Benedict Arnold, an officer in the American revolutionary army, born in Norwich, Conn., Jan. 3, 1740, died in London, June 14, 1801. He was trained to mercantile pursuits, but, being of a restless and reckless disposition, was invariably unsuccessful in trade. He showed, however, considerable aptitude for military life, and at the outbreak of the American revolution was the captain of a company of Connecticut militia known as the "governor's guards.11 At the head of this command he repaired to Cambridge, Mass., after the battle of Lexington, and was commissioned a colonel. He cooperated with Ethan Allen in the capture of Forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point on Lake Champlain, and in the latter part of 1775 was appointed, in connection with Gen. Richard Montgomery, to the command of an expedition against Canada, whence with Montgomery he made (Dec. 31) a gallant but unsuccessful assault upon Quebec, receiving a severe wound in the leg. For these services he was rewarded by congress with the commission of a brigadier general. He remained on the northern frontier during the ensuing spring and summer, and, having organized a flotilla on Lake Cham-plain, fought a desperate battle on Oct. 11, 1776, with a greatly superior British force, in which he was worsted.

On the succeeding day he ran his vessels on shore and fired them, and then retired unmolested to Ticonderoga. Notwithstanding these exploits, he was omitted from the list of five major generals who soon after were appointed by congress. A letter from Washington soothed his wounded vanity, but there is little doubt that the injustice of congress in this instance first suggested to his | mind the idea of betraying his country. Receiving permission to visit Philadelphia, where congress was then sitting, he took part near Danbury, Conn., in an encounter with a superior body of British troops, and again distinguished himself by coolness and audacity in the presence of extreme danger. Congress finally commissioned him a major general, but still left him below the five others recently appointed, which only intensified his feelings of resentment. In the summer of 1777 he joined the northern army under Gates, and by a brilliant movement relieved Fort Stanwix, on the Mohawk, besieged by a large force of British and Indians. He was prevented by the-jealousy of Gates from taking an active part in the first battle of Bemus Heights, but in the second battle, Oct. 7, he entered the field without permission, led the last desperate charge against the Hessian encampment, and was se-verely wounded in the leg as he rode into the sallyport.

Having partially recovered from his wound, he was appointed in June, 1778, to the command of Philadelphia, then recently evacuated by the enemy. During the nine months that he occupied this position he governed with a high hand, and the council of Pennsylvania preferred charges of misconduct, for which he was tried by a court martial, and in January, 1780, was sentenced to be reprimanded by the commander-in-chief, who performed the unwelcome duty in as lenient a spirit as possible. Although in presenting his case to the court he had announced in exalted terms his devotion to the American cause, it was subsequently discovered that for many months previous he had been in secret and treasonable correspondence with the enemy. His marriage while in Philadelphia with Miss Shippen, a lady of strong tory predilections, also predisposed him to look favorably upon any scheme of betraval of his country. In this frame of mind he solicited and received the command of the works at West Point, alleging that his wounds still precluded him from active service in the field. He entered upon his new duties on Aug. 3, 1780, and established his headquarters at a house on the opposite bank, which had formerly belonged to Col. Beverly Robinson of Virginia, a tory.

He had now been nearly 18 months in treasonable correspondence with Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander-in-chief at New York, and his immediate object was the surrender to him of West Point, then considered the key of communication between the eastern and southern states. The correspondence was conducted on the part of Clinton by his adjutant general. Major Andre, who used the pseudonyme of "John Anderson," while Arnold signed him- . self "Gustavus." In September, 1780, the plot being ripe, Arnold requested a personal inter-view with Andre at headquarters to settle the final details. On the 18th, the very day when this meeting should have taken place, the arrival of Washington and his suite at Ver-planck's Point, on his way to Hartford to meet the French admiral Rochambeau, greatly embarrassed Arnold; but with characteristic audacity he showed him a portion of the treasonable correspondence having reference to the proposed conference, but which was so artfully worded as to disarm suspicion. Washington strongly advised Arnold to hold no meeting with persons coming from within the enemy's lines, as such an act, taken in connection with the recent court martial, might injure him in public estimation.

On the night of the 21st the meeting with Andre, who had disembarked from the British frigate Vulture, finally took place at the foot of Clove mountain, a few miles below Stony Point. It was continued into the morning of the 22d, when, having given Andre a safe-conduct to pass him through the American lines, and six papers disclosing the plans of the works at West Point and the strength of the garrison, Arnold returned to his headquarters. The Vulture having meanwhile dropped down stream in consequence of a fire from the American batteries, Andre was obliged to return to New York along the eastern bank of the Hudson, and on the 23d was captured near Tarrytown. The papers found on his person were at once despatched to Washington at Hartford; but Col. Jameson, the officer in whose charge he was placed, committed the error of informing Arnold of. the circumstance. After a hurried parting with his wife, Arnold was rowed in his barge to the Vulture, where he then basely delivered the oarsmen to the enemy; but Sir Henry Clinton at once ordered them to be released.

On the same day the papers found on Andre's person were examined by Washington, and the whole treasonable scheme was exposed, just in time probably to defeat the most formidable plan ever organized to crush the cause of American liberty. Arnold was rewarded for his treachery by a commission as major general in the British army, and took part in several marauding expeditions into Connecticut and Virginia. After the surrender of Cornwallis he went to England and received a considerable sum in money from the British government. His subsequent life was neither prosperous nor happy. He was shunned by men of honor and repeatedly insulted. After several unsuccessful attempts to engage in business in British America and the West Indies, he sank into utter obscurity. - James Robertson, second son of the preceding, born in the United States in 1780, died in London, Dec. 27, 1854. He entered the British army in 1798, and served with credit in many parts of the world. For several years he was an aide-de-cam]) of William IV. Three years before his death he was promoted to be a lieutenant general.