Washington, about ten miles from the present City Hall. Washington sent orders to Putnam, who was in another part of the city, to evacuate immediately. Howe, with Clinton and Tryon, finding that they had made a successful entry, went to the house of Robert Murray, at Murray Hill, now near the site of Dr. Spring's new church, for the purpose of refreshment and rest. Mrs. Murray was an incorruptible Whig, and she hit upon the expedient of furnishing, with all the blandness and fascination of a lady of refinement, her guests with a good supply of cake and wine, by which she detained them for several hours, thus giving abundant time for Putnam with his men to leave the city, which they did by the Bloomingdale road, and escaped to the Harlem hights. Mr. Beekman had gathered together his movable property and departed, with his wife and nine children, up the Hudson to Esopus, now Kingston. Before leaving, however, he deposited all the crockery which he had, consisting of full sets of China and many curious articles in Dresden ware, in the earth beneath the floor of the coach-house. In a closet of one of the upper rooms of the mansion, he deposited some choice wines and grapes, and papered it over so as to conceal it. Howe and his officers made their headquarters at the Beekman House, and as the old gardener, John Hanna, was left to take care of the property, he was particularly faithful in not letting the Britishers know where the treasures were concealed, though often importuned so to do. The treasuries of the Beekman House were as perfectly hidden as were the treasures of Captain Kidd at "Hell Gate." The British soldiers pierced the ground all over the garden with iron rods, for the purpose of finding them, but had their labor for their pains. They remained safe till the family returned, and the rich vases were unearthed, while the wine had grown better by age, and the grapes had turned into raisins. The residence of Mr. Beekman, in Hanover Square, being spacious and eligible, was also selected as quarters for the British officers; and here Admiral Digby and Prince William Henry, then a midshipman, and afterward King of England, took up their abode. Washington called a council at Morris mansion for the purpose of arranging plans for future action. Among other things it was deemed proper to send a spy into the enemy's camp, provided the proper person could be found. The whole matter was intrusted to Colonel Knowlton, who commanded a regiment, denominated the "Congress's Own." He communicated the matter to the choice spirits of his regiment, but a great hesitation was manifested on account of the His hazardous nature of the enterprise. At length Captain Hale, a gallant officer and graduate of Yale College, volunteered for the service. friends tried to dissuade him, but he resolutely resisted all, and said if his country needed his services they should have them. Having made all the preparations necessary, he repaired to headquarters, and received from Washington his instructions, accompanied with orders to all American armed vessels to convey him wheresoever he might desire to go. Thus equipped he crossed the Sound to Oyster Bay, and made his way to the British camp at Brooklyn and vicinity. While there he made sketches and notes. He had attired himself in the garb of a country schoolmaster, wearing a suit of brown and a broad-brimmed hat. Thus disguised, he was enabled to pass the British lines, and it is generally believed that, after having fully investigated the position and circumstances of the enemy's camp on Long Island he crossed over to New York, which was overrun with British soldiers. Here he was in great danger, as was every citizen who went abroad without a royal protection in his pocket. Had he been arrested he would have most certainly been confined in the "Old Sugar House," from whose fearful gateway the dead cart daily bore away its victims who had died by starvation or poison from the hands of the merciless wretches who had charge of this prison. After accomplishing the object of his enterprise he retraced his steps, encountering the same difficulties, and arrived safely at "the Cedars," near Huntington Bay, where he had made an arrangement to meet a boat to convey him across the Sound. It was early morn, and across the placid waters he could discern the shores of Connecticut, his native state. Elated as he must been at his success, and feeling an honest pride swell his bosom that soon he would be able to communicate to Washington the results of his investigations, he was startled at the approach of a barge from a man-of-war filled with soldiers, who, presenting their muskets, commanded him to surrender or die. He was captured and taken on board the man-of-war, where he was searched, and between the soles of his shoes were found drawings of military works and descriptions of the same in Latin. He was immediately conveyed to New York, and reached it at the time of the dreadful conflagration which laid nearly one-half of the city in ruins. Soon after his arrival he was taken to the Beekman House, which, as we have before seen, was the headquarters