suggested to Arnold by an English courtesan with whom he was intimate. It is true that he wrote to Col. Robinson of the British army upon the subject before he applied for the command. That letter. opened to him a correspondence with Sir Henry Clinton who sanctioned the project and probably fixed the price of the base deed. On the conclusion of these preliminaries the traitor solicited the appointment he received. He repaired to the garrison at West Point and opened an ostensible mercantile correspondence with Major Andre the British agent to consummate the nefarious plot. The names assumed were Gustavus and Anderson. For convenience of escape the British sloop of war Vulture was moved up the river at a distance not to excite suspicion. An interview was arranged for the night of September 21, 1780. Andre was landed below the garrison under a pass for John Anderson. Arnold received him at the house of a Mr. Smith within the American lines in violation of his sacred promise not to do so to avoid the penalty of a spy-showing the reckless daring of the traitor. The sun rose upon them before their plans of operation were completed. Andre remained with Arnold during the day. When ready to leave in the evening it was found the Vulture had been compelled to move too far down the river for him to reach her with a boat. He exchanged his regimentals for a plain suit-received a pass from Arnold and proceeded by land for New York. On the 23d he had proceeded so far that he felt perfectly secure when one of a militia scout suddenly seized the reins of his bridle and brought him to a stand. Instead of producing his pass he asked the man where he belonged. He answered-" below." "So do I" was the response and declared himself an English officer on urgent business and wished not to be detained. At that moment two others of the scout came up when the spy discovered his true position. He offered a purse of gold and his gold watch to let him pass. To those patriot soldiers the offer was an insult. He then offered them any amount they would name in money or dry goods, with himself as a hostage until the amount should be received. Fortunately for the cause of freedom, British gold could not purchase these honest men in humble life. They had met the tempter and had moral courage to repel all his assaults. Their virtue paralyzed the treason of the only traitor in the American army. Let their names be handed down to posterity with profound veneration. John Paulding, David Williams and Isaac Vanwert secured Andre and foiled Arnold. Williams lived respected and died regretted in my native neighborhood. Often have I heard him relate the minute circumstances of that important capture. He claimed to be the one who

first arrested the spy. These three men proceeded to examine their prisoner and found concealed in his boots an exact account of the gar rison at West Point in detail in the handwriting of Arnold. They took him to Lieut. Col. Jameson who commanded the scouting parties. Anxious to save the traitor, he persisted in the character assumed and shrewdly asked that Arnold should be informed that Anderson was taken, who would explain and make every thing satisfactory. The ruse succeeded-an express was sent to the garrison which enabled Arnold to escape on board the Vulture on the 25th of September, a few hours only before Gen. Washington reached West Point. He proceeded to Sir Henry Clinton at New York where he received $50,000 and the commission of brigadier general in the British armythe price of his base treachery. Although the foul transaction was tolerated by the English government, all honorable men in England detested the traitor and his treason. This was frequently manifested after his location in that country at the close of the Revolution. Lord Lauderdale expressed his disgust on seeing Arnold seated on the right hand of the king and exclaimed-" His majesty is supported by a traitor." Lord Surry rose to speak in the House of Commons and on perceiving the traitor in the gallery sat down and exclaimed-" I will not speak while that man is in the House." In addition to the money paid and the disgrace of associating with this vile man-the British army lost one of its brightest ornaments in the death of Maj. Andre. Contrary to his sacred pledge Arnold made him a spy by taking him within the American lines. He was tried, convicted and hung. Washington would gladly have warded off the dreadful sentence could he have found any excuse for doing so. The law demanded the sacrifice-it was made from the necessity of the case.

The news of Arnold's treason created surprise and indignation among the people of his native country. At Philadelphia his effigy was made large as life and drawn through the streets at night in a cart with a figure of the devil at his side holding a lighted lantern to his face and the inscription in large capitals-TRAITOR ARNOLD. The cart was followed by a dense crowd with martial music playing the rogue's march. The principal being absent the representative was hung and then burnt. Arnold had become so hardened by a long indulgence in improper practices that he was apparently steeled against all reflection upon the past. Soon after he commenced his murderous career in the British service, Washington remarked of him in a private letter-"I am mistaken, if, at this time Arnold is undergoing a mental hell. He wants feeling. From some traits of his character

which have lately come to my knowledge, he seems to have been so hackneyed in crime-so lost to all sense of honor and shame, that while his faculties still enable him to continue his sordid pursuits there will be no time for remorse." An ingenious, bold but unsuccessful attempt was made to abduct him from New York before the execution of the unfortunate Andre. He made a hair-breadth escape.

The baseness of Arnold's treason was increased in blackness by his subsequent conduct. He had the assurance to write to Washington the day he escaped on board the Vulture, stating that he was acting for the good of his country and requesting the commander-in-chief to protect his wife and pass her and his baggage to him. Mrs. Arnold was immediately forwarded to New York with her effects and those of her husband. Arnold professed to his new companions in arms to be radically changed to a staunch loyalist. The Declaration of Independence he declared a treasonable paper-its authors a company of ambitious rebels seeking power to enslave the people. He wrote a threatening letter to Washington relative to the execution of Andre and assured him of a fearful retaliation unless a reprieve was granted. He published an address to the people of America fully justifying his treasonable conduct. He then issued an artful tirade of insulting sophistry for the purpose of inducing others to plunge into the same quagmire of disgrace with himself-calling it a proclamation with the following caption. "To the officers and soldiers of the Continental army who have the real interests of their country at heart and who are determined no longer to be the tools and dupes of Congress or of France."

