Part 209

But, sir, independent of all these circumstances, I would ask nothing more to discredit the witness than the internal evidence of falsehood which his deposition bears. What can be more incredible than the facts he states? Mr. Smith is an associate in Burr’s conspiracy, and yet never commits an act which evinces the least participation in it, never affords it the least support, never endeavors to interest his friends and dependents in it, but would have remained wholly unknown and unsuspected but for his disclosure to Elias Glover; and this confidant, whom he thus highly trusts, was at that very moment, and before and afterwards, his open and irreconcilable enemy.

He further tells us that he received this communication “under the strictest injunctions of secrecy; that to divulge it on any occasion less pregnant with evil would reflect infamy and disgrace upon his character and conduct, and that he therefore balanced between his honor and his patriotism, before he could divulge it.” Now, can Mr. Glover reasonably expect any one to believe this? And if we were thus to indulge him, how much reputation would he save by it? Does a man of character ever allow any circumstances, however “pregnant with evil,” to induce him to receive a communication, promise to conceal it, and then divulge it? Where, sir, does he find a sanction for a doctrine so absurd and detestable? Does that sacred volume which he has dared to profane with his touch, and thus openly contemns, allow any such dispensation from the eternal and immutable laws which it awfully commands us on all occasions to observe? Is any such ridiculous exception to be there found, which shall justify a man in violating the plainest rule of morality and becoming a scoundrel for the good of his country? But even if this pretext could account for his disclosure to Nimmo, in November, it can be no pretence for his afterwards voluntarily and certainly unnecessarily reducing it to an affidavit in February. Some delay in making out this deposition might be necessary, from the nice balance which he tells us he was adjusting. With his honor in one scale and his patriotism in the other, it is not wonderful that it should take him a month or two to ascertain which of these two straws was the heaviest; but it is singular that his patriotism should not preponderate till all symptoms of danger to his country had disappeared--till the conspiracy was completely defeated.

There are, sir, two other depositions relative to the credit of this witness which I had intended to notice. Mr. Longworth details to us a conversation held between him and Glover, early in February, and just after he had made his affidavit. Glover then told him that he had not “acted against Mr. Smith;” that “he thought him unjustly accused,” and believed “he had no share in the conspiracy.” In the April following, Dr. Lanier’s deposition informs us of an interview (at which he was present) between Mr. Smith and Glover. How strongly marked is the conduct of each on that occasion. In Mr. Smith we see the firmness of an innocent man, indignantly daring forth his slanderer, and in the other a soul as contemptible for its meanness as detestable for its vices, descending (if indeed such a creature can properly be said to descend to any thing) to the grossest falsehoods and most humiliating prevarications.

I have done, sir, with this witness. I fear I have detained the Senate unreasonably upon this subject. I therefore leave him to that contempt which I trust he will meet with here, and to that punishment which public justice will hereafter inflict upon him. For should he escape from this, I have no doubt it will be owing more to his own agility than to the crippled condition of our courts. Nor shall I have much apprehensions of his acquittal, even if he is allowed to plead that “he is possibly innocent.”

I now proceed to make a few hasty observations upon the circumstantial testimony offered by other witnesses in support of this accusation, and first by Peter Taylor. The circumstances principally relied on in the statement of this witness is the conversation which he details between Mr. Smith and himself, and particularly the charge which Mr. Smith, he says, gave him “not to go to a tavern, lest the people should sift him with questions.” Admitting this conversation to be correctly repeated, nothing can be more unfair and unreasonable than to infer from it that Mr. Smith was concerned in the conspiracy, or even acquainted with its object. May it not be more properly attributed to his knowledge of the public agitation, which Mr. Burr’s movements had excited, his belief that they were innocent, and his apprehensions that this agitation might be dangerously increased by Peter Taylor’s representation and exaggerations of Mrs. Blannerhasset’s alarm. There are various other motives equally pure to which this direction might have been owing, and it would therefore be unjust to attribute them to a criminal one. It could not have arisen from any fears in Mr. Smith that this man would disclose any of the plans of the conspirators. He had himself already “sifted him with questions” and could learn nothing, and therefore could not have supposed that others would be more successful.

