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" WE GO WHEBS DEXOCBATIC PBESCIPL2S PQIKT THE WAY 577HES TKEY CEASE TO LEAD, WE CEASE TO FOLLOW."
TOLUME VIII.
Xb I ra of tli Heart.
it xits mattib oairntn.
twP in my heart there is a sacred urn
I tTtr guard with holiest care, and keej
.v,. tf.A world's intrusion. It is
eep
It is filled
Wita dr and levly treasures, that I prize
Above sfc Fm9 that sparkle in the -rales
Of Orient climes or glitter in the crowns
Of ceptwei kings.
The priceless wealth of life
Within that urn is gathered. All the bright
AnJ lovely jewels that the years have dropped
Around me from their pinion, in the swift
And noiseless flight to old Eternity,
K thousand bud and
Irs treasured Uiere.
flswers .
Tbat tha cool dews of life's young morning bth-
That its soft gales fanned with their gentle wings,
And that its genial sunbeams warmed to life
And fairy beauty 'mid the melodies
Of founts and singing birds, he hoarded there,
Dead, dead, forever dead, but oh, as bright
And beautiful to me as when they beamed
With Nature's radiant jewelry of dew.
And they have more than mortal sweetness now,
Tot the dear braath or loved ones, loved and lost,
Is mingled with their holy perfume.
Like
A very miser, day and night I hide
The boarded riches of my dear heart-urn.
Oft at the midnight's calm and silent hour,
TThn not a tone of living nature seems
To rie from all the lone and sleeping earth,
I lift the lid softly and noiselessly,
Lest some dark, wandering spirit of the air
rtrehance should catch -with his quick ear the
sound.
And steal my treasures. With a glistening eye
And leaping pale, I tall them o'er and o'er,
Mming on each, and hallow it with smiles
And tears and sighs and fervent blessings.
Then,
With sonl as proud as if yon broad blue sky
Kith all its bright and burning stars were mine,
Bat with a aaddened heart. I elo'e the lid,
And ones again return to busy life.
To play my part amid its mockeries.
from the "Cabinet IltMtory of Kentucky," by T.
S. Arthur, t1 Wm. . Carpenter.
THE CONSPIRACY OF AARON BIIIH.
In the year 1P01, Aaron Burr, a native of
!?tw Jersey, a graduate of Princeton, a colonel
In the wnr of independence, and subsequently a
senator of the United States, was elected Vice
President of the Union. He was a man of the
most extraordinary talents, plausible, intrigue
ing, daringly ambitious, singularly polished in
lis address, but of the lowest moral character.
Before the expiration of his term of office, he
bad lost the confidence of his party, and while
Jefferion was unanimously nominated as ft can
didate for re-election to the Presidency ; in the
selection cf a candidate for vice president, Bun
was set aside, and Qeorgc Clinton nominated in
hia stead.
Possessing yet some little political power in
5. York, he was enabled to have himself brought
forward by his friends as an independent candi
date for governor ef tkat sate, m opposition to
Chief Justice Lewis, the nominee of the admin
Utration party.
Owing to the high character of Alexander
Hamilton, and the influence of his opinions upon
the active politicians of the state. Burr was de
feated, and charging his discomfiture to the in
strumentality of Hamilton, only waited a favor
able opportunity for accomplishing a signal re
venge. Hamilton at this time was at the head of the
federal r arty, which, though shorn of its former
power, was yet large enough to offer formida
ble oppposition to any candidate whose fitness
they doubted, or whose opinions were at vari
ance with their own.
Sinking rapidly in the scale of political repu
tation, and deeply iavolved in pecuniary liabili
ties, Burr brooded over the failure of his latest
hope with a malignity, which, gathering strength
ty nursing, at length impelled him to force his
antagonist into a duel. The result was such as
might haTe been expected. Hamilton was shot
down at the first fire, and to escape the indig
nant outburst of public opinion, Burr fled to
South Carolina, and took refuge with his accom
plished and unfortunate daughter, who had mar
ried a wealthy planter of that region.
