The Life of John Marshall Volume III Part 47

[946] Wilkinson declared in his affidavit that he "drew" from Swartwout the following disclosures: "Colonel Burr, with the support of a powerful a.s.sociation, extending from New York to New Orleans, was levying an armed body of seven thousand men from the state of New York and the Western states and Territories" to invade Mexico which "would be revolutionized, where the people were ready to join them."

"There would be some seizing, he supposed at New Orleans"; he "knew full well" that "there were several millions of dollars in the bank of this place," but that Burr's party only "meant to borrow and would return it--they must equip themselves at New Orleans, etc., etc." (_Annals_, 9th Cong. 2d Sess. 1014-15.)

Swartwout made oath that he told Wilkinson nothing of the kind. The high character which this young man then bore, together with the firm impression of truthfulness he made on everybody at that time and during the distracting months that followed, would seem to suggest the conclusion that Wilkinson's story was only another of the brood of falsehoods of which that fecund liar was so prolific.

[947] 4 Cranch, 133-34.

[948] 4 Cranch, 135.

[949] 4 Cranch, 136.

[950] Feb. 21, 1807, _Memoirs, J. Q. A._: Adams, I, 459.

[951] _Annals_, 9th Cong. 2d Sess. 472.

[952] _Ib._ 506.

[953] They are: "Article IV. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

"Article V. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled, in any criminal case, to be witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.

"Article VI. In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favour, and to have the a.s.sistance of counsel for his defence."

[954] _Annals_, 9th Cong. 2d Sess. 531.

[955] _Ib._ 532-33.

[956] _Ib._ 535.

[957] _Annals_, 9th Cong. 2d Sess. 536.

[958] _Ib._ 537-38.

[959] _Ib._ 589.

[960] Nearly all the men had been told that they were to settle the Was.h.i.+ta lands; and this was true, as far as it went. (See testimony of Stephen S. Welch, Samuel Moxley, Chandler Lindsley, John Mulhollan, Hugh Allen, and others, _Annals_, 10th Cong. 1st Sess. 463 _et seq._)

[961] The boats were very comfortable. They were roofed and had compartments for cooking, eating, and sleeping. They were much like the modern house boat.

[962] Bissel to Jackson, Jan. 5, 1807, _Annals_, 9th Cong. 2d Sess.

1017-18.

[963] Murrell to Jackson, Jan. 8, 1807, _Annals_, 9th Cong. 2d Sess.

1017.

[964] Mead to the Secretary of War, Jan. 13, 1807, _ib._ 1018.

[965] Burr had picked up forty men on his voyage down the Mississippi.

[966] Mead to the War Department, Jan. 19, 1807, _Annals_, 9th Cong. 2d Sess. 1019.

[967] McCaleb, 233-36. For the discussion over this resolution see _Debate in the House of Representatives of the Territory of Orleans, on a Memorial to Congress, respecting the illegal conduct of General Wilkinson_. Both sides of the question were fully represented. See also c.o.x, 194, 200, 206-08.

[968] Return of the Mississippi Grand Jury, Feb. 3, reported in the _Orleans Gazette_, Feb. 20, 1807, as quoted in McCaleb, 272-73.

[969] _Annals_, 10th Cong. 1st Sess. 528-29, 536, 658-61.

[970] Deposition of George Peter, Sept. 10, 1807, _Am. State Papers, Misc._ I, 566; and see _Quarterly Pub. Hist. and Phil. Soc. of Ohio_, IX, Nos. 1 and 2, 35-38; McCaleb, 274-75; c.o.x, 200-08.

[971] McCaleb, 277.

[972] _Ib._

[973] In that part of the Territory which is now the State of Alabama.

[974] Perkins had read and studied the description of Burr in one of the Proclamations which the Governor of Mississippi had issued. A large reward for the capture of Burr was also offered, and on this the mind of Perkins was now fastened.

[975] Pickett: _History of Alabama_, 218-31.

[976] Yet, five months afterward, Jefferson actually wrote Captain Gaines: "That the arrest of Colo. B. was military has been disproved; but had it been so, every honest man & good citizen is bound, by any means in his power, to arrest the author of projects so daring & dangerous." (Jefferson to Gaines, July 23, 1807, _Works_: Ford, X, 473.)

[977] Pickett, 224-25.

[978] For the account of Burr's arrest and transfer from Alabama to Richmond, see Pickett, 218-31. Parton adopts Pickett's narrative, adding only one or two incidents; see Parton: _Burr_, 444-52.

[979] Randolph to Nicholson, March 25, 1807, Adams: _Randolph_, 220.

[980] The warrant was written by Marshall himself. (MS. Archives of the United States Court, Richmond, Va.)

[981] _Burr Trials_, I, 1.

[982] _Burr Trials_, I, 1.

[983] The first thing that Burr did upon his arrival at Richmond was to put aside his dirty, tattered clothing and secure decent attire.

[984] Marshall's eyes were "the finest ever seen, except Burr's, large, black and brilliant beyond description. It was often remarked during the trial, that two such pairs of eyes had never looked into one another before." (Parton: _Burr_, 459.)

[985] It was a rule of Burr's life to ignore attacks upon him. (See _supra_, 280.)

[986] _Burr Trials_, I, 5.

[987] _Burr Trials_, I, 6-8.

[988] At the noon hour "a friend" told the Chief Justice of the impression produced, and Marshall hastened to forestall the use that he knew Jefferson would make of it. Calling the reporters about him, he "explicitly stated" that this pa.s.sage in his opinion "had no allusion to the conduct of the government in the case before him." It was, he a.s.sured the representatives of the press, "only an elucidation of Blackstone." (_Burr Trials_, I, footnote to 11.)

[989] _Burr Trials_, I, 11-18.

[990] _Ib._ 19.