of Howe. It was now the summer of 1776, and the plants and trees of the green-house had been removed to the sides of the walks in various parts of the garden. This being With genius' living flame his bosom glowed, And Science lured him to her sweet abode; In worth's fair path his feet adventured far, The pride of peace, the rising star of war; In duty firm, in danger calm as even, To friends unchanging, and sincere to Heaven. How short his course! the prize how early won! While weeping friendship mourns her favorite son." In connection with the melancholy history of Hale we may properly introduce that of André. Only four years after Hale was brought to the Beekman House a prisoner, the youthful and gallant Major André was a guest at the same house. Here he arranged his plans for delivering to Sir Henry Clinton the fortification at West Point. The room he occupied the night before leaving was shown us. It is the first room at the head of a flight of stairs leading from the hall connecting with the parlors, and is the same room in which the wine and grapes were concealed. From the Beekman House he went over to the Hudson, and took passage on the Vulture, a sloopof-war. The next day he arrived at Fort Mont empty, and being quite commodious, it was selected as a suitable place in which to try Hale. The notes found in his possession, the drawings of the intrenchments and fortifications, together with other items which he had collected for the use of General Washington, were proofs conclusive of his guilt, and it was no difficult matter to make out a case. Judgment was soon rendered, signed by Howe, in the name of George III. He was condemned as a spy, and sentenced to be hung the next morning at day-break. He was given over to the custody of a brutal Irishman, who was then provost marshal of the city, who took him to the prison, where the Hall of Record now stands, and was treated by him with the greatest indignity. After much entreaty he obtained writing materials, and addressed letters to his parents, to his brother, and to Miss Adams, to whom he was betrothed, but the infamous wretch who had him in charge, no sooner received them for delivery than on reading them tore them to pieces, exclaiming, "The rebels shall never see they had a man who could die with such firm-gomery, five miles below West Point, in company ness." A few hours more and morning came. It was the morn of a bright, beautiful Sabbath, in the early part of autumn. The place of execution selected was Rutger's orchard, not far from the spot where Stewart's mercantile establishment now stands. With hands tied behind him, and a convict's cap on his head, he was ordered by the provost marshal to enter the cart and take his place beside his coffin. Accompanied by a detachment of soldiers, and a mulatto hangman with rope and ladder, he was borne to the fatal spot. Just as the sun was rising he was ordered to descend from the cart, and the hangman having adjusted the rope around his neck, the other end of it was thrown over the limb of an apple-tree. The ladder was then placed against the tree, and he was ordered to ascend, which he did, with an intrepid calmness. The provost marshal then harshly demanded his confession and dying speech. At this the face of Hale was lit up with a glow of patriotism, and with an unfaltering tongue, in clear, manly tones, he exclaimed, "My only regret is that I have but one life to lose for my country." At this the enraged marshal cried out, "Swing up the rebel!" and the spirit of the young, the talented, and brave Nathan Hale passed away in peace to its God. Though a soldier, he was a sincere and devoted Christian, and though he met a felon's death, he found it in what he considered the path of duty. The following beautiful tribute was written by the Rev. Dr. Dwight, President of Yale College: "Thus, while fond Virtue wished to save, with Beverly Robinson, an American, residing at the lines through whom the communications had been carried on. Washington observed the vessel while crossing the river, but had no suspicion of the intended treason. Being furnished with passports from General Arnold, André and Robinson landed, and were received by the traitor at the landing. André retained his regimentals, though he had taken the precaution to put on a gray overcoat. Having arranged all the details of the proposed treason, Arnold delivered to André draughts of the works at West Point, and memoranda of the forces under his command. André then returned to the beach, in hopes of being immediately conveyed to the Vulture, but the ferrymen, who were Americans, having observed with suspicion the vessel, it having been fired upon by Colonel Livingston from Verplanck's Point, and having retired down the Hudson, under these circumstances, they refused to carry him, and as Arnold would not interpose his authority he was obliged to change his uniform for a less suspicious dress, and return by land. Accompanied by Smith, an emissary of Arnold, and provided with a passport under the assumed name of Anderson, he set out and reached a spot from which he could see the ground occupied