The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1893-04-14
MAJORANDRES SWORD.

| BOStOii Herald.
Il am a British officer out upon urg
ent business. hope you will not de,
tain me minute" These were the
words of doom by which Maj. John
Andre sealed his own death warrant.
Only few hours before man dress
ed in the bright red uniform of an Off
Ger in the Kings army, covered entire
| ly by long blue surtout and cooked
hat upon his head, descended from the
Vulture just before the dawn of a
September day, to make the bar
gain by which West Point was to be
betrayed into the hands of the Brit
ish. Midday found him atthe house
of Joshua Smith, near Haverstraw,
lawaiting the darkness under which he
! intended to make his way back to
the British army at New York. At
twilight, dressed in the garb of an or
I binary citiz2a and mounted upon a
| good horse, he began his journey and
| crossed the river at Kings Ferry.
| At Tarrytown, thinking himself
among his friends, he forgot how he
was dressed and said: II am British
| officer The men were not of his
! British officer in citizens dress. And
| so his fate was sealed Before Septem-
ber's moon had waxed and waned
he was tried, found guilty, and sentenc-
ed to death.
To die a soldiers death and not be
! hung was his one hope. This was
| denied him, yet he was allowed once
| more to wear the uniform of his rank
| and in this he appeared upon the day
| of his death, but without his sword
This was on the I'd of October, 1880.
On the banks of the picturesque
| Passaic, in the northern part of New
Jersey, is little village called Avon
| dale. Through what is now a fine
! driveway there once ran a little brook,
| which meandered along in q round
| about fashion until it reached again
| the river from which it had started
| lower down, and so formed an island.
| But the island was not wanted, and
| so they filled up the little brook and
made it into land The owner planted
| a vineyard on what was once the
island, and the grapes grew like the
vineyards of the Rhine, down to
| waters edge. He filled in along the
shore here and there, 1.-The spring
| days wore away, and summer passed
| and autumn. One day the spade
struck something with a ringing
sound and a piece OF iron was found
sticking out of the ground, says the
New York Recorder. But he did not
stop to bother with it, and went on
filling in. A day or two after when
near the same spot, the owner said ::
+ Lets pull up that thing and see
how far it goes down. So they dug
around it and pulled up ali old sword.
1t was rusted into its scabbard. 1t
took a lot of oil to loosen it, and then
it took a good deal of polishing to
clean it up.
1t WIS the sword of British officer,
and on the handle, in old-fashioned
script letters were found the words
Major John Andre" 1t was
costly sword, without doubt. The
handle is of shot silver. Beneath the
name is the English heraldic device
of the sun with the leaves of the
thistle on either side. Under the
handle, below the hilt, is the helmet
and visor which adorns English weap-
blade are the letters "B. Az for Brit
ish army. On the reverse side is the
spread eagle and the words sc.
Pluribus Unum," which was once the
watchword of the Romans, as it is
now the motto of America. Two
thirds of the length; from the handle,
the blade is beautifully engraved af-
ter the manner in which silver tank
ards and plate of all kinds were de-
corated in the 18th century. The
scabbard is welded together with
gold. 1t has two rings by which it
was suspended from the belt, and at
the end is worn off for half an inch.
Its every part shows it to be a gentle
mans sword. Its possessor was an
aristocrat without doubt. Would
Major Andre carry other than just
such a sword.
Two characters stand out upon the
pages of Revolutionary history sur
rounded by n halo in the minds of
every schoolboy. They are Major
John Andre, and Marquis de La
fayette. Andre has the sympathy
of every boyish heart. The papers
found in his boots, the miniature of
his lady love saved in his mouth,
his sketches and his poems, all alike
are interesting. There are two relics
belonging to him in the Trumbull
Museum at New Haven, a pen and
ink sketch which he made himself
the day before his death, and a
lock of his hair taken from his head
40 years after his death, when his re-
mains were removed to Westminster
Abbey in England. And now, cen
fury and decade and more since Ma
jor Andre appeared upon the day
of his death without his sword it is
found over in 1.-The Jerseys" Did he
leave it where he changed his uniform
for citizens dress at the house of
Joshua Smith? Britishers were all
over this part of the Jerseys during
1850. Had some one stolen it and
fearing to keep it, given it into the
rivers keeping Suffice it that here it
may be seen at the house of II kindly
old German, Mr.. Riepe, who values it
very highly and cannot be induced to
part with it.