Mr. Martin said that it was like the whole play, "Much ado about Nothing;" that this was a verdict of acquittal; that there was nothing to do but to answer the question of guilty or not guilty; that it was the case with every jury in every instance; they had or had not evidence before them.
Colonel Carrington, one of the jury, observed, that it was said among themselves that, if the verdict was informal, they would alter it; that it was, in fact, a verdict of acquittal.
The court then directed that the verdict should remain as found by the jury; and that an entry should be made on the record of "Not Guilty."
On the 9th of September a jury was empannelled to try Colonel Burr on the indictment for misdemeanour, which consisted of seven counts; the substance of which were, that Aaron Burr did set on foot a military enterprise, to be carried on against the territory of a foreign prince; viz., the province of Mexico, which was within the territory of the King of Spain, with whom the United States were at peace.
After the prosecution had examined some of their witnesses, and the court had decided that the testimony of others was not relevant, the district attorney, Mr. Hay, made a motion that the jury be discharged. To this motion Colonel Burr objected, insisting upon a verdict. This was on the 15th of September. The court being of opinion that the jury could not in this stage of the case be discharged without the consent of the accused, and that they must give a verdict, they accordingly retired, and very soon returned with a verdict of "Not Guilty."
Previous to the trial for treason it was industriously circulated that Commodore Truxton had most honourably repelled Colonel Burr's advances, and pointed out the infamy which awaited him. He was subpoenaed on the part of the United States, and on his examination said—"That Colonel Burr told him (some time in July, 1806) that he contemplated an expedition to Mexico in the event of a war with Spain, which he thought inevitable. He asked me if the Havannah could be easily taken in the event of a war. I told him that it would require the co-operation of a naval force. Mr. Burr observed to me that that might be obtained. He asked me if I had any personal knowledge of Carthagena and La Vera Cruz, and what would be the best mode of attacking them by sea and land. I gave him my opinion very freely. Mr. Burr then asked me if I would take the command of a naval expedition. I asked him if the executive of the United States were privy to or concerned in the project. He answered emphatically that he was not: I asked that question because the executive had been charged with a knowledge of Miranda's expedition. I told Mr. Burr that I would have nothing to do with it; that Miranda's project had been intimated to me, but I declined to have any thing to do with such affairs. He observed to me that, in the event of a war, he intended to establish an independent government in Mexico; that Wilkinson, the army, and many officers of the navy would join. I told Mr. Burr that I could not see how any officer of the United States could join. He said that General Wilkinson had projected the expedition, and he had matured it; that many greater men than Wilkinson would join, and that thousands to the westward would join. I told Colonel Burr that there would be no war. He was sanguine there would be war. He said, however, that if he was disappointed as to the event of a war, he was about to complete a contract for a large quantity of land on the Washita; that he intended to invite his friends to settle it; that in one year he would have a thousand families of respectable and fashionable people, and some of them of considerable property; that it was a fine country, and that they would have a charming society, and in two years he would have double the number of settlers; and, being on the frontier, he would be ready to move whenever a war took place."
On his cross examination Commodore Truxton added "that he was very intimate with Colonel Burr; that in their conversations there appeared to be no reserve; that he never heard Colonel Burr speak of a division of the Union; that Burr said his Mexican expedition would be beneficial to the United States; that, so far from doubting Burr's intention to settle the Washita lands, he was astonished at hearing he had different views, which accounts were contained in newspapers received from the western country."
From among numerous instances of Mr. Jefferson's idea of honour and morality, as practised by him and by his order pending that trial, only one will be selected as a sample. Dr. Erick Bollman, the friend of Lafayette, was arrested by the order of Wilkinson as a co-conspirator with Burr. He was called as a witness on the part of the United States; and in open court, the district attorney, Mr. Hay, by order of Mr. Jefferson, tendered him a pardon, which he indignantly refused, asserting his innocence of any act requiring a pardon. Immediately after the trial, he published, under his own signature, an account of what occurred between himself and the president. From that publication, which was never controverted, sufficient will be extracted to show Mr. Jefferson's feelings and principles.
Bollman says, "In the month of December, 1806, I was seized and arrested at New-Orleans by order of General Wilkinson, but in the name of the United States. When I arrived at Charleston, Annapolis, and Washington, the newspapers represented Colonel Burr as being at the head of two thousand men, and they were ringing at the same time with reports of his pretended treason.
"These circumstances occasioned in my mind great indignation with regard to the reports just mentioned, and great solicitude lest General Wilkinson's conduct and Burr's situation might lead to occurrences which Colonel Burr would deprecate, and which involuntarily would put him in the wrong.