Show e via of A a rijn B u q r cjohn burr W aron 4 B burr u by ELMO SCOTT WATSON N NE U I 1 HUNDRED AND TWENTY five years ago the eyes ei es 0 of f the whole nation were turned toward richmond va cpr tile there re was taking place one of the most dramatic events in american history what has been called the greatest criminal trial in american history and one of the notable no tible trials in the annals of the law no less a person tl than an aaron burr but lately vice president odthe united states was on trial for ills his life and the charge against him film was that of committing a dime crime which was a threat to the safety of not just one person or a group of persons but to the safety ot or the whole nation the crime cilmo of high treason although burr was acquitted by what was substantially a scotch verdict of not proven my lord and historians are still belll doubtful as to whether or not the famous burr conspiracy was actually a treasonable scheme tile the name of aaron burr has come down in popular belief among our galaxy of scoundrels second only to benedict arnold whether or riot not lie he has bas been assigned such a place justly or unjustly is a matter over which again historians disagree in the presidential election of asoo 1800 burr and thomas jefferson the democratic republican c candidates dates each received 73 electoral votes a ti tie e which threw the election into the house of representatives which was strongly federalist after balloting for a week ten votes were cast for jefferson and four for burr and under the constitution as it stood then this made jefferson president and burr vice president because of political jobbery with the federalists burr lost whatever regard the leaders among tile the new party held for him then he became involved in a bitter struggle for supremacy in new york politics and because of the antagonism of jefferson all the patronage was thrown to burrs rivals the ClIn cliftons tons and the living accordingly he accepted federalist support in the gubernatorial gubernator lal race of 1801 an alliance which was fought bitterly by alexander hamilton the result was the defeat of burr who field hamilton chiefly responsible for ills his humiliation then followed the famous burr Ila hamilton wilton duel in which burrs pistols ended the great career of secretary of the treasury and made burr a political and social pariah discredited in the east where lie he had been a lender leader burr turned to the west to recoup his fortunes hoping to capitalize on oil the unrest among the westerners where talk of disunion was rife crossing the alleghenies he arrived at island in the ohio river where lived barman Blenner bassett a wealthy irishman who had settled there in 1708 to blennerhassett Blenner hassett burr proposed a wild scheme of raising an armed force in the old southwest driving the spaniards out of mexico and establishing a great southern confederacy composed of these conquered mexican possessions and the american territory west of the alleghenies where the sentiment for disunion seemed so BO strong blennerhassett Blenner hassett was enough impressed by burrs scheme to mortgage his vast possessions to furnish the necessary money they also hoped to gain the aid of great britain in carrying out their scheme and further to insure the success of the plan burr won the support of general wilkinson then governor of louisiana territory commander of the united states army and as two faced a villain as ever served the united states government throughout 1803 1805 and 1800 1806 burr dw ii eloped his plot which became well known throughout the west the federal authorities however seem to have been strangely blind to what was taking place until at last wilkinson betrayed the scheme to Jefre jefferson who on november 27 1800 issued a presidential proclamation calling for the arrest of all those involved wilkinson and the others to save their own skins deserted burr and in the modern parlance he was made the goat of the whole affair attempting to lee flee burr was arrested in alabama and brought back to virginia for trini trial on the charge of treason ills ilia case was tried in the united states clr cir cult court bitting sitt irig at richmond and never per naps haps in american history has there been gathered together in a 0 courtroom such a galaxy of 0 jio notables tables its as assembled in that little room in P 2 courtroom scene at burra trial M 10 FROM THE painting Nj by in THE 1 COURTESY YALE university PRESS A W Z rl chomas jefferson Jeff ervon richmond climond Ill joint john marshall chief justice ol of the supreme court of the united states presided over the trial luther luthier martin and edmund admund randolph were counsel fot for the accused and william wirt was counsel counsil for the government the foreman of tile the grand jury which brought the indictment against burr was the waspish but brilliant john randolph of roanoke and not the least of the great figures in this case was burrs charming daughter theodosea Theod osla of tragic fame later although aaron burr was upon trial on the most serious charge which call be placed against the citizen of a country in reality ho he was little more than a pawn in what was at tile the time nine regarded as a test of strength between the republican president jefferson and the federalist chief justice marshall the trial lasted from march 27 to september 7 and the full story of the legal maneuvers executed liy by the two clashing forces would require n bool book for the telling under the constitution treason against the united states consists only in levying war against them or in adhering to their enemies giving them aid and comfort and no person nay may be convicted of it unless on the testimony of two witnesses to tile the same overt net act or on confession in open court the rhe crux of the whole case against burr was whether or not on a certain tain date december 10 1800 1806 burr had actually t ata levied war against the united states by assembling an armed force on island and on the day following had set in motion this same armed force in an expedition against the city of new orleans the prosecution produced a series of witnesses mainly servants of Blenner blennerhassett hassett to prove this point then it announced its intention of introducing evidence to show burrs connection with the assemblage on the island whereupon the defense sprang a surprise which turned the tide in burrs favor developing the fact that on the night of december 10 burr had riot not been present at the island but had been miles away in kentucky they contended that under the constitution the assemblage on blen island could not be regarded as his bis net act even grunting granting that lie had advised it for sald said they advising war Is one thing but levying it Is quite another if tills this interpretation was vas correct then no overt act ot of levying war either within the jurisdiction of the court or stated in the indictment had been or could be shown against burr next net chief justice Al marshall arshall handed down an opinion accepting virtually the contention of burrs atti mid and when the prosecution was unable to produce two witnesses who had bad actually seen burr procure the assemblage on the Is land it allowed the case to go to tile the jury shortly thereafter the following verdict was returned we of the jury say that aaron burr Is not proved to be guilty under this indictment fly by any evidence submitted to us we therefore find him not guilty at the lie order of the chief justice this scotch verdict was entered on the records of the court ns as a simple not guilty acquitted bit curr became an exile and an out cast the man who came camel within one vote of be ing president of the united unite states wandered about europe for four years borrowing small amounts attempting dubious promotions arg ing the french to seize louisiana in 1810 and finally returning to his own land with nith a false wig and whiskers shortly after his arrival he enciu encountered alered the breaking of the one tie that held him to the earth when his beloved theo cosla who had stood by him film when the whole world seemed to have turned against him film took ship from the south to meet him in new york the ship on which she sailed never reached port and what her fate was Is to this day an unsolved mystery one of the most tragic pictures in all american history Is that of the broken disgraced aaron burr a devoted father whatever else he may have been going down to the battery every day for years search ing the horizon for the sall call of a ship which never came the ship bringing back to him its his long lost daughter and then as a final touch to an ill fated career was ills his unfortunate mar ariage to the famous Bl alaine juniel jumel who divorced him on the day lie died Q by ater New Now paper union |