The seat of government having been removed
to the District of Columbia, Burr returned to
Washington and presided over the senate until
the expiration of his term of office ; and then
being unable to return to New York in conse
quence of the officers of that state holding a
warrant against him for the killing of Hamilton,
lie turned his attention to a wider field of oper
ations, and to bolder schemes of ambition.
At the close of the session of Congress in the
pring of 1803, Burr set out foi the West. The
nominal objects for which this journey was pro
secuted were variously stated. One was a spec
ulation for & canal around the falls of the Ohio;
which he had projected with Senator Dayton
f New Jersey, whose extensive purchase of
Military land warrants had given him a large
Interest iu the military bounty lands in that vi
cinity. Burr had offered a share in this speculation to
General Wilkinson, who, besides being commander-in-chief
of the army in that quarter, had
lately been appointed governor of the new ter
ritory of Louisiana. Burr and Wilkinson had
g been known to each other, and the former
'nb bt rwfctfatfcl waMe&tly upon Men.
ring the co-operation of his old military aesoci
ciate, with whom he had carried on at various
times, a correspondence in cipher, and whose
civil and military position promised to make
him a vry efficient agent in the Bcbeme to
which all other projects were intended finally to
euccunb. '
Wilkinson, who about this time was getting
ready to embark at Pittsburg to take possession
of his government in Louisiana, invited Burr -to
descend the river in bis company ; but as Burr's
own boat the oommoa ark or flat-boat of those
days was already prepared to start, he pro
ceeded on his voyage alone.
Wheu nearly opposite Marietta, he stopped at
Blenerbasset's Island, and there, for the first
time, made the acquaintance of its enthusiastic
but visionary ewnsr. This was Herman Blen
nerhasset, an Irish Gentleman, who, becoming
disgusted with th political condition of his owl
country, bad settled on an island in the Ohio,
and being possessed of a considerable fortune,
gratified his refined taste by erecting an elt
gant mansion in the wilderness, and surround
ing it with fcll those luxurious accessories which
Lad hitherto been unknown beyond the moun
tains.
Ths beautiful an I accomplished wife of Blcn
nerhitBset wits no less an enthusiast than him
self ; and Burr, a master of all those aria which
are best calculated to elicit the dmirtin ci
women, soon succeeded in attaching wriniy to
his cause two persons whose ambition had pre
viously been bounded by the limits of their own
domain.
Working upon the ardent imagination of Blen
nerhasset, Burr moulded him as easily to his
purposes as the potter the clay beneath hio
hands. Both BlennerhaEset and his wife devo
ted themselves, and all they possessed of wealth
t-j the fortunes of the crafty and unscrupulous
adventurer, with an enthusing! t heated almost
to fanaticism by the glowing prospects held out
to them in ths future.
( The prj:t wuich Burr actually entertained
was oue well adapted to enlist in hi cuu.e all
tlio.se who were dissatisfied with their present
condition of life, and such turbulent and restless
spirits as were ready for any enterprise which
promised to gratify their ambition, even though
it should be at the expense of common justice
and morality.
Well Knowing how odious the Spanish name
had become to a great portion of the people of
the West and South, from the difficulties which
had for so many years attended the navigation
of the Mississippi on the oneband, and from the
long existing territorial disputes on the other,
the svheme which Burr desired to perfect was to
organize a military force upon the western wa
ters, desceud the Mississippi, and wrest from
."Spain a portion of her territory bounding on the
viulf of Mexico. As the consumption of this act
would necessarily implicate the southwestern
portion of the United States, it was proposed
to make New Orleans the capital of the new em
pire, of which Burr was to become the chief, but
whether dictator or president was left for the
future to de ide.
When he quitted the hospitable mansion of Blen
nerhasset, Burr resumed his voyage in his own
bout, and met Wilkinson at Fort Massac, by
whom he was provided with a barge, belonging
to one of the officers, and manned by a crew of
soldiers. Furnished with sufficient provision for
the voyage, and bearing letters of introduction
from Wilkinson to gentlemen in New Orleans, he
sailed for that city, which he reached somewhere
about the 2oth of June, 1805.
