Mr. Crawford had determined to take no part in this discussion. The exposition which the subject had received from the gentleman from Massachusetts, was so clear, so comprehensive, and at the same time so candid, as to supersede the necessity of any remarks from him. He felt, however, constrained to make a few remarks in reply to the gentleman from Virginia. The Senate has been told by that gentleman, that its dignity has been assailed by the depositions taken on the part of Mr. Glover, in support of his credibility, that they have been procured on the presumption that this body is to be governed by political prejudices. If this objection is well founded, it applies with equal force to the conduct and testimony of Mr. Smith. From the first to the last word of Mr. Smith’s answer, he endeavors to impress upon this body the zeal with which he has been devoted to the present Administration. In the deposition of every witness examined by Mr. S. as to his own conduct, the witness is questioned upon that point—his zeal for the Administration is the principal point which he labors to establish. If then the dignity of the Senate is assailed by Glover, it is equally so by Mr. Smith.
Another, very convenient method of destroying the force of the depositions inculpating Mr. S. has been adopted by the gentleman from Virginia, and also from Kentucky. We are first told, that they have been taken without proper notice to Mr. Smith; but as many of Mr. Smith’s depositions were taken in the same manner, and liable to the same objection, it was necessary to find some other objection to them, and especially to Mr. Riddle’s deposition. What, sir, is this formidable objection to his deposition? One, sir, which if well founded must be effectual. We are gravely told, sir, if Mr. Riddle is an honest man, and not connected with A. Burr, that Mr. S. would never have disclosed his views to him; and that if he was one of Burr’s associates he cannot be an honest man, and therefore is not entitled to credit. This sir, is a two-edged sword, which is destructive to the credit and reputation of Mr. Riddle indeed; and the same candid mode of reasoning would be equally destructive to the reputation and credit of any other man. If the witness is an honest man, you are not to believe him, because Mr. Smith would not be so foolish as to disclose his views to him; and if he is a dishonest or suspicious character, to whom Mr. Smith might safely disclose his iniquitous plans, then you must believe him, because of his suspicious character. This reasoning may be ingenious, but it certainly has nothing in it of sincerity and candor.
The gentleman from Connecticut cannot believe that A. Burr ever disclosed his projects to Mr. Smith, because all the persons to whom he disclosed them, were inimical to the Administration. It is true that in the Atlantic States, at least east of the Alleghany mountains, that artful traitor addressed himself to persons who were in a state of enmity with the Government, and to no other. He applied to General Eaton, who believed he had just cause of complaint against the Administration; who believed he had suffered absolute injustice at their hands. For the same reason he applies to Commodore Truxton. But, sir, trace him from Philadelphia to Pittsburg—view his conduct on the western side of the same mountains. What is his conduct there? What is his conduct and conversation with the Morgans? His conduct and the motives of his conduct are changed. Here he endeavors to convince every man that it is the interest of the Western country to separate from the Atlantic States. Here he addresses himself to the most respectable and influential characters, who stood high in the estimation of the public, who had no cause of complaint against the Administration. The Morgans were not anti-ministerialists—they were respectable, they were influential; it was therefore important to obtain their countenance and support. Blannerhasset was a man of wealth and talents, and of easy credulity. He is applied to and secured. The next we hear of Aaron Burr is at the house of Mr. Smith. This gentleman stood high not only in his own State, was not only a Senator of the United States, but also a contractor for furnishing the army of the United States. It was an object of the highest importance to the success of Aaron Burr’s plans to obtain his aid and co-operation. But we have been told that it is improper in the investigation of this subject, to introduce the acts and sayings of Aaron Burr. If this is correct, there is an end of the question. After deciding this point, it was wholly unnecessary for the gentleman from Virginia to have performed the herculean labor which he afterwards attempted. How, sir, is it possible to convict John Smith of a participation in the views or plans of Aaron Burr, if the sayings and acts of Aaron Burr are to be excluded from the investigation? It is impossible, sir. If this attempt to keep out of view the words and actions of Aaron Burr had been made by an advocate in a criminal court, it would justly be entitled a coup de main. Aaron Burr had the