Part 215

At this passage there are the following notes by Mr. Smith:

“J. Smith has heard Colonel Burr and others say, that in fifty or a hundred years, the Territory of the United States would compose two distinct Governments.”

I return to the letter:

“I have no political view whatever. Those which I entertained some months ago, and which were communicated to you, have been abandoned.”

Here is another note by Mr. Smith:

“J. Smith presumes that Mr. Burr refers to an invitation to settle in Tennessee, of which he heard him speak.”

The letter proceeds:

“Having bought of Colonel Lynch four hundred thousand acres of land on the Washita, I propose to send thither, this fall, a number of settlers--as many as will go and labor a certain time, to be paid in land, and found in provisions for the time they labor--perhaps one year. Mr. J. Breckinridge, Adair, and Fowler, have separately told me that it was the strong desire of the Administration that American settlers should go into that quarter, and that I could not do a thing more grateful to the Government. I have some other views, which are personal, merely, and which I shall have no objection to state to you personally, but which I do not deem it necessary to publish. If these projects could any way affect the interests of the United States, it would be beneficially; yet, I acknowledge that no public considerations have led me to this speculation, but merely the interest and comfort of myself and my friends.”

And, finally, there is the following marginal admonition:

“It may be an unnecessary caution, but I never write for publication.”

Thus you see, sir, that the design of separating the States is denied in terms explicit, as Mr. Smith’s letter had desired; but, with how much regard to truth, this volume of evidence at Richmond has sufficiently proved. The purchase of the Washita lands is announced to have been completed. Thus far, the answer is precisely such as the letter seemed to ask; but all the rest is darkness and oblivion. The caution against publication was itself not naturally suited to inspire confidence. It seems to say, You may show this letter, but you must not publish it. The other allusions are so obscure--so unintelligible--that Mr. Smith has found it necessary to make them clear by explanatory notes. There is a reference to former conversations on the subject of a separation of the States, in which Mr. Smith is reminded that he concurred with the sentiment which Mr. Burr had expressed. Mr. Smith’s note intimates that this refers to opinions about the separation of the Union in some fifty or a hundred years. But, if Burr’s speculations in public companies postponed to so distant a date the event, which he was projecting, to Eaton, to the Morgans, to Blannerhasset, to McFarland, and Glover, he had been urging the propriety of their accomplishment at a much earlier day. And from the testimony of Colonel James Taylor, it would seem that the concurrence of sentiment for which Mr. Burr refers to the consciousness of Mr. Smith, extended no less to the practical projects than to the speculative opinions of Burr--to the separation of the States within five or two years rather than to the dismemberment of the next century. The mode, says Mr. Burr, for promoting such a measure would be by operating on the minds of the people, and demonstrating it to be their interest. Now this was the very mode in which Mr. Burr and Blannerhasset under him had been attempting to promote the measure. Burr had been so operating at Cincinnati the year before this. And William McFarland at least had persuaded, that Cincinnati was to be the capital of the Western empire. He had been so operating all the way at least from Pittsburg, in August, and until he left Cincinnati in September, only six weeks before these letters were written. The Querist was one of these instruments of the mode for operating upon the minds of the people. And when the Querist first appeared, Mr. Smith had expressed his approbation of its contents. Is not this the sort of concurrence to which Mr. Burr alludes rather than that of speculating upon the destinies of a future age? The rest of the letter is equally obscure. Mr. Burr’s abandonment of a project for settling in Tennessee requires the explanation of a note from Mr. Smith; and that note is conjectural. Mr. Burr has some other views, merely personal, which he can only communicate personally. If they could affect the interests of the United States, it would only be beneficially; but they were prompted by no public considerations, but merely for the interest and comfort of himself and his friends.