by British soldiers. As he was entering Tarrytown, which if he had succeeded in doing he would have been beyond the reach of the enemy, an armed man started from a thicket by the roadside, and seizing his horse by the reins demanded to know where he was bound. No sooner was this done than two others came up. Instead of Hale, bright and generous, found a hopeless grave; presenting his passport, which he should have done, he asked them to which party they belonged. They instantly replied, "To below;" and this throwing him completely off his guard, he replied, "So do I. I am an English officer on urgent business, and do not wish to be detained." “You belong to our enemies," was the startling rejoinder, " and we arrest you." He then presented his passport, but it was too late. He then offered them his horse and money, and a large reward, but it was all of no avail. They then proceeded to examine his person, and in his boots they found the fatal papers. He was sent accordingly to the commander-in-chief to be tried as a spy. The court-martial, summoned by Washington, consisted of Generals Greene, Lafayette, and Knox, On his trial he concealed nothing, but frankly confessed the whole. Clinton used his utmost endeavors to save him, but all was of no avail. Could the traitor Arnold, who had fled the country, been found, it would have satisfied the demands of justice. He was condemned and hung at Tappan town, three miles west from the Hudson river, on the 2d of October, 1780. which seemed strong enough to guard the entrance to a castle, and has introduced some modern improvements, the interior remains as it did a century ago. The mantle-piece in the front parlor, over which hung the family coat of arms, which has been removed, is curiously and elaborately wrought. The arches over the mantles and doors do not meet, but have a niche about a foot in width, for what purpose we have not been able to learn. The mantle in the back parlor is made of four kinds of marble, and cost at the time a piece of property on Broadway valued at eight hundred dollars, but now worth one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Not the least interesting fact in the history of this old mansion is, that it is now occupied by a Methodist family, and the voice of praise and prayer are heard in its halls. Over the splendid mantle is hung that beautiful engraving representing the death scene of Wesley, and on its center-tables may be found, beautifully bound, copies of the Ladies' Repository. We must not close without mentioning the old coach which has come down in the Beekman family, untouched by way of repairs, for nearly a century. It bears upon the doors the family coat of arms. It is a four-horse coach, and looks as though it might last with moderate use a hundred years to come. It very seldom takes an in it, a thing we have not yet done, but which has been promised; and some of these days we hope with a pleasant party to take a jaunt to the High Bridge over the Bloomingdale road. IDA'S HAIR. BY NANNIE CLARK CUNNINGHAM. The British officers who occupied the Beekman House for several years were the most unscrupulous in regard to individual rights. Only one of them paid any rent. The gardener kept a record of the dates of arrival and departure of these unwelcome guests, from which it appears that Ad-airing, and it is considered quite a treat to ride miral Howe and Commissary Loring occupied it during the years 1776 and 1777, and that General Clinton occupied it from the last-named period to 1782. While occupied by Howe, to please a whim of Madame Loring, whose fame is celebrated in "The Battle of the Kegs," the chamber over the back parlor was decorated in blue and gold, and it retains the same color to this day. During its occupancy by Clinton, Madame De Reidesel, whose husband was a captain of the German troops at Saratoga, was invited to spend her summers there. This lady afterward published a volume, entitled "Letters and Memoirs relating to the war of American Independence." She thus writes: "The situation is uncommonly beautiful. Around the house we have meadows and orchards, at our feet the East river; not far from us the dangerous rocks called Hell Gate; many ships we thought were near foundering, but only one was actually driven upon the rocks and lost. General Clinton is with us often. We spend the summer in our delightful country seat, where the Misses Robertson contribute to enliven our company." It was while the Baroness Reidesel was occupying the house that André spent his last night in New York. Nothing can excel the quaint old architecture of this mansion. Though Mr. Dunscomb has removed the ponderous door to the front entrance, LITTLE lock of silken hair A crown as thornless and as light. Sweet little one! when years have flown, And woman's tresses grace her brow, Upon the lines I'm tracing now. But O! she can not, can not know How love through all my bosom steals; Then from its deepest depths I pray, And clothe her brow in Heaven's light. SOUVENIRS DE VOYAGE. BY C. G. COMEGYS, M. D. "Home, fare thee well, the ocean storm is o'er, The weary pennon woos the