Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-10-24

All the family tradition goes to show that
the last years of Benedict Arnold in London
were years of bitter remorse and self-re-
proach. The great name which he had so
gallantly won and 50 wretchedly lost left
him no repose by night or day. The iron
frame, which had withstood the fatigue of
so many trying battlefelds and still more
trying marches through the wilderness,
broke down at last under the slow torture
Of lost friendships and merited disgrace
In the last sad days in London, in June,
1901, the family tradition says that Arnold s
mind kept reverting to his old friendship
with Washington. He had always careful
lv preserved the American uniform which
he wore on the day when he made his es-
cape to the Nulture and now as, broken
in spirit and weary Of life, he felt the last
moments coming, he called for this uniform
and put it on, and decorated himself with
the epaulettes and sword knot which Wash
ington had given him after the victory at
Saratoga Let me die" said he, "in this
old uniform in which fought my battles
May God forgive me for ever putting on
any other !n
As we thus reach the end Of one of the
saddest episodes in American history, our
sympathy cannot fail for the moment to 20
out toward the sufferer, nor can we help
contrasting these passionate dying words
with the last cynical scoff Of that other
traitor, Charles Lee, when he begged that
he might not be buried within mile Of any
church, as he did not wish TO keep bad com
pany after death. From beginning 10 end
the story of Lee is little more than a vulgar
melodrama; but into the story of Arnold
there enters that element of awe and pity
which, as Aristotle pointed out, is an essen
tial part of real tragedy. That Arnold had
been very shabbily treated, long before any
thought of treason entered his mind,
is not to be denied That he may honestly
have come to consider the American cause
hopeless, that he may really have lost his
interest in it because of the French alliance,
all this is quite possible. Such considera-
tIons might have justified him in resigning
his commission; or even, had he openly and
frankly gone over to the enemy, much as
we should have deplored such step, some
persons would always have been found to
Judge him leniently, and accord him the
credit of acting upon principle. But the
dark and crooked course which he did
choose left open no alternative but that of
unqualified condemnation If we feel less
of contempt and more of sorrow in the case
of Arnold than in the case of such a weak
ling as Charles Lee, our verdict is not the
less unmtigated. Arnod's fall was by far
the more terrible, as he fell from greater
height, and into depth than which none
could be lower. 1t is only fair that we
should recall his services TO the cause of
American independence, which were un-
questionably greater than those of any other
man in the Continental army except Wash
ington and Greene. But it is part of the
natural penalty that attaches to backsliding
such as his, that when we hear the name of
Benedict Arnold these are not the things
which it suggests to our minds, but the
name stands, and will always stand, as a
symbol of unfaithfulness to trust.
JphH Fiske in the october Atlantic.