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 embassy of General Wilkinson to the viceroy of Mexico, Don Joseph de Yturrigaray, who certainly was not mistaken in the passage 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 pass," &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.
WILLIAM Y. LEWIS, Not. Pub.
The following short extracts from the letters of Colonel Burr to his daughter, while he was imprisoned in Richmond, will serve to show the state of his mind under circumstances thus oppressive and mortifying.
TO THEODOSIA.
"Richmond, March 27, 1807.