tly informed of
all the circumstances on which a judgment ought to be formed, and
that, in order that he might be perfectly apprised of the state of the
matter before he proceeded to put that judgment in execution, he
should send a commission on the following day, composed of
Lieutenant-governor Elliot, William Smith, chief justice of the
province, and Lieutenant-general Robertson, to wait near Dobbs' Ferry
for permission and safe conduct to meet Washington, or such persons as
he should appoint to converse with them on the subject. This letter
caused a postponement of the execution, and General Greene was sent to
meet the commissioners at Dobbs' Ferry. They came up in the morning of
the 1st of October, in a schooner, with a flag of truce, and were
accompanied by Colonel Beverley Robinson. General Robertson, however,
was the only commissioner permitted to land, the others not being
military officers. A long conference took place between him and
General Greene, without any agreement of opinion upon the question at
issue. Greene returned to camp promising to report faithfully to
Washington the arguments urged by Robertson, and to inform the latter
of the result.

Greene, in a brief letter to General Robertson, informed him that he
had as full a report of their conference to the commander-in-chief as
his memory would serve, but that it had made no alteration in
Washington's opinion and determination. Robertson was piqued at the
brevity of the note, and professed to doubt whether Greene's memory
had served him with sufficient fulness and exactness; he addressed
therefore to Washington his own statement of his reasoning on the
subject; after despatching which, he and the other commissioners
returned in the schooner to New York.

{Illustration: MAJOR JOHN ANDRE. Vol. IV.}

During this day of respite Andre had conducted himself with his usual
tranquillity. A likeness of himself, seated at a table in his
guard-room, which he sketched with a pen and gave to the officer on
guard, is still extant. It being announced to him that one o'clock on
the following day was fixed on for his execution, he remarked, that
since it was his lot to die, there was still a choice in the mode; he
therefore addressed a note to Washington, concluding as follows: "Let
me hope, sir, that if aught in my character impresses you with esteem
towards me; if aught in my misfortunes marks me as the victim of
policy and not of resentment, I shall experience