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assailed? Harrassed with unceasing reports of the ap proach of the traitors, in vast force and formidable array; and beholding the associates of the conspiracy, stalking the streets of New Orleans, and preaching sedition and rebellion in broad day light. [See appendix, No. 94 to 114, inclusive.] Could he have decided otherwise than in favor of immediate action? Were not promptitude, decision and vigor necessary to the safety of the Union? In truth, Mr. Jefferson has very happily described Wilkinson's situation at New Orleans; and to judge correctly of his conduct, it is essential to a sound opinion, that his judges should place themselves in his situation, and only with his information. The facts within Mr. Randolph's knowledge, were indeed "too direct to be doubted," and the deductions which he drew from them, were strictly correct. Baton Rouge was indeed Burr's first object. Sensible of this, Wilkinson descended the Red river, and while he prepared for a pitched battle at Orleans, (which would have been taken by Burr's associates, but for the general's presence there,) he occupied the river above Baton Rouge, with the armed vessels, and prevented Burr's descent by water, to that place; and his force being too feeble to hazard a march across the Mississippi territory, his followers deserted him; his schemes were blown up, and then he opened those batteries against Wilkinson, which have not ceased to play upon him to the present hour.

It is beyond doubt, that, in a free country under a republican government, unforeseen events may produce extreme cases, wherein the tardy progress of legislative interference will oblige those in executive trust to exert extraordinary powers for the safety of the commonwealth ; and we may refer to the history of Virginia for an example. The Romans, in great exigencies, elected dictators with absolute powers. This, in the sequel, became an evil, for every dictator did not turn out a Cincinnatus. It seems much the safest course to leave the point open, and to commit the destinies of the nation, in an imminent crisis, to the virtuous resolution of those, who may be intrepid enough to volunteer, in behalf of their government and country; to rally the good sense of the people, to an absolution of a partial violation of the laws, and to uphold the active supporter of the public interests against the vehement attacks of the miscreants and their partizans whom he had defeated. There is, in fact, something ri diculous in condemning a man for the infraction of a law,

relative to the liberty and safety of half a dozen individuals, of more than suspicious character, when by the very infraction the liberty and safety of the whole society is preserved.

But what shall we say to the example of persecuting a man, who has defeated the machinations of a legion of traitors? Above all, what shall we say to that example of persecution, when it is notoriously instigated or carried on, by the discomfited associates, their public protectors and secret friends; and that in the height of this persecu tion, a representative of the very people who were thus saved from a civil war of doubtful issue, should wink at gross and illiberal artifices, calculated to destroy the man whose only crime has been the want of a selfish circumspection in his own behalf, and a total disregard of consequences, as they might affect his personal safety and fame, and the prosperity of his future fortunes.

What a lesson will it be to future commanders, in times perhaps more trying, when the lure of ambition and wealth shall tempt them on one hand, and duty dissuade them on the other. Will they not calculate the risk of trusting for indemnity to prejudiced judges, or to the cold blooded calculations of party politicians? Will they not cast a fearful eye upon the path of duty, and say, "on this road Wilkinson travelled, and, although faithful to his country, he has been suffered ignobly to fall. The traitors whom we may overthrow, will be dispersed, but not annihilated; they will assail us in ten thousand differ ent shapes; they will hunt us from the cradle, to the tomb; a life of public services will be ransacked for incidents; suspicions will be perverted into facts, and the merest indiscretions, converted into crimes; the press will teem with anonymous libels; politicians fearful of their popularity, will keep aloof; the envious, the jealous and the hostile, of every description, will contribute to the common stock of malevolence; those who are truly well disposed, will become shy; the world, deserting us in the midst of these oppressions, will hoot as we descend in the scale of opinion, and every ass will think himself at liberty to exhibit his heels."

Then turning to the path where treason invites to golden treasures, to high command and glorious triumphs, to royal diadems and imperial sway, "along this road" they will say "there is danger and there may be ruin, but the adventurers are of the best blood of the country; they

are courageous and at least will not abandon us, the bonds. of vice are stronger than those of virtue, and the chances are at all events in our favor; as therefore condemnation and disgrace is probable if we do our duty, and as these are the heaviest evils which can befall us in a traitorous. enterprize, let us pursue the path of daring treason and let the curses of our country follow us; of what importance are the curses of a people, who have no blessings, no benefits for their preservers." Such is the lesson to be taught by the persecutions of Wilkinson. Is there danger in it to the future destiny of the Union?

