Memoirs of Aaron Burr Part 122

Wilkinson has been examined, and had partly gone through the cross-examination when we closed on Sat.u.r.day. _He acknowledged, very modestly, that he had made certain alterations in the letter received from me, by erasures, &c., and then swore it to be a true copy._ He has not yet acknowledged the subst.i.tution of names."

"October 9, 1807.

"Major Bruff, who was produced as a witness on my behalf, deposed that, in a conversation with Dearborn and Rodney, the attorney-general, in March last, he accused Wilkinson of several crimes, and gave the names of witnesses who would establish the charges. Those gentlemen replied that General Wilkinson _had_ stood very low in the estimation of the President, but that his energetic conduct at New-Orleans had raised him in estimation; that he now stood very high, and that the president would support him; that if the government should now prosecute Wilkinson, or do any thing to impair his credit, Burr would escape, and that was just what the federalists and the enemies to the administration wished."

"October 23, 1807.

"After all, this is a sort of drawn battle. The chief justice gave his opinion on Tuesday. After declaring that there were no grounds of suspicion as to the treason, he directed that Burr and Blennerha.s.sett should give bail in three thousand dollars for further trial in Ohio.

This opinion was matter of regret and surprise to the friends of the chief justice, and of ridicule to his enemies--all believing that it was a sacrifice of principle to conciliate _Jack Cade_. Mr. Hay immediately said that he should advise the government to _desist from further prosecution_. That he has actually so advised there is no doubt.

"A. BURR."

Footnotes:

1. At this period Blennerha.s.sett was at war with both Colonel Burr and Alston, on the subject of their pecuniary transactions.

2. Former mercantile partner of Blennerha.s.sett, and contractor for building Burr's boats on the Muskingum.

CHAPTER XXII.

On the 7th of June, 1808, Colonel Burr sailed from New-York on board the British packet for England, via Halifax. The personal and political prejudices which the influence of power and the death of Hamilton had excited against him; rendered, as he conceived, a temporary absence from this country desirable; and, at the same time, believing that the political situation of Europe offered opportunities for accomplis.h.i.+ng the object he had long contemplated, of emanc.i.p.ating the Spanish American colonies from the degrading tyranny of Spain, it was his design to solicit the aid of some European government in such an undertaking. With these views he embarked for England.

During his residence in Europe he regularly corresponded with his daughter, Mrs. Alston, and also kept a private diary; but probably from the apprehension that his papers were at all times subject to the supervision of the government police, his memoranda are in a great measure restricted to occurrences private and personal. An amusing volume [1] _might_ be made of these daily records of his privations and personal adventures during his protracted and forced residence in Europe, but the limits of the present work compel us to pa.s.s hastily over this period of his life.

He arrived in Falmouth on the 15th, and in London on the 16th July; and on the same day, with characteristic prompt.i.tude, he presented his letters of introduction, and, among others, to John Reeves, Esq., then in the department of the secretary of state, through whom he seems to have hoped to gain access to the ministry.

During the next three months he made, through Mr. Reeves and others, various unsuccessful efforts to approach the government; but there were two obstacles in his way, both of which were insuperable. The Spaniards were then in the commencement of their n.o.ble resistance to the invasion of Napoleon, and the enthusiasm of the British nation in favour of the Spanish patriots, as well as the policy of the British government, were absolutely opposed to any scheme for separating the colonies from Spain. But, in addition to this obstacle, Colonel Burr, from the moment of his landing in England, was an object of suspicion and distrust to the government. The alien-bill was then in stern operation, and apprehensions were entertained of the emissaries of France; and it is not to be doubted that the same hostility which, as we shall see, openly displayed itself in the conduct of the United States' agents towards Colonel Burr in France, had been excited to misrepresent and antic.i.p.ate him in his negotiations with the British government. After various interviews, that led to nothing, with Mr.

Canning, Lord Mulgrave, and Lord Melville, on the 6th November, 1808, the following communication from A. Merry put an end to all hopes of a.s.sistance in his plans from the English ministry:--

Sunday morning, November 6.

