But the great event of the Summer at the north, was the capture of the British Adjutant General, Major Andre, in the character of a spy, and the consequent detection of the treason of General Arnold. The annals of war furnish not a more flagrant instance of treachery than that Arnold was a brave man, who had shared largely in the confidence of Washington during the earlier years of the war; and although events had subsequently occurred which must seriously have shaken the faith of the Commander-in-chief in his private virtue and integrity, still he could not have entertained the slightest suspicion of his patriotism, or his integrity to the country; ignorant, probably, of the fact which will appear a few pages ahead, that even that _had_ been questioned, during the Canadian campaign of 1776. But, aside from Arnold's thirst for military fame, which certainly cannot be denied to him, his ruling passion was avarice. During his residence in Philadelphia, with the command of which he was invested after its evacuation by the British troops in 1778, he had lived in a style of splendor altogether beyond his means. Embarking largely in privateering and other speculations, he had suffered heavy losses; and to supply an exchequer which had been exhausted by an almost boundless prodigality, he had resorted to acts of oppression and base dishonor. Another device to obtain the means of indulging his extravagance, was the exhibition of accounts against the public, so enormous as to demand an investigation by a Board of Commissioners. Many of these accounts being disallowed by the Commissioners, Arnold appealed to Congress. A committee of re-examination was appointed; the report of which was, that the Board of Commissioners had already allowed too much. He was shortly afterward brought to answer for his peculations, and other malpractices, before a General Court-martial; and he only escaped being cashiered, by the death of one witness and the unaccountable absence of another. Still, his conduct was pronounced highly reprehensible by the Court, for which he was subjected to a reprimand from the Commander-in-chief. The impression, however, was strong, and very general, that he ought to have been dismissed from the army. Stung to the quick at these censures of the Congress, the Court, and of his commander--hating that commander now, if he had not done so before, fur the high-souled honor of his sentiments, and the exalted virtue and moral purity of his life--hating him the more bitterly because of his own fall--and stimulated to the foul purpose, like the Thane of Cawdor, by his wife, who was a traitress before him [FN-1]--Arnold had almost consummated his long-meditated treachery, [FN-2] when the arrest of the unfortunate Andre saved not only the citadel of the army, but probably the cause of the country itself.