Memoirs of Aaron Burr Part 120

EXTRACTS.

"The vivacity of Burr's wit, and the exercise of his proper talents, now (at Richmond) constantly solicited here, in private and public exhibition, while they display his powers and address at the levee and the bar, must engross more of his time than he can spare from the demands of other gratifications; while they display him to the eager eyes of the mult.i.tude, like a favourite gladiator, measuring over the arena of his fame with firm step and manly grace, the pledges of easy victory."

"August 17, 1807. This led me to praise a pamphlet, _Agrestis_, which Alston yesterday brought me, being two letters on Wilkinson's proceedings at New-Orleans, which, for its arrangement and strength, as well as for the imagery of the language, I observed would not be unworthy of a Curran; at the same time inquiring who was the author.

Alston said that was not known. I then repeated the question to Colonel M'Kee, who said it was a friend of ours; at least, Mr. Alston was suspected. I mention this trifling occurrence for the sake of observing that Alston was now silent, thereby appropriating to himself the merit of the book, which his _wife_, I have no doubt, might produce. To suppose Alston [1] the author would be preposterous."

"August 23, 1807. My revery was soon broken in upon by the appearance of Mr. Douglas with a stranger. I should rather have said by two apparitions; for it was now near nightfall, and Douglas no sooner appeared than he turned on his heel, saying, 'Colonel Duane, sir,' and ran down stairs. The surprise of this interruption the stranger, whom I had never before seen, did not suffer to endure long enough to allow me to invoke the angels and ministers of grace for my protection. I was already within the grasp of this Gabriel of the government. He seized my hand, and bade me dismiss my surprise, however natural it might be, on his appearance before me. I handed him a chair, and said 'I had lived long enough in this country to be surprised at nothing it could produce or exhibit, but yet desired to learn from what cause I had the favour of this visit.' 'Having heard Mr. Douglas observe,'

said he, 'that you would be pleased to see me--' 'Sir, Mr. Douglas has made a mistake; he must have meant somebody else.' 'No matter,'

continued he; 'having known and seen your present situation, I could not as a man, as an Irishman' (here he digressed to show me how he both was and was not an Irishman), 'I would not leave this town (Richmond) without warning you of the sacrifice now preparing to appease the government by your friends, of which you are destined to be the victim. You cannot desire any other key to my meaning than the course the defence has this week taken. But if you think the government will not cease to pursue that justice they possess the means of ensuring, and suspect, as you ought, the designs of those you have too long thought your friends, it might yet appear no better on my part than a nominal service to give you these cautions: I have therefore sought you, not to tender you words, but deeds. The only return on your part will be that care of yourself which will find a s.h.i.+eld in _my honour_' (here he very awkwardly struck his breast, and grinned a ghastly smile), 'and that confidence I can _command_ in the government whose good faith is not misplaced in the zeal I have testified to serve it.' To this harangue he added violent protestations of his wishes to serve me, saying, that for that purpose he would put off his journey back to Philadelphia, which otherwise was irrevocably fixed for Wednesday, and would now, or at any time hereafter, go to Was.h.i.+ngton for me, where _nothing he should ask would be refused him_. In thanking him for the frankness and zeal with which he cautioned me against my friends and a negligence of my safety, I a.s.sured him I was not afraid to meet the prosecution, as I expected I should before my arrival here, without counsel or friends; but, from present appearances, I was more curious than interested to learn what were those means the said government possessed of ensuring justice.

Finding by his answer that he was now disposed to allure me into a confession of having written certain papers in the hands of the prosecutors, I told him, the warmth of his offers to serve me could not make me forget either his situation or my own with relation to the government; that I cared not what writings should be charged upon me; that I should admit none till fairly proved, which, if any such should ever appear, I would justify, if necessary, on the scaffold. He now summed up the objects of his mission, whatever produced it, with abuse of Burr, Tyler, and Smith, _acknowledging that he had been served gratis by Burr in the most handsome manner_; that the others were more concerned against the government than I was; but swearing that he believed, if I did not follow his advice, they would make a scapegoat sacrifice of me for their deliverance."

"August 25, 1807. I asked Alston, 'Would you wish to see my notes of what pa.s.sed between Duane and me?' 'Yes,' said he, 'very much.' I then read to him the minutes I had taken on Sunday evening, with which he seemed highly pleased, and said they ought to be published. To this I told him I could not accede. * * * * * * I informed him that Duane had intimated that government had got possession of one of his letters to me. 'One of my letters,' cried he; 'I never wrote to you but two upon business of a private nature; and, by G--d, any other letter they can have of mine must be a forgery.' 'To be sure,' said I; 'or, at all events, from the favourable course things are now likely to take, such a letter could do no harm.' 'But what did the rascal,' continued he, 'state to be the purport of the letter?' 'Nothing more,' said I, 'than that you and myself were equally involved in all Colonel Burr's projects. He then abused Duane, and repeated his wish that my notes were published."

