gator of his crime, we still believe that there was nothing in her influence or association to overcome the persuasions to which he ultimately yielded. She was young, gay and frivolous, fond of display and admiration and used to luxury; she was utterly unfitted for the duties and privations of a poor man's wife . . . Arnold had no counsellor in his home who urged him to the assumption of homely republican principles, to stimulate him to follow the ragged path of a Revolutionary patriot. He fell, and though his wife did not tempt or counsel him to ruin, there is no reason to think she ever uttered a word or made a sound to deter him." This was the judgment of Mr. Reed. Mrs. Sparks and others, who have closely investigated the subject, are in favor of Mrs. Arnold's innocence in the matter. We cannot but have great sympathy at least for the young wife, whose husband was to go down in history as the foremost traitor to his country.
It was after the plot was far advanced and only two days before General Washington commenced his tour, in the course of which he made his visit to West Point that Mrs. Arnold came thither with her baby to join her husband, making the journey in short stages in her own carriage. Near New York she was met by General Arnold, and proceeded up to headquarters. When Washington and his officers arrived at West Point, Lafayette reminded the General that Mrs. Arnold would be waiting breakfast, to which Washington answered, "Ah, you young men are all in love with Mrs. Arnold, and wish to get where she is as soon as possible. Go breakfast with her and do not wait for me." Mrs. Arnold was at breakfast with her husband and his aid-de-camp when the letter arrived which brought to the traitor the first intelligence of Andre's capture. He left the room, immediately went to his wife's chamber, sent for her and privately informed her of the necessity of his instant flight to the enemy. This, was perhaps the first intelligence she received of what had been so long going on, and the news so overwhelmed her that when Arnold went from the room he left her lying in a faint on the floor.
Her almost frantic condition is described with sympathy by Colonel Hamilton in a letter written the next day. "The General went to see her, and she upbraided him with being in a plot to murder her child. She raved, shut the doors and lamented the fate of the infant. All the loveliness of innocence, all the tenderness of a wife, and all the fondness of a mother showed themselves in her frenzied conduct." He, too, expressed his conviction that she had no knowledge of Arnold's plan until his announcement to her that he must banish himself from his country forever. Mrs. Arnold went from West Point to her father's house, but was not long permitted to remain in Philadelphia, the traitor's papers having been seized by direction of the executive authorities and the correspondence with Andre brought to light. Suspicion rested on her, and by an order of the council, dated April 27th, she was ordered to leave the state and return no more during the continuance of the war. She accordingly departed to join her husband in New York. The respect and forbearance shown towards her on her journey through the country, notwithstanding her banishment, testified to the popular belief in her innocence. It is related that when she stopped at a village where the people were about to burn Arnold in effigy they put it off until the next night. And when she entered the carriage on the way to join her husband all expression of popular
