Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1890-10-23
Last nArs oE AhNoAp.
Ile Suffered Great Heniorse ana
FaIt kecnIy 4is Disgrace

Felt hecnIy ffts DtsRraces
Joan Fiske in the Atlantic.
All tho family tradition goes to chow
that the last years Of Benedict Arnold In
London were yeRrg Of bittor romorse and
self-reprosoh. The great name which he
had SO gnllantly won and co wretchedly
Lost left him no repose by night or day.
The iron frame, which had withatood the
fatigue OF so many trying battledslds aud
', still moro trying marches through the
wilderness, broke down at last under tie
slow torture OF lost friendships and mer-
tied disgrace. In the last sad days in
London, in 1901, the family tradition
RAYS that Arnod's mind kept reverting to
his old friendship with Washington. Ee
had always carefully preserved the Amer
lean uniform which he wore on tho day
| when he made his escape to the Vulture,
( md now, as, broken in spirit and weary
OF life, he felt the lest moments coming,
he called for this uniform and put 1t on,
! and decorated hi ms with the epsulsttes
and sword knot which Washington had
given him ef or the victory Of Saratoga.
"Let me dis,n said he, 'in this old uni
form in which fought my battles. May
God forgive me for ever putting on any
otheT."
As We thus reach the end OF one of the
Badest episodes in American history, our
HynpGthy cannot fall for the moment to
10 cut toward the sufferer, nor con We
help con, rAsting theae passionate, dying
words with ths lest cynical sjof Of that
other traitor, Charles Lee, when he
begged that he might not be buriad
within mile Of any church, "a be did
not wish to keep bal company after
death. From beginning to end the story
OF Leo is lit,le more than vulgar melo.
drama; but into the story of Arnold there
entefa THAI clement OF awe and pity,
which, as Aristotle pointed on, Is an
essential part Of real tragedy. That
Arnold bad been worry shabby treated
before any though. OF treason entered
his mind, is not TO be denied. Thst be
may honestly have ocms to consider the
American cause bopeless, that he really
may have lost interest in it because of
Frei ch alliance ell thisis quite possible.
Such considerations may have jutifed
him in resign NJ his commission, or
even, had he openly and frankly
gone over to this enemy; much as We
should have depioscd such a 'tep, some
psrsons would always have been found to
| judge him lsnlently, and accord kim tho
credit OF acting upon principle. But tho
dark and crooked course which he did
ohcose left opea no alternative but that
of unqualified condemnation. II we feel
less OF contempt and more OF sorrow in
tho cEse Of Arnold than in the case Of
Rueh wsak!ing as Charles Lee, our vsr-
dict is net lees InmiIieHted. Arnold's
fall was by for the more terrible, as no
fell from greater height and into o
depth than which none oouli DO lover.
It is only fair that We should reoall bis
services to She Gauss OF American indie.
pendeuoe, which were unquestiGnebly
creator than those of any other man in
the continental army, except Washington
and Greene. But Il is part of the natural
penalty that attaches 10 baoRsliding 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 aud will always stand, as q
symbol of unfsi;htulness to trust.