"September 13, 1807. I visited Burr this morning. He is as gay as usual, and as busy in speculations on reorganizing his projects for action as if he had never suffered the least interruption. He observed to Major Smith and me, that in six months our schemes could be all remounted; that we could now new model them in a better mould than formerly, having a better view of the ground and a more perfect knowledge of our men. We were silent. It should yet be granted, that if Burr possessed sensibility of the right sort, with one hundredth part of the energies for which, with many, he has obtained such ill-grounded credit, his first and last determination, with the morning and the night, should be the destruction of those enemies who have so long and so cruelly wreaked their malicious vengeance upon him."

"September 16, 1807. I was glad to find Burr had at last thought of asking us to dine with him, as I was rather curious again to see him s.h.i.+ne in a _partie quarrie_, consisting of new characters. We therefore walked with him from court; Luther Martin, who lives with him, accompanying us. * * * * * The dinner was neat, and followed by three or four sorts of wine. Splendid poverty! During the chit-chat, after the cloth was removed, a letter was handed to Burr, next to whom I sat. I immediately smelt musk. Burr broke the seal, put the cover to his nose, and then handed it to me, saying--'This amounts to a disclosure!' I smelt the paper, and said, 'I think so.' The whole physiognomy of the man now a.s.sumed an alteration and vivacity that, to a stranger who had never seen him before, would have sunk full fifteen years of his age. 'This,' said he, 'reminds me of a detection once very neatly practised upon me at New-York. One day a lady stepped into my library while I was reading, came softly behind my chair, and giving me a slap on the cheek, said, "Come, tell me directly, what little French girl, pray, have you had here?" The abruptness of the question and surprise left me little room to doubt the discovery had been completely made. So I thought it best to confess the whole fact; upon which the inquisitress burst out into a loud laugh on the success of her artifice, which she was led to play off upon me from the mere circ.u.mstance of, having smelt musk in the room.' I have given this anecdote a place here only to convey an idea of that temperament and address which enables this character to uphold his ascendency over the s.e.x. After some time Martin and Prevost withdrew, and we pa.s.sed to the topics of our late adventures on the Mississippi, in which Burr said little, but declared he did not know of any reason to blame General Jackson, of Tennessee, for any thing he had done or omitted. But he declares he will not lose a day after the favourable issue at the Capitol (his acquittal), of which he has no doubt, to direct his entire attention to setting up his projects (which have only been suspended) on a better model, 'in which work,' he says, 'he has even here made some progress.'"

"September 20, 1807. I found Burr, just after a consultation with his counsel, secretly writhing under much irritation at the conduct of Judge Marshall, but affecting an air of contempt for his alleged inconsistencies, as Burr a.s.serted he (the judge) did not, for the last two days, understand either the questions or himself; that he had wavered in his opinions before yesterday's adjournment, and should, in future, be put right by _strong language_. I am afraid to say _abuse_, though I think I could swear he used that word. I learned from Major Smith to-day a confirmation of what Colonel de Pestre had also mentioned to me, that Burr sets off immediately for England after his liberation to collect money for reorganizing his projects."

"September 22, 1807. I have seen a complete file of all the depositions made before the grand jury in Burr's possession. It must be confessed that few other men in his circ.u.mstances could have procured these doc.u.ments out of the custody of offices filled by his inveterate enemies. Burr a.s.serted to-day, in court, that he expected doc.u.ments that would disqualify Eaton as a witness."

"September 26, 1807. Wilkinson, in his examination, confessed that he had altered the cipher letter, and sworn that there were no alterations."

"Of Dudley Woodbridge, [2] it must not be concealed from those who may have access to these _notes_ that, although he is reputed to have given a fair, candid, and to us an advantageous testimony, _he has not yet told the whole truth, having suppressed my communication to him of our designs being unequivocally against Mexico_, which I suppose he kept back because he embraced and embarked in the plan on the first mention of it to him, though he afterward receded from it upon his own reflections or counsel of others. Such is the address with which ingrat.i.tude and dishonesty are made to pa.s.s in the garb of integrity, like towcloth under fine muslin."

"October 8, 1807. I called on Burr this morning, when he at last mentioned to me, during a short tete-a-tete, that he was preparing to go to England; that the time was now auspicious for him, and he wished to know whether I could give him letters. I answered that I supposed, when he mentioned England, he meant London, as his business would probably be with people in office; that I knew none of the present ministry, nor did I believe I had a single acquaintance in London. He replied, that he meant to visit every part of the country, and would be glad to get letters to any one. I said I would think of it, that I might discover whether I had any friends there whom it would be an object worth his attention to know, and took leave. We can only conjecture his designs. For my part, I am disposed to suspect he has no serious intent of reviving any of his speculations in America, or even of returning from Europe if he can get there."

