The summer and autumn of 1778 passed uneventfully for Washington and his army.  He was not strong enough to risk any severe fighting, but wished to be near the enemy’s troops to keep close watch on them and to take advantage of any mistake in their moves.  We cannot see how he could have saved himself if they had attacked him with force.  But that they never made the attempt was probably owing to orders from London to be as considerate of the Americans as they could; for England in that year had sent out three Peace Commissioners who bore the most seductive offers to the Americans.  The Government was ready to pledge that there should never again be an attempt to quell the Colonists by an army and that they should be virtually self-governing.  But while the Commissioners tried to persuade, very obviously, they did not receive any official recognition from the Congress or the local conventions, and when winter approached, they sailed back to England with their mission utterly unachieved.  Rebuffed in their purpose of ending the war by conciliation, the British now resorted to treachery and corruption.  I do not know whether General Sir Henry Clinton was more or less of a man of honor than the other high officers in the British army at that time.  We feel instinctively loath to harbor a suspicion against the honor of these officers; and yet, the truth demands us to declare that some one among them engaged in the miserable business of bribing Americans to be traitors.  Where the full guilt lies, we shall never know, but the fact that so many of the trails lead back to General Clinton gives us a reason for a strong surmise.  We have lists drawn up at British Headquarters of the Americans who were probably approachable, and the degree of ease with which it was supposed they could be corrupted.  “Ten thousand guineas and a major-general’s commission were the price for which West Point, with its garrison, stores, and outlying posts, was to be placed in the hands of the British."[1] The person with whom the British made this bargain was Benedict Arnold, who had been one of the most efficient of Washington’s generals, and of unquestioned loyalty.  Major John Andre, one of Clinton’s adjutants, served as messenger between Clinton and Arnold.  On one of these errands Andre, somewhat disguised, was captured by the Americans and taken before Washington, who ordered a court-martial at once.  Fourteen officers sat on it, including Generals Greene, Lafayette, and Steuben.  In a few hours they brought in a verdict to the effect that “Major Andre ought to be considered a spy from the enemy, and that agreeable to the law and usage of nations, it is their opinion he ought to suffer death.” [2] Throughout the proceedings Andre behaved with great dignity.  He was a young man of sympathetic nature.  Old Steuben, familiar with the usage in the Prussian army, said:  “It is not possible to save him.  He put us to no proof, but a premeditated design to deceive."[3]