CENTRE HALL. PA. Aaron Burr By ELMO SCOTT WATSON NE HUNDRED AND TWENTY- five years ago the eyes of the whole nation were turned toward Rich- mond, Va. for there was taking place one of ie most dramatic events in Americ history—what has been called “the greatest crim- inal frial in American history and one of t rials in the an- nals of the law.” Nol than Aaron Burr, but la ly Vice ‘resident of the United States. was on trial for his life a againet him was that of ¢« ting r ich was a threat to the sa f i ne person or a group of pers he safety of the whole nation, the crime 1 Although Burr was acquitted by what was substantially a Scoteh verdict of “not proven, my lord,” and historians are still doubtful as to whether or not the f: us “Burr Conspiracy” was actually a treasonable scheme, the name of Aaron Burr has come down in popular belief among our “galaxy of scoundrels” second only to Benedict Arnold. Whether or not he has been assigned such a place Justly or unjustly is a matter over which again historians disagree, In the Presidential election of 1800 Burr and Thomas Jefferson, the Democratic-Republican candidates, each received 73 electoral votes, a tie which threw the election into the house of representatives, which was strongly Federalist, After balloting for a week, ten votes were cast for Jefferson and four for Burr, and under the Constitution as it stood then this made Jeffer. son President and Burr, Vice President Je. cause of political jobbery with the Federalists, Burr lost whatever regard the leaders among the new party held for him. Then he became involved in a bitter struggle for supremacy in New York politics and be > of the antagon- fsm of Jefferson all the patronage was thrown to Burr's rivals, the Clintons and the Living. stons. Accordingly he accepte Federalist sup- port in the gubernatorial race of 1804. an alll- ance which was fought bitterly by Alexander Hamilton. The result 18 the defeat of Burr, who held Hamilton chief ¥ responsible for his humiliation. Then lowed the famous Burr Hamilton duel in which Burr's pistols ended the great career of Washington's secretary of the treasury and made Durr a political and social pariah. Discredited in the East where he had been a leader, Burr turned to the West to recoup his fortunes, hoping to capitalize on the unrest among the Westerners where talk of disunion was rife. Crossing the Alleghenies he arrived at Blennerhassett's island in the Ohio river where lived Harman Hennerhassett, a wealthy Irishman, who had settled there in 1798. To Blennerhassett Burr proposed a wild scheme of raising an armed force in the Old Southwest, driving the Spaniards out of Mexico and estab lishing a great southern confederacy composed of these conquered Mexican possessions and the American territory west of the Alleghenies where the sentiment for disunion seemed so strong, Blennerhassett was enough impressed by Burr's scheme to mortgage his vast possessions to furnish the necessary money, They also hoped to gain the ald of Great Britain in car- rying out thelr scheme and, further to Insure the success of the plan, Burr won the support of General Wilkinson, then governor of Louist- ana territory, commander of the United States army and “as two-faced a villain as ever served the United States government” Throughout 1805 and 1806 Burr developed his plot which became well known throughout the West. The federal authorities, however, seem to have been strangely blind to what was tak Ing place until at last Wilkinson betrayed the scheme to Jefferson who on November 27, 1800, Issued a Presidential proclamation calling for the arrest of all those Involved, Wilkinson and the others, to save their own skins, deserted Burr and, In the modern parlance, he was made the goat of the whole affair, Attempting to flee, Burr was arrested In Alabama and brought back to Virginia for trial on the charge of trea. son, His case was tried In the United States ele cuit court sitting at Richmond and never, per haps, in American history has there been gath- ered together In a courtroom such a galaxy of me as assembled In that little room in £88 a4 person treason, John Marshall Thomas Jefferson Richmond. John Marshall. chief Justice of the Supreme court of the United States presided over the trial. Luther Martin and Edmund Ran dolph were counsel for the accused and William Wirt was counsel for the government, The foreman of the grand Jury which brought the indictment against Burr was the waspish but brilliant John Randolph of Roanoke. And not the least of the great figures In this case was Burr's charming daughter, Theodosia, of tragie fame later, Although Aaron Burr was upon trial on the most serious charge which ean be placed against the citizen of a country, in reality he was little more than a pawn in what was at the time regarded as a test of strength between the Re. publican President Jefferson and the Federalist Chief Justice Marshall, The trial lasted from March 27 to September 7. 