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nual Register for 1781, (Vol. 24) it is expressly stated, that "as Major Andre's request for a mitigation of the sentence, in rela"tion to the mode of his punishment, could not be granted, it was thought humane to evade giving a direct answer." But on the supposition, that Mr. Chalmers' fiction be true, why this affectation of delicacy? Why not answer both promptly and directly?

To the sympathy, shown for Andrè on the part of the army of the U. S., all cotemporary writers bear testimony. Gordon, (himself an Englishman,) says, "Pity and esteem wrought so "powerfully with the court, that all were disposed (excepting "General Green) to commute his punishment, as he had desired. And the respectable work first quoted, in describing the last melancholy circumstance of the drama, informs us," that the suffer

er encountered his fate, with a composure, dignity and fortitude, "which equally excited the admiration and melted the hearts of "all the spectators." Is it probable, that a sentiment, so just and so general, should have awakened only at the moment of the execution, or that the Commander in Chief, should alone have been an exception to it?

In another relation of this affecting story, (by the late General Hamilton, who was himself a witness of the scene) we are told, that Major Andrè, "when led to the place of execution, bowed "familiarly to all those, with whom he had been acquainted in his "confinement; and that a smile of complacency expressed the se"rene fortitude of his mind :"-but that, " arrived at the fatal spot, he asked with some emotion,-' must I then die in this man"ner?"—an expression, as well of surprise as of horror, and totally inconsistent with the belief, that the sight of the gallows, which had caused this new and increased emotion, had been familiar to him for several days preceding.

These considerations, (unless others, of greater weight and conflicting character, are presented) cannot fail of themselves to decide the first question, between us and the British Biographer;but fortunately, the charge is made, before time has swept from the stage, all the witnesses of that interesting event; and we are accordingly able to avail ourselves of the testimony of Major Cooper, which, with much similar proof, has been carefully collected by the learned Secretary of the New-York Historical Society, a

"This is to certify that, in the Revolutionary war, I served as "Lieutenant and Adjutant in Col. Crane's 3d Battalion of Artil"lery, and that I was at Tappan on Monday, the 2d of October, (1780) the day on which Major Andrè was executed as a spy; "that I witnessed his execution, at 12 o'clock of that day, and that "I am clearly satisfied, that the Gibbet, on which he was executed,

(a) Now Treasurer of that Institution---M. John Pintard.

"was erected on the morning of that day; that it was impossible for 66 Major Andre to have seen the Gibbet from the quarters where "he was confined,-the place of execution being at least half a "mile distant from said quarters, and any view thereof, intercept"ed by intervening objects."

2d. That on the surrender of the British army at Yorktown, General Washington, contrary to the usages of civilized war, claimed the sword from the hands of the British Commander in Chief, Lord Cornwallis.'

This assertion, is made with as little regard to truth as the former, and with much less regard to prudence ;-because, in the affair of Andrè, the official documents do not reach the circumstance in controversy, and of course leave it undetermined-but here, the Biographer is confronted by articles of capitulation, signed by Lord Cornwallis himself:-the 4th of which expressly saves, to the officers surrendering, their "side arms and private property of every kind."

As the whole of this story appears to be new to Mr. Chalmers, we shall give a short sketch of it from the pen of old Marshal Rochambeau, and another from that of the late General Lee; by which it will be seen, that, so far from suffering the outrage stated by the British Biographer, Lord Cornwallis was not even present at the actual surrender, but left to the gallant O'Hara the duty of going through that necessary but unpleasant ceremony.

"On the 17th of October, the enemy began to negotiate, and "the capitulation was signed on the 19th,-by which, Lord Corn"wallis and his army became prisoners of war. "the Americans and French took possession of the two bastions. At 12 o'clock "The garrison marched out, at 2 o'clock, between the two armies "-with drums beating and shouldered arms, which were after"wards stacked, together with twenty stands of colours. Lord "Cornwallis, being unwell, General O'Hara marched at the head "of the garrison. When he came up, he presented to me his "sword-I pointed to General Washington who was opposite to "me and at the head of the American troops, and told him, that as the French were auxiliaries only, he must receive his orders "from the American General." a

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"At 2 o'clock," says General Lee, "the British army, led by "General O'Hara, marched out of its lines with colours cased and "drums beating a British march. When the head of the column approached the commander in chief, O'Hara, mistaking the circle, turned to that on his left, for the purpose of paying his respects and requesting further orders; when quickly discovering (a) Memoires militaires historiques et politiques de Rochambeau. Tom. 15. p. 295.

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"his error, with much embarrassment in his countenance, he flew "across the road, and, advancing to Washington, asked pardon for "his mistake, apologized for the absence of Lord Cornwallis, and "begged to know his future pleasure. The General seeing his "embarrassment, relieved it by referring him, with much politeness, "to General Lincoln."

To these extracts, we shall but add, on this head, a single sentence from the official letter, written on the 20th of October, by Lord Cornwallis to Sir Henry Clinton; "The treatment, in gene"ral," says his Lordship, "that we have received from the enemy "since our surrender, has been perfectly good and proper."

3d. That the conduct of Washington on these two occasions and some others, agreed so ill with his general character, that he has been supposed to be influenced by the leaders of the French army.'

Pressed by considerations, derived from the general character and conduct of Washington, and which led to conclusions directly the reverse of those he wished to establish, Mr. Chalmers felt the necessity of finding a sufficient cause for these alleged aberrations. of the American commander; but failing altogether to do so, he is compelled to resort to the cabalistic terms, French Influence. And what would this kind-hearted, impartial and well instructed Biographer have us to understand by this pretended influence? Why only that Washington-who would not, from his own spontaneous movement, have indulged in any mockery of grief, nor in the slightest insult to misfortune,—was yet mean enough, to lend himself and his high official authority, to the base and malignant prejudices of the French Army.'

