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

Shocking To The Man Of

Sensibility! How Mortifying And Heart-Sickening To The Intellectual,

The Artless, The Fallen Fair!

 

 

Among These Manuscripts Were Many The Production Of Highly Cultivated

Minds. They Were Calculated To Excite The Sympathy Of The Brother--The

Parent--The Husband. They Were, Indeed, Testimonials Of The Weakness

Of The Weaker Sex, Even Where Genius And Learning Would Seem To Be

Towering Above The Arts Of The Seducer. Why They Were Thus Carefully

Preserved, Is Left To Conjecture. Can It Be True That Moore Is

Correct, When, In His Life Of Lord Byron, He Says, "The Allusions

Which He (Byron) Makes To Instances Of _Successful Passion_ In His

Career, Were Not Without Their Influence On The Fancies Of That Sex,

Whose Weakness It Is To Be Most Easily Won By Those Who Come

Recommended By The Greatest Number Of Triumphs Over Others? Some Of

These Productions Had Been Penned More Than Sixty Years. They Were All

Committed To The Flames, However, Immediately After The Decease Of

Colonel Burr. Of Them, It Is Believed, "Not A Wreck Remains."

 

 

The Faithful Biographer Could Not Pass Over In Silence This Strong And

Revolting Trait In The Character Of Colonel Burr. It Will Not Again Be

Referred To. From Details, The Moralist And The Good Man Must Shrink

With Disgust And Abhorrence. In This Particular, Burr Appears To Have

Been Unfeeling And Heartless. And Yet, By A Fascinating Power Almost

Peculiar To Himself, He So Managed As To Retain The Affection, In Some

Instances, The Devotion, Of His Deluded Victims. In Every Other

Respect He Was Kind And Charitable. No Man Would Go Farther To

Alleviate The Sufferings Of Another. No Man Was More Benevolent. No

Man Would Make Greater Sacrifices To Promote The Interest Or The

Happiness Of A Friend. How Strange, How Inconsistent, How Conflicting

Are These Allusions! They Are Nevertheless Strictly True.

 

 

Many Of The Letters To And From Colonel Burr Contain Hints And

Opinions As To Public Men And Measures. Thus Far, They Are Links In

The Chain Of History, In Relation To The Times When They Were Written.

They Serve, Also, To Illustrate The Character And The Principles Of

The Writers Themselves. With These Views They Are Occasionally

Selected. Theodore Sedgwick Is A Name Recorded In The Annals Of Our

Country With Distinction. He Writes To Burr:--

Chapter VII (He Writes To Burr) Pg 74

 

 

 

Sheffield, 7Th August, 1776.

 

 

My Dear Burr,

 

 

If You Remember, Some Months Since, You And I Mutually Engaged To

Correspond By Letter. I Told You Then That You Were Not To Expect Any

Thing Either Entertaining, Or In Any Degree Worth The Trouble Of

Perusing. What Can A Reasonable Being Expect From An Inhabitant Of

Such An Obscure, Remote, And Dead Place As Sheffield, To Amuse,

Instruct, Or Even To Merit The Attention Of A Young, Gay,

Enterprising, Martial Genius? I Know You Will Expect Nothing, And I

Dare Pledge My Honour, Therefore, That You Will Not, Either Now Or In

Future, In This Respect, Be Disappointed.

 

 

You Recollect, Perhaps, That When I Had The Pleasure To See You Here,

I Informed You Of A Design To Visit New-York And The Southward. Soon

After My Business Called Me To Boston, And, On My Return, I Was

Obliged To Go With The Militia To Peekskill; From There I Should Have

Visited The City And My Friends, Had Not Some Foolish Accidents

Prevented. I Now Think, As Soon As I Can Leave Home, Of Making A Tour;

But This, Like Other Futurities, Is Wholly Uncertain.

 

 

The Insignificant Figure I Make, In My Own Opinion, In This Day Of

Political And Martial Exertions, Is An Humbling Consideration. To Be

Stoically Indifferent To The Great Events That Are Now Unfolding, Is

Altogether Inconsistent, Not Only With My Inclination, But Even With

My Natural Constitution; And To Pursue A Line Of Conduct Which

Indicates Such A Disposition (I Mean My Continuance At Home), Is A

Mystery For Which I Will Endeavour To Account. Remember, I Do Not

Intend To Libel The Colony To Which I Belong.

 

 

Amid The Confusion Which Was At Once The Cause And Consequence Of A

Dissolution Of Government, Men'S Minds As Well As Actions Became

Regardless Of All Legal Restraint. All Power Reverted Into The Hands

Of The People, Who Were Determined That Every One Should Be Convinced

That _The People_ Were The Fountain Of All Honour. The First Thing

They Did Was To Withdraw All Confidence From Every One Who Had Ever

Any Connexion With Government. Lawyers Were, Almost Universally,

Represented As The Pests Of Society. All Persons Who Would Pay Court

To These Extravagant And Unreasonable Prejudices Became Their Idols.

Abilities Were Represented As Dangerous, And Learning As A Crime, Or

Rather, The Certain Forerunner Of All Political Extravagances. They

Really Demonstrated That They Were Possessed Of Creating Power; _For,

By The Word Of Their Power, They Created Great Men Out Of Nothing_;

But I Cannot Say _That All Was Very Well_.

 

 

Observing These Violent Symptoms, I Could Not Pursue That Which Was

The Only Road To Preferment; And I Have Never Had An Offer To Go Into

The Army, Except The One I Accepted; While I Have Seen, In More Than

One Instance, Men Honoured With The Command Of A Regiment For Heading

Mobs. Well: With This, I Believe, I Have Troubled You Long Enough.

Pray, Say You, What Is It To Me Why You Have Not Been In The Army?