1807, and the full story of the legal maneuvers executed by the two clashing forces would require a book for the telling. Under the Constitution, treason against the United States consists “only in levying war against them, or In adhering to their enemies, giving them ald and comfort” and no person may be convicted of It “unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession In open court.” The crux of the whole case against Burr was whether or not on a cer. tain date (December 10, 1806) Burr had actual ly “levied war against the United States” by assembling an armed force on Blennerhassett's Island and on the day following had set in mo- tion this same armed force in an expedition against the City of New Orleans, The prosecution produced a geries of wit nesses, mainly servants of Blennerhassett, to prove this point, Then it announced Its inten. tion of introducing evidence to show Burr's connection with the assemblage on the island, whereupon the defense sprang a surprise which turned the tide In Burr's favor, Developing the fact that on the night of December 10 Burr had not been present at the island, but had been 200 miles away In Kentucky, they contended that under the Constitution the assemblage on Blen- nerhassett’s island could not be regarded as his act, even granting that he had advised it, for, said they, advising war is one thing but levying it is quite another. If this interpretation was correct, then no overt act of levying war, either within the jurisdiction of the court or stated In the Indictment, had beet or could be shown against Burr. Next Chief Justice Marshall handed down an opinion accepting virtually the contention of urr's attrneys and when the prosecution was unable to produce two witnesses who had actual. ly seen Burr procure the assemblage on the is land, it allowed the case to go to the Jury. Shortly thereafter the following verdict was returned: “We of the jury say that Aaron Burr is not proved to be guilty under this Indictment by any evidence submitted to us. We therefore find him not guilty.” At the order of the chief Justice this Scotch verdict was entered on the records of the court as a simple “not guilty.” Acquitted, Burr became an exile and an out cast, The man who came within one vote of be Ing President of the United States wandered about Europe for four years, borrowing small amounts, attempting dubious promotions, urg: ing the French to seize Louisiana in 1810, and finally returning to his own land with a false wig and whiskers, Shortly after his arrival he encountered the breaking of the one tie that held him to the earth when his beloved Theo dosia, who had stood by him when the whole world seemed to have turned against him took ship from the South to meet him in New York. The ship on which she sailed never reached port and what her fate was is to this day an unsolved mystery. One of the most tragic ple tures In all American history is that of the broken, disgraced Aaron Burr, a devoted fa. ther whatever else “he may have been, going down to the battery every day for years, search. Ing the horizon for the sail of a ship which hever came-—the ship bringing back to him his long-lost daughter. And then as a final touch to an fll.-fated career was his unfortunate mar. riage to the famous Madame Jumel who divorced him on the day he died, ® by Western Newspaper Union) CITY OF MYSTERY | FOUND IN MEXICO Old Teotihuacan Puzzle to Archeologists. Mercolized Wax Keeps Skin Young Clot an ounce and use ss directed, Vine portheles of apnd win peel off until all defects suok as phoples. liver epote, tan and freckles dissppesr. Bilin is then soft snd velvety, ¥ our aes looks yesre young | Wax brings out the hidden besuty of your skin. 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The sav. ing will amount to a national total of §2,500.000,000 every year without reducing anybady's diet by so much ns a radish, Gentle Influence “Dq you think going into politics improves a man's disposition?” “Well, “t any rate, e is obliged to look pleasant often cnough to have his picture taken for campaign purposes.” Boston Transcript. Majorities are sometimes wrong and minorities nearly always are. Modern Psalm “What did pou learn in Sund chool today, ar?” “The Lord is bham’s Ve le Compound. Its tonic action builds up the system. Try ic. The Law Gets Its Man Jones—1 fired at the thug, but 1 guess he got away. Policeman—Have you a license to CATTY A gun? Jones-No, officer. Policeman—Then come along with me, RR bh ARAS AS ABET (0 el iT Notable Restanrant
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