He at least, leaves no doubt upon the honorable conduct the French pursued at that period in North America. Warriors, administrators, engineers, diplomatic agents, all knew how to respect the interests and the rights of which they undertook the defence, they did not aspire to domineer over those whom they came to rescue; for once, alliance was only friendship, zeal, devotion, and all the arts of policy were reduced to fidelity and bravery. Benedict Arnold, born in Connecticut, of an obscure family, was among the most distinguished of the American generals, having received an education suited to the mediocrity of his condition, he embraced the profession of arms, to acquire fame and wealth. The latter desire was much more difficult to satisfy than the former, among a people, whose manners were pure, tastes simple, and whose thoughts were all directed to the public welfare. Arnold had covered himself with glory in a hazardous expedition, that is to say, in the project of surprising Quebec. From this enterprise he returned to his country with a wound, and the reputation of one of the most brave and ablest of the American officers. Afterwards he had a great share in the success of the campaign in which Burgoyne was made prisoner. He entered first into the enemy's entrenchments, when a ball broke the leg which had already been wounded at the siege of Quebec. Unfortunately his intrepidity was stimulated by the hope of rich booty, or even the most sordid gains. With this deplorable cupidity, he combined a taste for frivolous and ostentatious expenses, which induced him to practise among the Canadians, and even in Philadelphia, very shameful expedients. His luxury was even displayed in the house of William Penn, where austere virtues had already prepared American liberty. The excess of his plunders provoked complaints, the effects of which, he eluded for a long time, by dint of effrontery and intrigue. At last, however, he was called by order of congress before a court martial, which condemned him on the 20th January, 1779, to be reprimanded by the general in chief. "Our profession, said Washington to him, is the most chaste of all; the least negligence may destroy that public favour, so difficult to obtain. I reprimand you for having forgot, that in proportion as you had rendered

yourself terrible to our enemies, you ought to have been moderate towards our fellow citizens. Show us anew those fine qualities, which have placed you in the rank of our most illustrious generals: I will give you, as much as I am able, occasions to recover the esteem which you have formerly enjoyed."

Provoked by a censure at once so gentle and so merited, Arnold swore to render himself more guilty, and from a depredator he became a traitor. He ventured at first to address himself to the French ambassador, hoping to obtain in the name of a loan, a sum equal to his debts. "You desire of me," replied the Chevalier de la Luzerne, in reply to this application, "a service which it would be easy for me to render you, but which would stigmatise both of us. When the envoy of a foreign power gives, or if you will, lends money, it is common to corrupt those who receive it, and to make them creatures of the sovereign whom he serves, or rather he corrupts without persuading; he purchases and does not gain. But the union formed between the king and the United States, is the work of justice and the wisest policy; and it has for its principle, good will and reciprocal interests. My glory in the mission with which I am charged, is to fulfil it, without intrigue or cabal; without efforts of negociation; without employing any secret practices; and by the force alone of the conditions of the alliance. There is not an act of my embassy which may not be known by the whole world. Judge then, if I ought to render a mysterious service to you, who are one of the most illustrious men of the United States, and whose warlike accomplishments, if I may so speak, form a part of the public fortune. What will you offer as an equivalent for these presents, that would justify me with posterity, for having thus tarnished the immortal glory, which the independence of your country secures to the French nation, and to its wise and generous king. I will, however, satisfy your desires, if you can, in receiving my gifts, acknowledge them openly; but it is not difficult to judge that publicity is not your intention, and there remains for me only one thing to say relative to the condition of your affairs, it is this, that your friends will exert themselves to assist you, as soon as they shall be conducted with greater prudence. Attribute only to the real interest with which your brilliant deeds have inspi

