The Wheeling repository — Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.], 1807-10-22 00:00:00, page 1

T H E
'REPOSITORY
(VOL. I.)
Thursday, zzd Octobtu., i Boy.
(No. 25.)
. -- ■ ■ — — - -—
BL'RR AND BLLXKERIiASSET.
[jf-, If irt, in hi? argument ngcitict
■lie point i .1! d uni by Burr's co use/,
f^ Burr not h n ing bee n : n at; .
assemblage 0:1 BleuncrhassetRs is’.end i.x
Dece nicer lest, could cnln ■ , u‘,*
cocessoI'm, draws (he / down y chare 1
°f t/lCf e two I AMOl j r : ...... {
dhew-1 ork editor, speaking • ? //’:;<? extract
jrom iHr. Wirt s speech, says : u Those
ja :i:liar w:lli the eloquence rf the late
j Chanc llor of E fgland, and of the
celebrated Curran, will immediately rc
I'izethe resemblance, and may possibly
thins with us, that the American Har
ris, rr docs not suffer in the comparison
with either.'f
HO then is Aaron Burr, end
oat the part u hh h he !»•*s borne in this
’r.msaction ? -:Ic its author ; its p: -
yctor; it.; acii\ >• <\3ceci'» s- :•
restless and aspiring, his brain
'■ uceive lit; his hand brought it into
“cfl°i:- ^ firming his operations in
> h'W-\ ork, he a >ci:itc:-. with him men
u nos wealth is i > ruipj.c the necessa
funds. 1 ’1 • u jed oi the main spring,
} personal : hour conlm cs all the ma
i iv. Perva ling the continent from
- * ■ if ork to N. Orl ans, he draws into
hi^ pi in by tv. ry all a cm nt which he
-a s contrive, nun of all ranks and all
ii scripttoii■>. i > \ on nlui ardour lit
ynv >ents d mger an l glory ; to ambition,
r m ., ami titb s, a i.I iionoarx; to avarice,
t a’ mine > oi AT xico. lot ac!i person
"y' i * -*1 he ad (Ire-,,, a, he pi sents the ob
j hi ’ i
ofTic- rs art appointed ; nun are engaged
•throughout the continent ; civil life’ is
mdi c l quiet upon its surface ; hut in its
bosom this man lias contrived to depo
sit the materials with which the ‘light
est touch of his match pro dm; an ex
plosion to shake the continent. All
this his resth ambttion h ., triv i .
r.nd in the a itumn ol 130 h go forth
tor th • last cim to apply ih much.
. exctoi *ion h> iruvu \yi»h ill. n
r«jh.».st U,
V/ho is El< nr rhass< it ? A native ofi
| Ireland, a man oi letters, v-ho Hi d troni ,
j the storms ol his own country to find '
; quiet in our<. His history shews that
! war is not ih * natural ele ment ol his
| mind ; ii it had been, he would never
ave exchanged Ireland for America,
-o far is an army from furnishing the
'< > M'ty natural and proper to i\Ir. JBlen
•hassett’s charaet< r, that on his arri
■ d in Ainerica, he retired even from
- r population of the Atlantic States,
: sought quiet 1c solitude in the bosom
< our western forests. But lie carried
virh him taste, ar.d science, and wealth;
ud Mo, th desert smil'd.” Possessing
•inu < i ol i beautiful Island in the Ohio,
rears upon ;t a palace and decorate',
it with every romantic embellishment of
Ancy. A shrubbery that Shenstone
in "edit have envied, blooms around him ;
■his : that might have charmed Calypso
1 h r nyro- j<? V> . vn>n*;ive it
otarv spreads .t. treasures before him ;
n philosophical apparatus offers to him
all the secrets and rnvstcries of nature ;
peace, tranquility and innocence, du el
their mingled delights around him ; and
to crown the enchantment of the r. one,
a w ife, who is said to be lovely even be
\ vnd her sex, and graced with every ac
compli ,!imont that can rentier it irresist
ible, had blessed him v. ith h r 1< ve, and
m:i le him the lather oi In r children.—
I he evidence would convince vou, sir,
th ■ this is but a faint picture of the real
! it •• 'n lie midst of all this peace, this
innocence, an 1 this tranquility, this feast
, r 1 the mind, this pure banquet of the
ir;\:t—;he destroyer comes—he comes
o tv.rn this paradise into a hell—yet the
flowers do not wither at his approach,
‘tael no monitory shuddering thro’ the
be' ,om of their unfortunate possessors,
i rr,s them of the ruin that is coming
•py.i them. A stranger presents hltn
• f. Introduced to th ir civilitie > by
he liigh rank which he had lately lvltl
■ n tliis country, he soon finds his wav
" h heart , by dignity and el --jm
• i i ih mean -r, ’it, light and b.
I ita cur.v'T: a’ ton v'd the seduern ; ^nd
fascinating power o\ his address. The
conquest was not a difficult one. Juno
cence. is ever simple and credulous ;
conscious of no designs it-c-lf, it sus
pects hone in others: it wears no guards
before Its breast. *1 very door and por
tul and avenue of ti. heart is thrown o
pen, and all who choose it enter. Such
was the stale of Kden, when the serpent
( ntered its bowers. 1 he* prisoner, in a
more engaging fo. rn, winding himself
into the open . n i unpractised heart of
the unfortunate Fdennerhasset, found
but little difficulty in changing the na
tive character of that heart, ahd the ob
jects of its affection. By degrees he in
tuses into it the poison of his own am
bition ; he breathes into it the fire oi hi ?
own courage ; a during and a desperate
thirst lor glory ■ an ardent panting for
nil the storms and bustle and hurricane
of life. In a • hort time the whole man
’ ' f hid for
mer delight relinquished. Xo more lie
enjoys the tranquil scene ; it has become
ilat and insipid to his palate : his books
arc abandoned ; his retort and crucible
are thrown aside , his shrubbery bloom*;
;•'*•'• : ’/ ' ! wee upon tlie air
in vain he likes it not ; his ear no lon
ger drinks the ticli melody of music_
it longs for the trumpet’s'clangotir and
; die cannon’s roar; even the prattle of his
; babes, fence so sweet, no long' r affects
| him ; and the angel smiles of his wife, •
which hitherto touched his bosom with
ec.uacy so unspeakable, are now unfelt
and unseen. Greater objects haw tak
cn possession of his soul : his imarina*
tion has been da7.7.I< d by visions of dia
d'.ms, and stars, and gnrt'-fs, and title?*
ol nobility; he has been laugh*, to bum
with restless emulation at tin names of
Cromwell, CVar and Bonaparte. Hu
enchanted hkui 1 «s destined soon to re
lapse into a th art ; ; n l m a few month?;
W’ find ill** t< nder and hi autiful partner
oi his 1 o ,n,’.vhom lie lately “permitted
n a t!i .. ind-. of ' summer k< to visit too
^n!y” we find her shivuiu at mid
'he winter banks ol the Ohio,
tv.d ;;vne!ir.b her tears with the tomner