The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1808-08-26

AMONG the garbled extracts from the proeec-
dings OF the court OF enquiry, which Gen. vii.
kbsbn III defiance os tie r::les J. ID down by the
court, has been permitted to pu FISH, for Tie pur-
pose of sanderinS the witnesses hy whom his
guilt has been proved, we perceive one which con-
tans charge ofperiury against Mr.. Clark, foun-
.ded OH the testimony which he gave in the year
1894, at Charleston, in the case of ayessel called
the Grand SacheR. 4
That gen. Wilkinson, who deliberately made 4
false translation of col Burr's letter him in cy
pher, in order to conceal his connection with ,ii,
writer and then deliberately swcrc that this
false translation was true one, in order 10 JUST
~ his illegal military arrests at New Orleans s.
who has been convictetfof this fact on the floor
of congress, and in the face of the whole Amer
Jean nation, should talk of perjury, might appear
not little surprizing, if we did not know the
lengths to which desperate guilt win sometimes
60, mits endeasors to divert the public attention
from itself
And it is still more singular, that we should
now, for the first time, hear of perjury commit
ted by Mr.. Clark in 1894 which must have been
perfectly notorious at the time, & could not have
failed TO ex lite very general attention. This at
trocicus crime, committed in the face of day. has
however, rem lined entirely unknown, till it be-
came the interest Of gen. Wilkinson to traduce
MIR, Clark, in order to diminish the effect of his
testimony and the man who committed it four
teen years ago, has enjoyed ,ver since the high
This, surely, will not easily be believed
And this is not all. Mr. Clark is stated to have
committed this crime, for the value of a brig Of
$50 tons, that could not possibly have been worth
more than or 1000 dollars. For such an object
Mr.. CLARK, man of immense fortune, of very
moderate expense, and who has annually given
away much more than the value of this vessel
I, REPRESENTED having taken wiifuily false
oath
Butle us annalze this charge, and we shall
see that tits utterly destitute of even the appear
ance of foundation and indeed, that it carries its
own refutation with it,
The case of the Grand S,chem is reported in
5 Dallas, 535 from which it will appear, that she
belonged to person of the name of Arnold, an
American citizen, and had been engaged in
smuggling trade to New Orleans, for which pur-
pose she was furnished with Spanish papers She
went from New Orleans TO Havana, and on her
voyage from thence, was capturedby French
privateer. The privatcer was taken by British
frgate, and the prize master on board the Grand
Sachen, to avoid the same fate, ran her into the
saoal water near Chuleston harbor, where she
was abandoned by all on board, except Il sailor
one of her original crew, and passenger. Soon
afterwards, she drove on shore, scuttled and
p!undered. Arnold, to recover images filed a
libel in the district court of Charleston, against
the owners of the privateer, and to secure the
Ta>-m.nt, attached prize vessel OF theirs ther
lying in the harber.
The district court determined that the Grand
Sachem belonged 70 Arnold, and that the owners
of the privsteer were Responsible for her loss
This decree Affirm d IN the circuit court.
and afterwards in the supreme court OF Tie Uni.
ted States.
Mr. Clark examined as a witness in this
ssse, and deposeth, according to gen Wilkinsons
statement, III the following words: "I WAS never
any period Interested citherin whole in part,
In The Grand Sachem. Neither had or any person
whatsoever, to IKE best of my knowledge, any
title, deed or transfer of her, from Jonathan Ar
mold, or the former proprieSDrS of The said yes
sci"
On his cross-cxaminaton, he is stated to have
said" Nor did Jonathan Arnold, or any other
person, make any sale or any sale transfer of
the said brig Grand Sachem to me or any other
person, TO my knowledge or belief"
This is the perjury of which gen. Wilkinson
accuses Mr.. Clark To prove it, he says to the
court shall first call attention to the copy of
bill of sale, attached to the record certified by
Stephen de Qninones, notary public, to be cor
rectly taken. from the original. This bill of sale
is from Thomas Wooster, the brig called the
Grand Sachem, of the bnrtlien Of hundred
and thirty tons, TO Daniel CLARK, OF the city of N.
Orleans, merchant, & acceptance by the said Da-
MEL Clark, of the same, dated n. Orleans, the
32nd of March; 1892"
The perjury then consists in Mr.. Clark's
swearing, that neither " Jonathan Arnold, nor d.
ny other person, did make any sale or transfer of
the said brig 10 him." when .. bill of sale had been
Its to be remarked, in the first place, that this
pretended bl of sale, from Wooster, was attach
81 TO .he record of the proceeding in Charleston,
consequently it was produced at the trial, when
MIR. Clark examined. 1t must, therefore,
have been satisfactorily explained by him, or the
court must have given different decision If
the property h. d been Mr.. Clart's, by virtue OF
this bill Of sale, Arnold could not have recover
ed The part OF his deposition Isl which he es-
plains it, Gen. Wilkinson has taken care to sup
press.
Further. AS this bill Of sale was produced a;
the trial, had t not been satisfactory, Ii must have
been NANTES ST to the court, the bar, and the by
ISLANDERS, that Mr.. Clark had taken false oath
Should We not have heard of it before Would
not such an incident have attracted mu h sttenti-
on, and given rise to much conversation Could
Mr. Clark have upinterruptedly enjoyed his high
and distinguished character, for IA years, after
such disclosure
The explanation of this bill of sale which gen
Wilkinson has probably suppressed We will nos
give, We pledge GHrsches for the truth oft, IN
every material PU,'.t, winch viii, iii ,lue time, be
established by satisfactory evidence.
Wooster was tile supercargo OF the Grand Sa-
SiIru, and came i,sT 10 Ec;% Orleans. L IS
notorious that the Spanish Government at New
Orleans finding the trade by American vessels
very useful to the country, connved at x, provided
those Vessels took tn he fitrrishe1 Iyitl,