Memoirs Of Aaron Burr, Volume 1, Matthew L. Davis [book club suggestions .txt] 📗

Preface Pg 1

 

 

 

During A Period Of Forty Years I Was Intimately Acquainted With

Colonel Burr, And Have Reason To Suppose That I Possessed His Entire

Confidence. Some Time After His Return From Europe In 1812, On

Different Occasions, He Suggested Casually A Wish That I Would Make

Notes Of His _Political Life_. When The Memoirs And Correspondence Of

Mr. Jefferson Were Published, He Was Much Excited At The Statements

Which Were Made In His Ana Respecting The Presidential Contest In

Congress In 1801.

 

 

He Procured And Sent Me A Copy Of The Work, With A Request That I

Would Peruse The Parts Designated By Him. From This Time Forward He

Evinced An Anxiety That I Would Prepare His Memoirs, Offering Me The

Use Of All His Private Papers, And Expressing A Willingness To Explain

Any Doubtful Points, And To Dictate Such Parts Of His Early History As

I Might Require. These Propositions Led To Frequent And Full

Conversations. I Soon Discovered That Colonel Burr Was Far More

Tenacious Of His _Military_, Than Of His Professional, Political, Or

Moral Character. His Prejudices Against General Washington Were

Immoveable. They Were Formed In The Summer Of 1776, While He Resided

At Headquarters; And They Were Confirmed Unchangeably By The Injustice

Which He Said He Had Experienced At The Hands Of The

Commander-In-Chief Immediately After The Battle Of Long Island, And

The Retreat Of The American Army From The City Of New-York. These

Grievances He Wished To Mingle With His Own History; And He Was

Particularly Anxious To Examine The Military Movements Of General

Washington On Different Occasions, But More Especially At The Battle

Of Monmouth, In Which Battle Colonel Burr Commanded A Brigade In Lord

Stirling'S Division. I Peremptorily Refused Entering Upon Any Such

Discussion; And, For Some Time, All Communication On The Subject

Ceased.

 

 

Colonel Burr, However, Renewed The Conversation Relative To His

Memoirs, And Agreed That Any Thing Which Might Be Written Should Be

Confined To Himself. With This Understanding I Frequently Visited Him,

And Made Notes Under His Dictation. I Never Asked Him A Question On

Any Subject, Or In Relation To Any Man Or Measure, That He Did Not

Promptly And Willingly Answer. On His Part There Was No Desire Of

Concealment; Nor Did He Ever Express To Me A Wish To Suppress An

Account Of Any Act Of His Whole Life. So Far As I Could Judge, His

Only Apprehensions Were That "_Kind Friends_," As He Sometimes Termed

Them, By Attempts At Explanation, Might Unintentionally Misrepresent

Acts Which They Did Not Understand.

Preface Pg 2

I Devoted The Summer Of 1835 To An Examination Of His Letters And

Papers, Of Which There Is An Immense Quantity. The Whole Of Them Were

Placed In My Hands, To Be Used At My Discretion. I Was Authorized To

Take From Among Them Whatever I Supposed Would Aid Me In Preparing The

Contemplated Book.

 

 

I Have Undertaken The Work, Aware Of The Delicacy And Responsibility

Of The Task. But, If I Know Myself, It Has Been Performed With The

Most Scrupulous Regard To My Own Reputation For Correctness. I Have

Aimed To State Facts, And The Fair Deductions From Them, Without The

Slightest Intermixture Of Personal Feeling. I Am Very Desirous That A

Knowledge Of Mr. Burr'S Character And Conduct Should Be Derived From

His Miscellaneous Correspondence, And Not From What His Biographer

Might Write, Unsupported By Documentary Testimony. With This View Many

Of His Private Letters Are Selected For Publication.

 

 

I Entertain A Hope That I Shall Escape The Charge Of Egotism. I Have

Endeavoured To Avoid _That_ Ground Of Offence, Whatever May Have Been

My Literary Sins In Other Respects. It Is Proper For Me, However, In

This Place, And For A Single Purpose, To Depart From The Course

Pursued In The Body Of The Work. It Is A Matter Of Perfect Notoriety,

That Among The Papers Left In My Possession By The Late Colonel Burr,

There Was A Mass Of Letters And Copies Of Letters Written Or Received

By Him, From Time To Time, During A Long Life, Indicating No Very

Strict Morality In Some Of His Female Correspondents. These Letters

Contained Matter That Would Have Wounded The Feelings Of Families More

Extensively Than Could Be Imagined. Their Publication Would Have Had A

Most Injurious Tendency, And Created Heartburnings That Nothing But

Time Could Have Cured.

 

 

As Soon As They Came Under My Control I Mentioned The Subject To

Colonel Burr; But He Prohibited The Destruction Of Any Part Of Them

During His Lifetime. I Separated Them, However, From Other Letters In

My Possession, And Placed Them In A Situation That Made Their

Publication Next To Impossible, Whatever Might Have Been My Own Fate.

As Soon As Colonel Burr'S Decease Was Known, With My Own Hands I

Committed To The Fire All Such Correspondence, And Not A Vestige Of It

Now Remains.

