, 1861-09-19
The Great Conspiracy.



While the laurels Of those who achieved our
national existence were yet wet with the dew Of
its morning; while the blood shed in the strug-
gle for national life had scarce faded from the
soil on which foreign and domestic foes had to-
gether fallen while he who drafted the most
sublime declaration Of human rights the world
ever read, held the reinS Of the government he
and his cOmpatrIOts had founded even then, in
that promising spring-time Of our history, COM
menced, in the dream Of ambition, the first act
of the drama of which hope tells US we may live
to see the last
The scene Of that act was nearly the same as
that on which the present moves; the purpose
Of the actors quite identical in spirit and object.
The extended field for that movement, where
ambition sought to unite the restless and reckless
under the scheming aspirants for power, was
the golden region about the great Gulf. There,
where the Mississippi gave to the sea its waters,
soon to be freighted with the wealth Of agricul-
ture; there, where the mines Of Mexico, which
had aggTandized and made prOligate old Spain,
tempted the youthful American; in that sunny
land which lured to ruin with all the enchant-
ments Of the new Atlantis, did a disappointed
politician, filed with the lust for dominion,
dream that he could found an empire which be
might rule.
In 1906 Aaron Burr, who had schemed for the
Presidency Of the republic, and failed to obtain
by fReSse what the American people did not
choose to confer through favor, was found con-
spring for the ACKNOWLEDGMENT Of the government
Of which he had formed a part. He had been
elevated TO the Vice Presidency, but that only
brought him nearer to the greater height, arous-
ing in him, as it has since done in others, all the
powers that minister to envy and ambition, and
causing him to long for the wreck Of the repub-
lie, that he might rule over fragment, and COM
mence an independent career Of conquest.
Our dominion had then but recently been ex-
tended over the magnificent domain Of Louisi-
ana. A controlling public necessity had caused
Jcifer Son, without constitutional authority, as
he believed, to purchase that territory, extend
ing from the Gull along our entire western boun-
dairy to the British possessions on the north,
that the United States might command the Mis-
sisSippi from its source to the sea. The inhabi-
tants Of the new territory had then scarcely had
time TO become identified in feeling with our
government. The field for conspiracy was in
Viting. IL the then infant States Of the West
could be united with the Louisiana purchase, the
material foundation for a great empire was Sc
cured.
On the sacred soil" Of one Of the islands Of
Virginia, Burr found hospitable entertainment
while he sought to seduce the West from her
allegiance. In New Orleans his confederates
were among the highest in position and inau.
ence, and from the capital to the Gulf his
schemes had active sympathy. Judges issued
the writ Of habeas corpus in favor Of his arrested
c0niedeTates in the conspiracy, to take them
from the hands Of loyal officers of the govern
ment; men Of letters felt honOred by his pre-
seRee at their tables, while lovely women yielded
to the fascinations Of his voice and manner
But for him, il was all a dream. There was that
which he could neither seducc nor overthrow.
Integrity. which could not be swcrved, and
power that could not be deprived Of its majesty.
lie rOamed a fugitive in the land his fancy had
led him to believe he might reign over. He was
arrested as felon and brought to the bar Of
justice. Ills schemes exposed, he missed the hal
ter only 10 be delivered by the judgment Of the
Court shorn Of power for public evil, to the de-
testOtion and contempt Of his countTymen.
Only few years have passed since Burr
dropped into a dishonorable grave Death could
not cover his ignOminy; and none could be found
willing to associate their names with his even
in marking the spot where the earth hid him
from the sight Some hand, covered by the
darkness Of the night placed the tablet that calls
up a memory to be Stunned.
So perished the first conspirator. Aud so
closed the first act Of the drama Of conspiracy.
The grand design had scarcely attained consis-
tency. 1t was then the era Of dreams That
one was summarily dissipated by the decisive
action Of President Jefferson. Our newly found
ed government remained unshaken, and our ma
tional life continued TO give support and vigor to
the iarthest limits Of our country. The vista Of
the nations future was bright and glorious with
the promise Of continental dominion.
Men die, but even their Dreams once told in
the ear Of the world, may live long after them.
The fancy often plays with the other powers Of
the mind. The dream Of our generation may
transform the logic Of the next, and in the fol-
lowing find expression in laws or battles.
THE SECOND ACT.
In 1880 Calhoun opened the second act in the
Senate Chamber, with display Of logic as re
markable for its subtlety as its bOldness. He,
too, had reached that perilous elevation, the Vice
Presidency. He, too, was disappointed COM
petitor for the Presidency. The time for theories
and logical deductions had arrived An ira
tional thing was TO be done in q rational way
the subject was to nullfy, constitutionally, the
power given by the constitution. The members
were to become superior to the bOdy--s part to
be greater than the whole--chaos was to come
again, but all in perfectly logical and orderly
way.
To subservo the ultimate purpose, disunion,
he invented new application Of the doctrine
Of estate rights" Il must not only be applied
to the question Of rights reserved TO the states,
but to the regulation and determination Of rights
granted by the whole people, in the constitution
to the general government. A power conferred
by the whole people might, according 10 the new
theory, be arrested in its exercise, not by the
voice Of the whole people, or the majority, but
by any state that might choose to nulliiy It, II
this was a right to be asserted and acted upon,
under and in accordance with the constitution, Il
followed that il must be permitted 10 proceed
peacefully and without interference on the part
Of the general government. Aud Il one law Of
the government might be nulliiied, and the state
was 10 be sovereign and sole judge when it should
be, il followed, "aS the night the day" that all