CENTRE HALL, PA.
Major John. Andre
By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
N JUNE 11, 1760, Edward Shippen, a
prominent attorney and judge of the
vice-admiralty court of Philadelphia,
sat him down at his desk and to his
father wrote a letter in which oe-
curs this significant sentence: “My
Peggy this morning made me a pres.
ent of a fine Baby, which tho’ of the
Y V worst Sex, is yet heartily welcome.”
Could Judge Shippen hate looked
into the future one wonders if he
A might not have struck out those
words “is yet heartily welcome,” for. according
to some histerians, this “fine aby” was des-
tined to prove herself, in the Judge's strangely
prophetic words, “of the worst Sex” ndeed and
it Is not unlikely that there came times when
the judge wished she had never been born,
For this baby, who was given her mother's
name of Margaret, was to become one of the
most glamorous figures In American history, was
to be a belle of colonial days, the toast of both
British and Continental officers during the Revo-
lution, the young wife of a distinguished Ameri-
can general and a participant in the chaln of
events which was to blacken his name with in-
famy among his countrymen for all time and to
besmirch her name as well,
Was Peggy Shippen Arnold an innocent victim
of the treason of her husband, Benedict Arnold,
or was she the arch-conspirator who used her
wiles to lead him into the mire of that unforgiv-
able crime? Did she really love him for himself
and prove her devotion to him by voluntarily
sharing his disgrace and exile from his native
land, or did she marry him while she was in love
with another man and because of her infatuation
aid that other man in carrying forward the plot
which was to ruin the man whose name she bore?
Those are the questions that have been brought
up by research into documents of the Revelu-
tionary war period which have recently become
available to the historians and it seems impos
sible to give conclusive answers because the his.
torians themselves do not agree, The traditional
view of Peggy Shippen Arnold is that she was
an innocent victim.
A recent blographer of Arnold, Charles Coles
nan Sellers, In his “Benedict Arnold, the Proud
Warrior,” declares: “1 know of no evidence suf-
ficient to implicate Peggy Shippen Arnold In the
Arnold treason plot. 1 do not attach any impor.
tance to her correspondence with Major Andre,
for she was writing to other British friends also.
Her letters to Andre seem harmless. It is true
she was under suspicion after the plot was ex-
posed and had to leave Philadelphia. [ think it
is rather far-fetched, though, to accuse her of be.
ing a traitor.”
Just as positive on the other side Is E. Irvine
Haines, author of two articles on this subject In
the New York Times Magazine last year. He
says “A careful study of evitlence heretofore un-
known or overlooked leads to the conviction that
she was not only guilty but, even more than her
husband, one of the arch-conspirators, Recent
discoveries in the private correspondence of Sir
Henry Clinton, In an almost unknown diary of
Aaron Burr, and in Peggy's own letters, some of
them addressed in code to Major Andre himself
furnish testimony too damning for Peggy to con
trovert were she alive and on trial
“If we reread the story of the Revolution's
greatest personal tragedy in the light of what
we know now, It becomes a drama of ambitious
femininity unique in American annals, It was
not the game-legged, hot-tempered, disgruntled
hero of Quebec and Saratoga who was the real
mover in the plot on the Continental side, but
the ambitious Tory girl, the spy and tool of Clin.
ton, who schemed so cleverly that she deceived
such astute politicians as John Hancock, John
Adams, Alexander Hamilton and even Washing.
ton himself. It was Clinton acting on the sug-
gestion of Lord George Germain, the British
colonial secretary, who conceived the conspir-
ney, but it was Peggy Shippen, with a skill and
effrontery amazing in one so young, who carried
it out.”
A more moderate view-—one which takes a
somewhat middle ground between these two ex-
tremes—Iis that of Randolph G. Adams, custodian
of the Willlam L. Clements library of American
History at the University of Michigan, which ace
quired the military papers of Sir Henry Clinton
a few years ago. From these papers Mr. Adams
nold's treason and he says: “Historians have
usually acquitted Peggy Shippen of any come
plicity in her husband's treason, but the Clinton
papers give many indications of another story,
Jt ta difficult now to avoid the conclusion that
Mrs. Arnold certainly handled some of the sept
dispatches, and that the same sples who earried
the dispatches were also used to earry personal
messages to Andre and the other British officers
she had known In Philadelphia”
In telling the story of the tragedy of Peggy
Shippen Arnold one only has available a few
—a very few, albelt-—known facts over which
there can be no dispute and a larger number of
other facts which are eapabie uf different Inter.
pretations depending upon the writer's point of
ylew towards the different actors in the drama
D Sn Lz,
ES BLE
\ ; §
\ TE ie
Sketch of Peqqy Shippen
by Major Andre PP
of Arnold's treason. We know the date of her
birth, something of her activities as a belle of
Philadelphia society immediately before and dur-
ing the early years of the Revolution, the date
of her marriage to Arnold, something of her
career as his wife in this country and while
sharing his exile in England and the date of her
death. But as to her motives, her real character
and the actual part she played In the conspiracy
of her husband to betray his country the covi-
dence is extremely contradictory.