After Colonel Burr's return to the United States from Europe, he received several letters from Blennerha.s.sett; in two of them he refers to a suit which he commenced against General Andrew Jackson, in Adams county, Mississippi territory, for a balance due Burr. In reply to an inquiry made on the subject under date of the 4th of October, 1812, he says, "I allude to an account between yourself and Andrew Jackson, in his own handwriting, on which appears a balance in your favour of $1726 62," &c. He then speaks of other papers, and adds, "As to the manner in which I obtained the papers, it happened to be discovered that the portmanteau you left with me, to be transmitted to Mr.

Alston, which lay at my disposal in the house of Mr. Harding, near Natchez, was broken open by his servants. On this discovery I called for the portmanteau, found the lock torn off, and some papers tumbled and abused, which had seemingly been all opened. I observed and took out the above doc.u.ment. The rest, with a silk tent, await the disposition of your orders."

In another letter, in a paroxysm of pa.s.sion, he threatens the publication of a book, which he says is to be ent.i.tled,

"A review of the projects and intrigues of Aaron Burr during the years 1805, 1806, and 1807, involving therein, as parties or privies, Thomas Jefferson, A. Gallatin, Dr. Eustis, Governor Alston, Daniel Clark, Generals Wilkinson, Dearborn, Harrison, Jackson, and Smith, and the late Spanish amba.s.sador Yrujo, exhibiting original doc.u.ments and correspondence hitherto unpublished. Compiled from the notes and private journal kept during the above period by Herman Blennerha.s.sett, LLD."

It has been seen that General Wilkinson _altered_ the letter written in cipher by Colonel Burr, and then swore that the translation was a true copy of the original. This alteration was for the purpose of establis.h.i.+ng _treasonable_ designs in Burr and his a.s.sociates, to which fact the general had also sworn. But while he was thus urging the charge of _treason_ at home, he had to give his Spanish employers a different account of the movements and object of Burr. Accordingly, after the trial at Richmond, General Wilkinson despatched Captain Walter Burling, his aid, to demand of the vice-king of Mexico the repayment of his expenditures and compensation for his services to Spain in defeating Burr's expedition against Mexico. The modesty of this demand, being only about _two hundred thousand dollars_, is worthy of notice. The development of this fact places in a new point of view Mr. Jefferson's confidential friend (General Wilkinson)--that friend whom he recommended to Congress on the 22d of January, 1S07, as having acted "with the _honour of a soldier and the fidelity of a good citizen_." The doc.u.ments are presented without comment.

_State of Louisiana, City of New-Orleans_.

Before me, William Young Lewis, notary public in and for the city of New-Orleans, duly commissioned and sworn, this day personally appeared Richard Raynal Keene, Esq., attorney and counsellor at law of this city, who delivered to me, the said notary, and requested the same to be annexed to the current records of my office, the following doc.u.ments, _to wit_:--

_First_. A certificate of the vice-queen of Mexico, dated at Madrid on the twenty-fourth day of January, eighteen hundred and sixteen.

_Second_. A letter from the said Richard R. Keene to the Reverend Dr.

Mangan, dated at Madrid on the twenty-first day of July, eighteen hundred and twenty-one.

_Third_. The reply of the Reverend Dr. Mangan to the aforesaid letter, dated at Madrid on the twenty-third day of July, eighteen hundred and twenty-one.

All of which said doc.u.ments I have accordingly annexed to my current register, there to remain and serve as the case may be, after having marked the same _ne varietur_, to identify them with this act.

Done and pa.s.sed at New-Orleans, this twenty-fourth day of December, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, in presence of William T. Lewis and Gustavus Harper, both of this city, witnesses, who have hereunto signed their names with said, and me the said notary. Signed, Richard R. Keene, William T. Lewis, Gustavus Harper.

W. Y. Lewis, Not. Pub.

_Certificate of the Vice-queen_.

