"HERE DIED, OCTOBER 2, 1780, MAJOR JOHN ANDRÉ, OF THE BRITISH ARMY, WHO, ENTERING THE AMERICAN LINES ON A SECRET MISSION TO BENEDICT ARNOLD, FOR THE SURRENDER OF WEST POINT, WAS TAKEN PRISONER, TRIED AND CONDEMNED AS A SPY. HIS DEATH, THOUGH ACCORDING TO THE STERN RULE OF WAR, MOVED EVEN HIS ENEMIES TO PITY; AND BOTH ARMIES MOURNED THE FATE OF ONE SO YOUNG AND SO BRAVE. IN 1821 HIS REMAINS WERE REMOVED TO WESTMINSTER ABBEY. A HUNDRED YEARS AFTER THE EXECUTION THIS STONE WAS PLACED ABOVE THE SPOT WHERE HE LAY, BY A CITIZEN OF THE UNITED STATES, AGAINST WHICH HE FOUGHT, NOT TO PERPETUATE THE RECORD OF STRIFE, BUT IN TOKEN OF THOSE BETTER FEELINGS WHICH HAVE SINCE UNITED TWO NATIONS, ONE IN RACE, IN LANGUAGE, AND IN RELIGION, WITH THE HOPE THAT THIS FRIENDLY UNION WILL NEVER BE BROKEN." On the north face: "HE WAS MORE UNFORTUNATE THAN CRIMINAL." "AN ACCOMPLISHED MAN AND GALLANT OFFICER." GEORGE WASHINGTON. The first of these two lines was quoted from a letter of Washington to Count de Rochambeau, October 10, 1780. (See Sparks's "Life and Writings of Washington," vol. vii, p. 241.) The second line is from the sentence of a letter written by Washington to Colonel John Laurens on the 13th of October. (See Sparks, vol. vii, p. 256.) On the north face of the stone are the words: "SUNT LACRYMÆ RERUM ET MENTEM MORTALIA TANGUNT." The east front was left blank for another inscription. [Illustration: Memorial at Tappaan.] Such, in a few sentences, is the story of the erection of the memorial-stone at Tappaan by Mr. Field. The idea was the product of spontaneous thought, elicited by a special occasion. The sole object to be attained is the laudable and patriotic one of perpetuating, by a visible record, the memory of one of the most important events in our history, at the place of its occurrence. That event has two prominent aspects, namely: the courage, patriotism, faith in the American people, and the unswerving fidelity in the discharge of a momentous trust, of our beloved Washington and his officers, in the face of most extraordinary temptations to do otherwise; and the execution as a spy of the adjutant-general of the British army, while that army, twenty thousand strong, was lying only a few miles distant, and supported by powerful ships of war. These were the events to be commemorated by this memorial-stone, and not the name or character of any individual. It was no more a monument "in honor of Major André, the British spy," than was the monument of white marble, twenty-five feet in height, which was erected by patriotic men, in 1853, to mark the spot at Tarrytown where the spy was captured, or the naming of the rivulet near which it stands "André Brook." Surely every intelligent and right-minded American, clearly comprehending the truth of the whole matter, will award to Mr. Field the meed of praise for his generous and patriotic deed.