But, sir, this admission is fully as unreasonable as the conclusion attempted to be drawn from it. We do not impeach the character of Peter Taylor; we do not say that he has wilfully misrepresented this conversation, but we deny him that degree of intelligence, recollection, and accuracy, so essential to a witness who is to repeat a conversation with necessary correctness. Can this honorable House infer guilt from words, without very strong evidence that they are accurately related? The least variation, the suppression or addition of a syllable, may make the most material difference. May he not have misunderstood Mr. Smith? May he not have forgotten parts of the conversation, and be indistinct and confused in his recollection of it? We have, sir, among these depositions a most remarkable instance, in which two gentlemen, both respectable and intelligent, undertake to detail to us the particulars of one of Mr. Smith’s conversations, (I mean Col. Taylor and Dr. Sellman,) and their statements are directly contradictory. Let us now look for a moment at the deposition of this witness, and see whether it bears those marks of accuracy which should entitle him to attention. Besides that gross stupidity so observable in every sentence of it, there are several of the most palpable misstatements contained in it. First he tells us that Dudley Woodbridge was on the bank of the river when the boats left the island, after midnight, and yet that person and the man who slept with him, depose that he was not out of bed after 10 o’clock. Again he states, in his last deposition, that when he went to Mr. Smith’s they had never seen each other before, and yet on his examination at Richmond he had stated that Mr. Smith knew him; and this strange contradiction is made, although the statement of his former evidence, in the Richmond Enquirer, was but the moment before read over to him, and acknowledged to be correct. There is one other remarkable instance, which shows that he cannot even remember with any tolerable distinctness his own conversations. On the statement of his evidence at Richmond he tells us that when Blannerhasset and himself were returning to the island, after he had left Mr. Smith’s, he was urged by him to accompany him in this expedition, that he refused all the honors offered him, unless he should be permitted to take his wife with him. Now, sir, he could have said no such thing to Blannerhasset, for his wife had been dead for a month or two; he himself admits in his subsequent deposition that she died in September, and this conversation took place late in October or early in November following.

It is totally immaterial to what cause these palpable misstatements are to be attributed; they essentially affect his accuracy as a witness, and show how little reliance is to be placed on this part of the evidence.

There are various other circumstances which have been collected by the malignant industry of Mr. Smith’s enemies, in that strict scrutiny to which all his actions have been subjected, and these have been exaggerated and distorted till they were made to bear some suspicious appearances. Of these it can be necessary to say but little. I rejoice that Mr. Smith has been enabled to present so complete and satisfactory an explanation of them. Of his entertaining Colonel Burr at his house I shall say nothing, since if that fact merited consideration, it would equally criminate most of the respectable people in Cincinnati, and particularly Colonel Taylor himself, who informed us that he waited on Colonel Burr and invited him to dinner.

But it is said he corresponded with Colonel Burr; true, sir, but in what manner? Not in cipher, as it is well known the associates in this project made their communications to each other; or in any secret manner whatever. Mr. Smith immediately and publicly speaks of it. We have offered the depositions of many of the first characters in that country, to whom Mr. Smith showed these letters just after they were written; of one particularly who was present when he received Colonel Burr’s answer from the post office, and to whom he instantly handed it. We have produced to you these two letters and they contain nothing criminal; nothing but what persons in their situation and with their views might be supposed to have written. Nor can there be the least pretence for supposing they were fabricated for the purpose of removing suspicions. For at the time they were shown by Mr. Smith he was suspected by nobody, nor had he any reason to suppose he ever should be.

He has been also charged with receiving and forwarding despatches from Blannerhasset to Burr. This circumstance is mentioned by Col. Taylor, as one which operated to Mr. Smith’s disadvantage. Now, sir, he has shown the nature of these despatches by the depositions of persons who were requested to convey them, and by others who saw them opened, and by many to whom Mr. Smith openly spoke of them. They contained a silk coat and a note from Blannerhasset requesting him to forward it to Mr. Burr.

Equally unreasonable were the conjectures formed from his having accepted and paid a draught of Colonel Burr’s. To this circumstance we have offered every explanation of which it was susceptible. We have proved by various depositions that it is usual for persons travelling in that country to deposit their money in safe hands and afterwards draw for it, and we have clearly shown that this draught must have originated in that manner from Mr. Smith’s mentioning it at the time. General Carberry informs us that about the time of Colonel Burr’s departure, Mr. S. told him that he had left in his care a part of his baggage and a sum of money. All these circumstances, Mr. S., if guilty, would have endeavored to conceal; and yet it appears that the first information of them, and that too immediately on their occurring, is uniformly derived from himself. Neither can his guilt be inferred from his son’s being the bearer of a letter to Blannerhasset’s island, even if it were admitted (of which, however, there is not the least shadow of proof) that he knew the contents of the letter he carried. Mr. Smith has proved that he was then, and had been for some time, absent from home, and that he expressed strong disapprobation of his son’s imprudence upon his return.

Another incident in this string of vague possibilities is his happening to go to Frankfort at a time when Colonel Burr was there. He has explained the motives of this journey. Mr. Kelly, Mr. Hart, and several other gentlemen depose to the business which occasioned it.

