Many of the fair daughters of the Philadelphia loyalists were captivated by the young British officers. Among the latter was not one more fascinating than Major André, and no one was more welcome into the best society. He formed warm friendships with several leading families; among others, that of Edward Shippen, one of the wealthiest and most cultivated citizens, whose youngest daughter married General Benedict Arnold. Late in May, 1778, General Howe surrendered the command of the army into the hands of Sir Henry Clinton, and prepared to return to England. The officers of the army, who were very much attached to him, resolved to give him a spectacular parting entertainment which should eclipse in novelty and splendor anything ever seen in America. In the conception and preparation of the entertainment the genius of André, in all its phases, was brought into requisition. He designed the decorations, the costumes to be worn, even the ticket of admission to the show. The entertainment was called _Mischianza_--a medley. It was given at the country-seat of Thomas Wharton, a Philadelphia Quaker--a fine, stately mansion, with spacious grounds around it, standing near the present navy-yard. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 12: In a letter to the Right Honorable Lady Butler, dated Lichfield, June 4, 1798, Miss Seward speaks of the picture as follows: "Honora Sneyd, after she became Mrs. Edgeworth, sat to Smart, at that time a celebrated miniature-painter. He totally missed the likeness which Major André had, from his then inexperience in the art, so faintly and with so little justice to her beauty, caught. Romney accidentally, and without ever having beheld her, produced it completely. Yes, he drew, to represent the Serena of the 'Triumph of Temper,' his own abstract idea of perfect loveliness, and the form of the face of Honora Sneyd rose beneath his pencil." Serena is represented reading by candle-light.] CHAPTER II. In a letter to his friend Miss Seward, dated Philadelphia, May 23, 1778, Major André gave the following account of the great _fête_ in honor of General Howe: "That our sentiments might be the more unreservedly and unequivocally known, it was resolved among us that we should give him as splendid an entertainment as the shortness of the time and our present situation would allow us. For the expenses the whole army would most cheerfully have contributed; but it was requisite to draw the line somewhere, and twenty-two field-officers joined in a subscription adequate to a plan they meant to adopt. I know your curiosity will be raised on this occasion; I shall, therefore, give you as particular an account of our _Mischianza_[13] as I have been able to collect. [Illustration: The Mischianza Ticket.--(Drawn by Major André.)[14]]