EXAMINATION

OF

GENERAL WILKINSON'S CONDUCT,

IN RELATION TO

BURR'S CONSPIRACY.

CHAPTER I.

MUTATION of character, in public life, unhappily for mankind, is but too common; for such are the frailties of human nature, that the same man may, at different periods, be found virtuous and depraved, exalted and debased. An intimate acquaintance with an individual, cele. brated for his understanding, and distinguished by the public trust, is an object of laudable emulation. But, should such individual fall from the heights of honor, and incur the denunciations of his country, to have been his friend, or even his acquaintance, too frequently is converted into a source of reproach. This is the effect of an inevitable association of ideas, which extends the infamy as well as the glory of a principal figure, to the remotest objects with which it is connected.

There was a period of time, when the correspondence and friendship of colonel Burr could not be considered dishonorable. He had been a meritorious officer of the revolution; had accompanied the great Montgomery to the walls of Quebeck, and stood by his side when he fell. To genius and education, and knowledge and eloquence, he combined the most engaging manners. The highly respectable and powerful state of New York, had confided to him the representation of a moiety of her sovereignty, in the Senate of the Union; and the American people had voluntarily elected him to the second office of the govern. ment, thereby giving him a strong testimonial of their

confidence. Under such circumstances, an intimacy with colonel Burr could not affect the purity of any person's reputation.

A sympathetic remembrance is common to every soldier of the revolution, whose breast is not steeled against the finest feelings of nature. This sentiment, consecrated by the glorious cause in which they fought, derived force from the recollection of the sufferings and perils they had encountered together; and hence the friendship of colonel Burr and general Wilkinson, which was cultivated by the generous sensibilities of military men, and cemented by the interchange of good offices.

The rupture of a connexion thus formed, could not be effected by light circumstances, but required extraordinary proofs of guilt in one of the parties; for the pain excited by the suspicion of an old friend's dishonor, and the anxiety felt for his innocence, will always strongly resist the belief of his guilt, until the evidence of his criminality is made manifest; and in this generous sentiment, we perceive one of the safest guards of social harmony. It was by degrees, and under approaches the most insidious and equivocal, that the plot of colonel Burr was unveiled to general Wilkinson; and the jealousies excited at St. Louis in September, 1805, were not confirmed, but by his mysterious letter, Swartwout's explanations, and the intelli gence of James L. Donaldson, esquire, received at Natchitoches, in October and November, 1806. The discovery of colonel Burr's turpitude, cost Wilkinson many keen pangs of regret; but he neither paused over his duty, nor faultered for the line of his conduct, to discomfit the sinister enterprize. The moment he was satisfied that colonel Burr was engaged in an unlawful adventure, the instant he felt their hearts no longer vibrated in unison, he cut the chord of their friendship and discarded him forever.

By no association of ideas, therefore, ought general Wilkinson's former intimacy with colonel Burr, to be tainted with the odium of Burr's conspiracy; unless it can be demonstrated, by written proofs or by creditable witnesses, that Wilkinson's correspondence with Burr, while the latter enjoyed a good reputation, had reference to those transactions which produced his disgrace. It will appear in the sequel, that general Wilkinson in this particular, as well as in every other, stands acquitted of all connivance at the plot.

The mind of colonel Burr is extremely ardent, and strongly tinctured with ambition. At one point of time, he thought he saw the Presidential office within his reach; and it has appeared, that he grasped at it with an eagerness as censurable, as the principle upon which he claimed it was unrighteous. Fortunately for the nation, the attempt proved abortive: the colonel was condemned by the public voice, and the virulence of party spirit, eventually made him a political outlaw. If general Wilkinson had understood the extent of colonel Burr's ambitious intrigues, he would have been blameable for maintaining that friendly footing, which, in the first instance, was justified by the original causes of their intimacy. But colonel Burr solemnly averred, that the various imputations levelled at his consistency, were misrepresentations or fabrications. Wilkinson put confidence in the assurance of his friend, and always believed him an American in principle, a patriot in soul, and an injured man, until his own acts betrayed his guilty designs. Permit us, in this place, to tax the public attention with the following strong circumstances. The facts which verify colonel Burr's traiterous intentions, were scattered over a wide extent of country; they could only be collected as they sprung up, from the general inquiries which his movements produ ced; and it was not until after his arrest, that the full evidence of his guilt was developed.

