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have sometimes availed himself of his high posi-
tion to aid these speculations.

The charge of favouring the Tories may find
its explanation in a circumstance which possibly
throws a side-light upon his lavish use of money.
Miss Margaret Shippen, daughter of a gentleman
of moderate Tory sympathies, who some
years afterward became chief justice of
Pennsylvania, was one of the most beautiful and
fascinating women in America, and at that time
the reigning belle of Philadelphia; and no sooner
had the new commandant arrived at his post than
he was taken captive. The lady was scarcely
twenty years old, while Arnold was a widower of
thirty-five, with three sons; but his handsome
face, his gallant bearing, and his splendid career
outweighed these disadvantages, and in the autumn
of 1778 he was betrothed to Miss Shippen, and
thus entered into close relations with a prominent
Tory family. In the moderate section of the
Tory party, to which the Shippens belonged, there
were many people who, while strongly opposed to
the Declaration of Independence, would neverthe-
less have deemed it dishonourable to lend active
aid to the enemy. In 1778, such people thought
that Congress did wrong in making an
alliance with France instead of accept-
ing the liberal proposals of Lord North.
The Declaration of Independence, they argued,
would never have been made had it been supposed
that the constitutional liberties of the American
people could any otherwise be securely protected.
Even Samuel Adams admitted this. In the war

Views of the
moderate To-
ries.

Miss Margaret
Shippen.

-208-

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Publication Information: Book Title: The American Revolution. Volume: 2. Contributors: John Fiske - author. Publisher: Houghton Mifflin. Place of Publication: Boston. Publication Year: 1891. Page Number: 208.
    
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