Mr. President, I ask again the attention of the Senate to this remarkable sentence. Did Mr. Smith, on receiving the letter, understand this sentence, or did he not? If he did, where is the whole defence which he has now set up? If he did not, was this paragraph calculated to inspire his confidence? Was it calculated to remove suspicions? Projects which could only be personally disclosed! Projects which might affect the interests of the United States! Projects prompted by no public considerations! but merely by personal interest for himself and his friends! And was this to remove suspicion from the mind of a Senator of the United States? Was this an answer to calm anxieties and restore confidence? Is not the very language of it suspicious? Equivocal? Ambiguous? I ask every member of this Senate to put the question to himself. Had you been at that time in the midst of the scene of Burr’s operations, and had you received such an answer to a letter of solicitous inquiry, would it not have increased instead of allaying your alarm? Would you not have seen in this paragraph a concealment suspicious in itself--darkened still further by expressions of dangerous import and of doubtful legality? Strange indeed must be the texture of that mind to which this answer could restore unqualified confidence in the writer!

But, sir, if Mr. Smith had seen nothing in this letter to startle confidence, instead of composing it, was there nothing in the course of public events at that time, which might and should have aroused him to more than suspicion? Mr. Burr’s letter was dated on the 26th of October; within ten days from that time, that is, on the 5th of November following, the District Attorney of the United States in Kentucky filed a complaint against Mr. Burr, for a violation of the laws of the United States, in setting on foot an expedition against Mexico, which complaint I beg leave to read--

“J. H. Daviess, attorney for the said United States, in and for said district, upon his corporal oath, doth depose and say, that the deponent is informed, and doth verily believe, that a certain Aaron Burr, Esq., late Vice President of the United States, for several said months past hath been and is now engaged in preparing and setting on foot, and in providing and preparing the means for a military expedition and enterprise within this district, for the purpose of descending the Ohio and Mississippi therewith, and making war upon the subjects of the King of Spain, who are now in a state of peace with the people of the United States, to wit: on the province of Mexico, on the westwardly side of Louisiana, which appertain and belong to the King of Spain, a European prince, with whom the United States are at peace.

“And said deponent further saith, that he is informed, and fully believes, that the above charge can, and will be fully substantiated by evidence, provided this honorable court will grant compulsory process to bring in witnesses to testify thereto.

“And this deponent further saith, that he is informed, and verily believes, that the agents and emissaries of the said Burr, have purchased up, and are continuing to purchase large stores of provisions as if for an army, while the said Burr seems to conceal in great mystery, from the people at large, his purposes and projects: and while the minds of the good people of this district seem agitated with the current rumor, that a military expedition against some neighboring power is preparing by said Aaron Burr.

“Wherefore, said attorney, on behalf of said United States, prays that due process issue to compel the personal appearance of the said Aaron Burr in this court, and also of such witnesses as may be necessary in behalf of the said United States; and that this honorable court will duly recognize the said Aaron Burr, to answer such charges as may be preferred against him in the premises. And in the mean time, that he desist and refrain from all further preparation and proceeding in the said armament within the said United States, or the territories or dependencies thereof.”

It will be remembered that on this complaint a grand jury was summoned, and on the 8th of November discharged, because Davis Floyd, whom the attorney deemed a material witness, and whom we now know to have been one of Mr. Burr’s principal associates, was absent. We all know what the effect of this transaction was here. Certainly not of inspiring confidence in those who were ignorant of Mr. Burr’s real designs.

No, sir! The confidence which this abortive attempt to bring Mr. Burr to justice inspired, was in himself and associates. He wrote immediately to Blannerhasset not to apprehend any danger from this prosecution, (which his friends then and so long after called a persecution,) but delay in the settlement of the lands; and one fortnight after--that is on the twenty-third day of November--we see him again at Cincinnati, making the promised personal and confidential communication to Mr. Smith, which he had not dared in a letter of 26th October to commit to paper--and no wonder; for it is a complete and unquestionable acknowledgment of the identical crime for which Mr. Burr had been summoned into court at Frankfort, not twenty days before, and discharged merely from the failure of a witness to attend. But it is not merely a confession of that guilt, it imports much more; and the very terms used by Mr. Smith, relating it, in his affidavit of 6th of June, 1807, show that he understood it as importing more. Mr. Burr tells Mr. Smith, that his design “is not dishonorable, or inimical to this Government;” he “repeated that his object was not hostile to the people of the United States or dishonorable to himself,” and that he would be “the best neighbor this country ever had.” Whether the design was honorable or dishonorable, Mr. Smith should have judged for himself. That it was not inimical to this Government, there was little reason for him to believe, when coupled with those boiling resentments which overflowed from the lips of Mr. Burr in the very act of making this acknowledgment: “In this Government he had been persecuted, shamefully persecuted, and he was sorry to say that in it all private confidence between man and man seemed to be nearly destroyed.” And in this state of temper, Mr. Burr “ventured to tell Mr. Smith that if there should be war between the United States and Spain, he, Burr, should head a corps of volunteers, and be the first to march into the Mexican provinces; if peace should be preserved, which he did not expect, he should settle his Washita lands, and make society as pleasant as possible.”