His absence from the United States at the time the indictment was found against him, is, I understand, also relied upon. If this indeed appeared to have been owing to any desire to avoid an investigation into his conduct, if he had sought to remain within the Spanish territory, and had been unwillingly brought forward to answer this charge, it would indeed have been a circumstance amounting to proof infinitely stronger than all which this inquiry has produced. But if his conduct was directly the reverse of this; if he was carried there by important and indispensable engagements; if, when there, informed of the indictment, he immediately relinquished his business, and took the most prompt and decided steps to return and face the prosecution, and did so return, (of all which he has produced the most conclusive evidence;) then, sir, this circumstance not only ceases to afford any presumption of guilt, but clearly evinces his innocence.

Having now, sir, endeavored to show the futility of the testimony adduced to support this charge, it might be sufficient here to rest our defence of the honorable member accused. But, sir, though more may be unnecessary, I rejoice that more is in our power; that we have been enabled not only to destroy the force of the proof offered to criminate him, but to exhibit the most complete and direct evidence of his innocence. I am sensible, sir, that I have trespassed greatly upon the indulgence of this honorable Senate. I shall not, therefore, take that view of this part of the case which its importance deserves; but will only beg leave to suggest a few considerations which appear to my mind unanswerable, which will render all doubt upon this subject (if indeed a doubt yet remains) utterly impossible.

In the first place, to what but his innocence can it be attributed that such numbers of the conspirators knew nothing of his association with them? We have produced the depositions of several who appear to admit that they had been induced to participate in this enterprise, and they declare their ignorance and disbelief that Mr. Smith was in any way concerned in it. Nay, sir, let us look at the declarations of their chief, Colonel Burr himself. He has various communications with persons whom he was desirous to bring over to his views, many of which are detailed to us in the report of the evidence at Richmond. In these he makes the most flattering representations of his prospects, endeavors to show the adequacy of his means, the number and consequence of his adherents. Among these he never mentions Mr. Smith, though there was no man, in the whole Western country, the importance of whose co-operation would have been more obvious. Here is one striking instance of this, which I beg leave to mention. Lieutenant Jackson deposes that when Colonel Burr gave him the draught on Mr. Smith, he directed him to call on General Tupper, to whom he referred him for information relative to the objects of the enterprise. Now, sir, if Colonel Burr had known Mr. Smith as one of his associates, why should he have been silent on this occasion; why should he not have allowed Mr. Jackson to get his information from Mr. Smith, when he presented his draught, without proceeding to General Tupper?

All the other conspirators seem equally ignorant of Mr. Smith’s participation. When Bollman and Swartwout communicated with General Wilkinson, in the most unreserved manner, they seem to know nothing of it; they give him no intimation that the army contractor, the very man who was supplying his troops with provisions, had any connexion with their schemes.

Let us even descend to Glover and McFarland; that these men were engaged in this expedition, after the proofs we have produced, cannot be questioned. And what are they able to say to criminate Mr. Smith?

If they were all living in the same place, associates in the same conspiracy, is it possible they would not have had frequent interviews? Would they not have had it in their power to produce some act, or at least some avowal to others, by which his guilt could be proved, beyond the possibility of denial? Yet we hear Mr. McFarland frequently acknowledging and twice even swearing that he knew nothing of Mr. Smith’s connexion with it; and all that their malignant efforts have enabled them to collect, is one solitary conversation depending wholly upon the unsupported assertion of Elias Glover.

Thus, sir, it appears that if Mr. Smith was a party in this conspiracy, the persons from whom he most studiously concealed it were those who were associated in the same project. Neither are they more fortunate who were particularly engaged in watching the progress of this enterprise and ascertaining who were its partisans. General Gano states that he used various means to determine whether the reports relative to Mr. Smith were well founded, and he satisfied himself of his innocence. He also directed Major Riddle to assist this inquiry; that officer reported to him that he had frequent conversations with Mr. Smith, and had endeavored to ascertain whether he knew anything of Burr’s plans, and was convinced that he did not. Even Colonel Taylor, with whom these suspicions were strengthened by the conversation relative to a disunion, which he thought he had heard from Mr. Smith, was yet so far from discovering any thing to confirm them in his inquiries, that he calls on Mr. Smith to aid him in procuring information, and frequently declares (as General Carberry’s deposition informs us) that he did not believe Mr. Smith was an accomplice.

In the next place, sir, how can Mr. Smith’s guilt be in any manner reconciled with his conduct in opposing the progress of the expedition. Major Martin, Dr. Stall, General Gano, Mr. Totten, and numerous other witnesses, prove that it was principally owing to Mr. Smith’s exertions that any effectual support was rendered to the measures of Government. When the President’s proclamation was received at Cincinnati, it seems there was no means of arming the militia. The orders to the keepers of the arsenal, to deliver out the public arms, had been neglected, and he persisted in refusing to deliver them without. At this juncture Mr. Smith, with that earnestness and decision which so strongly mark his character, crosses the river at midnight, offers his bond to Major Martin, in the penalty of $10,000, to indemnify him; procures the arms, and delivers them to the officers; prepares barracks and supplies for the militia; furnishes one of his own boats, and in short makes every arrangement to obstruct the passage of the expected armament.