Haines makes out an exceedingly strong case
against ber as the arch-conspirator, the villain-
ess of the plece. Briefly, his story is this: As the
daughter of a prominent colonial family, strong-
ly Tory in its sympathies, Peggy Shippen has
been reared In an atmosphere of luxury, had
been taught to admire the British military caste,
had dreamed of marrying into that caste and of
becoming a great lady In the courts of Eurupe,
She first met John Andre, then a leutenant in
the Royal English Fusiliers, in 1774 when Sir
Guy Carleton, governor-general of Canada, sent
him to Philadelphia as a secret agent, going un-
der the name of John Anderson, to spy on the
First Continental Congress then In session in the
Pennsylvania capital. She was then only four
teen years old but already possessed of great
beauty, and Andre, himself only twenty-four
years old, fell in love with her and she with him,
After he left Philadelphia she corresponded
with him but she did not see him again until
1777 when she visited in New York city, where
he was now a captain on the staff of Sir Henry
Clinton, the British commander's protege and his
secret agent as he had been for Sir Guy Carleton,
Their love affair progressed and returning to
Philadelphia, which was at this time held by the
Continental forces, she continued her correspond.
ence with Andre,
Then Washington lost the battles of Brandy.
wine and Germantown and the British took pos-
session of Philadelphia, bringing Peggy and An.
dre together again, She helped him organize the
series of pageants, called the “Mischianza” give
en by the British officers on the eve of the de.
parture of General Howe, British commander in
Philadelphia, for England and she was chosen,
as the most beautiful girl in Philadelphia, to pre-
side over them ns queen.
But In June, 1778, the British evacuated Phila.
delphia and Andre and Peggy were separat-
ed once more, In the meantime the British
ministry, realizing that the rebellious colonies
could not be defeated by force, resorted to
treachery to accomplish its ends, It was the idea
of Lord Germain, British secretary of war, that
some of the American leaders could be bought
4 and Clinton fell in with the scheme.
But the British plan to seduce American lead
ers was getting nowhere until June, 1778, when
the Continental forces again occupied Philadel
phin and Gen. Benedict Arnold was made mill
tary governor of the city. Then, says Haines:
“Hy this time Peggy Shippen was deep in the
Tory conspiracy, At least three times during the
winter of 1777.78 she had carried important let.
ters from sples in Philadelphia to British agents
In New York. Galloway and Germain determined
to use her to break down Arnold, A patriot by
early conviction, Arnold soon was led to favor
Peggy's faunily snd their Tory friends. A men
originally of simple tastes, he was lured into ¢x-
travagance by the pace set by the Shippen en
tertainments, A widower, twenty years older
than Peggy, he was flattered by her apparent
preference for him, , . .
“In April, 1779, Arnold and Peggy were mar
ried. That she could have preferred this lame,
middle-aged Continental general to Andre is not
conceivable, There is evidence that It was Andre,
pot Arnold, whom she loved, and that she pres
"Benedict
rnold
ently wished to escape from the web which she
herself had: helped to spin, Her family and rela.
tions brought tremendous pressure to bear upon |
ber, as their letters show. Elizabeth Tilghman, |
writing to Peggy's sister, Elizabeth, says that |
‘poor Peggy was Burgoyned' into marrying Ar
nold.
“In April, 1779 (the very month and year In
which the unhappy marriage took place) Sir
Henry Clinton was sure for the first time that
Arnold had become so deeply enmeshed in the
net of intrigue that the conspirators had woven
about him that the great climax of the conspir
acy was at hand.”
Arnold, Influenced by his wife (according to |
some historians), sought and, after belng re.
fused once, obtained command st West Point, !
the key to the whole Continental defense sys
tem. He corresponded In code with both Andre
and Clinton. His wife also continued to write
to Andre and to receive letters from him
Haines declares that the “millinery letters”
which passed between Peggy and Andre, having
to do with the purchase of various articles of
clothing, were code messages relating to the
plans for handing West Point over to the Brit
ish. Randolph Adams, from his researches
among the Clinton papers in the University of |
Michigan library, says of this:
“A son had been born to Arnold and Peggy
Bhippen just before the treason. We have actual
evidence of her desire to buy baby's clothing in
New York, for there were no shops In West Point
like those In lower Manhattan, [ler list of de
mands for ‘pink ribbon’ and ‘diaper elouting’ is
among the other papers, sent by one of the Brit-
ish spies to New York.
