Andre's have been compared, was brought before General Howe at this place soon after his arrest. He was confined during the night in the conservatory, and the next morning, without even the form of a trial, was handed over to Cunningham, the inhuman provost marshal, who hanged him upon an apple-tree, under circumstances of peculiar cruelty. The act was intended to strike the minds of the Americans with terror ; it only served to exasperate and strengthen them.*'

The old Eeekman mansion, with its rural surroundings, remained uninvaded by the Commissioner of Streets until about ten years ago, I remember with pleasure a part of the day that I spent there with the hospitable owner. Then there were fine lawns, with grand old trees, blooming gardens, the spacious conservatory in which Hale was confined, and an ancient sun-dial that had marked the hours for a century. Over the elaborately- wrought chimney-pieces in the drawing-room were the arms of the Beekman family ; and in an outhouse was a coach bearing the same arms, that belonged to the first proprietor of the mansion. It was a fine old relic of New York aristocracy a hundred years ago, and one of only three or four coaches owned in the city at that time. Such was the prejudice against the name of coach -- a sure sign of aristocracy -- that Robert Murray, a wealthy Quaker merchant, called his "a leathern conveniency." But the beauty of the Beekman homestead has departed ; the ground is reticulated by streets and avenues, and the mansion is left alone in its glory.