seaward wind; THE Fare, fare thee well, land of the free, No tongue can tell the love I bear to thee." HE heavy north-east gale had subsided; the fair, fresh north-wester following invited our ship to hasten on her voyage. With cheery strain and lusty chorus, that still rings in my ear, our anchor was weighed, and, like a great bird unfolding her wings, sail upon sail of the gallant Constitution" was loosed and sheeted home, which, gathering the favoring wind, bore her proudly beyond the "Hook" upon the broad ocean. The pilot left with loud huzzas; our course was set, and every thing snugly prepared for the long, rough voyage. The bosom of the sea, still fretted by the late gale, rolled confusedly, giving an irregular motion to the ship, that soon drove some light-headed voyagers, in terrible disgust, below; but I, from a little boyish familiarity with angry waters, was able to watch the shore and highlands fast sinking behind the wave. my childhood, I see you on this new theater undimmed, unchanged, yet more brilliant as I saw you at the home of my youth! Years have changed all there; the circle of that dear hearthstone is broken, the revered heads sleep in the tomb, the woodlands, meadows, hedges, old haunts, and companions, all gone or changed; but not the glorious stars that rise and set, and come and go with the changing seasons-in perpetual youth. To look at the heavens, I was the happy boy of my native home, full of brightest memories of the sweet times of youth; to look below, I was the anxious, mature man bound for a distant shore and the society of a strange people, leaving all that was dear behind, buoyed with the hope of doing what would eventually add most to their happiness. The packet-ship Constitution was of vast size, nearly two thousand tuns, a swift sailer, and dry. I had chosen by preference this mode of crossing the ocean, believing it safer than in a steamer. A steamship rolls and pitches more than a sailvessel, because it is steered in a right line from port to port without much regard to the winds or waves, while a ship using sail is compelled to be guided accordingly as the winds may blow, and thus the motions are less abrupt and most generally of a swinging kind. Moreover, a ship is more com How beautifully looked the bay of New York from the sea, the narrows, and the spacious har-pactly constructed than a steamer, and is not so bor beyond! Said the captain, "I have sailed from many ports, but none appear so beautiful, going or coming, as New York." As a boy reared upon the shore of one of our great estuaries, I had sometimes coasted, as a pleasure-trip, in the little shallops and schooners that carry the products of the farm to the marts of our great eastern cities, and some rough and frightful times, too, I had seen; but never before was I upon a great ship heading for the greatest deep and broadest expanse of the wild Atlantic. The breeze was strong, and brightly shone the sun, the light blue of the sky contrasting with the dark blue of the waters, whose tumultuous waves crested with foam rolled so wide and so free; the rushing ship with foaming prow and long, sparkling wake gave an exhilaration, if not intoxication of the brain, that kept me unweariedly pacing the deck, watching the sailors, the sails, and the ocean, unfatigued and unhungered, till the sun sunk at last into his watery couch, most gorgeously tinting in richest crimson, pink, and purple, the fleecy clouds of the western sky. Then the lamps of night were rapidly set in the deepblue dome, shining with a luster that can only be seen through the transparent atmosphere of the constantly strained by the workings of ponderous engines; nevertheless, in point of speed and safety on a coast, the steamship has greatly the advantage. In a sea voyage there is much that is tedious, much that is monotonous; but the sublime is never lost; every-where wave upon wave unceasingly rolling, and when storms arise, swelling angrily into mountain billows, tossing fiercely the proudest ship as but a cork upon their heaving surface. I could not but feel my helplessness in the midst of our roughest seasons when the ship, rolling heavily from side to side, was pressed down by the roaring blasts. But let the ocean heave, and the waves dash, man triumphs; he adjusts his sails and guides his ship in safety. Behold that little instrument so attentively regarded by those who direct the courses of the ship. From its center, lines radiate to all points; and no matter how much the vessel turns about, its chief point always shows the way of the north. It is the mariner's compass. By another instrument the latitude and longitude are determined, so that always, as in milestones on the high way, we know our way. It is of great interest to passengers, by the aid of the chart, to see the track they pursue, and observe how far they have receded from the land, and how far off is the wished-for port. Here we are upon the wide sea, every-where encircled by a horizon which moves, as it were, with us, and thus keeps constantly in view the same scene. The ocean is solitary-day after day the same deep-blue