Why, Nothing, My Dear Friend; But It Is Something To Me. You Know, My

Dear Burr, I Love You, Or I Should Not Submit Such Nonsense To Your

Perusal. If Mr. Swift Still Lives, Give Him My Best Compliments.

Pamela Desires Me To Tell You She Loves You. Answer This Letter, And

Thereby Oblige

 

 

Your Sincere Friend,

 

 

Theodore Sedgwich.

Chapter VII (He Writes To Burr) Pg 75

From Colonel M. Ogden.

 

 

Ticonderoga, July 26Th, 1776.

 

 

Dear Burr,

 

 

I Have Been Waiting With The Greatest Impatience To Know What Is Doing

In York And Jersey. There Are Twenty Different Reports, That

Contradict Each Other, Relative To Howe And His Fleet. It Has Once

Been Generally Believed That A French Fleet Had Arrived At New-York,

And Blocked Up The British Army. Independence Is Well Relished In This

Part Of The World. Generalship Is Now Dealt Out To The Army By Our

Worthy And Well-Esteemed General, Gates, Who Is Putting The Most

Disordered Army That Ever Bore The Name Into A State Of Regularity And

Defence. If Our Friends In Canada, Commanded By Burgoyne, Will Wait A

Few Days, We Shall Give Them A Very Proper Reception.

 

 

The Army Are Beginning To Recruit Fast, From The Effects Of A Little

Fresh Meat, And Some Rum, When On Fatigue. Ten Days Ago There Were Not

In Our Regiment Eighty Men Fit For Duty. We Have Now Upwards Of Two

Hundred And Thirty; And, In A Few Days, They Will Be All As Rugged As

New-Jersey Is Firm.

 

 

Colonel Winds Is Sent Home On A Fool'S Errand By The General, That He

May Be Out Of The Way Of Doing Any More Harm To The Regiment. The

General Assures Me That I Shall Not Be Troubled With Him Again. I

Suppose, By That, He Has Written To Have Him Detained Below. A Short

History Of This Man Will Convince You That He Ought To Be Nowhere But

On His Farm. He, In The First Place, Is A Professed Enemy To

Subordination, And Has An Utter Aversion To Discipline. He Is

Positive, And Prefers His Own Opinion To Even The General'S, Because

He Was In The Service Last War. He Is Not Possessed Of One

Qualification That Distinguishes A Gentleman, Nor Has He Genius Or

Education. His Whole Study Is To Gain The Applause Of The Private

Soldiers, At The Expense Of Every Officer In The Regiment. He Is Hated

By All His Own Officers Except _Two_, And Despised By Every Gentleman

In The Army.

 

 

We Are In Great Want Of Brigadier-Generals--Three, At Least. I Mean

For The Men That Are Now Here. General Arnold Will Command The

Water-Craft On The Lake In Person. There Are Three Brigades, Commanded

By The Colonels, Reed, Stark, And St. Clair. The Last Of These I

Sincerely Wish Was Appointed A Brigadier By Congress. There Is No

Better Man; The Other Two Have Full Enough Already.

 

 

Please To Forward The Enclosed, With The Letter To Mr. Spencer. My

Best Respects To Generals Putnam, Greene, And Mifflin, And To Colonel

Trumbull. Compliments To Webb. I Wait, With The Greatest Impatience,

Some Important News From New-York. Pray Write Particulars Relative To

The Conduct Of The Jerseymen. Should Any Fall, Mention Their Names.

 

 

I Am Yours Sincerely,

 

 

Matt. Ogden.

Chapter VII (He Writes To Burr) Pg 76

To T. Edwards.

 

 

New-York, 10Th Of August, 1776.

 

 

Dear Uncle,

 

 

I Have Received Your Letters From Stockbridge, With My Watch, For

Which I Thank You. Our Six Galleys Which Went Up The North River

Attacked The British Ships. They Behaved Well, But Were Drove Off With

The Loss Of Three Killed And Twelve Or Thirteen Wounded. A Second

Attack Is Proposed. Vessels And Chevaux-De-Frises Are Sunk In The

North River. The Channel Is Said To Be Effectually Stopped. We Are

Endeavouring The Same In The East River. The British Fleet Have Been

Largely Re-Enforced At Different Times. They Are Now Said To Be

Upwards Of Two Hundred Sail Within The Narrows. They Have Drawn Up

Seven Of Their Heaviest Ships In A Line, Nearly Two Miles Advanced Of

The Rest.

 

 

By Two Virginia Gentlemen Who Went To England To Take The Gown, Who

Returned In A Packet And Landed On Staten Island, Where They Tarried

Several Days, And Were Permitted To Cross To Elizabethtown On Thursday

Last, We Have Some Intelligence Of The Enemy. Clinton Has Arrived With

His Shattered Fleet And About 3600 Men. By This It Appears That He Has

Either Fallen In With Part Of Dunmore'S Fleet, Or Picked Up The

Remainder Of His Own, Which Had Been Separated, And Were Not In The

Action Near Charlestown. Of The Hessians Only 1300 Or 1400 Have

Arrived. The Remainder, About 9000, Are Daily Expected. They Were Left

Near The Banks Of Newfoundland. Those Already Here Are Not Much

Esteemed As Soldiers.

 

 

The King'S Land-Army Is At Present About 15 Or 16,000 Strong. They

Expect Very Soon To Exceed 25,000. They Have Taken On Board All Their

Heavy Cannon From Staten Island, And Have Called In Several Of Their

Outposts. Thirty Transports Have Sailed Under Convoy Of Three

Frigates. They Are To Come Through The Sound, And Thus Invest Us By

The North And East Rivers. They Are Then To Land On Both Sides Of The

Island, _Join Their