|The wife of Benedict Arnold was Margaret Ship-pen, of Philadelphia.
One of her ancestors--Edward Shippen, who was Mayor of the city in the
beginning of the eighteenth century, suffered severe persecution from
the zealots in authority at Boston for his Quakerism; but, successful
in business, amassed a large fortune, and according to tradition, was
distinguished for "being the biggest man, having the biggest house, and
the biggest carriage in Philadelphia." *
* See Watson's Annals of Philadelphia. It is singular that this "zealous
chronicler" should have been led into the mistake of stating that Mrs.
Arnold's name was Sarah, and that she died in Massachusetts in 1836, at
the age of eighty-three!
His mansion, called "the governor's house "Shippen's great house "--and
"the famous house and orchard outside the town,"--was built on an
eminence, the orchard overlooking the city; yellow pines shaded the
rear, a green lawn extended in front, and the view was unobstructed
to the Delaware and Jersey shores;--a princely place, indeed, for that
day--with its summer-house, and gardens abounding with tulips, roses
and lilies! It is said to have been the residence, for a few weeks, of
William Penn and his family. An account of the distinguished persons who
were guests there at different times, would be curious and interesting.
Edward Shippen, afterwards Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, was the father
of Margaret. His family, distinguished among the aristocracy of the day,
was prominent after the commencement of the contest, among those known
to cherish loyalist principles--his daughters being educated in these,
and having their constant associations and sympathies with those who
were opposed to American independence. The youngest of them--only
eighteen years of age--beautiful, brilliant and fascinating, full of
spirit and gaiety--the toast of the British officers while their army
occupied Philadelphia--became the object of Arnold's admiration. She had
been "one of the brightest of the belles of the Mischianza;" and it
is somewhat curious that the knight who appeared in her honor on
that occasion, chose for his device a bay-leaf--with the
motto--"Unchangeable." This gay and volatile young creature, accustomed
to the display connected with "the pride of life"--and the homage paid
to beauty in high station, was not one to resist the lure of ambition,
and was captivated, it is probable, through her girlish fancy, by the
splendor of Arnold's equipments, and his military ostentation. These
appear to have had their effect upon her relatives; one of whom, in
a manuscript letter still extant, says: "We understand that General
Arnold, a fine gentleman, lays close siege to Peggy;"--thus noticing
his brilliant and imposing exterior, without a word of information or
inquiry as to his character or principles.
A letter from Arnold to Miss Shippen, which has been published--written
from the camp at Raritan--February 8th, 1779--not long before their
marriage, shows the discontent and rancor of his heart, in the allusions
to the President and Council of Pennsylvania. These feelings were
probably expressed freely to her, as it was his pleasure to complain
of injury and persecution; while the darker designs, of which no one
suspected him till the whole community was startled by the news of his
treason, were doubtless buried in his own bosom.
Some writers have taken delight in representing Mrs. Arnold as another
Lady Macbeth--an unscrupulous and artful seductress, whose inordinate
vanity and ambition were the cause of her husband's crime; but there
seems no foundation even for the supposition that she was acquainted
with his purpose of betraying his trust. She was not the being he
would have chosen as the sharer of a secret so perilous, nor was the
dissimulation attributed to her consistent with her character. Arnold's
marriage, it is true, brought him more continually into familiar
association with the enemies of American liberty, and strengthened
distrust of him in the minds of those who had seen enough to condemn
in his previous conduct; and it is likely that his propensity to
extravagance was encouraged by his wife's taste for luxury and display,
while she exerted over him no saving influence. In the words of one of
his best biographers: "He had no domestic security for doing right--no
fireside guardianship to protect him from the tempter. Rejecting, as
we do utterly, the theory that his wife was the instigator of his
crime--all common principles of human action being opposed to it--we
still believe that there was nothing in her influence or associations
to countervail 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. A loyalist's daughter, she had been taught to mourn over
even the poor pageantry of colonial rank and authority, and to recollect
with pleasure the pomp of those brief days of enjoyment, when military
men of noble station were her admirers. Arnold had no counsellor on
his pillow to urge him to the imitation of homely republican virtue, to
stimulate him to follow the rugged 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 sign to deter him."
Her instrumentality in the intercourse carried on while the iniquitous
plan was maturing, according to all probability, was an unconscious one.
Major André, who had been intimate in her father's family while General
Howe was in possession of Philadelphia, wrote to her from New York,
in August, 1779, to solicit her remembrance, and offer his services in
procuring supplies, should she require any, in the millinery department,
in which, he says playfully, the Mischianza had given him skill and
experience. *
* This letter is published in the Life and Correspondence of President
Reed, which see--Vol. II., pp. 272-275.