to

you

red me, the austere plainness of my language; I should have been more courteous with a man, for whom I had less affection. You threaten your countrymen to retire from their service, as a punishment for their ingratitude. The ingratitude of republics, the injustice of monarchs, is the cry of the discontented and ambitious. They find, like you, that business is ill conducted, as they no longer share in it. Abstain from these complaints which always appear to be dictated by resentment. Complaints are no longer supportable, when we have ceased to have part in the government of affairs. It is necessary they should be understood when we are concerned in it. But supposing the court martial had treated you too severely; well! let the weak and cowardly complain; by your future behaviour, give cause to believe that your past conduct has been irreproachable. To withdraw, in your situation, is the worst part you could take. Do you believe it would be permitted while the public dangers exist? And if you had the right of retiring, do you know all that is necessary to render retirement supportable, to one whose whole life has been spent in public employments? It is necessary to carry with us the conviction, that we have done, in the situations we have filled, all the good in our power; and that we have never, designedly, committed error. Is it you who can say with a thorough assurance, that in the course of your duties, you have always made the public advantage your only object? You are young, and if I may so speak, your career has just commenced. Where are your resources to live thus separated from men, when age itself has so few of them. A mind more free than yours, is necessary to learn the success of your rivals without chagrin, and on account of the public interests, sincerely to applaud the good they do without you. The republic is in its cradle, and you will see it increase in power and prosperity, with the mortification of not contributing to its happiness, and of not raising yourself with it. Preserve your ambition, since at your age, and with your qualities, it may conduct you to great things; but let it be regulated by a sense of duty.”

We have not hesitated to transcribe a great part of this letter, because it appears to us worthy of being compared with

pieces of the same kind which are met with in the ancient historians. The ideas and sentiments of the minister, have modern colours; they are more simple, and less dramatic, but quite as noble, almost as lively, perhaps more frank and delicate. Ne. vertheless, Arnold rejected this prudent advice; the disorder of his affairs and of his habits, dragged him into crime; and the wife whom he chose out of a family devoted to the interests of England, completely broke the last ties by which he might still be bound to the cause of independence. Above all, he gave free scope to his resentments against Washington, whom the disaffected were pleased to represent as a general of middling capacity. "It is very true," says our author," that this great man is not illustrious by any of those deeds which appears prodigious, and of which the extraordinary brilliancy astonishes the universe, but of sublime virtues that no attempt can tarnish, are also a kind of prodigy." About this time, Arnold received the first written proposal, which was addressed to him from New York, by an agent of sir Henry Clinton, to engage him to change his party. Praises and promises was lavished in a manner which could seduce no one but a man who was already blinded by his own passions. Resolved to have no confidents among his fellow citizens, he imparted his perfidious designs to his wife alone, who had so much contributed to inspire him with them. He studied to conceal them, under appearances of patriotism, and affected to have forgotten the sentence of the court-martial. The intermediate agent between Clinton and him, was Charles Beverly Robinson, who, though an American by birth, served as a colonel in the English army.

Congress had just been informed of the near arrival of the French army, commanded by count Rochambeau, and this secret, ill kept by some members of that assembly, had reached the ears of Arnold. For the purpose of knowing the plan of the campaign, he paid a visit to the French ambassador, which he had neglected to do since the correspondence of which we have spoken, and his questions were so dexterous, that Luzerne could only elude them in part. It was instructing Arnold too much to tell him that a conference would take place between Washington and Rochambeau, that commissioners on the part of

France, would arrive before the army, and that the squadron 'would sail in a few weeks after their departure. Arnold understood that the country bordering on the Hudson, would be the principal theatre of the war, that it was of importance to the English to make themselves masters of the course of that river, and that he could not serve them better, than by getting an appointment at West Point, where a chain barred the Hudson. He obstinately refused more brilliant situations, and solicited this with so much perseverance, that he obtained it.

The English, of whom he demanded before hand, the price of his treason, thought proper to confine themselves to promises. He was to receive thirty thousand pounds sterling, and to preserve in the English army, his rank of brigadier general. On his side, he promised to deliver West Point, and sir Henry Clinton, pressed him to fulfil that engagement, on the 10th of July 1780. But Arnold wished to wait till the departure of general Washington, who was to go very soon to meet count Rochambeau at Hartford in Connecticut.

"Our master leaves his quarters on the 17th September," he wrote to John André, a young aid-de-camp to general Clinton. A correspondence was established between André and Arnold, under fictitious names, and veiled by pretended commercial transactions, they employed an American as their messenger, who lived between the lines which separated the two armies.

Washington not having set out on the 17th, nor either of the three following days, Arnold demanded, as an indispensable preliminary, a conference with André. They met on the bank of the river, Arnold put into the hands of André, plans of routes, of forts, of the condition of the garrison, memoirs of engineers, &c.. and it was agreed that the enterprise on West Point should be executed on the 25th or 26th.

A canoe was to reconduct André on board: an English sloop of war had brought him five miles below West Point, but an American fort firing on the vessel had forced her to drop some miles lower. This change of station alarmed the master and rowers of the canoe; they refused to carry André, who in quitting his English uniform, ran the risk of returning by land, furnished with a passport from Arnold. He had reached Tarry