[Burr claims to have
been vindicated
in prior proceedings]
Col. Burr then addressed the
court, not, as he
said, to remedy any omission of his counsel, who had
done great justice
to the subject, but to state a few facts, and repel some
observations of
a personal nature. The present inquiry involved a simple
question of treason
or misdemeanor. According to the Constitution,
treason consisted
in acts; whereas, in this case, his honor was invited to
issue a warrant
based upon mere conjecture. Alarms existed without
cause. Mr.
Wilkinson alarmed the President, and the President
alarmed the people of
Ohio. He appealed to historical facts. No
sooner did he understand
that suspicions were entertained in Kentucky of the
nature and design of
his movements, than he hastened to meet an
investigation. The prosecution
not being prepared, he was discharged. That he
then went to Tennessee.
While there he heard that the attorney for the district
of Kentucky was
preparing another prosecution against him; that he
immediately returned
to Frankfort, presented himself before the court, and
again was honorably
discharged; that what happened in the Mississippi
Territory was equally
well known; that there he was acquitted by the grand
jury, but they went
farther, and censured the conduct of the government; and
if there had really
been any cause of alarm, it must have been felt by the
people of that part
of the country;
[Burr claims his
objects were peaceful
and beneficial]
that the manner of his descent
down the river
was a fact which put at defiance all rumors about
treason and misdemeanor;
that the nature of his equipments clearly evinced that
his object was purely
peaceable and agricultural; that this fact alone ought
to overthrow the
testimony against him; that his designs were honorable,
and would have
been useful to the United States.
[Burr says his
"flight" not evidence
of guilt]
His flight, as it was termed,
had been mentioned
as evidence of guilt. He asked, at what time did
he fly? In
Kentucky, he invited inquiry, and that inquiry
terminated in a firm conviction
of his innocence; that the alarms were first great in
the Mississippi Territory,
and orders had been issued to seize and destroy the
persons and property
of himself and party; that he endeavored to undeceive
the people, and convince
them that he had no designs hostile to the United
States, but that twelve
hundred men were in arms for a purpose not yet
developed; the people could
not be deceived; and he was acquitted, and promised the
protection of government;
but the promise could not be performed; the arm of
military power could
not be resisted; that he knew there were military orders
to seize his person
and property, and transport him to a distance from that
place; that he
was assured by the officer of an armed boat, that it was
lying in the river
ready to recieve him on board. Was it his duty to
remain there thus
situated? That he took the advice of his best
friends, pursued the
dictates of his own judgment, and abandoned a country
where the laws ceased
to be the sovereign power; that the charge stated in a
handbill, that he
had forfeited hi recognizance, was false; that he had
forfeited no recognizance;
if he had forfeited any recognizance, he asked why no
proceedings had taken
place for the breach of it?
[Burr complains about
treatment by
military authorities]
If he was to be prosecuted for
such breach, he
wished to know why he was brought to this place?
Why not carry him
to the place where the breach happened? That more
than three months
had elapsed since the order of the government had issued
to seize and bring
him to that place; yet it was pretended that sufficient
time had not been
allowed to adduce testimony in support of the
prosecution. He asked
why the guard who conducted him to that place avoided
every magistrate
along the way, unless from a conviction that they were
acting without lawful
authority? Why had he been debarred the use of
pen, ink, and paper,
and not even permitted to write to his daughter?
That in the state
of South Carolina, where he had happened to see three
men together, he
demaned the interposition of the civil authority; that
it was from military
despotism, from the tyranny of a military escort, that
he wished to be
delivered, not from an investigation into his conduct,
or from the operation
of the laws of his country.
[Burr says the
prosecution has no
case]
He concluded that there were
three courses that
might be pursued,--an acquittal; or a commitment for
treason, or for a
misdemeanor; that no proof existed in support of either
but what was contained
in the affidavits of Eaton and Wilkinson, abounding in
crudities and absudities.
The next day, Chief
Justice Marshall committed
Burr to stand trial on the charge of conspiring to
invade the territories
of a nation at peace with the United States (Mexico,
a dominion of
Spain).
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