American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1875-06-12
Revolutionary Relies.

The Andre papers (being the very doc
uments that the British spy carried In
his boots when he was seized at larry.
town by the three militiamen) are prob
ably familiar to most people who visit
Albany, for they have been in the library
for years. They now hang near the en-.
trance, framed and glazed, and among
of Andre by himself, the original OF
which is in the college library at New
Haven. At the other end of the hall, in
glass case, are more precious memorials
of the General who executed Andre. Less
than two years ago the State of New
York acquired possession of these Wash
ington relics by purchase from Mrs. Ella
Bassett Washington, the widow of Col
Lewis w. Washington, who goes into
history as the Washington captured by
John Brown in 1859, when he made his
campaign in Virginia. Col. Washington
was the grandson of George Washing
toms nephew, William Augustine Wash
ington. This nephew inherited by Wash.
ington's will one of the five swords be-
queathed to the five nephews then liv-
ing, and he chose the particular sword
have just seen in the State Library be.
cause of its traditional history. 1t was
generally believed in the Washington
family that it was sent by Frederick the
abouts, with verbal message often
quoted, though not quite authentic
From the Oldest General in the
world to the greatest" The Ne,o
Jersey Journal of Aug 2, 1880, mentions
picture with this sentence inscribed
under it-showing how ancient is the
legend, and that it was current in the
lifetime of both Frederick and Wash
ington. The latter valued this sword
L.. HI = fnfn
as when he received the Senate at his
Philadelphia house in 1891; and it ap-
pears in Vanderlyn's portrait of him at
Washington, and l think in the full
length by Stuart. 1t is a dress-swOrd
with straight, pointed blade and a hilt
and chain of polished steel, dotted with
steel beads-a very peculiar weapon in
its appearance and not likely to be for
gotten by one who ever saw it. When
John Brown attacked Harper's Ferry he
sent his Lieutenant, Cook, to arrest Col
Washington, free his slaves and capture
this sword, which it is posed he
meant to wear in tcI ccesslon
to the place of Gamer
lean liberator. by La
fayette to Washi ptured
at the same time 'ay by
John Browns son red it
to Col. Washingto. had
deus Hyatt in 10 was
taken from Brown by
Gen. Lee and restore Ng-
ton, who sent it, W Is
of his great-uncle, to office
at Washington, whe Icy remained
during the civil war. Under the last
Tweed administration the New York
Legislature april 26, 1871 voted to pay
$40, 600 for all these memorials, and this
was done in 1873.
None of them have quite the romantic
interest of this sword, worn by FIeder-
ick, by Washington and by John Brown,
and proving in their hands to he the
modern Excalibar, by which deeds of
prowess more wonderful than those ia
bled-of King Arthur were actually done.
But here, too, is the original draft of
Washington's farewell address Qong sup
posed to be lost, or never to have ex-
isted), nineteen manuscript pages, all in
Washington's handwriting, with erasures
and interlineations, but complete pa
per by itself, before Hamilton ever saw
it, in May, 1892 (before which date it
had been composed, sent to James Madi-
son, and rewritten), at time when
Washington expected to be President
but four years. 1t was afterward ex-