Mr. Jefferson in his letter to Wilkinson of the 3d February, 1807, draws the line within which a man in Wilkinson's situation may safely act, without authority against a band of traitors: "your sending here (to Washington) Swartwout and Bollman, and adding to them Burr, Blannerhasset and Tyler, should they fall into your hands, will be supported by the public opinion." But (continues Mr. Jefferson) "I hope you will not extend this deportation to persons against whom there is only suspicions or shades of offence not strongly marked; in that case I fear the public sentiment would desert you; because seeing no danger here, violations of law are felt with strength." We find accordingly that Wilkinson had not extended his deportations beyond this line, the suspicions and shades of offence against every man deported from the Orleans territory, were not only "strongly marked," but they were thus marked by the solemn oaths of respectable men; sufficient evidence of this would be affixed to this volume, were it not extraneous to the immediate question before us, which is, whether general Wilkinson was conerned with colonel Burr in the conspiracy.

What then ought to have been done by the government of the United States in relation to Wilkinson? Certainly a general act of indemnity and protection, ought to have been passed in his favour! This is the constant practice of the British parliament, in relation to such ministers as do any thing contrary to municipal law, in order to subserve the great and fundamental interests of the empire. If the whole American people could have been at New Orleans; if they could have been eye witnesses to the behaviour of the traitorous associates; if they could have seen how general Wilkinson was hemmed in by them, then they would have felt the necessity of displaying the the energy which he exhibited; but as Mr. Jefferson re

marks "seeing no danger here" (at Washington or elsewhere) "violations of law were felt with strength." This is the critical point for Wilkinson! Men at a distance from the scene of treason, perceiving no danger to them. selves, and reposing in perfect quiet, free from alarm, viewed the seizure and deportation of individuals as a henious act of injustice; the sober and comfortable citizen unmoved by the spirit of adventure; unaccustomed to reflect on the desperation of men embarked in an unlawful warlike expedition, was easily brought to look with horror on the violation of personal liberty. Knaves have known how to work this spirit to advantage, and they have, with an unholy zeal, invoked against Wilkinson the maledictions of his countrymen ; whether they will succeed so far as absolutely to crush him, is an affair of less importance to the general, than that they should not ruin his reputation with posterity; they may destroy his military fortunes, but they cannot despoil him of his honor, and when the grave has received him, justice will be done to his memory.

Let us for a moment calmly reflect upon the question, whether circumstances do not sometimes occur, which make it a duty in officers of high trust to assume authorities be yond the law? It is easy enough of solution in principle, but must be sometimes embarrassing in practice. A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the first duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self preservation, of saving our coun try when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those, who are enjoying them with us, thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means. When in the battle of Germantown, general Washington's army was annoyed from Chew's house, he did not hesitate to plant his cannon against it, although the property of a good citizen. When he besieged Yorktown, he levelled the suburbs, feeling that the laws of property must yield to the safety of the nation. While that army was before York, the governor of Virginia took horses, carriages, provisions, and even men by force, to enable that army to continue embodied, till it could master the public enemy, and he was justified. So in retreats, we destroy roads, and boats, and bridges, and houses, force the inhabitants from their homes, and despoil the country of its stock. A ship at sea, in distress for provisions, meets another having abundance, yet refu.

sing a supply the law of self-preservation authorizes the distressed to take a supply by force. In conflagrations, buildings are demolished to arrest the progress of the flames. In all these cases the unwritten laws of necessity, of self preservation, and of the public safety, control the written laws of meum and tuum.

After the affair of the Chesapeake, the nation considered war a very probable result. The unexpected outrage found our magazines unprovided in many essentials, for immediate defence, and no appropriation existed for their purchase. The executive was reduced to the alternative of anticipating the law, or exposing the country. He acted, and the necessary provisions were made. This might be called an usurpation, but the pressure of the occasion justified it to the government, and the measure was sanctioned by law.

But to trace this question further, and to silence cavil, we shall quote an authority, of which we shall have occasion to make much and frequent use in these memoirs. In the debate on the Georgia claims, the honorable Mr. John Randolph expressed himself in the following luminous manner: "It is from great first principles (to which the patriots of Georgia so gloriously appealed) that we must look for aid in such extremities. Yes, extraordinary cases, such as this, call for extreme remedies. They bid defiance to palliatives, and it is only from the knife and actual cautery that you can expect relief. There is no cure short of extirpation. Attorneys and judges do not decide the fate of empires." Can any thing be more precisely in point? Without indulging Mr. Randolph's sanguinary disposition, Wilkinson was inspired by his judgment, and acted under the sanction of his opinions, as a statesman and a legislator.

To proceed to the conspiracy of Burr, and particularly to general Wilkinson's situation in New Orleans. In judging the case, we are bound to consider the state of the information, correct and incorrect, which he then possessed. He expected Burr and his band from above, a British fleet from below, and he knew there was a formidable conspiracy within the city. [See appendix, 94 to 114.] Under these circumstances was he justifiable? 1st. In seizing notorious conspirators? On this there can be but two opinions, one entertained by the guilty and their accomplices, the other by all honest men. 2d. In sending

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