The unpopularity of Governor Clairborne, and
the bitter feuds by which parties were divided in
that city, offered great encouragement to his
projects. After a short stay iu New Orleans,
Burr re- iscended the river toNachez, traveled by
land to Nashville, where ho was entertained for
a week by General Andrew Jackson, and after
being complimented with a public dinner, pro
ceeded ou horseback to Kentucky. He spent a
few weeks iu the latter state, and then set out
by land for St. Louis, where he took up his res
idence with a relation of his, who, at his special
request had been appointed secretary to the new
territory of Louisiana.
It was not until he met him in St. Louis, that
Wilkinson, according to his own account, began
to entertain a suspicion of Burr's design. The
manner of the subtle intriguer is represented as
having become altered and mysterious. He
threw out his bints of a splendid enterprise, and
spoke of it cautiously, as favored by the gov
ernment itself with being imbecile, and insinu
ated that the people of the West were ready for
a revolt.
Wilkinson asserts that his own impression of
danger to the confederation were such, that he
immediately wrote to his friend, the secretary of
the navy, advising him that seme great move
ment was contemplated by Burr, and cautioning
him to keep a strict watch. The aid-de-camp of
Wilkinson testified to having copied, and, as he
believed, transmitted such a letter through the
post to the secretary : but as the . latter could
not recollect having received imy such document
the important nature of which ought certainly
to have impressed itself upon his mind, it is a
question of doubt whether the letter kwas ever
f ent at aU.
EBENSBURG, TIIURSDA?, Jl'NE 3, 1852.
Passing through the Indiana territory, Burr
next made the acquaintance of Governor Harri
son. Continuing his route eastward, he stopped
at Cincinnati, Chilicothe, and Marietta, returned
to Philadelphia toward the close of the year,
and 'spent the following spring and summer
partly in the latter city and partly in Washing
ton. During this. period his movements were envel
oped in a eloak of mystery. He resided in an
obscure street and received many visiter, all ef
whom came to him on pretence of business, but
no two of whom were admitted into his presence
together.
Whi! he remained in Washington ho had fre.
quent interviews with Major Eaton, then recent
ly returned from his well-known adventures in
Tripoli, to whom, warmed by the apparent wil
lingness which Eaton exhibited to enter into his
views, he divulged the whole extent of his pro
jects. Eaton, notwithstanding his relations with the
government were at that time of a delicate cha
racter, waited on the president, and suggested
the appointment of Burr to a foreign mission,
intimating, at the Mmt time, his belief that it
would b th ucios of preventing an insurrec
tiou -or a revolution in the western country,
wh'.ch wold otherwise take place within eigh
tceu months. . . ' .
The president, in reply, expressed his confi
dence in the attachments of the western people
to the Union, and as n further questions were
asked, Eaton did not feel himself authorized to
say any more upon the subject.
Having remarked in his conversation with
Eaton, that if he oould secure the marine corps
the only soldiers stationed at Washington
and gain over the naval commanders, Truxton,
Treble, Decatur, and ethers, he would overturn
the Congress, make away with the president, and :
declare himself the protector of an energetic go
vernment. Burr, ia pursuance of this idea,
next sounded Commodore Truxton ; but the lat
ter, although dissatisfied with the treatment he
had received, declined having any thing to do
with the conspiracy, Decatur and others also
refused to co-operate, and finding his prospects
unfavorable in the Middle States, Burr set oiF
toward the close of the summer on a second
western journey.
As a cover to his designs, one of the first
things he did on reaching Kentucky was to pur
chase of a Mr. Lynch, for a nominal considera
tion of forty thousand dollars, of which a few-
thousand were paid, an interest in a claim to a
large tract of land ou the Washita lliver, under
a Spanish grant to the Baron de Bastrop. The
claims held by Edward Livingston of New Or
leans to a portion of the above grant, had been
previously purchased by Burr.
In connection with Blennerhasset, Burr enter
ed into a contract for building fifteen boats on
the Muskingum. He also made application to
John.Smith, one of the senators from Ohio, for
the purchase of two gunboats, then building for
the government ; authority was given at a hous
at Marietta for the purchase of provisions, a'
kiln erected for drying corn on Blennerhassett's
Island, and a considerable number of young men
enlisted for an enterprise -down the Mississippi,
the true nature of which was only mysteriously
hinted.