DEAR SIR,

Although I could not see Mr. Canning yesterday, from his being gone into the country, to stay till Tuesday morning, for the recovery of his health, I conversed with another person of nearly equal authority, who told me he was sure that what you proposed to me yesterday could never be consented to, pointing it out in every way to be impracticable. I beg you to excuse the haste in which I write, and believe me to be, dear sir,

Your most faithful humble servant,

A. MERRY.

In private life in England Colonel Burr received much attention, and from no one more than _Jeremy Bentham_, with whom he formed a warm and intimate friends.h.i.+p. In a letter to his daughter of the 8th September, 1808, he speaks of Mr. Bentham:--"I hasten to make you acquainted with Jeremy Bentham, author of a work ent.i.tled 'Principles of Morals and Legislation' (edited in French by Dumont), and of many other works of less labour and research. You will well recollect to have heard me place this man second to no one, ancient or modern, in profound thinking, in logical and a.n.a.lytic reasoning. On the 8th of August I received a letter from him, containing a most friendly invitation to come and pa.s.s some days with him at a farm (where he pa.s.ses the summer) called Barrowgreen, near Gadstone, and twenty miles from London. I was not tardy in profiting of this invitation. He met me at the gate with the frankness and affection of an old friend. Mr.

Bentham's countenance has all that character of intense thought which you would expect to find; but it is impossible to conceive a physiognomy more strongly marked with ingenuousness and philanthropy.

I have pa.s.sed twelve days there, and shall return to-morrow, to stay most probably till he returns to town. His house in the city, which I now occupy solely and exclusively--[N. B. Three servants in the house at my command]--is most beautifully situated on St. James's Park, with extensive gardens, and built and fitted up more to my taste than any one I ever saw. In his library I am now writing."

The friends.h.i.+p of Mr. Bentham was uniform and constant; and if it did not preserve his friend from severe pecuniary privations and distress in Colonel Burr's second residence in England, it was because the extent of these privations was industriously and ingeniously concealed from him. "The benevolent heart of J. B." (Burr remarks in his diary, when apprehending an arrest for debt) "shall never be pained by the exhibition of my distress." Bentham, long after Burr's return to the United States, continued to correspond with him.

With William G.o.dwin Mr. Burr also formed an intimate and friendly acquaintance. In a visit to Edinburgh in the winter of 1809, he seems to have been treated with great distinction; and his diary is sprinkled with the names of visitors the most distinguished in rank, fas.h.i.+on, and letters of the Scottish metropolis. He writes to his daughter 12th February, 1809: "Among the literary men of Edinburgh I have met M'Kenzie, author of the Man of Feeling, and Scott, author of the Minstrel. I met both frequently, and from both received civilities and hospitality. M'Kenzie has twelve children--six daughters, all very interesting and handsome. He is remarkably sprightly in company, amiable, witty--might pa.s.s for forty-two, though certainly much older.

Scott, with less softness than M'Kenzie, has still more animation; talks much, and very agreeably."

While in Edinburgh Colonel Burr was informed by Lord Justice Clarke that Lord Melville had mentioned in a letter that it would be necessary for Mr. Burr to return to London. The government began now to evince great distrust of him. He seems at one time, and before he had abandoned all hope of receiving a.s.sistance in his political schemes, to have resolved to resist the operation of the alien bill, by claiming the rights of a British subject. He probably suggested this singular claim at the instance of his friend Reeves. The ground he took was that, having been born a British subject, he had a right to rea.s.sume his allegiance at pleasure; or rather that it was indefeasible, and never could be parted with. The claim appears to have caused some sensation among the crown lawyers. It was certainly unfounded and injudiciously a.s.serted. Lord Liverpool p.r.o.nounced it monstrous; and it probably increased the suspicion and distrust already existing.

