to remember gratefully and reward re-ward the services of the army In the great struggle, strug-gle, but it was astounding that any set of men should imagine that a people who had freely spent blood and treasure in support of equal rights should, the moment the struggle was over, be "reconciled to the odious hereditary distinction distinc-tion of families." He looked upon the Society of the Cincinnati "as a stride toward a hereditary heredi-tary military nobility as rapid as ever was made in so short a time, and he could not but lament, as a grievous misfortune to the states, that so illustrious a man as Washington sanctioned it." John Adams added his voice to the general clamor against the Cincinnati. The legislators of Massachusetts, Inspired by resolutions from Cambridge, Cam-bridge, the university center, denounced the society so-ciety as "dangerous to the peace, liberty and safety of the Union." A flood of pamphleteers joined the chorus of condemnation. One of these, Aedanus Burke, a Revolutionary veteran and a judge of the Supreme Court of South Carolina, wrote a bitter pamphlet over the signature of "Cassius" denouncing the aristocratic aris-tocratic tendencies of the society, which put the capsheaf on the condemnatory movement. The pamphlet was reprinted in every state and found its way across tte Atlantic. A copy fell Into the hands of Mirabeais, -who translated It Into French and published it In England. Washington tried to stem the tide of opposition opposi-tion to the child of his sponsorship by advocating advocat-ing the repeal of the provision making the memberships mem-berships hereditary. But It was too late. Public Pub-lic suspicion had been aroused and the patriots of the "rank and file" had placed their taboo on the order. In default of males and then by collaterals If judged acceptable by the society. Individuals distinguished dis-tinguished for their patriotism were to be admitted ad-mitted as honorary members for life and the state branches were always to meet on the Fourth of July, while the general society was to meet every third year on the anniversary of its founding, May 13, 1783. It was agreed at the first meeting that in order or-der to secure the fund for the desired relief of the widows and orphans that all the officers should contribute a full month's salary, as soon as congress appropriated an equal amount. This would make a very considerable pension fund, the Interest on which alone was to be expended. Strange as it may seem, the organization of this patriotic and fraternal organization soon became the object of bitter denunciation by a large number of citizens of the new nation. The first mistake on the part of Its founders had been in limiting the membership to officers, both native and foreign. Unlike the G. A. R., which followed the Civil war, and the American Legion, Le-gion, which followed the World war, the Society of the Cincinnati did not include In Its membership member-ship the common soldier. Then the memberships were made hereditary, to pass down to posterity by the rule of primogeniture, prim-ogeniture, and In this provision the patriots detected a move toward the perpetuation of a "military aristocracy." And then, to cap the climax, there was the golden "decoration" which went with a membership. Were not such decorations deco-rations of the very essence of the Old world feudal feu-dal aristocracy? 1 of Washington. A meeting to organize v n society was held at Vorplanck house, the ? narters of Baron von Steuben near Flsh-vltli Flsh-vltli that doughty German soldier presld-ml presld-ml Knox serving as secretary-general, -jc? name chosen for the organization was Vlety of the Cincinnati and the selection .er "Ut name Is easily explained. The colo-y colo-y vifwere mostly agriculturists and many of had boon educated In England where Roman JS was ever the Inspiration of the scholar. e name of Society of the Cincinnati was Qprhite for them because they, like the 1 Hiatus of Roman legend, had left the plow i(Mr country's service and like him, now heir survlce was over, were returning to low again. v j order, or medal, of the society was also Roping with this Idea. It Is a baldheaded suspended on a blue ribbon with white ;rs. typifying the union of France and Amer-: Amer-: Jn the eagle's breast Is shown Cincinnatus ,lng a sword and Insignia from the Roman 5 and In the background Is his home, his ;: and his plow. Around this scene are dls- 1 the words "Omnia relinquit servare rem-. rem-. Vnn" lie loft ail to serve the republic. On VNorse of the order is Fame crowning Cin-, Cin-, lus with a wreath, Inscribed "Virtulis lilum" the reward of valor. In the back-id back-id Is a seaport city with open gates and j entering the harbor and below this are ?- :! hands supporting a heart Inscribed "F.sto Itua" r.e thou Faithful, the command of icloty. The design for this modal was the , of Major L'Enfant, destined for future 11 s tho man who was to plan the new Capi-'r Capi-'r the Nation, Washington, D. O. .-W membership of the society was composed --iictrs of the Continental army, native or ', " wl' had served three years or been bly discharged and to their direct male ml itits by order of bUtb, through females ,rk.; ate" So, In spite of the fact that the great "Father of Our Country" vouched for the patriotic spirit of the new society and honored It by becoming Its first president, the tribunes of the people raged against It and declaimed against it as an Insidious Influence, to such an extent that the time came when It was as much as a man's political life was worth to appear In public with the Insignia of the Cincinnati pinned to his bosom. France, Just swinging Into its bloody revolutionary . period, took a hand In the fight and even the great MIrabeau thundered against the Cincinnati and warned the young Republic against its dangerous tendencies. The young Republic was quite willing to believe him. It was not only the tavern orators and the political pamphleteers that pitched into it, not merely the rabid republican followers of Jefferson who viewed It as a dangerous menace to the Republic's new institutions some of the most conservative statesmen and publicists of the time raised their voices and emplojed their pens against It. Jefferson was publicly hostile to It. Benjamin Franklin, then representing the republic at the court of France, wrote home ridiculing the purposes pur-poses of the society as an attempt to form an order of "hereditary knighthood." He expressed the wonder that any set of American gentlemen should, In the face of the provisions of the Articles of Confederation against "ranks of no- One of the most Interesting results of the feeling against the Cincinnati was the founding of Tammany Hall, a counter movement in New York, nucleating In a society organized on the alleged basis of "pure democracy." So unpopular unpopu-lar did the Cincinnati become that candidates for public office curried favor iy denouncing "the aristocrats" from the stamp and Instances are related whore men publicly divested themselves them-selves of the eagle and the ribbon at the polls, vowing that they had severed their connection with the society. Rhode Island went tc the length of disfranchising all members of the hated organization or-ganization nnd one by one the state societies In Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, Connecticut and New Hampshire abandoned their charters and the once propitious Society of the Cincinnati was in a fair way to oblivion. The visit of Lafayette, In 1S2-I, revived a temporary Interest In It, but It was many years before popular apprehension had become so appeased ap-peased that It was safe for a man who asked preferment at the hands of the American public pub-lic to profess that he was a member of the honorable hon-orable Society of the CInc'matI, America's first association of war veterans. (i by Western Newspaper Union.) |