strongest possible inducements to seduce Mr. Smith and to obtain his countenance and assistance. He was contractor for your army. He could procure supplies for his men, and the then situation of your army was such, that the supplies procured and sent by the contractor might with equal facility be converted to the use of Aaron Burr or applied to the support of the legitimate army. The procurement of supplies in sufficient quantity for Burr and his men by any other person, would have excited suspicion, and created alarm. He arrived at Mr. Smith’s on the 4th September and remained an inmate of his house until the 9th or 10th, and yet Mr. Smith says he never mentioned to him any of his designs or plans, not even of the settlement of Washita lands. This he asserts in his letter of the 14th December to the Secretary of War. On the 6th January afterwards, he says and swears that Burr did during his first visit mention the settlement of those lands. Yet the gentleman from Virginia not only discovers no contradiction between the oath and letter, but thinks he discovers strong evidence of their consistency and agreement. To me, sir, there appears a direct and palpable contradiction. On the 23d of October Peter Taylor arrives at the house of Mr. Smith and inquires of him, at his own door, whether he knew anything of Burr and Blannerhasset. “He allowed he knew nothing of them; that I must be mistaken; this is not the place; I said no, this was the right place,” “Mr. Smith, storekeeper, Cincinnati.” “Sir, I have lived with Blannerhasset for three years.” Mr. Smith then took him up stairs, or he followed him up. He then made inquiries which tend strongly to prove that he was one of Burr’s confidants, and gives Peter Taylor the very information he had asked, and the very information of which he had just before declared his ignorance. The testimony of this man is admitted by every one to be worthy of the highest credit. I shall therefore leave to the gentleman from Virginia the rugged task of proving the innocence of Mr. Smith without impeaching Peter Taylor’s veracity.
That Mr. Smith should write a letter to Burr and direct it to Blannerhasset has been satisfactorily explained. But it is not easy to explain, nor has it been explained, by what means Burr could devise that the letter directed to Blannerhasset was a letter written to him, or contained a letter for him. The construction which this transaction, and the letters written by Mr. Smith and Burr to each other, have received from the gentleman from Massachusetts, is the only candid and rational construction of which they are susceptible.
The Senate have been cautioned not to lay much stress upon the testimony of Colonel James Taylor, not because he is unworthy of credit, but because he deposes to a conversation which has long since past, and because Dr. Sellman was present and heard no such expressions. Sir, I believe the deposition of Colonel James Taylor contains not only a perspicuous declaration of what he believed, but also a correct statement of facts; a correct statement of what he heard. His deposition, it is true, was made long after the conversation happened; but shortly after that event he reduced it to writing, and communicated it to the Secretary of State, and to that writing he referred when under examination before the Senate. He also swears he conversed with General Findley, and that his understanding of that conversation was the same. Compare the circumstances under which Colonel Taylor testifies, with those which attend Dr. Sellman’s deposition. If he was present at all, it does not appear that any circumstance whatever occurred to impress that conversation upon his mind—it does not appear that he ever thought of it afterwards, until he was called upon to depose, which was more than fifteen months subsequent to the conversation; but it does appear that Dr. Sellman has acted the part of a partisan of Mr. Smith’s. In truth, sir, there is not a single circumstance tending to confirm his statement of that conversation, in opposition to that of Colonel James Taylor.
I agree with the gentleman from Massachusetts, that it would be improper to declare a member of this body unworthy of his seat for the expression of mere speculative opinions; but the expression of these opinions, connected with other circumstances which preceded, and followed after it, amounts to very strong proof. We are called upon by the gentleman from Virginia, and also from Kentucky, to lay our fingers upon that particular part of the testimony which produces conviction in our minds, of the guilt of Mr. Smith. To this call, sir, I will observe that in all cases of circumstantial evidence, convictions are the result of a combination of circumstances; they are not produced by any one link in the chain of testimony, but by the whole chain taken together. If, sir, a conviction could not take place in a court of justice unless the jury could put their fingers upon the particular part of the testimony which established the guilt of the accused, it might happen that in nine cases out of ten the culprit would be acquitted.
