Page:Letters of John Andrews.djvu/12

 (j LETTERS OF JOHN AKDREWS.

August, 1T7<;. His administrator, Stephen Collins, naively writes of this evenl to Mr. William Langdon: "lie did not Beem to have any expectations of being near his end, though he had his senses to the last, or nearly so, having never made any mention of a future stale during his illness." In his life he had not only been a warm Whig in opinion and words, l.ut seems to have been, at one time at least, in arms for the American cause; and, when the British occupied Philadelphia, there appears to have been some attempt made by them to get at the effects he had left behind him. These v\ estimated at about £500 or £600 sterling in value. They were appraised at £5,719 currency after the English had left Philadelphia, and were sold for about £10,000 currency. When these letters were first placed in Mr. Fisher's hands, he very naturally submitted them to the examination of the late venerable Samuel Breck, Esq., — a nephew of Mr. John Andrews, — who at once recognized them as the productions of his uncle, whom he had formerly known and still remem- bered. Mr. Breck urged their preservation in some suitable form of publication ; and, with his wonted kindness, communi- cated several facts explanatory of circumstances connected with them: —

"Benjamin Andrew?," he said, "alluded to in the letter of April 11, 177< - ,. was the elder brother of John. Shortly after this date, my uncle Benjamin was writing in his parlor on some business, preparatory to a journey into the country the next day. His friend Benjamin Hitchborn, a lawyer of eminence, sat near the chimney, preparing for use a pair of pistols, — without which, in tliosedays.no one ventured to travel, — when, by some awkward turn, the pistol which lie held in his hand exploded, and killed Andrews on the spot. The very melancholy event was supposed to be accidental ; and Hitchborn, who married my widowed aunt, took the best possible care of her children by Andrews, whom he educated and established in life with true parental affection.

•• Mr. Breck, so frequently mentioned, was myfather, and brother- in-law of John Andrews. During that period of trouble and danger,

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