Though assuredly the most flagrant of all Mr. Chalmers' misrepresentations, still as it is only a conclusion, from premises already destroyed-to demolish it, would but be "to slay the slain."

A word or two may however be necessary to enlighten the Biographer's darkness in relation to the nature and extent of those French practices against Major Andrè and Lord Cornwallis, which have been so unwarrantably taken for granted. The facts to which we allude, are two-they are of public notoriety, and, as we believe, of decisive character. a

1st. That when dangers thickened around Andrè, and when Sir Henry Clinton, under the direction of better heads than his own, was looking abroad for expedients to save his friend and protegé, he did not fail to recur to a proposition-that the whole case should be referred to two foreign generals, one of whom should be Rochambeau, the chief of those very French officers, who, according

(a) The first is recorded in Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. ii. page 365: the second may be found in the New Annual Register, p. 99, of Public Occurrences, and in the Appendix to Lee's Memoirs, Vol. 2d.

to our own text, were goading on Washington, to insult the feelings of a subdued and prostrate enemy! And,

2d. That, after the surrender at York, the conduct of these same officers was such,-as secured, and no doubt deserved, the following glowing acknowledgment from the peu of Lord Cornwallis. "The kindness and attentions that have been shown us, by the French officers in particular-their delicate sensibility to our situation-their generous and pressing offers of money both "public and private to any amount-have really gone beyond "what I can possibly describe, and will, I hope, make an impression on the breast of every British officer, whenever the fortune of "war shall put any of them into our power."

t

ART. II. A Letter to the Farmers and Graziers of Great Britain; explaining the advantages of using Salt, in the various branches of Agriculture and in feeding all kinds of farm-stock. By SAMUEL PARKE, F. L. S. &c. &c. London. 1818.

a

IN Asia, in Africa, and in Europe, (as in the south-western part of our own country) are large tracts of land, completely saturated with salt; the exhalations of which-called forth by hot and dry weather-spread themselves over the otherwise naked surface, and give to it the appearance of our own fields, when covered with the hoar frosts of autumn and winter.

These soils are generally, if not altogether, unproductive of plants; a fact which in "olden times" led to the belief, that salt, in any quantity, or under any modification, was destructive of vegetable life; and which-in the progress of the opinion-even induced the conquerors of the earth to adopt it as the symbol of destruction :—for, when most indignant and determined to punish an enemy, they ordered his city, or territory, to be torn up by the plough and sown with salt. But how short-sighted is the vengeance of man! Instead of inflicting incurable barrenness, as was believed, these human demons were but laying the foundations of eventual fertility and increased abundance. Such is the regular deduction from the work, whose title stands at the head of this article, and of which we shall now proceed to offer a brief account to our agricultural readers.

The objects of Mr. Parke's pamphlet are two; 1st. to show the farmers of Great Britain, that common salt is a powerful and cheap manure, whether applied to arable, or to grass land; and 2d, that it may also be very usefully employed, as a condiment, or seasoner of the food of cattle, of every description.

(a) See Pike's journal,

On this last head, we will spare ourselves the trouble of much amplification; as however new the doctrine may be in England, it is here an old story, with which every man, woman and child is acquainted. Still, it may be worthy of notice that, so far as our particular knowledge extends, no series of experiments has yet been instituted among us, with a view to ascertain the quantity of this article, which may be profitably given to any, or to all the different species of farm-stock within a given time. In this respect, John Bull has got the start of us; and it now appears, pretty satisfactorily, that though long in the habit of giving salt to horses, cows, sheep and hogs, yet that we have never given it, either so frequently, or so freely, as would have been proper. The following extracts will show what has been done in this way in England, and will indicate -with some allowances for difference of climate-what ought to be done in the United States.

'William Glover, of the Schoose farm, in the parish of Workington, in the county of Cumberland, feeder and superintendent of 'the cattle of John Christian Curwen, Esq. at the said farm, ma⚫keth oath and saith, that this deponent began to give salt to the 'cattle under his care, the nineteenth day of November last past; and from that time till now, the said cattle have had salt as fol'lows: forty milch cows and breeding heifers have had each four ounces per day; fourteen oxen for fat and sixteen oxen for work, each four ounces; twenty-seven young cattle, (seven of them two 'years old, the rest one year old) have each had two ounces per day; twenty-six young calves, each one ounce; two bulls had also salt administered to them; and forty-eight horses, kept at the 'farm, have had each four ounces per day; four hundred and for'ty-four sheep, had four stone, or two ounces each per week, given 'at twice, and on slates. The advantage of salt for sheep appears 'to this deponent to be great; as none of the stock have died in 'the sickness, since they commenced giving salt, and they have had none in the rot; in other years, they lost some of their ewes ⚫ and wethers in the sickness. The cattle, both old and young "stock, have their salt given in steamed chaff, twice a day, which 'makes them eat it up as well as other inferior food. The horses have their salt amongst their steamed potatoes, twice a day, 'which makes them clean out their cribs, and is a benefit to their 'health and condition; the cattle have been in the highest health ever since they commenced the use of salt. And this deponent * saith, that he has now kept the cattle at the Schoose farm for ten years, and they never were so long without sickness; they were formerly subject to obstructions and inflammations; and that he has not had occasion to use any medicine since the twenty-ninth ' of November last, except in one instance of a cow (now quite 'well ;) and he can show the whole of the said stock, (one hundred