Miscellany: Major Andre

Mrs. Child recently made a visit Irom the city )f New York to the sienes of the unhnppy Maj. ndre's arrest and exeouiion. Wc are obliged 0 abridge her glowiñg narra.live; but what renains will tleeply interest our readers, both o!d ind young; at the sny timo thcy mny be oppressie with the recollectionsoi thu sad story. - Cov. Jovrnal. "We stopped at Picrpont, on the widest part af Ta.ipan B;iy, where the Uudson exrcnds iteelf'to the width ol thrce milos. Ont heopposite sido, in full view fiom the hotel, is Tarrytmvn, where poor Andre was captured. Tradition says that a very largo whitewood tree, under wliich he was taken, was siruck by lighlning on the very diy that the news of Andre's dcaih was reccivcd at Turrytown. As I sal gazing on the ipposite woods, duik in t!ie shadows of moonLight, I thought upon how very si{lit a crcumstance ofton depends the fato of individuals, and the desttny of nations. n the autiunn of 1780, a farmer rhanced to be making eider al a mili on the east bank of the Hudson, near that part of ilaverstraw Bnycalled 'Mother's Lap.' Two young men, carrying muskets, as usual in those troubled times, stopped for a draught of sweet eider, and seated thcmselves on a log to wail for it, The farmer found them looking very intently upon some distant object, and inquired what iTvéy saw. 'Hüsh! hushl' they replied; 'the red coais are vonder, just within the Lap,' pointing to an English gun-bont. with iwentyfourmen, lyingon thcir oars. Bchind theshelier of a rock they fired into tho boat and killed two persons. The British rcturned a random ehot; but. ignorant of the number of their opponents, and secing that it was useless to waste anmiuniiion on n liidden foe, they rottirned. whence they camc, with all possible speed. This boat had been sent to convey Major Andre to the British aloop-of-war Vulture, then lying ut Anchor off 'Teller's Point. Sliortly aftur, Andre arrived, and, (inding the boat gone, he, in attcinpting to firoceed through the interior, was captured. - Had nut those men stopped to drink sweet eider, it is probable that Andre would not have been 2iung; the American rcvolution would have tcrminaled in quito diíTei-cnt fashion; men riöw deiiied as héroes would hnve been handcd dovn to postcrity as traitors; and our citizens would be proud of claiming dcscetit from tories. "A very pleasan't ride at sunset brought us to Orangctown, to the Ione field where Major Andre was executed. Jt is planted with potaloes, but the plough spares the spot whicli was once liis gallows and his grave. A rudehenpof Btonos. with the remains of a dead fir tree and a stone were covercd with names. It is on an eniinencc commanding a view ot tho country for miles. - 1 gazed on the surrounding woods,and reiría -ui tcd that on this 6c)f same spot tho beautiful and accomplished young man wnlked hack and forth, a few minutes preccding his oxocution, taking■ min UB IIlIBKnvimOTn m earne8t farewell look of eartli and sky. My b ïeart was snd vviihin me. T "A few years ago the duke of York requested g he British consul to send the remains of Major f ndre to Englrind. At that time two thriving r ïrs were found near the grave, and a peadi tree, c ,vhich a lady in the neighborhood had planted n .here, in the kindness of her heart. The j 3rs, who carne to witness the interesting ceremo t ïy, genernlly evinced the most vespectful e derness for the memory of the unfortunate dead, h and many of the women and children wept. c A few loafers, educated by militia training and c fourth of Jnly declaration, began to murmur 1 that the memory of General Washington was f insulted by any respect shown to the remaius of t Andre; but the offer of a treat lured thern to the i tavern, wberc they soon bccarne too drunk to t guard the character of Washington. It was a ] bcautiful day; and these disturbiug spirits being i removed, the impressive ccremony moved in solemn silence. The coffia was in a good vation, and contained all the bones with a small ] quantity of dust. The roots of the peach tree 1 had entirely interwoven the skull wiih tho fine 1 net work ol its roots. llis hajr, so much i ed for its uncornrnon beauty, was lied on the day of his execution, according to the faahiqp of i the times. When his grave was opened, half a century afterward, the ribbon was found in i fect preservation, and sent to his sister in land. When it was known that the sarcophagus ] contnining his remains had arrivèd in New York, i on its wny tg Londun, many ladicssent garlands i and eatic devices, tomblembe wreathcd aiound it, in memory of the 'beloved and lamented Andre. In their compassionale hearts the i cachi ngs of nature vvcre unperverted by maxims of war. or that sclñsh jealousy which dignitios itself with the name ol patriotism. "At thefoot of the eminencc, wherc the gallows had been brected we found an old Dutch farm IiousCj oceupied by a man who witnessed the execution, and whose faiher often sold peaches to the unhappy prisoner. He confirmed the accounts of Andre's uncommon personal beauty, and had a vivid remembrance of the pale but calin lieroism witli which he met his untimely death. Every thing abouthis dwelling was antiquated. - Two pmn picures oi Geo. UI. and lus homely queen taken at the period when we owed allegiance to them.as 'ihegovernmcntordained of God,' iniirked )lainly the progresa of nrt since that period; fur the portraits of Victoria, on ourcotton spools, are graceful 'm compaiison. An ancient clock, which h;is tickeel uninierrupted good time on the same ground for more than a hundred years, stood in one corner of the little parlor. - II was bróught from the East Indies by an old Dutch captain, great grandfather to the present owner. In those nations where opinions are trunsmitlcd unclianged, the outward forms and symbols of thouglit remain so likewise. The giíded figures, which entirely cover the body of tliis uld ciock, are precisely the same, in perspective. outline, and expression, as East India figures of the present diy. ''Not far from the church is a small sione building used as a tavern. Here they showed tho ideötioal room where Andre was imprisoncd. With the exception of a new plastering. it remains the same as then. It is long, low, and narrow; and, being without furniture or fire place, itstillhad rather a jail-like look. I was sorry for the new plastering; for I hoped to iind some record of prison thoughts cut in the walls. Two doves were cuddled together on a bench in one corner, and looked in somewant melnncholy mood. These mutes were all alone in that silent apartment where Andre shed bitter tears over the miniature of his beloved. Alas, for mated human hearts! This world is too often for them a prilgiimnge of, sorrow. 'The nnniatiire which Ar.dre made such strong elForts to preserve, when every (hing elsc was taken from lum, and which he cnrried next to his heart till the last fatal moment, is generally puppJééd to h;ue heen a likeness of the be&utiiul, yracefiri, and hihly gifted Honoin Sneyd, who married Richard Lovt-1 Edgeworth, and ihus becanie the rncther-in-law to the celcbrated Ma ia Edgeworth."