By this tisae Wilkinson was at Natchitoches,
in command of th'e troops collected there to op
pose the Spanish invasion. . While at this
post he received various letters from Burr, to
which he sent replies ; but how far he commit
ted himself to the conspiracy, was never ascer
tained. That he was tampered with to a con
siderable extent, and that his replies were at
least evasive, does not admit of a doubt. A let
terin cipher from Senator Dayton, assuring Wil
kinson that he would certainly be deprived of
his command at the next session of Congress,
determined the course of the latter. He com
municated the next morning to Colonel Cushing,
his second in command, the substance of Burr's
letter, and expressed his determination to has
ten to New Orleans and defend that city against
Burr, if he should venture to attack it. After
extracting from young Swartwout, the bearer of
despatches from Burr, all the information neces
sary to guide his future proceedings, Wilkinson
sent an express in hot haste to the President of
the United States, stating the general outline of
the scheme communicated to hiraby Swartwout,
and then, having been joined by a body of mi
litia from Mississippi, advanced toward the Sa
bine. Simultaneously with hisletter to the president
Wilkinson sent directions to the commanding of.
ficcr at New Orleans to put the place in the best
state of defence, and to attempt to get posses
sion of the park of artillery left by th? French
government, lest it should fall into other hands.
As there were difficulties at this time between
the United States and the Spanish government
on the subject of their respective boundary lines
and as the troops of the two nations had been
called out to watch the motions of each other,
Wilkinson entered into a temporary arrangement
with the Spanish commander, making the Sa
bine, for the time being, the line of demarcation
between the teritories of the disputants.
His activity at this period was only equalled
by his alarm, as despatch oiterdespatch was re-
cei'ed indicating the progressive steps of th.
revolutionists. lie wrote to Cushing to hasten
the march of the troops, he pressed to the of!"
-erlit New Orleans to push forwardhis defence ,
Mit?'it ! im a reinforcement of men and arr!' -cers-wesxist
in thewoik. He proceeded to Nat
chez; and despatched a second special mess"
ger to the President, declaring that the existen
of the conspiracy had been placed beyond all
doubt, tnd expressing the necessity of putti- g
New Orleans under martial law, a step in which
he trusted to be sustained by the president:
Not content with taking these precaution,
Wi'.kinsoa warned Claiborne, the governor of th
Louisiana Territory, that his government w:s
menaced Sy a secret plot, and entreated him " to
co-'iperate with the military commander in mar
sures of defence. .At h s-snio t;nr; 1 rqrli a
requisition upou the acting governor of the Mis
sissippi Territory for a reinforcement of five
huniircd mmtia to proceed to New Orleans.
In all these measures the activity fnd energy
of Wilkisson were undoubted ; but it still r -
mains a problem whether he intended to rem"
faithful to fho United Stat. or tr thrnw hi.tis'f
into the rms of Burr. When he wrote to the
officer at New Orleans, he neither expressed any
anxiety in relation to the safety of 'the place,
nor gave any reasons for hi3 desire to have it
immediately strengihened. In his letter to Clai
bnrne he expressly enjoined secrecy till he him
self arrived ; and when he made his demand
upon the ev.vern.ir of the Mississippi Territory,
as h declined to specify the service in which the
troops were to be engaged, the governor refused
to snd them at all. "
Hi proceedings on reaching New Orleans arc
less open to doubt. On the tnh of December,
1806, a meeting of the merchants was called,
before whom Wilkinson and Claiborne made
an exposition of Burr's projects. The militia
and n squadron, of gunboats and ketches upon
the rivei were placed at Wilkinson disposal,
Swartwout and several others were arrested, and
one of then, bavin? obtained h' release by wr't
of habeas corpus, was re-arrested by order of
Wilkinson, and with Swartwout sent a prisoner
by sea to Wshington.
While these mysterious and alarming rumors
were agitating the people of lower Mississippi,
Burr and hi9 confederates " in the western states
were actively entrr.ged in perfecting their prepa
rations for the attainment of the object they had
in view:
So various, however, and conflicting were the
reports cooctrning the intentions of the conspir
ators, and so careully had Burr shrouded the
Whni .icnreitr-.,vati-.rjr. that tl.e devrtoptrocaits
which were made in the newspapers of the day
tended more to confuse the public mind than to
enlighten it.
