The Sun.
London, England, 1807-04-09 00:00:00

on the Treasnry and the Nay's-, and derlarg himself
rhe Proteemttof 'pm mnetcretic Government. • • •
•" The honourable trust of corrupting, the marine
corps, and of sounding Commodore Preble and Cap-
t.fin Decatur (..4.61; Burr prOposed confiding to me.--
S hocked at this proposition, -I dropped the mask, and
exclaithed against his views. He talked of the de-;
graded situation of our country, and the necessity of
a blow by which its energy and its dignity should be
restored—said, if that•blow could be struck here at
this time, he vas confident of the best blood of Ame-
rica. I. told Colonel Burr he deceived him Self in sup-
posing that he, or any other man, could excite a par-
ty in this country who would countenance such a
plot of desperation, murder, and treason. He re-
plied, that he, perhaps, knew better the dispdsition •
Of the influential citizens of this country than
I told him,••one *solitary word. would destroy,lurry—
He aSked, what word ? I-answered—Usurper ! He
smiled at my hesitation, and quoted some great ex-
amples in his favour: I obscrved.to-him, that I hod
lately travelled from -one extreme of the Union to
the other ; and though I found 'a diversity Of politi-
cal opinion among the people, they appeared united
at the most distant aspee.t. of national danger. That
for the section of the Union to which I belonged,
would vouch, should he succeed in the firSt instance
here, he would within six weeks haVe his throat cut
by Yankee Militia:

"ThOugh wild and extravagant Mr. Burr's last pro-
ject,t, and though fraught with premeditated slaughter,
I felt Very uneasy on the subjea, because- its defeat
he had' placed in my 'own hands.- I did not.. feel so
secure concerning that of disjointing the Btit
the very interesting and embarrassing- situation in
which his communications placed me, left me, I
confeas, at -a stand t - know how- to'-condua myself
with propriety-. He had committed.ito oft
of aggression.-against haw 3 I could, draw nothing
froM him in writing, not could I learn, that he had
exposed his plans to "any. person near. me,- by whom
my testimony could be supported. He '.llad mention-
ed to tpe no,persous who were principally or decid-
edly engaged with him except General 'Wilkinson, a
Mr. Alston, whol found was his sOnLin-law, and a
Mr. Ephraim Kirey, late. a Captain of Rangers iu
Gen. Wayne's army. Satisfied that Mr. _Burr waS
resolute in pushing his-prOjeta of rebellion in the west
of the Alleghany, and apprehensive that it was too-
well and too extensively organized to be easily sup-
pressed, though I dreaded the weight of his charac-
ter when laid in the.balance against my solitary asSer7
tion, I. brought myself to the resohiti on Ao endeavour
to defeat it by getting' him removed from among us;
tir, to elpoSe myself to all cbaseqbences, by a disclo-,,
Of. his intentions.

" Accordingly I waited on the President of the Unit-
ed States, and after some desatory`conversation,.in-
which I aimed to draw his view to the Westward, I.
used the freedom to-say- to the President, I thought;.
Mr. Burr should. be sent out of this country-and
.
gave for reaion, ..that I believed him dangerous 111 It.
The Presidentusked me where heshouldbe sent ?:4
mentioned Lonon and Cadiz. ThPresidentthought
the trust too important, and seemed-to entertain a. ,
doubt of Mr.' Buf'r's integrity. ' I intimated that no
one perhaps, had" stronger gronneth to mistrust Mr.
Burr's moral integrity than myself ;.'belie'/ed
. ambition so much predominated over him, that when
placed-on an eminence, and put on his honour, re-
sped to himself would ensure his fidelity ; his talents
wore unquestionable. I perceived the sul-ije(l:
disagreeable to the President; and to give it the
shortest course to the point, declared my 'concern
, .
that if Mr.,Burr.were not some way.djsposed of, we
should, within eighteen months, have an insurrection
if not a revolution pn the waters of- the Mississippi; •
The President answered, that he had too much Oh-
fidence in the information, the integrity, and the !.
attachment to the Union of the citizens of thatcoun-
try, to admit an apprehension of the kind I. am !i
happy, that events prove this confidence well plaCed:
As no interrogatories followed my. expression of
alarm, I thought silence on the subjed, at that time
and 'place, became .me;
" But I detailed, about the same time, the whole.
.projects ofMr. Burr to certain members of Congress.
They believed Col. Burr capable, of any thing ; .and
agreed that the fellow ought to be hanged ; 'but
thought his projeas•too chimelical to merit a serious
consideration. The total-security of feeling in those.
-to''whoin I had rung the tocsin induced me to susPed
my own apprehensions unseasonable, or-at-least too
-deeply admitted ; and of course I grew- inditfePent
about the subject. ,

• " Mr. Burr's visits to me became less-frequent, and
his 'conversation less familiar. He appeared to have
abandoned the idea of a general revolution ; but
• seemed determined :on that of the'Mississippi ; and
-although I could perceive' symptoms of distrUst in
him towards me, he manifested great solicitude to,
. engage me with him in the enterprise.. Weary of
his importunity, and, at once to convince him of my
serious attachments, gave the following toast in
public
" Die, United States—Palsy .to the brain that
should •plot to dismember, and leprosy to the ,hand
that will not draw to defend'our Union."
" I doubt whether the sentiment was better-under-
stood by any of my acquaintance than Colonel Burr.
Our intercourse ended here. 'We met but seldom
afterwards. I returned to n-iy 'faint in Massachussets,
and thougk no more of Mr. Burr and his empire,- till
sometime late in September or beginning of. October;
when a letter from Morris Belknap, of Marietto, to
Timothy E. Danielson, fell into my-hands at Brim-
field, which satisfied me that Mr. Burr had aaually
Commenced his' preparatory operations on the Ohio.
I now spoke publicly of the letter from Belknap to
the Department of State, and' about the same time
forwarded, through the hands of the Post,Master-
General, to the President of.the United States, a
'statement, in substance of What is here above detailed,
Concerning-the Mississippi conspiraCy of Colonel A.
Burr—Which is said to have been the first fOrmal
intelligence received by the Executive on the sub- .I
jet of the conspirator being in motion.- -
" I know not whether my country will allow me
the merit of correctness of conduct in this
The novelty of the duty might, perhaps, have em- 'I
barras•ied stronger minds than pline. - The upright-
ness of my intention, I hope, will not be questioned,
"Tire interviews between Col. Burr and myself,
from which the foregoing statement has resulted,