The Lakeland evening telegram., 1917-04-09
A Vision of the
Great Commander
A Sketch For Washington Birth
day.
By. F a. MICHEL

anu 1 concluded 10 do some reading of
the historical events with which he
was identified in the flesh. There were
several events in which | took greater
interest than others That which espe-
cially arrested my attention was the
treason of Benedict Arnold. When the
Revolutionary war opened Arnold was
an apothecary in New Haven.
On the night before the ooi OF Feb
ruary ! read about Washington, Ar
mold. Andre and others till late. 1t was
nearly midnight when | laid my book
on table beside me and, leaning back
in my chair. fell TO musing about the
events In which these three were con
cerned
Whether fell asleep. whether had
sort of nightmare or whether |
dreamed ! cannot say At any rate,
| had singular experience The door
opened, and | looked into what seemed
TO me a small office. AT desk sat a
man in Continental uniform. He was
an elderly man and of large frame
Then saw a young man in uniform
he wore "A red coat-crter this Office
and approach the man at the desk
The latter turned his face. and rec-
oSnized General Washington. The 9th
er was very pale.
Your exeellency." said the latter
Il come to make an appeal for my life
You have approved the sentence of
the court martial. aud am to he hang
ed tomorrow. ask that you will hear
the reasons why | should not be exc
cuted.
Proceed with them"
The principal in the matter for
which am to suffer has escaped. You
cannot punish him. | did not agree
4 to surrender West Point did not
I possess West Point; therefore could
not surrender it. | merely transmit
ted his agreement Would you hang
post official who carried letter bear
ing a reasonable agreement and let
the traitor 20 free? True. you have
not permitted the traitor to 80 free
but lie, having escaped you
At this juncture man whom | had
not seen before-he had been hidden
4 in dark corner-stepped forward and
said to the general:
Major Andre is right, general
am alone responsible for this deed that
has been called treachcry. II was my
privilege at the beginning of this strug-
gle to choose the side | would take. |
unwisely chose the rebel cause. Later
| saw my error and tried to do some
thing TO atone for It. My loyalty TO the
king came late. but it came In time to
save me from the taint of treason to
my lawful sovereign. | trust that since
you cannot punish me for what you
esteem my treason you will not vent
your ire on this young man. who was
merely a messenger.
Then Washington spoke, deliberate
ly, calmly. and 1t seemed that each
word had the weight Of mountain:
Benedict Arnold, you are an Illus
tration of the adage, Put a beggar on
horseback and he will ride to the devil
When the colonies called her sons to
arms you were mixing pills in Con-
necticut shop. 1t was ambition rather
than patriotism that caused your re-
sponse. You wished to take advan-
tage Of war TO carve out career for
yourself. You did this. Your remark
able march through the Maine wilder
ness upon Quebec showed that you pos
sess the energy essential to success
full commander Ii Is due to you
chiefly that Burgoyne's surrender was
achieved.
"When you went to Philadelphia
with the reputation of successful
general and married into one Of the
principal Tory families there. you were
still the New Haven apothecary trans
formed. You were not satisfied with
your laurels. You wished congress to
give you the command of the Cont
mental army. Not obtaining it. You
asked for the command of the main
military position between the north
and south colonies, with view to
taking revenge upon your fellow coun-
trymen by surrendering 1t to Clinton
Had you succeeded you would have
broken your country into two parts.
with the enemy between them.
This young man will die death
which you will only too often wish
that you had died. lie will have paid
the penalty of having been allied with
a traitor. and his death win end his
connection with this lamentable affair
You will live to be execrated not only
by your countrymen and by successive
generations of Americans. but by the
world, Punishment for your crime will
be visited OH the heads of your chill
dren and your children's children for
centuries TO come"
The figures faded before me, but /
was not returned TO possession Of my
faculties for some hours later. After
this interval of oblivion there was a
sound as of something falling Open
ed my eyes. and the day was just
breaking. 1t seemed to me that the
sound | had heard was the dropping
Of the trap under one who was being
hanged.
During that day took up a news