Almost gimuhane-iusly with Burr's second ap
pearance in the western country, a series of ar
ticles appeared in the Ohio Gazette, strongly ad
vocating the seperation of the western states
from the Union. Of these articles Blennerhas
set was the nominal author, but the main argu
ments were believed to have been furnished by
Burr. Articles of a similar, though less deci
ded tendency, appeared also in the Commonwelth
a democratic paper published at Pittsburgh.
A short time previous to this, a newspaper,
called the Western World, which had been star
ted at Frankfort, Kentucky, published a series
of articles blending the present project of Burr
with the old intrigues of the Spanish party in
that s-tate.
Sebastian, then a judge of the Supreme Court
was boldly denounced as a pensioner of Spain,
and charges of a similar, though less sweeping
character, were also made against Senator Brown,
Judge Innis, and General Wilkinson.
But although in these papers, which were
written by Colonel Humphrey Marshall, Burr
was proclaimed a traitor to his country, and his
whole scheme laid open, it was a long time be
fore the leading politicians of Kentucky could
be brought to believe in his criminal designs.
One gentleman, however, rising above the in
credulity of his party, kept a watchful eye on
Burr, and wrote several letters to the president
on the subjects, but without receiving any spe
cific authority to act in the matter. This was
Colonel Joseph II. Daviess, the attorney for the
United States.
On the 5th of November, 1800, Daviess ap
peared in open court bi fore Judge Innis, and
made affidavit to the effect, that he believed
Burr to l engaged in organizing a military ex
pedition within the district, for the purpose of
descending the Mississippi and making war on
the provinces of Mexico. He concluded by mo
ving that process might issue to compel the at
tendance of Burr before the court to answer the
charge. After taking two days for reflection.
Judge Innes refused to issue process, but direc
ted a grand jury to be impaneled to inquire in
to the accusation, and wituesses to be summon
ed. At the time Daviess made application in the
federal district court at Frankfort for the arrest
of Burr, the latter was in Lexington. In less
than four hours after the motion was made, he
was in receipts of the tidings. He immediately
wrote to Innes that he would be in court in a
day or two, and confront his accuser.
When he reached Frankfort in company with
his counsel, Henry Clay and Colonel Allen, find
ing the motion already overruled, he addressed
the judge, and demanded an immediate investi
gation. Daviess replied, by declaring his readiness to
proceed as soon as he could procure the attend
ance of his witnesses, ami with the consent of
Burr, the ensuing Wednesday was fixed upon by
the court for the investigation.
The immense sensation created by the affida
vit of Daviee caused the court-room to be filled
on the day of trial with a large number of per
sons ; but it was soon discovered that David
Floyd, one of the principal witnesses relied up
on by the district attorney, and undoubtedly a
partisan of Burr, had failed to make his appear
ance, and Daviess was reluctantly compelled to
ask a postponement of the case.
Relying, upon the next occasion, less upon
Floyd as his principal witness than upon Gener
al Adair, Daviei made application on the 2oth
of November for nw jrrand Jur j, which was
accordingly summoned to attend on tho 2d of
December following. .
Shortly after Burr entered the court-room, at
tended by his former counsel, the district attor
ney rose, and with evident mortification, expres
sed himself unable to proceed, in consequence
of the absence of General Adair, whose testimo
ny was of the first importance to the prosecu
tion. He therefore asked a postponement for a
few days, and that the grand jury should be
kept together until he could compel the attend
ance of General Adair by attachment.
The counsel of Burr immediately objected to
the delay, and demanded ' that the business
should proceed at once. After a sharp and an
imated debate, the court decided that the case
must be proceeded with or the grand jury dis
charged. In order to obtain the time he requi
red for the production of his witnesses, Daviess
prepared an indictment against General Adair,
which was returned by the jury, endorsed, "Not
a true bill." He then moved for an attachment
against the general, but the motion was refused
by the court. At the suggestion of Daviess, the
court then adjourned until the following day.