On the 4th April, 1809, the government took active measures against him. He writes in his journal of that day--"Having a confused presentiment that something was wrong, I packed up my papers and clothes with intent to go out and seek other lodgings. At one o'clock came in without knocking four coa.r.s.e-looking men, who said they had a state warrant for seizing me and my papers, but refused to show the warrant. I was peremptory, and the warrant was produced, signed 'Liverpool,' but I was not permitted to read the whole. They took possession of my trunks, searched every part of the rooms for papers, threw all the loose articles into a sack, called a coach, and away we went to the alien office. Before going I wrote a note to Reeves, and on our arrival sent it in--waited one hour in the coach--very cold, but I refused to go in. Wrote in pencil to Reeves another note. He came out. We had a little conversation. He could not then explain, but said I must have patience. After half an hour more orders were that I must go with one of the messengers to his house. On this order I first went into the office to see Brooks, the under secretary, whom I knew [you may recollect the transaction in July, which must have fixed me in his memory]. He did not know me--none of them knew me--though every devil of them knew me as well as I know you. Seeing the measure was resolved on, and having inquired of the sort of restraint to which I was doomed, I wrote a note to Koe, which Brooks took to show to Lord Liverpool for his approbation to forward it--arrived at my prison, 31 Stafford Place, at four." In two days, however, he was released, and his papers returned unopened; but he was informed he must leave the kingdom. Some days afterward, as he still lingered, a message was conveyed to him:--"Lord Liverpool expects you to leave London to-morrow, and the kingdom in forty-eight hours." And on the 24th April, 1809, he sailed from Harwich in his B. M. packet Diana for Gottenburgh.

On leaving England Mr. Burr seems to have been undetermined as to his future movements. He was unwilling to renounce the projects which had carried him to Europe; and all hope of a.s.sistance from England being ended, he looked next for aid to Napoleon, whose policy, from the resistance of Spain and the preponderancy of the British navy, was now in favour of the independence of the Spanish American colonies. He finally resolved to wait in Sweden till he received advices from America, and then proceed to Paris to communicate with the emperor.

We must pa.s.s over his residence in Sweden, and his subsequent tour through Germany to Paris, during the whole of which period he kept a journal. He visited Hamburgh, Hanover, Saxe-Gotha, Weimar, and Frankfort; and, though travelling without letters or introduction, it appears from his itinerary that he was everywhere treated with distinction and attention. At Hamburg, where he arrived the 20th November, 1809, De Bourrienne, since known as the author of the Memoirs of Bonaparte, was the French minister. It will be amusing, perhaps, to compare the following extracts from De Bourrienne's work with a brief memorandum from Colonel Burr's diary, showing in what light they reciprocally regarded each other.

"At the height of his glory and power, Bonaparte was so suspicious that the veriest trifle sufficed to alarm him. I recollect that about the time the complaints were made respecting the _Minerva_ (newspaper), Colonel Burr, formerly vice-president of the United States, who had recently arrived at Altona, was pointed out to me as a dangerous man, and I received orders to watch him very closely, and to arrest him on the slightest ground of suspicion if he should come to Hamburgh. Colonel Burr was one of those in favour of whom I ventured to disobey the orders I received from the restless police of Paris. As soon as the minister of the police heard of his arrival at Altona, he directed me to adopt towards him those violent measures which are equivalent to persecution. In answer to these instructions, I stated that Colonel Burr conducted himself at Altona with much prudence and propriety; that he kept but little company, and that he was scarcely spoken of. Far from regarding him as a man who required watching; having learned that he wished to go to Paris, I caused a pa.s.sport to be procured for him, which he was to receive at Frankfort; and I never heard that this dangerous citizen had compromised the safety of the state in any way." _Bourrienne's Memoirs of Napoleon,_ vol. iv., p.

108.

In his journal of November 24, Burr writes:--

"I learn that A. B. is announced in the Paris papers in a manner no way auspicious. Resolved to go direct to the French minister, to see if he had any orders to give or refuse me pa.s.sports. Sent in my name, but did not get out of my carriage; after some minutes the servant returned, saying his excellency was then much engaged, but would be glad to see me at three. At three, to minister's; begged to call tomorrow at twelve. November 25. At twelve, the minister's; was at once received; he is the transcript of our _Mari_, [2] only fifteen years older, but marked with the same characters. His reception was courteous, but with a mixture of surprise and curiosity. At once offered me pa.s.sports to any frontier town, but has no authority to do more. Pa.s.sports to go to Paris must come from Paris, and to that end I must write. Advises that I direct reply to be transmitted to Mayence.

Asked me to dine, at his country-house tomorrow."

At Mayence, however, he found no pa.s.sport; and he was detained in suspense there and at Frankfort for a month, before permission could be obtained to go to Paris.

On the 16th February, 1810, he arrived in Paris.

