"And now I've closed my epic strain,
I tremble as I show it,
Lest this same warrio-drover, Wayne,
Should ever catch the poet!" ***
*** His memory has been embalmed in verse by his friend, Miss Seward; **** and his king testified his admiration of his character and genius by the erection of a beautiful monument to his honor in Westminster Abbey, near the Poets' Corner. The monument is in relief against the wall, and is about seven and a half feet in height. It is composed of a sarcophagus, elevated on a molded paneled base and plinth, and was executed in statuary marble by P. M. Van Gelder, from a design by Robert Adam. On the front of the sarcophagus is a basso relievo, in which is represented General Washington and officers in a tent at the moment when the chief had received the report of the court of inquiry; at the same time a messenger has arrived with the letter from André to Washington, petitioning for a soldier's death (see page 770). On the right is a guard of Continental soldiers, and the tree on which Andre was executed. Two men are preparing the prisoner for execution, while at the foot of the tree, Mercy, accompanied by Innocence, is bewailing his fate. On the top of the sarcophagus is the British lion, and the figure of Britannia, who is lamenting the fate of the accomplished youth. Upon a panel is the following inscription: "Sacred to the memory of Major John André, who, raised hy his merit at an early period of life to the rank of adjutant general of the British forces in America, and employed in an important but hazardous enterprise, fell a sacrifice to his zeal for his king and country, on the 2d of October, A.D. 1780, universally beloved and esteemed by the army in which he served, and lamented even by his Foes. His gracious sovereign, King George the Third, has caused this monument to be erected." On the base of the pedestal upon which the sarcophagus rests has subsequently been inscribed the following: "The remains of Major John André were, on the 10th of August, 1821, removed from Tappan by James Buchanan, Esq., his majesty's consul at Now York, under instructions from his Royal Highness, the Duke or York; and with the permission of the Dean and Chapter, finally deposited in a grave contiguous to this monument, on the 28th of November, 1821." *
*** The king settled a pension upon the family of Andre; and, to wipe out the imputed stain produced by his death as a spy, the honor of knighthood was conferred upon his brother. A certified copy of Andre's will is in the office of the Surrogate of New York. It is dated at Staten Island, 7th of June, 1777, and signed "John André, captain in the 26th regiment of foot." The date of probate is October 12, 1780, ten days after his execution. The will is sworn to October 9, 1781, before Carey Ludlow, Esq., then Surrogate of New York. By his will, Andre gave the bulk of his property to his three sisters (Maria, Anna Marguerite, and Louisa) and his brother, each $3500, on condition that they pay to his mother, Mary Louise Andre, each $50 a year. Anna Marguerite Andre—"the tuneful Anna," as Miss Seward called her—his last surviving sister, lived a maiden, and died in London in 1848, at the age of ninety years. Andrô's watch was sold for the benefit of his captors. It was bought by Colonel William S. Smith, of the Continental army, for thirty guineas, and, through General Robertson, he generously transmitted it to Andrô's family. His commission was sold by Sir Henry Clinton for the benefit of his mother and sisters.
Washington's Approval of the Decision of the Court.—Memoir of André.—Honora Sneyd.—Mr. Edgeworth.—Miss Seward.
"Head-quarters, September 30,1780. "The commander-in-chief approves of the opinion of the Board of general officers respecting Major Andre, and orders that the execution of Major Andre take place to-morrow at five o'clock P.M."
* Miss Seward, in her poem entitled "The Anniversary," thus alludes to her cousin:
"Why fled ye all so fast, ye happy hours,
That saw Honora's eyes adorn these bowers!
These darling bowers that much she loved to hail,
The spires she called The Ladies of the Vale!"
** Mr. Edgeworth was educated partly at Trinity College, Dublin, and partly at Oxford. Before he was twenty, he ran off with Miss Elers, a young lady of Oxford, to whom he was married at Gretna Green. He embarked in a life of gayety and dissipation. In 1770 he succeeded to his Irish property. During a visit to Litchfield soon afterward, he saw Honora Sneyd, loved her, and married her after the death of his wife. Honora died six years afterward of consumption, when he married her sister.—Chambers's Cyclopedia of English Literature, ii" 568.
** This satirical poem was written at General Clinton's head-quarters, now No. 1 Broadway, New York. It is not a little singular that Wayne commanded the division of the army at Tappan when André was executed.
*** In Ainsworth's Magazine of a recent date I find the following record of A dream realized: "Major André, the circumstances of whose lamented death are too well known to make it necessary for me to detail them here, was a friend of Miss Seward's, and, previously to his embarkation for America, he made a journey into Derbyshire to pay her a visit, and it was arranged that they should ride over to see the wonders of the Peak, and introduce André to Newton, her minstrel, as she called him, and to Mr. Cunningham, the curate, who was also a poet.