My friend from Kentucky says, if John Smith has participated in Burr’s treasonable and unlawful projects, it must have been by performing some act or in concealing it—that he is not charged with having performed any act, and that therefore the charge must be founded on his concealment of what he knew. I will not say that Mr. Smith has been charged with enlisting troops for Aaron Burr; but, sir, I will say, that he has been guilty of an act very much like it—an enlistment of the strongest character—an engagement or an enlistment of his two sons to go with Aaron Burr—to march under his banner—subject to his control, under his absolute government, dependent upon him for their future prospects and station in life. And here, sir, I refer to the deposition of Mr. Smith himself. He swears, that Aaron Burr did at his second visit to Cincinnati, disclose his views of invading Mexico; and yet, sir, he engaged his sons in the enterprise.
But, sir, there is one point in the testimony, which of itself produces something like conviction on my mind, that Mr. S. was guilty of participating in Burr’s plans. And here, sir, I will refer to the deposition made by Mr. Smith, and that of A. D. Smith already referred to by the gentleman from Tennessee, for a different purpose. Mr. S. swears that he never communicated to his son the engagement with Burr until the day he returned from Marietta, and not till he had expressed a disinclination to co-operate with Colonel Burr’s object. This deposition was made on the 6th January, 1807, and by a deposition of A. D Smith of the same date, it appears he returned from Marietta on the 3d day of that month. It also appears in evidence, that for some time previous to this day, Mr. Smith had been in Kentucky, and that during that time A. D. Smith had become the bearer of a letter to Blannerhasset from Burr, and for that purpose had gone to Marietta and Belle Pre; and that the 3d of January was the day he met his father on his return. But A. D. Smith on the 13th August, at Richmond, swears, that he never received any overtures from Burr on that subject; yet he considered himself as engaged under him, for he says—“From the papers which daily teemed with the treason of Colonel Burr’s designs; the frequent solicitations, and injunctions of my father, to relinquish the idea of descending the Mississippi as an accomplice of Colonel Burr’s; and General Eaton’s deposition, alone induced me to abandon him and his projects.” Here, sir, the son declares he did not engage himself with Aaron Burr, yet he was engaged; he knew that he was engaged, and reluctantly broke that engagement. The father swears he engaged him; but that he never disclosed that engagement to him until he expressed his disinclination to go. From whom did A. D. Smith receive the knowledge of this engagement? The answer is too plain; from his father, and not communicated to him on his return from Marietta, but before he set out for that place; before the father set out for Kentucky; and a knowledge of this engagement is the only probable reason of his becoming the bearer of that letter. But, sir, there is another contradiction which ought to be noticed here. A. D. S. and his father met on his return from Marietta, and the frequent solicitations and injunctions of the father induced the son to abandon B.; yet the father swears he never disclosed the engagement he had made until the son had expressed a disinclination to go with B. This expression of Mr. S.’s is a contradiction in itself; but when compared with the declarations of the son, the contradiction is gross and palpable. How could he solicit and enjoin his son to violate an engagement which he knew nothing of? Sir, it is impossible to reconcile these contradictions. Upon this occasion my mind has received no bias whatever from the conversations and whispers alluded to by the gentleman from Kentucky. I have lived in a section of the country that has not felt the general impression made by the movements and enterprises of Aaron Burr. I have attended to nothing but the testimony. I have had no acquaintance with Mr. Smith; I entertain no prejudice against him. I should feel as much gratified as any member of this body, to be able, consistently with my duty, to vote for his retaining his seat. Sir, the feelings of this House have been addressed—an appeal has been made to the humanity of the Senate. We have a duty to discharge which is paramount to humanity; instead of resigning ourselves to our feelings, we ought to exercise our judgment, and do that which the public good imperiously requires. From a full examination of the evidence, I am constrained to say, that the conduct of Mr. Smith has been such as to render it highly improper for him to retain his seat in the highest council of the nation.
The question was now taken to agree to the resolution, and determined in the negative, two-thirds of the Senators present not concurring therein—yeas 19, nays 10, as follows:
Yeas.—Messrs. Adams, Anderson, Condit, Crawford, Franklin, Gaillard, Gilman, Gregg, Kitchel, Maclay, Mathewson, Milledge, Moore, Robinson, Smith of Maryland, Smith of Tennessee, Sumter, Tiffin and Turner.