 

 

It Is With Unaffected Reluctance That This Statement Of Facts Is Made;

And It Never Would Have Been Made But For Circumstances Which Have

Transpired Since The Decease Of Colonel Burr. A Mere Allusion To These

Circumstances Will, It Is Trusted, Furnish Ample Justification. No

Sooner Had The Newspapers Announced The Fact That The Memoirs Of

Colonel Burr Were To Be Written By Me, Than I Received Letters From

Various Quarters Of The Country, Inquiring Into The Nature Of The

Revelations That The Book Would Make, And Deprecating The Introduction

Of Individual Cases.

Preface Pg 3

These Letters Came To Hand Both Anonymously And

Under Known Signatures, Expressing Intense Solicitude For Suppression.

 

 

Under Such Circumstances, Am I Not Only Warranted In These Remarks,

But Imperiously Called Upon To Make Them? What Other Mode Remained To

Set The Public Mind At Ease? I Have Now Stated What Must For Ever

Hereafter Preclude All Possibility For Cavil On One Part, Or Anxiety

On The Other. I _Alone_ Have Possessed The Private And Important

Papers Of Colonel Burr; And I Pledge My Honour That Every One Of Them,

So Far As I Know And Believe, That Could Have Injured The Feelings Of

A Female Or Those Of Her Friends, Is Destroyed. In Order To Leave No

Chance For Distrust, I Will Add, That I Never Took, Or Permitted To Be

Taken, A Single Copy Of Any Of These Letters; And, Of Course, It Is

Quite Impossible That Any Publication Hereafter, If Any Should Be Made

Of Such Papers Or Letters, Can Have Even The Pretence Of Authenticity.

 

 

The Author.

 

 

New-York, November 15Th, 1836.

Chapter I Pg 4

 

 

 

The Grandfather Of Colonel Aaron Burr, The Subject Of These Memoirs,

Was A German By Birth, And Of Noble Parentage. Shortly After His

Arrival In North America, He Settled In Fairfield, Connecticut, Where

He Purchased A Large Tract Of Land, And Reared A Numerous Family. A

Part Of This Landed Estate Remained In The Possession Of His Lineal

Descendants Until Long After The Revolutionary War. During Colonel

Burr'S Travels In Germany, In The Year 1809, Various Communications

Were Made To Him, Orally And In Writing, By Different Branches Of The

Burr Family, Some Of Whom Were Then Filling High And Distinguished

Scientific And Literary Stations.

 

 

His Father, The Rev. Aaron Burr, Was Born In Fairfield, On The 4Th Day

Of January, 1715, And Was Educated At Yale College. In A Manuscript

Journal Which He Kept, And Which Has Been Preserved, He Says, "In

September, 1736, With Many Fears And Doubts About My Qualifications

(Being Under Clouds With Respect To My Spiritual State), I Offered

Myself To Trials, And Was Approved As A Candidate For The Ministry. My

First Sermon Was Preached At Greenfield, And Immediately After I Came

Into The Jerseys. I Can Hardly Give Any Account Why I Came Here. After

I Had Preached For Some Time At Hanover, I Had A Call By The People Of

Newark; But There Was Scarce Any Probability That I Should Suit Their

Circumstances, Being Young In Standing And Trials. I Accepted Of Their

Invitation, With A Reserve, That I Did Not Come With Any Views Of

Settling. My Labours Were Universally Acceptable Among Them, And They

Manifested Such Great Regard And Love For Me, That I Consented To

Accept Of The Charge Of Their Souls.

 

 

"A.D. 1738-39, January The 25Th, I Was Set Apart To The Work Of The

Ministry, By Fasting, Prayer, And Imposition Of Hands. God Grant That

I May Ever Keep Fresh Upon My Mind The Solemn Charge That Was Then

Given Me; And Never Indulge Trifling Thoughts Of What Then Appeared To

Me Of Such Awful Importance. The Ministers Who Joined In This Solemn

Transaction Were Mr. Dickinson, Who Gave The Charge, And Mr. Pierson,

Who Preached. Mr. Dickinson, Who Presided At This Work, Has Been Of

Great Service To Me By His Advice And Instruction, Both Before And

Since My Ordination.

 

 

"In November, 1739, I Made A Visit To My Friends In New-England, And

Again In March, 1740. In The Following August Gust I Was In A

Declining State Of Health, And By The Advice Of My Physicians Visited

Rhode Island. From Thence I Proceeded To Boston. On The 19Th Of

September I Heard Mr. Whitefield Preach In Dr. Colman'S Church. I Am

More And More Pleased With The Man. On The 21St, Heard Him Preach In

The Commons To About Ten Thousand People. On Monday, Visited Him, And

Had Some Conversation To My Great Satisfaction. On The 23D, Went To

Hear Him Preach In Mr. Webb'S Church, But The House Was Crowded Before

Mr. Whitefield Came. The People, Especially The Women, Were Put Into A

Fright, Under A Mistaken Notion That The Galleries Were Falling, Which

Caused Them To Hurry Out In Such A Violent Manner, That Many Were

Seriously Injured And Five Killed. The Same Day, Mr. Whitefield

Preached At Mr. Gee'S Church.

Chapter I Pg 5