And this is the communication which added strength to Mr. Smith’s confidence in Mr. Burr! This is the communication upon which Mr. Smith engaged his two sons to go as Burr’s associates!

The attack upon Mexico was to be in case war should take place between Spain and the United States. But is it possible, sir, that a man of Mr. Smith’s understanding should at that time, and under these circumstances, have given an instant of credit to that shallow pretence? If Mr. Swartwout, one of Burr’s acknowledged associates, was ashamed of pretending to rely on this tale of contingent war, and frankly told the grand jury at Richmond that they were to attack Mexico, to be sure, in case of a war with Spain; but if there had been no war he was ready to forget the law of the United States against such expeditions. If Commodore Truxton, a private citizen, smarting under the injuries which he conceived he had suffered from the Administration, even in July, while the project was but in prospect, and not in actual execution, made his first and emphatical question, whether the Government of the United States was acquainted with it, and on being informed that they were not, instantly refused to have any concern with it; let me ask, whether in the last days of November, while Burr was persevering in his preparations, after having been brought before a judicial court upon the very charge, and dismissed solely because a witness was absent, a Senator of the United States, receiving this communication from Burr himself, could possibly be the dupe of this pretence? Whether his first question ought not to have been that of Commodore Truxton: Is the Executive of the United States informed of your designs? Is it possible, sir, that this disclosure of the intended Mexican invasion could confirm the confidence of Mr. Smith, when it was the very thing for which the district attorney not three weeks before had entered the complaint against Mr. Burr, before the court of the United States competent to try that offence? Is it possible that Mr. Burr’s confession of his guilt should have been the confirmation of Mr. Smith’s confidence? Yes, sir; so far as relates to the misdemeanor--to Mr. Smith’s participation in the project for invading Mexico--his own affidavit on the 6th of January, 1807, is evidence, which, in my mind, nothing can control. His engagement of his two sons to Mr. Burr, admits neither of denial nor of jurisdiction.

About ten days after this, on the second and third of December, Mr. Smith goes to Cynthiana, Frankfort, and Lexington, to purchase provisions, and to sell bills of exchange. Here he accidentally sees again Mr. Burr. He finds that Mr. Burr is for the second time charged, and now before a grand jury, with that very offence of preparing an expedition against Mexico, which in his confidential communication to Mr. Smith he had explicitly avowed. And Mr. Smith, by the testimony of three of his own witnesses, hurries away from the scene to avoid being subpœnaed as a witness, declaring that he knows nothing on the subject that could either criminate or justify Mr. Burr. The first of these witnesses is Kelly, Mr. Smith’s confidential agent and storekeeper at Cynthiana; of whose character as a man of uprightness and veracity, the most respectable attestations are produced. After stating the motive of Mr. Smith’s going to Cynthiana, and thence to Lexington, Kelly’s deposition, produced there by Mr. Smith himself, proceeds thus:

“He returned and informed me that on his arrival at Lexington he understood that the principal men with whom he wished to transact business, were at Frankfort; that he was also informed that a prosecution, the second time, was commenced against Colonel Burr, and he (Smith) was told, that if it was known he was in the State, he would be subpœnaed as a witness; that he told his informers he would not put them to the trouble to summon him, if he had a fresh horse he would go on there immediately; finding he could not see the men he wished to see, he started for Frankfort; that on his arrival there he inquired for Major Morrison, I think he said, in two or three public houses, but could not find him; that he was informed the investigation into Burr’s conduct before the grand jury was delayed for want of General Adair, who was said to be a principal witness against him, and that in all probability proceedings would be stayed for several days, and as he (Smith) could not be detained so long from his business, particularly as he knew nothing that would either criminate or exculpate Colonel Burr; that if his testimony could be of any benefit either way he would have stayed with pleasure, but as he was entirely ignorant of any of Burr’s political views, he conceived to stay there for no purpose would be doing injustice to his private as well as public concerns, and therefore, as he was not summoned, he started away early next morning.”