All his vile paper demonstrations deepened his infamy, increasing the boiling indignation of the American people without inducing a single one to desert the cause of his country. To do this was a part of the consideration of the Arnold purchase. Sir Henry Clinton was deceived by the traitor and egregiously mistaken in the stern integrity of the patriots. Finding his Proteus brigadier powerless over the minds of his former companions, Sir Henry deducted $100,000 from the $150,000 which was the stipulated price for West Point and the traitor and despatched him to Virginia to act upon the persons and property of the obstinate rebels. In January 1781 Arnold entered Chesapeake Bay with a protecting naval force and landed with about. 1700 men. His cruelties, ravages and plunders along the unprotected coast could not be surpassed by a band of practised pirates. Revenge seemed to be the motive power of his action. During one of his predatory excursions he captured an American captain of whom he

inquired what the Americans would do with him if he fell into their hands, to which the officer replied-" If my countrymen should catch you I believe they would first cut off that lame leg which was wounded in the cause of FREEDOM and bury it with the honors of war and afterwards hang the remainder of your body in gibbets."

After returning from Virginia he was sent on an expedition against New London where he first breathed the vital air. He landed his troops in two detachments-one on each side of the harbor. He led one against Fort Trumbull which could make but a feeble resistance. Fort Griswold made a spirited defence against the other division commanded by Lieut. Col. Eyre but was compelled to yield to an overwhelming force. When the Americans surrendered but seven men had been killed within the lines-after the surrender a murderous slaughter was commenced by the British and about 100 killed and wounded. On entering the fort an English officer inquired who commanded the garrison. Col. Ledyard presented his sword and answered-"I did-but you do now." His sword was taken by the officer and immediately plunged through his heart. In the attack the enemy had 48 killed and 145 wounded. Arnold commenced his favorite work of plunder-loaded and sent away 15 vessels mostly freighted with private property-fired the place and reduced 60 dwelling-houses and 84 stores to ashes and in his haste four of his own ships were burned. He completed this work of destruction and was absent from New York only eight days. Such expeditions afforded the richest aliment for the black heart of this traitor. He continued the scavenger of the British army to the close of the war and then removed to London where he died in 1801. To the lasting disgrace of the British government Arnold received a liberal pension to the time of his death which is continued to his descendants and is frequently complained of by the British press.

With the blackness of eternal disgrace resting upon his character this traitor has had apologists among American writers. They attri bute his treason to a want of liberality on the part of our government. I have said the want of means to give full scope to his sordid passions was the cause. A want of liberality does not appear upon the record. He was allowed more than justice demanded-more than other officers under like circumstances. He was unsound at the core-void of moral rectitude-was proved dishonest before the commissioners of accountsthe committee of Congress and the court-martial. His name should then have been erased from the roll of officers regardless of conseThat would have saved him from the treason he perpequences.

trated-the accomplished Andre from the scaffold and thousands from the ravages subsequently committed by the reckless traitor. All apologies for Arnold are sophisms. His name is stamped with a lasting infamy that blots out the noble deeds that preceded his Lucifer-fall.

JOSHUA BARNEY.

THE navy of a nation is justly termed the right arm of its strength. The life of a mariner is full of romance-often spiced with thrilling events-sometimes fraught with danger. The sons of the main are a hardy, noble, generous, bold class of men. None but those who have rode upon the green mountain waves of old ocean when lashed to a foaming fury by mighty wind, can fully appreciate the perilous service of a seaman.

The importance of increasing our navy is felt but by a few of our legislators and not urged by them. Americans are the favorite sons of Neptune. With shamefully limited means they have fought their way to the temple of fame. With a maritime force far inferior to the resources and magnitude of our prosperous and expansive country-far inferior to that of the enemy whom they met and conquered-they have snatched the laurels of victory from the mistress of the seas and placed them upon their own manly brows. Had our government been as forward in providing ships of war as our naval officers and noble tars have been in courting danger, shedding their blood and sacrificing life in defence of the star spangled banner-the combined forces of the old world would dread our power more than they now respect our flag. By an equal force our seamen cannot be conquered. History points to a long list of heroes-sons of America-who have carved their names as high on the temple of fame as Sidney and Nelson.

Among them is that of Joshua Barney-born in Baltimore, Maryland on the 6th day of July 1759. His father was a respectable farmer cultivating the soil now within the city limits. His son was sent to a common school until he was ten years of age and was then placed in a retail dry goods store at Alexandria. In 1771 he revealed to his parents his long nursed vision of a seaman's life. Reluctantly his father obtained for him a place on board a pilot boat commanded by an intimate friend. After a few months service he was apprenticed to Capt. Drisdall whose brig was bound to Ireland. rough passage the vessel reached the cove of Cork. Captain proceeded to Liverpool where he sold his

After a long and

From thence the

cargo and brig.