Finding himself thus far baffled at every step
in his attempt to fasten the charge of criminali
ty upon Burr, the prosecuting attorney sought
and obtained a private interview with Judge In
nis, who, in answer to a question from Daviess,
as to whether he would have a right, as prose
cutor, to attend the grand jury in their room,
examine the witnesses, and give such explana
tions as might be found necessary to connect
and apply their testimony, gave an opinion in
the hOirniative.
Tully believing that Inuia would sustain in
court the opinion which he had given unofficial
ly, Daviess determined to proceed with the ex
amination with such witnesses as were present.
-Iccordinly. the next inorninc. as soon as the
judge had resumed his seat, the prosecuting at
torney asked permission to attend the grand ju
ry in their room. This request was immediate
ly opposed by the council of Burr, who denied
the right of Daviess to examine the witnesses in
the manner proposed. After some argument,
Judge Innis remarked, that whenhe himself was
attorney-general for the commonwealth, he had
never claimed or exercised any such privilege.
"Sir!" said Daviess, "you admitted I had the
right to do what I now propose."
"Yes," replied the judre quickly, "but that
was out of court."
"True, sir," responded Daviess, "but this is
the first of my knowing you had two opinions
upon the subject, thj one private and confiden
tial, the other public and official."
The only reply of Innis was to refuse the re
quest, and the prosecuting attorney saw at once
that his cause was lost. It was worse than lost,
for as the witnesses in the grand jury room tes
tified reluctantly, the little that could be glean
ed from them threw no light upon the design
charged in the indictment, and on the fifth of
the month the grand jury came into court and
ignored the bill.
But this was not all ; they presented at the
same time a written declaratfjn, signed by the
whole of them, in which it was stated that ikeTe
had been nothing in the testimony received by
them which in the slightest degree criminated
the conduct of either Burr or Adair ; nor could
they, after all their inquiries aud investigations
of the subject, find any thing improper or inju
rious to the government of the United States de
signed or contemplated by cither of them.
This triumphant acquittal of Burr strength
ened his cause wonderfully in Kentucky. It
was celebrated by a ball at Frankfort, which
was rendered more imposing by the attendance
of many prominent men.
The friends of Daviess, though fewer in num
ber, did not fail to sympathize with him in his
defeat, and as an evidence of their belief in the
truth of the charges he had preferred, got up a
similar entertainment in his honor. At one of
these assemblies the editor of the Western World
was attacked by some of tne friends of Judge
Innis, with the view of expelling him from the
room, but he resisted until ho was rescued by
others.
In justice to Mr. Clay, it must be stated, that
before he agreed to act as the counsel of Burr,
he demanded of him an explicit avowal, upon his
honor, that he was not engaged in any design
contrary to the laws and peace of the country.
Burr gave the required pledge in the most
emphatic manner. He said, ''lie had no design
to intermeddle with or disturb the tranquility of
the United States, nor its territories, nor any
part of them. He had neither issued nor sign
ed, nor promised a commission to any person,
for any purpose. He did not own a single mus
ket, nor bayonet, nor any single article of mili
tary stores, nor did any other person for him,
by his authority or knowledge." He further
added that his views were well understood and
approved by the government, and were such as
every man of honor and every good citizen avast
commend.
NUMBER 33.
iTT Till! T
The reckless disregard of aii moii.t , ..acipl
evinced ty Burr in this avowal, which he wo'l
knew to be utterly flse, is only paralleled by
the daring with w hich he confronted the expos
ure of his schemes.
At this very time, all his long and laboriocsly
ligestod plans were in the act of being scattered
to the winds. Tho communications cfilkia,
son, the statements of Eaton, and the letters cf
Daviess, had, as early as October, btimulatai
fefferson to commission Graham, the secretary
f the Orleans Territory, then about to leav
Vashington, to investigate, on his way south,
the charges against Bnrr, and if they npr
well founded, ta apply to the governors of Ik
western states to take steps to cut short Lis ca
reer. Ou the 27th of November, two days after L
had received Wilkinson's despatches from Nat
chitoches, the president issued a proclamatiom
denouncing the project of Burr, warning sJU
good citizens against it, and calling upon thoa
in authority to exert themselves in suppressing
the enterprise and arresting all concerned in it.
