New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1854-05-16
NUMBER 60.

rested. With party of ten men, Perkins set |
out upon his arduous journey, his route living |
up the Alabama river to the present city Of |
Montgomery, thence north-eastward, through |
Georgia, South and North Carolina iiafoVircinia |
We do not propose following the party through
their many adventures-at one time winding /
their way through almost impenetrable forest, |
at another swimming swollen streams riding
day by day, wet to the skin by the driving
pelting rain, and lying at night upon piles Of
knots and chunks to keep above the water which
covered the swamps--continually alarmed by
the howlings of wolves and other wild beasts
and their paths invested by bands of sayages not
less serocious, etc, etc.
Through all these and similar trials Perkins
led his prisoner safely and strange to say,
during the whole route no word of complaint
escaped the lips Of the latter. Amid all these
adversities, In which the powers Of nature as
we'll as OF man seemed conspiring to crush him,
his spirit sunk not. Truly, his situation was
one to depress an ordinary spirit There was
he, who had been alike distinguished in the
field and the cabinet-who had enjoyed the
highest favors of q country whose institutions
still bear the impress of his genius-there was
he, reposing beneath q rude tent in the wiIds Of
Alabama, prisoner of the United States, sur
rounded by group Of soldiers whose only bnsi-
ness was to watch him, and without one friend.
one eongenial spirit, to console and befriend.
Apart from this, his wife had lately died. his
only child was afar off, ignorant, perhaps, Of ais
sad condition his professional affairs disar-
ranged, and he himself ostracized by that State
with whose history his name was indlssolubly
eonnected-and branded wherever he went as
'' murderer" and g traitor Yet did Aaron
Burr rise superior to bis fallen fortunes, and
during the whole journey bestrode his horse
with dignity Of men not unbecoming the posi-
finn, he bod late I1oJ ,ubfI h
flashed with the light of conscious superiority
upon the rude guard which adverse circum-
stances had placed over him.
While there was much of the sudUiter in
n0do in Burr's address, there was dignity
Of manner about him, which never failed to re-
buke the ofhcious and idly curious Just after
passing the Oconee river, the party passed the
night for the first time under the roof of
house Bevin, the landlord, was quite officious
and his loquacity soon brought upon him a
merited rebuke. Unacquainted with the per-
sons or the objects of the party. he yet dscov-
cred that they were from the West, and began
asking many questions touching ss Burr's con-
spiracy;" asked if he had not been arrested,
and made many sneering remarks upon his pre-
sent fallen condition. Perkins and his COM
panions, much embarrassed, tried to change the
subject, and efude his inquiries by seeming
inattention; but he still persisted, wheh Burr,
rising up to his tuIl height and fixing upon the
landlord his flashing eye, said, 81 am Aaron
Burr! what is it you want with me ~ Bevin,
as if thunderstruck, fairly crouehed beneath
the whitening glance; and during the remainder
of their stay could hardly summon courage to
ask their commands, though most obsequious in
his attentions.
As the party drew near to the confines OF
South Carolina, Perkins caused his prisoner to
be more carefully guarded. Col. Alston, who
had married Burr's only child, resided in this
State, and Perkins feared lest some attempt at
a rescue should be made. Burr also evidently
had some hopes of such an event, and was pre-
pared at any time to take advantage Of it 4 as
was proved by an incident which we take from
Mr.. Pickett. In passing through the county
town OF Chester District, the party passed neaI
a tavern, before which a crowd of men were
| assembled. Seeing the collection of men so near
him, Burr threw himself from his horse and ex-
claimed, in a loud voice, s' | am Aaron Burr
under military arrest. and claim the protection
of the civil authorities!" Perkins and several o.
| his companions at once dismounted, and the for
mer ordered the prisoner to remount Burr, in
1 most defiant manner. said, 81 toW not p Bein.
unwilling to shoot him, Perkins threw down hi
pistols-both Of which he held in his hands--an,
seizing Burr around the waist, threw him int
| his saddle Thomas Malone caught the reins Q
the horse slipped them over his head, and led tn
animal rapidly on The astonished citizens sa,
a party enter their village with prisoner
heard him appeal to them for protection in tn
most audible and imploring manner, saw armed
men Immediately surrounding him and thrus
| him into his saddle, and then the whole part,
| vanish from their presence before they could re
cover from their confusion.
Soon after this incident, Perkins obtained
| gig, and in this Burr passed. without further
| adventure, the remainder of his Journey t,
/ Fredericksburg, where dispatches from the Pres
| ident caused Perkins to take the prisoner t
| Richmond s@
Here he was arraigned and tried, first for hig
| treason, then for msdemeanor. both of whic
charges he was acquitted. The graVest eharg
proped against Burr was that he had written
letter in eypher, avowing his design of seizin
Baton Rouge as a preliminary measure, an
then extending his conquests to the Spanish pro
Vinces, But this, be it remembered, was prove
upon the evidence of Gen Wilkinson, whose ow
skirts were not entirely free in this case,
We do not wish to be regarded as an adveeat
or an admrer of Aaron Burr. While we respec
his genius, we find much in his private charac
ter to contemn. But we must believe that tn
severe censure which public opinion heape
upon him. was, to say the least, over hasty an
has thrown too much odium upon his once fai
name. There is some truth in the sayings of
great man that {" Republics, at best, are un
grateful" The evil that men do" is too az
"to live after them,'' while 'st the good is {toc
| often inferred with their bones' In contem
plating the Sc traitor" and the destroyer
| Hamilton, we have forgotten the man of dis
tinguished talents and abilities-the iesisIato,
who has left upon the laws of our Empire Stat,
the impress of mind, the useful u. s. Senate
and the Pice President of our Union W
have carried his virtues with his vices and col
signed him to eternal obloquy, The historian
motto should rather be, .'Ftat .justitia, calu,
rHatp'
The conclusions of Mr.. Pickett, as to tt
causes Of Burrs great unpopularity, seem to
quite just and impartial, we therefore close th
| article with an extract from his interestir
/! work.
s'One of the great secrets of his political mi
| fortunes lay in the malevolence of politician
and fanatics Somebody heard General Wasf
ington say Burr was dangerous man; there
fore the world set him down as q dangerou
man. He killed Hamilton in duel beeaus
Hamilton abused him; thereupon the world sal
ne was murderer He was formidable rivi
of Jetferson's for the Presidency thereupon th
majority of the republican party said he wa
"a political scoundrel' He had opposed tt
federal party for that reason the federal part
hated him with exceeding bitterness. A blur
derng, extravagant man, named Herman BlaI
nerhassett, sought Burr while he was in ii
West, eagerly enlisted in his schemes, and in
vited him to his house; thereupon VIM. Wi
said, in his prosecuting speech, that Burr W
the serpent who entered the garden of EIDE
r IT,.