rolling waves, with their crests of white foam. What a wild solitude it becomes! I wondered, where are the numberless ships that freight the vast merchandise of these trading hemispheres! We were on the great highway of nations, but rarely saw a sail. Was commerce palsied? trade was never more rife. No, it is the vastness of the sea, though steam and sail are unceasingly at work, and though the same general course is pursued, yet hundreds meet and pass unknown. Now and then comes a lively cry, "Sail ho!" from the look-out at the mast-head-the direction is indicated, and all eyes and glasses are strained to see the stranger. First comes to view the topmost sails-she is behind the hill of waters yet; but at last, climbing up, we see the hull. We near each other. Beantiful sight is a noble ship under full sail, the tall, tapering masts, the graceful lines, the swelling canvas, the easy swinging roll, rising and falling as she plows the waves. There goes up the flag, first as a ball, but at the mast-head is shaken out, and the glorious flag of our country unfolds to the breeze the stars and stripes! If any one doubts his love of his whole country, every inch of it, north or south, let him travel outside of it, and on some fine day see unfurled our national standard! He feels no longer that he is from Ohio, or Maine, or Georgia, or California, but with thrilling cheer glories in being an American-" one country-one constitution-one destiny." That flag has been carried farthest to the north and to the south; it is a cheery sign wherever shown; even our missionaries in depths of heathen lands wrap it around the bier of their dying comrades! dash about more violently as they scent afar the approaching storm. At night, with head pillowed beneath the wing, they float upon the billowy cradle, lulled to sleep by the murmuring waters. Says the Psalmist: "The earth is full of thy riches; Wherein are things creeping innumerable, Both small and great beasts." The ocean is full of life, and in relation to its inhabitants, the watery depths they inhabit—its currents, its temperature, its immense depth, the nature of its bottom, and its geological formations, has, more especially within a few years, become a profound and valuable study. Our own naval officers have exceeded those of all other nations in illustrating this department of science. The Gulf Stream was first discovered by Franklin, while going out to France as our minister in the Revolutionary era; since then, many currents have been recognized by navigators, but it was left for the eminent Maury to map out the great currents of both oceans, which has resulted in shortening very much the East Indian voyages. But the depths of its waters were unknown till Lieutenant Brooke, of the navy, invented a very simple and easy contrivance to sound any depths, and determine, too, the nature of the bottom. Before this, only six or eight thousand feet could be determined with any accuracy; now the lead has gone down fifteen and twenty thousand, and there are portions of the Atlantic thirty thousand feet deep. In this way it is shown that the ocean has its irregularities of surface like the dry land; its deep gulfs, lofty peaks, and vast plateaus; so also the temperature of its water, which becomes colder the deeper the experiment is made, being 38° at a depth of fourteen thousand, and 44° at eight thousand feet. Though the ocean abounds in life, yet very great varieties in species exist at different depths; indeed, the enormous pressure, the cold and want of light at great distances down, make it uninhabitable for the great fish with which we are familiar. Into those deep, dark abysses the mighty leviathan never dives. There, exists no current, no drift, no agitation of storm, but an unchangeable temperature and perpetual calm. Every appearance of life, whether in the waters or air, is of great interest; even the sea-weed, borne north by that great ocean-river, the Gulf Stream, is a dear memento of the far-off land. The shoals of porpoises, spouting and darting around, and racing with our ship, excite especial interest; and accompanying us all the way we had the white-feathered gull. No mile of the voyage was we free from them; they seemed incessantly on the wing, skimming the waters in our wake, to pick up fragments of food thrown overboard or darting upon the unwary fish that came to the surface to get their share of the off-placed, and upon its soft texture imprint is made casts of the vessel. Beginning life in secluded and rocky fastnesses of the coasts they take to the sea as soon as they have strength of wing for what seems to be an unceasing poise in the air above the surface of waters. They scream and But nothing has more interested the naturalist than the revelations made by the sounding-rod of the deposits upon the sea-floor. Into a cupshaped depression of this instrument tallow is of a rocky bottom, or clings to it gravel, or shells, or mud. The most characteristic specimens obtained by sounding twice across between Newfoundland and Ireland, to find a bed for the "Atlantic cable," consisted of minute skeletons |