Mr. Jourdan’s deposition, after relating Mr. Smith’s applications to him respecting the bills of exchange, says--

“The conversation then turned on the pending trial of Colonel Burr; and I mentioned that I had been called on as a witness; and observed that Burr had also been at your house; and was it known that you were in this place, that you would also be called on. You said you was willing; that you knew nothing of the business; but, as you could not get your business accomplished here, that if you had a fresh horse you would go to see Major Morrison, and save them any trouble of subpœnaing you.”

The deposition of Joseph Taylor is to the same effect; that Mr. Smith denied all knowledge of any thing which could operate either for or against Mr. Burr.

Now, sir, how was the fact? Was Mr. Smith thus ignorant? It seems to me that he was not. The disclosure which on the 23d of November, he himself has sworn Mr. Burr had made to him in confidence, was knowledge of the most decisive character on the question before the grand jury; was knowledge which, had Mr. Smith been even a private citizen, he was bound in duty to have gone and related to them. Admitting that even Mr. Smith could have believed that Burr intended the Mexican invasion only in case a war should break out; still the preparations he was making were unlawful; still he was guilty of the very charge made against him then before the grand jury; and had confidentially avowed the object to Mr. Smith. Had Mr. Smith gone before that grand jury, and told them, from the lips of Mr. Burr, what the affidavit of 6th January, 1807, declares upon oath; that grand jury, instead of dismissing Mr. Burr as they did, with commendation and applause, would have been bound, with the oath of God upon their consciences, to find a bill against him. The confession of Mr. Burr unquestionably brought him within the operation of the statute upon which he was prosecuted, and I cannot but attribute to Mr. Smith’s studious avoidance of attending upon that grand jury, all the unfortunate, and I may say calamitous consequences which have befallen this nation, from the failure of bringing Burr to justice at that time. Had he then been indicted, on Mr. Smith’s testimony alone, he must have been convicted. The alarms, the agitations, the extraordinary and irregular stretches of power at New Orleans, which have distressed every free and patriotic heart, would have been needless; would have been prevented. The progress of that pernicious enterprise would have been arrested there. The whole judicial authority of the United States would have been laid prostrate before the wiles of conspiracy. There would have been no trial; no occasion for a trial at Richmond; treason would have been nipped in the bud, and Mr. Smith himself would at this day have been here, in the full enjoyment of his reputation, with his consciousness of having rendered a service of the highest importance to his country. But, sir, unfortunately for him; unfortunately for us; unfortunately for his country, he had engaged his two sons to Mr. Burr. He could not testify against Burr without condemning himself, and he shrunk from the presence of the grand jury.

Ten days after this the President’s proclamation and Governor Tiffin’s orders for the militia to be called out, both arrived on the same day, the 13th of December, at Cincinnati; and from that time Mr. Smith’s exertions to carry into effect the orders both of the General and State Governments were characterized with great and extraordinary zeal. But even then he writes to the Secretary at War a narrative not exactly conformable to that afterwards contained in the answer to the committee; in the answer Mr. Smith declares repeatedly that all his doubts and suspicions about Mr. Burr had been removed by his open-hearted, candid letter of 26th October. In the letter to the Secretary of War, he speaks of himself as harboring so strong suspicions on Burr’s subsequent visit to Cincinnati in November, as then to have asked him pointedly if any object he had in view justified the suspicions that prevailed about him, and that from Mr. Burr’s apparent candor in answering this question he (Smith) entertained no doubt of him. Now, this apparent candor was an acknowledgment of the very same undertaking which the President’s proclamation called upon the people to suppress. The proclamation had no reference to the part of Burr’s project which aimed at the dismemberment of the Union--it was the intended invasion of Mexico, which it extended the arm of the nation to restrain--the very expedition upon which Mr. S. had engaged his two sons.