But, sir, if Mr. Smith had seen nothing in this letter to startle confidence, instead of composing it, was there nothing in the course of public events at that time, which might and should have aroused him to more than suspicion? Mr. Burr’s letter was dated on the 26th of October; within ten days from that time, that is, on the 5th of November following, the District Attorney of the United States in Kentucky filed a complaint against Mr. Burr, for a violation of the laws of the United States, in setting on foot an expedition against Mexico, which complaint I beg leave to read—
“J. H. Daviess,[52] attorney for the said United States, in and for said district, upon his corporal oath, doth depose and say, that the deponent is informed, and doth verily believe, that a certain Aaron Burr, Esq., late Vice President of the United States, for several said months past hath been and is now engaged in preparing and setting on foot, and in providing and preparing the means for a military expedition and enterprise within this district, for the purpose of descending the Ohio and Mississippi therewith, and making war upon the subjects of the King of Spain, who are now in a state of peace with the people of the United States, to wit: on the province of Mexico, on the westwardly side of Louisiana, which appertain and belong to the King of Spain, a European prince, with whom the United States are at peace.
“And said deponent further saith, that he is informed, and fully believes, that the above charge can, and will be fully substantiated by evidence, provided this honorable court will grant compulsory process to bring in witnesses to testify thereto.
“And this deponent further saith, that he is informed, and verily believes, that the agents and emissaries of the said Burr, have purchased up, and are continuing to purchase large stores of provisions as if for an army, while the said Burr seems to conceal in great mystery, from the people at large, his purposes and projects: and while the minds of the good people of this district seem agitated with the current rumor, that a military expedition against some neighboring power is preparing by said Aaron Burr.
“Wherefore, said attorney, on behalf of said United States, prays that due process issue to compel the personal appearance of the said Aaron Burr in this court, and also of such witnesses as may be necessary in behalf of the said United States; and that this honorable court will duly recognize the said Aaron Burr, to answer such charges as may be preferred against him in the premises. And in the mean time, that he desist and refrain from all further preparation and proceeding in the said armament within the said United States, or the territories or dependencies thereof.”
It will be remembered that on this complaint a grand jury was summoned, and on the 8th of November discharged, because Davis Floyd, whom the attorney deemed a material witness, and whom we now know to have been one of Mr. Burr’s principal associates, was absent. We all know what the effect of this transaction was here. Certainly not of inspiring confidence in those who were ignorant of Mr. Burr’s real designs.
No, sir! The confidence which this abortive attempt to bring Mr. Burr to justice inspired, was in himself and associates. He wrote immediately to Blannerhasset not to apprehend any danger from this prosecution, (which his friends then and so long after called a persecution,) but delay in the settlement of the lands; and one fortnight after—that is on the twenty-third day of November—we see him again at Cincinnati, making the promised personal and confidential communication to Mr. Smith, which he had not dared in a letter of 26th October to commit to paper—and no wonder; for it is a complete and unquestionable acknowledgment of the identical crime for which Mr. Burr had been summoned into court at Frankfort, not twenty days before, and discharged merely from the failure of a witness to attend. But it is not merely a confession of that guilt, it imports much more; and the very terms used by Mr. Smith, relating it, in his affidavit of 6th of June, 1807, show that he understood it as importing more. Mr. Burr tells Mr. Smith, that his design “is not dishonorable, or inimical to this Government;” he “repeated that his object was not hostile to the people of the United States or dishonorable to himself,” and that he would be “the best neighbor this country ever had.” Whether the design was honorable or dishonorable, Mr. Smith should have judged for himself. That it was not inimical to this Government, there was little reason for him to believe, when coupled with those boiling resentments which overflowed from the lips of Mr. Burr in the very act of making this acknowledgment: “In this Government he had been persecuted, shamefully persecuted, and he was sorry to say that in it all private confidence between man and man seemed to be nearly destroyed.” And in this state of temper, Mr. Burr “ventured to tell Mr. Smith that if there should be war between the United States and Spain, he, Burr, should head a corps of volunteers, and be the first to march into the Mexican provinces; if peace should be preserved, which he did not expect, he should settle his Washita lands, and make society as pleasant as possible.”
And this is the communication which added strength to Mr. Smith’s confidence in Mr. Burr! This is the communication upon which Mr. Smith engaged his two sons to go as Burr’s associates!
The attack upon Mexico was to be in case war should take place between Spain and the United States. But is it possible, sir, that a man of Mr. Smith’s understanding should at that time, and under these circumstances, have given an instant of credit to that shallow pretence? If Mr. Swartwout, one of Burr’s acknowledged associates, was ashamed of pretending to rely on this tale of contingent war, and frankly told the grand jury at Richmond that they were to attack Mexico, to be sure, in case of a war with Spain; but if there had been no war he was ready to forget the law of the United States against such expeditions. If Commodore Truxton, a private citizen, smarting under the injuries which he conceived he had suffered from the Administration, even in July, while the project was but in prospect, and not in actual execution, made his first and emphatical question, whether the Government of the United States was acquainted with it, and on being informed that they were not, instantly refused to have any concern with it; let me ask, whether in the last days of November, while Burr was persevering in his preparations, after having been brought before a judicial court upon the very charge, and dismissed solely because a witness was absent, a Senator of the United States, receiving this communication from Burr himself, could possibly be the dupe of this pretence? Whether his first question ought not to have been that of Commodore Truxton: Is the Executive of the United States informed of your designs? Is it possible, sir, that this disclosure of the intended Mexican invasion could confirm the confidence of Mr. Smith, when it was the very thing for which the district attorney not three weeks before had entered the complaint against Mr. Burr, before the court of the United States competent to try that offence? Is it possible that Mr. Burr’s confession of his guilt should have been the confirmation of Mr. Smith’s confidence? Yes, sir; so far as relates to the misdemeanor—to Mr. Smith’s participation in the project for invading Mexico—his own affidavit on the 6th of January, 1807, is evidence, which, in my mind, nothing can control. His engagement of his two sons to Mr. Burr, admits neither of denial nor of jurisdiction.