It may perhaps, sir, be here objected, that these circumstances rather prove that Mr. Smith then abandoned the enterprise than that he never participated in it. That the vigilant measures taken by Government alarmed him, and that therefore, hopeless of its success, he sought by a zealous opposition to escape detection. However plausible this may seem, the least reflection will show how unreasonable is this suspicion.

How does it appear that the situation of the conspirators was at this time more unpromising than at any former period? They had thus far proceeded without meeting any obstacles; their plans were arranged and ripe for execution; they were hourly expected to embark. And what was there so alarming in the measures taken to oppose them as to strike a panic into Mr. Smith and subvert his resolutions? The militia were called out it is true, but they were without arms. Their officers inform us that they could not even station a guard upon the river. I should rather suppose that this circumstance would have been considered as more auspicious than any thing he could have expected. Nor does it appear that this effect was produced in the minds of any of the party. For even at a subsequent period, and after the militia, by Mr. Smith’s exertions, had procured arms, we find Captain Nicholls at Cincinnati still adhering to their views and far from despairing. Nay, even Elias Glover, (whose courage appears from Dr. Lanier’s deposition to be about equal to his veracity,) and who doubtless was as ready as any one to renounce his associates when he saw them sinking, is seen at the same period persisting in his adherence to them. He tells Captain Nicholls to hasten his departure lest the guard should stop his boats, declares that he will shortly follow, and informs him that he had sent off an express to the party at the island. There is one other circumstance that totally overthrows this suspicion. If Mr. Smith had thus not only deserted but opposed his associates, would it not have excited their resentment? And would they not have revenged themselves for his treachery by disclosing his participation, and showing that he was equally guilty with themselves?

It cannot be necessary to contrast this conduct with that which we might expect to find in Mr. Smith, if, most unfortunately for his country and for himself, he had really been concerned in this enterprise. It is well known that the circumstance which first excited the suspicion of Government were the unusual preparations made by Colonel Burr and his party on the Western waters. From these suspicions they would have been perfectly secure by obtaining the co-operation of Mr. Smith. His contracts for the supply of the army, and his engagements to prepare boats for the navy, would have enabled him to collect any quantity of provisions and materials, and place them in suitable situations without exciting the least attention: and whenever they were ready to act, he might in a moment have stopped the supplies of your armies, and suddenly directed all his resources to aid in the most effectual and fatal manner the objects of the combination.

Thus, sir, in short, it appears that Mr. Smith has not merely forborne from the commission of these acts, which if guilty it is almost certain we should have discovered in him, but has pursued a most decided and distinguished course of conduct, utterly unaccountable upon any other presumption than that of his innocence.

I will now, sir, conclude by adding to these considerations those which naturally result from the view which the testimony affords us, of Mr. Smith’s character and situation in life, and the various honorable and lucrative employments committed to his trust. These alone, if properly considered, will be found more than sufficient to outweigh all the circumstances adduced against him. I will not undertake to point out the objects of Colonel Burr and his partisans, but am very willing to admit the correctness of the information collected by the honorable committee on this subject, and so eloquently detailed in their report. They are there represented as having been only prevented by the “vigilance of Government and of faithful citizens under its direction from a speedy termination not only in war, but in war of the most horrible description, in war at once foreign and domestic;” that “the debauchment of our army, the plunder and devastation of our own and foreign territories, the dissolution of our national Union, and the root of interminable civil war, were but the means of individual aggrandizement, the steps to projected usurpation.”

Now, sir, is Mr. Smith the sort of man to whom conspirators, who were in their senses, would have proposed such a scheme as this? Would he have been solicited to join in the dismemberment of the Union, whose interest was so materially connected with its continuance, the profits of whose employment wholly depended upon it? Would he have been asked to join in “a war of the most horrible description,” who is represented as enjoying every domestic comfort in the bosom of a happy and numerous family? Would he be called upon to unite in a scheme of plunder and devastation, who had every reason to be satisfied with his present possessions, who had so much to risk and so little to gain from civil commotion? Would he have been called upon to make all these sacrifices to the madness of ambition who was already distinguished even beyond his wishes?

Surely, sir, this is the first time that robbers ever made offers of partnership to the man whom they were about to plunder--that incendiaries ever called upon him for assistance whose house was to be destroyed by their flames.

No man in the whole Western country would have been more certainly ruined by the success of this project than Mr. Smith. There is therefore no man from whom it would have been more studiously concealed. To a disposition of this sort I think it not at all improbable is to be in some degree attributed the circumstance of Colonel Burr’s stopping at his house. As Mr. Smith’s guest he would have it in his power to say just as much as he pleased of his plans, and no more. In such a situation he would be less liable to the importunity of inquiries.