"Whereas his excellency, the Marquis of Campo-Sagrado, minister of war, has been pleased to accede to the request of Richard Raynal Keene, colonel of the royal armies, addressed to him under date of the 12th instant, with the view of obtaining my declaration respecting the mission sent by the Anglo-American brigadier, James Wilkinson, to my late husband, Don Jose Yturrigaray, lieutenant-general of the royal armies in Mexico, during the period of his command as viceroy in that country; now, for the purpose required, I do declare and certify, that, having accompanied my said husband to Mexico, and stayed there with him during the time of his command as viceroy in that country, to wit, from the year 1802 to the year 1808, I recollect perfectly well the aforesaid mission, which was carried into effect by a person of the name of Burling; and although I cannot now undertake to relate all the details of that mission, nevertheless my memory enables me to state that, in substance, the exposition made by Keene to the minister of war, of the artifices and stratagems resorted to by Wilkinson on that occasion, through his confidential agent, is just and true. The interested views manifested by Wilkinson _in his reclamation of large sums of money for his alleged disburs.e.m.e.nts_ in counteracting the hostile plans of the American vice-president, Burr, against Mexico, appeared to the viceroy to be no less incompatible with the rights of his majesty than they were _irreconcilable to the honour of an officer and patriot_ of a foreign state. The viceroy, therefore, did not give a single ducat to Burling, but took immediate steps for having him removed from the country.

This is what I declare, in compliance with the requisition of his excellency the minister of war. Madrid, January 24, 1816.

MARIA INES JAUREGUI DE YTURRIGARAY.

Madrid, July 21, 1821.

REV. SIR,

I send you an exposition of the vice-queen Donna Maria Ines Jauregui de Yturrigaray, of the 24th January, 1816, relative to the intrigue which the brigadier Wilkinson attempted to carry into effect in 1806 or 1807, through the agency of Mr. Burling, for the purpose of getting money from the vice-king of Mexico. The vice-queen told me, in the different conversations I had with her on this subject, that you enjoyed the full and entire confidence of her husband, and that he, besides speaking with you unreservedly about this affair, commissioned you to interpret the letter which Wilkinson sent him through Mr.

Burling, the said letter having been written in English. The vice-king, had he not died suddenly, would have given me the same exposition which his widow gave me. It being then, in some sort, a matter of justice that you should give your declaration relative to the aforesaid exposition of the vice-queen, I therefore pray you to do so.

I will merely add that, in one of my conversations with the vice-king, he told me that, in the aforesaid letter, Wilkinson, in speaking of his service rendered in frustrating what he called the invasion of Mexico by the ex-vice-president, Mr. Burr, likened himself to _Leonidas in the pa.s.s of Thermopylae_. Be a.s.sured, reverend sir, of my profound respect.

RICHARD RAYNAL KEENE,

Colonel in the service of H. C. M.

Rev. Dr. MANGAN, _Rector of the Irish College in Salamanca._ Madrid, July 23, 1821

MY DEAR SIR,

I have carefully read the exposition you enclosed me in your esteemed favour of the 21st instant, of the former vice-queen of Mexico, La Senora Donna Maria Ines Jauregui de Yturrigaray, relative to the famous emba.s.sy of General Wilkinson to her husband Don Joseph de Yturrigaray, viceroy of Mexico.

As his excellency was pleased to make use of me as interpreter in the interview he granted Mr. Walter Burling, the bearer of a letter from the aforesaid General Wilkinson, and commissioned by him to manifest to the viceroy the importance of his emba.s.sy, I candidly confess that, to the best of my recollection, the exposition of the vice-queen is perfectly correct, for the object of the famous emba.s.sy of Mr. Burling was to display to the viceroy _the great pecuniary sacrifices_ made by General Wilkinson to frustrate the plan of invasion meditated by the ex-vice-president, Mr. Burr, against the kingdom of Mexico, and to solicit, in consideration of such important services, a pretty round sum of _at least two hundred thousand dollars_.

I cannot help observing that the viceroy, Don Joseph de Yturrigaray, received this communication with due contempt and indignation, bidding me to tell Mr. Burling that General Wilkinson, in counteracting any treasonable plan of Mr. Burr, did no more than comply with his duty; that he (the viceroy) would take good care to defend the kingdom of Mexico against any attack or invasion, and that he did not think himself authorized to give one farthing to General Wilkinson in compensation for his pretended services. He concluded by ordering Mr.

Burling to leave the city of Mexico, and had him safely escorted to the port of Vera Cruz, where he immediately embarked for the United States.

This is, believe me, the substance (as far as I can recollect) of the famous emba.s.sy of General Wilkinson to the viceroy of Mexico, Don Joseph de Yturrigaray, who certainly was not mistaken in the pa.s.sage he mentioned to you of Leonidas, as I recollect well that General Wilkinson, after displaying in a pompous style the great difficulties he had to encounter to render Mr. Burr's plan fruitless, concluded by affirming--"_I, like Leonidas, boldly threw myself in the pa.s.s_," &c.

I return you the original exposition of the vice-queen, Donna Maria Ines Jauregui de Yturrigaray, and remain yours,

PATRICK MANGAN, Rector of the Irish College of Salamanca.

RICHARD R. KEENE, Colonel in the service H. C. M.

I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the originals annexed to my current register. In witness whereof I grant these presents, under my hand and seal, at New-Orleans, this 26th day of December, 1836.