“The spectacle of the rejected suitor, Major |
Andre, buying these articles for Benedict Ar-
nold’s baby does not usually figure in history, |
Yet the number of times that the wants of the |
Arnold baby figure In the correspondence is sig. |
nificant of some knowledge on Mrs, Arnold's part
that her husband was engaging in a rather fa.
miliar correspondence with the British headquar-
ters.” i
Adams also declares that “An examination of |
Andre's papers in the Clinton collection serves |
only te blacken yet more the character of Bene. |
dict Arnold.” But Haines, who is convinced of |
Peggy Shippen's guilt, says of Arnold: “Traitor |
he was; but he was also betrayed, and by means
of an influence to which many of the great of |
the earth have been susceptible—the lure of a |
beautiful woman.”
But whatever Peggy Shippen’s part in the con
spiracy, she paid bitterly for it in the end. When |
a series of blunders resulted In the premature |
exposure of the plot ghe found herself left be.
hind by her husband when he fled to the Brit.
Ish; she soon learned that Andre, her lover (if
he was her lover), was to die on the scaffold: and
she went back to Philadelphia, only to be ex.
pelled from her native city as “dangerous to tho
public safety.” During the remaining years of
the war she lived in New York with British and
Tory friends while her husband fought with the
British against hig former comrades
When the Revolution ended she went with him
to England and there she had a brief taste of the
glory she had hoped for. She was welcomed as
a national heroine, publicly thanked at the court
of King George and given a pension of 50
pounds a year and a bonus of 350 pounds for
“meritorious services.” But even though the Ar
nolds won the gratitude of the British officials,
the English public would have none of them,
They were slighted and insulted in soclety and
Peggy's triumph was short-lived. “The final
chapter is the dead ashes of disillusionment,”
writes Haines, “Arnold died in poverty. Yet
after his death, as she herself wrote, Peggy puld
off all his debt, ‘within four or five hundred
pounds’ and still had left ‘property and Invest.
ments of hé¥ own.’ She lived three years longer
than he, dying in 1804 at the early age of forty.
four-too soon, by some decades, to sit to Thack-.
eray, ns she might well have done, for his por
trait of Becky Sharp.”
(© by Western Newspaper Union.)
TWIN SOULS
“When the judge ruled that Bjones
had to pay alimony, how did he feel
about fit?”
“Chagrined.”
“And how did his wife feel about
ne
“She grinned.”—Pathfinder Maga
zine.
Not in 2. Line
The company director shook his
head.
“My dear man,” he sald, “there
are bundreds of ways of making
money, but only one that's honest.”
The company promoter looked
puzzled.
“What's that?” he asked
“Ah,” smiled the other, “I thought
you wouldn't know I
Shade
“Was there any shade in the des-
ert?”
“Yes, but 1 couldn't get In it.”
“Why not?
“Have you ever iried to sit In your
own shadow?
The System
“You advertise that you make sults
while customers wait. Is that so?”
“Yes, you order a sult, pay a ‘e
posit, spd go home and walt until it
is ready.” —Vart Hem.
Comforti=n
Porter, two of my
trunks are missing
Porter—Yes, lady, but don't worry
your ‘ead about em-—this ain't 8
Passenger
dressy place. Omaha World Herald.
WASTED EFFORT
Tommy had been caught red-hand.
ed In the pantry,
“My son,” sald his father, sadly,
“you nave acted very wrongly. fit
may seem a small offense, but it has
for its foundations one of the prime
causes of the world's unhappiness —
disobedience. 1 am more than Ane
gry. 1 am deeply grieved. | want
my son to grow up a fine, bonorable
man. | want him—" He paused for
breath,
Little Tommy turned and looked
up to his mother,
“Mum,” he sald, “isn't dad most
frightfully Interesting?’ — London
Answers,
Her Own Difficulties
The teacher wus having her trials
and finally wrote the mother: “Your
son Is the brightest boy In my class,
but he is also the most mise hievous,
What shall | do?
The reply cawe duly: “De as you
please. | am having my own trog-
bles with his father, Royal Ar
canum Bulletin
WONDERFUL CURE
“1 understand
you of insomnia.’
“Yes. Completely.
“It must be a8 great 3
“Raliaf
Rellef!
“1 understand that
from a fine old famil;
“*Came' is hardly
boy ; I did not marry wealth or posi
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Brown—Well, you have
Stray Stories
mine,
Something Missing
New Stenographer (after emp
Jones-—what did you
*Denr sir” and
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A i
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