Previous to this, Graham had met with Blen
nerhasset at Marietta, and obtained from hio.
such intelligence concerning the enterprise
warranted an immediate application to the Gov.
of Ohio for authority to seize the boats ou th
Muskingum, then nearly completed.
The legislature of Ohio, which was then ia
session, after delating the question with clossd
doors, promptly authorized the seixur to b
made
During the same week that Burr was feast fed
and caressed at Frankfort, as an innocent and
much-injured nan, ten of his boats, ain witk
provisions aud warlike stores, vrere captured on
:he Muskingum.
Five other boats, filled with volunteers from
he ne!hhorhood of Beaver, reached B'enner-
hasset's Island about the ICth of December.
This flotilla was commanded by Colonel Tyler,
who took possession of the island and post4
sentinels to prevent any communication with th
river banks. He had scarcely done so, befor
Blennerhasset received information of the seiz
ure of his boats on the Muskingum, and the ap
proach of the militia ordered out by the govern
or of Ohio. Hastily abandoning the place, h
embarked in the boats of Tyler, and with & few
-.f his followers descended the river, passed th
falls of the Ohio about the 20th of the month,
and reached the point of rendezvous, the mouth
of the Cumberland River, two days afterwards.
Leaving Frankfort on the 7th of December,
Burr hastened to Nashville. From the latter
place he descended the Cumberland with tn
boats, and on an island at its mouth was intro
duced to such of his adherents as yet clung t
his desperate fortunes. Desertion" had already
thinned their ranks to less than two hundred
men.
Breaking up his encampment at this plac.
Burr proceeded to New Madrid, gathering slen
der reinforcements as he went along. Bitterly
disappointed at finding Lis schemes thus sud
denly baffled at the very moment of fruition. tL
last hope of Burr rested upon the city cf New
Orleans and the surrounding territory. Bayou
Pierre was named as a point of reunion: andth
party dispersed.
W hen he reached the first settlement on th
left bank of the Mississippi, Burr became ac
quainted with the revelations made by Wilkin
son, ana toreseeing at once the danger of an ar
rest, he ordered his boats to withdraw from th
jurisdiction of the Mississippi Territory. An
encampment was accordingly termed some thir
ty miles above Natchez, and a piece of ground
cleared ou which to exercise the men.
Even here, he soon fouud himself equally in
secure. The president's proclamation having
already reached the Mississippi Territory, tL
acting governor at once raised a body of four
hundred militia for the purpose of arresting
Burr.
While those troops were collecting on the op
posite side of the river, several militia officers
were sent to Burr to induce him to submit. Af
ter some little delay, a written agreement was
entered into, which resulted in an unconditional
surrender to the civil authorities.
Previous to this, however, the che6ts of arms
on board the boats were thrown secretly intoth
creek, so tLat when a search took place not
were found in sufficient quantities to justify
their detention.
The subsequent history of Burr, his arrest and
acquittal, his wandering life, the extraordinary
sensation created thjoug'iout the country by his
trial at Richmond, his wanderings in Europe,
and his death in extreme old age at New York,
belong rather to the history of the United States,
than to any single member of the confederation
The authentication of Burr's conspiracy I j
the government agent, Graham, created an im
mediate and violent reaction in the minds of th
people of Kentucy. The legislature, then in
session, immediately passed an act similar to
that of Ohio, and under it some seizures wer
made. An examination of the charges prefer
red against JuJgo Sebastian was ordered and
pressed with 60 much determination that, not
withstanding the opposition of many whose in
terest it was that the affair should remain con
cealed, the whole of his mysterious intrigues
with Spain were exposed, and conclusive evi
dence brought forward to prove Lis recipt of
an annual pension of two thousand dollars from
the court of Madrid up to the period of his triaL
Sebastian, finding all other efforts vain, attemp
ted to stifle the inquiry by resigning his seat
upon the bench, but the legislature preserved
until a thorough investigation had taken place.
Judge Innis, the principal witness against Se
bastian, was also believed to be deeply implica
ted, as he held office under the general govern
ment, a resolution w as passed at the succeeding
session requesting Congress to order an inquiry
into bis conduct. It was aescrdingly instiWl
socn after acd resulted in his ecqnireal -