320 HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER. 



silver mcdalon — one side of which shall be a shield with this inscription, " Fi- 

 delity^ and on the other, the following motto, "Vi7icit amor jwtrice," and for- 

 ward them to the Commander-in-Chief, who is requested to present the same, 

 with a copy of this resolution, and the thanks of Congress for their fidelity and 

 the eminent service they have rendered their country. 



The State also gave each a farm. 



The Westchester County Bank, at Peekskill, has commemorated this 

 important event on its bills, by a beautiful vignette picture representing 

 the arrest of the spy. He is in the act of supplicating his captors to let 

 him escape, the discovered papers are in the hands of one of them, and 

 the stern eyes of the others evince the determination to listen to no sug- 

 gestions but those of patriotism. The form and features of Andre are ad- 

 mirably depicted, and a miniature hangs in his bosom exquisitely finished. 

 This was a likeness of Miss Honora Sneyd, to whom he was devotedly 

 attached. a The picture had been painted by himself from the living 

 features of the object of his affections. In 1775, he was taken prisoner 

 by General Montgomery, at St. Johns, Canada; a few months after- 

 wards, in a letter to a friend, he observes, " I have been taken prisoner 

 by the Americans, and striped of every thing except the picture of Hon- 

 ora, which I concealed in my mouth. Preserving that, I think myself 

 fortunate."* To this touching incident Anna Seward refers in her poem 

 upon Andre. 



' ' Shade of my love 

 'Tis free ! These lips shall resolute enclqse 

 The precious soother of my ceaseless woes." 



The above vignette suggested the following stanzas : 



" Before their country's foe they stand, 



Each with a stern and searching eye ; 

 Grasped with a firm and honest hand, 



The hostile records open lie ; 

 They read, and as each noble brow 



Wears the quiet shadow of resolve, 

 The true and just exhibit now, 



The secret which they dared to solve. 



Away with gold ! It has no power 



To turn the true heart from its quest ; 

 The ordeal of this solemn hour 



Gives firmness to the patriot's breast ; 

 And as the tempter's art is tried, 



a This lady died of consumption only a few months before ,\ id at Tappan. She 



had married another gentleman four years after her engagement to Andre, which had been 

 dissolved by parental affection.— [See Letters about the Hudson, published by Freeman & 

 Hunt, 1837 



b See Sparks' Life of Arnold, p. 171. 



