The Wheeling repository — Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.], 1808-02-04 00:00:00, page 3

Arnold j but his name trill be found en
rolled on the list of Traitors and Infor
mers. Burr, like Catiline, will be de
tested ; but while his crimes are held in
abhorrence, he will be respected for his
talents and his daring courage. Wil
kinson, like Sejanus, will he despised.
His’characters will excite contempt, un*
mixed with asingle sentiment of respect
or approbation. H.
Mr. CLARKE’s STATEMENT,
Relative to General Wilkinson having
been in the pay of the Spanish govern
ment.
Laid on the table of the Clerk of the
House of Representatives of the Li
mited States, in obedience to a resolu
tion oi that body—and by them trans
mitted to the President.
I arrived from Europe at New Or
leans in September 178 i, having been
invited to the country by an uncle of'
considerable wealth and influence, who
h id been lo ig resident in that city.—
Shortly after my anival I was employ
ed in the oifice oi the Secretary of the
government. This oflice was the de
pository of all state papers. In 1787
Cien. Wilkinson made his first visit to
New Orleans and was introduced by
my uncle to the Governor and oth.-r of
ficers .f the Spanish government.
Ill the succeeding year, 1788, much
s* s.ition ivas excited by tlve report oi
his having entered into some arrange
ments with the government of Louisia
ryi, to separate the western country
fiom the U. States ; and this report ac
quired great credit upon his second vi
sit to N. Orleans in l“8fJ.— About this
time I saw a letter Irotn the General to
a per onatN. Orleans, giving an account
oi Col. Connolly’s mission to him from
the British government in Canada, an,,
the proposal made to him on the part of
that government, and mentioning his
d.termination ot a Ihering to his con
nection with the Spaniards.
My i timacy with the officers of the
Spanish government, and mv access to
official information, discing- dto me
shortly afterwards some of the plans
the General had proposed to the gover
nor for effecting the contemplated se
paration. The general project was the
severance of the western country from
the United States, and the establish
ment of a separate government, in the
alliance, and under the protection of
Spain. In effecting this, Spain was to i
famish money and arms; and the minds
of the Western people were to be sedu
ced and brought over to the project by
liberal advantages resulting from it to
be held out by Spain. The trade of the
Mississippi was to be render*d free,
the port of New Orleans to be open to
them, and a free commerce allowed in
the productions of the new government
with Spain and her West India Is
lands. I remember about the same
time to have seen a list of names of ci
tizens of the Western country, which
wras in the hand writing of the General,
who were recommended for pensions, &
the sums proper to be poid to each
were stated ; and I then distinctly un
derstood that he and others were actu
ally pensioners of the Spanish Govern
ment. I had no personal knowledge of
money being paid to Gen. Wilkinson
or to any agent for him on account of
his pension, previous to the year 1793
or 1794. In one of these years, and in
which I cannot be certain until I can
consult my books, a Mr. La Cassagne,
who I understood was Post Master at
the Falls of Ohio, came to New Or
leans, and as one of the association with
Gen. Wilkinson in the project of dis
memberment, received a sum of mo
ney, lour thousand dollars of which, or
there abouts, were embarked by a spe
cial premission, free of duty, on board
a vessel which had been consigned to
me, and which sailed for Philadelphia ;
in which vessel Mr. La Cassagne went
passenger. At & prior to this period, I
had various opportunities of seeing the
projects submitted to the Spanish go
vernment, and of learning many of the
details from the agents employed to
carry them into execution.
In 1794, two gentlemen of the names
of Owens and Collins, friends and a
gents of General Wilkinson, came to
New Orleans. To the first was entrust
ed, as I was particularly informed by
the officers of the Spanish government,
3000 dollars to be delivered to General
Wilkinson,on account of his own pension
and that of others. On his way in re
turning to Kentucky, Owens was mur
dered by his boat’s crew, and the money
it was understood was made away with
by them. This occurrence occasioned
a considerable noise in Kentucky, and
contributed, with Mr. Power’s visits at
a subsequent period,to awaken the sus
picions of General Wayne, who took
measures tg intercept the correspon
dence of General Wilkinson with the |
Spanish government, which failed thro*
the address of Power.
Collins, the co-agent with Owens, -
first attempted to fit out a small vessel
in the port of New Orleans, in order to
proceed to some port in the Atlantic
States ; but she was destroyed by the
hurricane of the month of August, in
1794-. He then fitted out a small vessel
in ihe Bayou St. John, and shipped in
her, at least 11,000 dollars, which he
took round to Charleston.
This shipment was made under such
peculiar circumstances, that it became
known to many, and the destination of
it was afterwards fully disclosed to me
by the officers of the Spanish govern
ment) by Collins, and by General Wil
kinson himself, who complained that
Collins instead of sending him the mo
ney on his arrival, had employed it in
some wild speculations to the West
Indies, by which he had lost a consider
able sum, and that in consequence of the
mismanagement of his agents, he had
derived but little advantage from the
money paid on his account by the Spa
nish government. Mr. Power was a
Spanish subject resident in Louisiana,
and the object of his visits to the West
ern Country became known to me in
1796, when he embarked on board the
brig Gavoso, at New Orlerns, for Phi
ladelphia, in company with Judge Se
bastian, in which vessel, as she had
been covsigned to myself, I saw em
barked under a special permission four
thousand dollars, or thereabouts, which
I was informed were for Sebastian’s
own account as one of those concerned
in the sceme of dismemberment of the
western country.
Mr. Power, as he afterwards inform
ed me, on his tour through the West
ern Country, saw vGen. Wilkinson at
Greenville, and was the bearer of a let
ter to him from the secretary of the go
vernment of Louisiana, dated 7th’or
8th March, 1796, advising that a sum
of money had been sent to Don Tho
mas Portel, commandant at New Ma
drid, to be delivered to his order. This
money Mr. Power delivered to Mr.
Nolan by Wilkinson’s directions.—
What concerns Mr. Nolan’s agency in
this business, I learned from himself
when he afterwards visited New Or
leans.
In 1797, Power was intrusted with
another mission to Kentucky, and had
directions to propose certain plans to
effect the reparation of the Wester*