It is upon every man's recollection, that in colonel Burr's contest for the government of the commonwealth of New York, so late as the year 1804, he was supported by the suffrages of more than twenty thousand freemen; but failing in this attempt, although he descended from the Vice Presidential chair with dignity and eclat, he became, in some degree, as a statesman, a stranger in his native land. One party had disowned him, and the duel, which terminated fatally for general Alexander Hamilton, had rendered him odious to the other. A sentiment favorable to colonel Burr still, however, prevailed. He had many zealous friends, many ardent admirers, and his humiliation had abated the animosities of his adversa. ries. His abilities were acknowledged; and, on the impeachment of judge Chase, his pre-eminence had been confessed. His loss to the councils of his country was regretted, and his recal became a subject of serious consideration to numbers; and among them, no one took a stronger interest than general Wilkinson.

During the winter and spring, 1805, it was frequently mentioned, as a desirable thing, that colonel Burr's talents should be secured to the House of Representatives. The colonel was dear to Wilkinson, who does nothing by halves; he was of course strongly inclined to a measure, so favorable to the recovery of the public confidence, which might restore colonel Burr's utility to his fellow citizens, and render the remainder of his life honorable to his name and to his country. In a conversation with the honorable Mr. Fowler, then of Congress, on this subject, he informed the general, that the honorable Mr. Lyon, then and now of Congress, had suggested the idea of colonel Burr's going to the state of Tennessee, where his election to Congress might, probably, be effected, as residence there was not a requisite qualification. General Wilkinson communicated the suggestion to colonel Burr, who listened to it with satisfaction; embraced the proposition with apparent alacrity, and requested the general to procure him an interview with Mr. Fowler, which was done; and after some conversation between them, it was agreed that colonel Burr should converse with colonel Lyon on the subject. The letter of Mr. Fowler, [Appendix, No. 1.] bearing date the 10th January, 1810, substantiates the fact, and explains and corroborates the correspondence, which afterwards took place on the same subject, between governor Harrison, colonel Burr and general Wilkinson. A letter also from colonel Lyon to general Wilkinson, [Appendix, No. 2.] under date November 19th, 1805, alludes to the same circumstance in the following expression, "Burr lost "the prospect in Tennessee, by not pursuing the road I "pointed out for him."

In consequence of the failure of Burr's election to Congress in Tennessee, and his despair of being returned for the territory of Orleans, general Wilkinson proposed to him a plan for his election from the Indiana territory, into which the colonel affected to enter, with great ardor; and Wilkinson accordingly wrote governor Harrison, on the 19th September, 1805, by colonel Burr, the very morning of his departure from St. Louis, intreating him to use his best exertions to "return the colonel to Congress." The tenor of that letter, [Appendix, No. 3.] will demonstrate, that general Wilkinson justly estimated the temper and disposition of colonel Burr; who, driven to desperation, and wandering through the country as a political outcast, might attempt any plan to recover his lost consequence

however embarrassing to the government, or injurious to the Union. Under these impressions the general, writing to governor Harrison, says "I will demand from your friendship a boon, in its effects co-extensive with the Union; a boon, perhaps, on which that Union may much depend; a boon, which may serve you, may serve me, and can disserve neither; a boon, which, from my knowledge of men, motives and principles, will be acceptable to those whose policies we are bound to support." The reader will here naturally recur to the official situations of governor Harrison and general Wilkinson, at the time this letter was written, and inquire "whose policies" they were "bound to support?" At the period in question, Harrison was governor of the territory of Indiana, and Wilkinson governor of Louisiana; they both derived their powers from the government of the United States: and, of course, they were bound to support the measures of the then existing administration. It was because Wilkinson was so bound to support, and because he was desirous to serve Burr, to avert possible mischiefs, and turn his abilities into an useful channel, that he wrote to, and implored governor Harrison, to procure colonel Burr a seat in Congress, in the place of Mr. Parke.

The import of this letter and the circumstances under which it was written, would suffice, were other proofs wanting to overthrow all the evidence which has been brought, to convict general Wilkinson of a connexion with Burr in his conspiracy; it was written the very morning Burr left Wilkinson, and of course subsequently to every other topic of conference: now if any sinister plot had been previously concerted between them, it is impossible Wilkinson should have exerted all his influence with governor Harrison, to procure for the colonel an appointment, which must necessarily have diverted his attention, from the active scenes of unbridled ambition, to the solemn functions of national legislation. Governor Harrison, however, did not consider the proposition practicable, and consequently no attempt was made to carry it into effect: colonel Burr himself, while at Vincennes, in the society of governor Harrison, wrote Wilkinson on the 26th September, 1805, and alluding to the subject [Appendix, No. 4.] says, " there is probably, some secret embarrassment, of which you and I are ignorant." was the first letter ever written by colonel Burr to Wilkinson of so mysterious a cast, and in which he departs

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