He commenced here a long and most vexatious and wearisome course of attendance on the minister of foreign relations and other high officers of state, endeavouring in vain, by personal solicitations and memorials, to obtain an audience of the emperor and an answer to his propositions. He attended the levees of the Duc de Cadore, the Duc de Rovigo, Jerome Bonaparte, King of Westphalia; but uniformly failed in his efforts, and was turned off with unmeaning professions. He records in his diary, with grat.i.tude, the friendly attentions of Volney, Denon, and the Duc de Ba.s.sano; but, with these exceptions, he seems to have been treated with great coolness, even by those to whom his hospitality had been freely tendered in America. He always suspected that the alienation and immutable discountenance of the emperor were to be ascribed to the representations of _Talleyrand_ and the representatives of the United States in France.

Several months neglect and inattention at length discouraged him, and he resolved to return home; but, on applying for a pa.s.sport to the United States, he was informed by the police that he could not have a pa.s.sport to go out of the empire. "Me voila [he writes in his journal], prisonier d'Etat! et presque sans sous." This event changed the course of his solicitations; and for the next year we find him, having abandoned all projects of ambition, limiting himself to solicitation for permission to go home, and without success. A memorial which he addressed to Napoleon sets forth in these manly terms the harshness and injustice of his treatment.

"While in Germany last winter I saw in the _Moniteur_ an expression of your majesty's a.s.sent to the independence of the Spanish American colonies. Believing that I could be useful in the execution of that object, I hastened to Frankfort, and there addressed myself to your majesty's minister, Monsieur Hedouville, who, at my request, wrote to the minister of exterior relations, stating my views, and asking a pa.s.sport if those views should be deemed worthy of your majesty's attention. A pa.s.sport was transmitted to me. On the day of my arrival in Paris I announced myself to the Duc de Cadore, and on the day following had an audience, in which I explained, as fully as the time would admit, the nature of my projects and the means of execution.

Further details were added in subsequent conversations had with one of the chiefs of that department. Afterward, at the request of the Duc de Cadore, they were reduced to writing, of which memoir one copy was delivered to the Duc de Cadore and another to the Duc de Rovigo, to be submitted to your majesty's perusal. After the lapse of some weeks, having received no reply, nor any intimation that my views accorded with those of your majesty, being here without occupation and without the means of support, I asked a pa.s.sport to return to the United States, where not only the state of the country, but my personal concerns, demand my presence. This pa.s.sport has been refused; for nearly four months I have in vain solicited. The only answer I receive is--'His majesty has not signified his a.s.sent.'

"After conduct so frank and loyal on my part, it is with reason that I am hurt and surprised at this refusal. Not only did the motives of my visit and my conduct since my residence in France deserve a different return; at all times I have deserved well of your majesty and of the French nation. My home in the United States has been always open to French citizens, and few of any note who have visited the United States have not experienced my hospitalities. At a period when the administration of the government of the United States was hostile to France and Frenchmen, they received from me efficient protection.

These, sire, are my crimes against France!

"Presuming that a proceeding so distressing and unmerited--so contrary to the laws of hospitality, to the fame of your majesty's magnanimity and justice, and to that of the courtesy of the French nation, must be without your majesty's knowledge, and that, amid the mighty concerns which weigh on your majesty's mind, those of an individual so humble as myself may have escaped your notice, I venture to intrude into your presence, and to ask either a pa.s.sport to return to the United States, or, if in fact your majesty, with the expectation of rendering me useful to you, should wish a further delay, that I may be informed of the period of that delay, that I may take measures accordingly for my subsistence."

This memorial pa.s.sed without notice.

The following correspondence between Colonel Burr and Mr. Jonathan Russell, then Charge d'Affaires at Paris, and Mr. M'Rae, American Consul at Paris, will show the conduct of representatives of the United States to an American citizen in want and in a foreign land.

TO MR. RUSSELL.

Paris, October 25, 1810.

Mr. Burr presents respectful compliments. As a citizen of the United States, he requests of Mr. Russell an official certificate to that effect, and will have the honour of calling for the purpose at any hour which he may be pleased to name. The fact of Mr. Burr's citizens.h.i.+p being sufficiently known to Mr. Russell, it is presumed that other proof will be deemed unnecessary.