The period at which this missive was sent--more than a year after André
had parted with the "fair circle" for which he professes such lively
regard, and the singularity of the letter itself, justified the
suspicion which became general after its seizure by the Council of
Pennsylvania--that its offer of service in the detail of capwire,
needles, and gauze, covered a meaning deep and dangerous. This view was
taken by many writers of the day; but, admitting that the letter was
intended to convey a mysterious meaning, still, it is not conclusive
evidence of Mrs. Arnold's participation in the design or knowledge of
the treason, the consummation of which was yet distant more than a
year. The suggestion of Mr. Reed seems more probable--that the guilty
correspondence between the two officers under feigned names having been
commenced in March or April, the letter to Mrs. Arnold may have been
intended by André to inform her husband of the name and rank of his New
York correspondent, and thus encourage a fuller measure of confidence
and regard. The judgment of Mr. Reed, Mr. Sparks, and others who have
closely investigated the subject, is in favor of Mrs. Arnold's innocence
in the matter.
It was after the plot was far advanced towards its denouement, and only
two days before General Washington commenced his tour to Hartford, in
the course of which he made his visit at West Point--that Mrs. Arnold
came thither, with her infant, to join her husband, travelling by short
stages, in her own carriage. * She passed the last night at Smith's
house, where she was met by the General, and proceeded up the river in
his barge to head-quarters.
* See Sparks' Life of Arnold.
When Washington and his officers arrived at West Point, having sent from
Fishkill to announce their coming, La Fayette reminded the Chief, who
was turning his horse into a road leading to the river--that Mrs.
Arnold would be waiting breakfast; to which Washington sportively
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 the
aids-de-camp--Washington and the other officers having not yet
come--when the letter arrived which bore to the traitor the first
intelligence of Andrè's capture. He left the room immediately, went
to his wife's chamber, sent for her, and briefly informed her of the
necessity of his instant flight to the enemy. This was, probably, the
first intelligence she received of what had been so long going on; the
news overwhelmed her, and when Arnold quitted the apartment, he left her
lying in a swoon on the floor.
Her almost frantic condition--plunged into the depths of distress--is
described with sympathy by Colonel Hamilton, in a letter written the
next day: "The General," he says, "went to see her; she upbraided
him with being in a plot to murder her child, raved, shed tears, and
lamented the fate of the infant.... All the sweetness of beauty--all
the loveliness of innocence--all the tenderness of a wife, and all the
fondness of a mother, showed themselves in her appearance and conduct."
He, too, expresses his conviction that she had no knowledge of Arnold's
plan, till his announcement to her that he must banish himself from
his country for ever. The opinion of other persons qualified to judge
without prejudice, acquitted her of the charge of having participated
in the treason. John Jay, writing from Madrid to Catharine Livingston,
says--"All the world here are cursing Arnold, and pitying his wife."
* And Robert Morris writes--"Poor Mrs. Arnold! was there ever such an
infernal villain!" **
* MS. letter, 17th Dec., 1780.
** MS. letter.
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, the correspondence
with André was brought to life; suspicion rested on her; and by an order
of the Council dated October 27th, she was required to leave the State,
to 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 the popular belief in her innocence. M. de
Marbois relates that when she stopped at a village where the people were
about to burn Arnold in effigy, they put it off till the next night.
And when she entered the carriage on her way to join her husband, all
exhibition of popular indignation was suspended, as if respectful pity
for the grief and shame she suffered for the time overcame every other
feeling.
Mrs. Arnold resided with her husband for a time in the city of St.
Johns, New Brunswick, and was long remembered by persons who knew her
there, and who spoke much of her beauty and fascination. She afterwards
lived in England. Mr. Sabine says that she and Arnold were seen by an
American loyalist in Westminster Abbey, standing before the cenotaph
erected by command of the king, in memory of the unfortunate André. With
what feelings the traitor viewed the monument of the man his crime had
sacrificed, is not known; but he who saw him standing there turned away
with horror.
Mrs. Arnold survived her husband three years, and died in London in
1804, at the age of forty-three. Little is known of her after the
blasting of the bright promise of her youth by her husband's crime, and
a dreary obscurity hangs over the close of her career; but her relatives
in Philadelphia cherish her memory with respect and affection.
Hannah, the sister of Arnold, whose affection followed him through
his guilty career, possessed great excellence of character; but no
particulars have been obtained, by which full justice could be done to
her. Mr. Sabine says: "That she was a true woman in the highest possible
sense, I do not entertain a doubt;" and the same opinion of her is
expressed by Mr. Sparks.