The 1st of October, at five o'clock in the afternoon, had been fixed for the time of his
* Life of Arnold, Amer. Biog., iii., 275.
** The following is a copy of his letter: the original is at Charlottesville, Virginia.
"Sir,—Buoyed above the terror of death by the consciousness
of a life devoted to honorable pursuits, and stained with no
action that can give me remorse, I trust that the request I
make to your excellency at this serious period, and which is
to soften my last moments, will not be rejected. Sympathy
toward a soldier will surely induce your excellency, and a
military tribunal, to adapt the mode of my death to the
feelings of a man of honor. Let me hope, sir, that if aught
in my character impresses you with esteem toward me, if
aught in my misfortunes marks me as the victim of policy and
not of resentment, I shall experience the operation of these
feelings in your breast by being informed that I am not to
die on a gibbet.
"I have the honor to be, your excellency's most obedient and
most humble servant,
"John André."
** This letter has been thus beautifully paraphrased in verse by N. P. Willis:
"It is not the fear of death
That damps my brow;
It is not for another breath I ask thee now;
I can die with a lip unstirr'd,
And a quiet heart—
Let but this prayer be heard
Ere I depart.
'I can give up my mother's look—
My sister's kiss;
I can think of love—yet brook
A death like this!
I can give up the young fame I burn'd to win;
All—but the spotless name I glory in.
"Thine is the power to give,
Thine to deny,
Joy for the hour I live,
Calmness to die.
By all the brave should cherish.
By my dying breath,
I ask that I may perish
By a soldier's death."
Andre's Composure of Mind.—Pen-and-ink Sketch of himself—Name of his Executioner.
execution, but, in consequence of the protracted conference at Dobbs's Ferry, it was postponed until the next day. Andre had procured his military suit, and in calmness counted
