Arnold's TempterComfort, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Freeman)
History
Arnold's Tempter
Comfort, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Freeman)
Arnold, Benedict, 1741-1801 -- Fiction; United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Fiction
Mollie received with her mother and Dr. Greydon when the guests came
into the reception room. She was beaming with good-nature but when she
saw Roderick Barclugh approaching with the brilliant and haughty Miss
Bessie Shippen on his arm the color rose to her cheeks as Barclugh
shook Mollie’s hand and lingered long enough to say:
“You charm me with your beauty and happiness this evening.”
Miss Shippen shook the hand of Mollie with hauteur and looked at her
gown with indifference; and when she and Barclugh passed on through the
crowded rooms, she remarked bitterly:
“I do not see why that young Quakeress turns the men so crazy.”
“Because she has sense, beauty and no guile in her heart,” retorted
Barclugh snappily.
Miss Shippen exclaimed:
“Ah, that is it!”
The Shippens, the Redmans, and the Chews were there among the chief
representatives of the Tory sentiment. They congregated in groups by
themselves and seemed to feel that their sentiments were not popular,
when they saw the brilliant assemblage of Whigs from every state,
conversing about the topics of the hour.
General Schuyler from New York was talking to M. de la Luzerne, the
French minister, about the campaign, spiritedly:
“This arrival of the French troops and the fleet at Newport has given
us new life, M. de la Luzerne,” explained General Schuyler. “General
Washington has gone to Hartford to meet Count de Rochambeau. Our
committee expect to hear from him at West Point on his return. The
campaign is expected to take on an active turn if Clinton moves out of
New York,” concluded the General.
“Thank you, General Schuyler,” returned the French minister suavely.
“By the way, General, did I ever tell you how Arnold wanted to borrow
money from me on account of his importance and influence in affairs?”
“Why, no. Do tell it,” insisted the General.
“This is strictly _entre nous_, General,” related the minister. “Arnold
wanted a loan from the French government and I quickly told him: ‘You
desire of me a service which would be easy for me to render, but which
would degrade us both. When the envoy of a foreign power gives, or if
you will, lends money, it is in order to corrupt those who receive it,
and to make them the creatures of the sovereign whom he serves; or
rather, he corrupts without persuading; he buys and does not secure.
But the firm league entered into between the King and the United States
is the work of justice and the wisest policy. It has for its basis a
reciprocal interest and good-will. In the mission, with which I am
charged, my true glory consists in fulfilling it without intrigue or
cabal, without resorting to any secret practices, and by the force
alone of the conditions of the alliance,’” concluded M. Luzerne.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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