New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-08-04

fart that in 1906 court martial acquitted him on the
charge OF having been in correspondence with spain
while holding high military command uhuer .,o
limited States may have assisted some, anu esPeci,
+bc WIN failed TO follow the results OF more recehV
,nouires into the Spanish archives The proofs were
then furnished that he was pcnsioncr OF SPAN "i0
g., Emo Intcd States Army and all that had been sis
nected of his reasonable practices was cohrmeo' IL
e. ,o established that he double traitor having
80, :, oo,,,espondence with Lord Dorchester. then
Governor OF Canada, with view 10 the securing vi
p-,isb aid in the seizure of NewOrleans and othef
places. .,,. .,., ,.oro
About the character and doings OF this man there
s no room for doubt is there any IN te case vi
sohastan WIN was proved TO be Spanish pensioner
hefore legislative committee, and VINO reSisheu HIS
coat on The bench to avoid expulsion With regard 70
rrdre Innes no regular condemnation was had but II
, doubt * entertained concerning his completely IN
the Spanish conspiracy, II NAV, we thnh' DC aiia>0
by q careful reading of what Mr. Green mas 10 soy v"
tbe trial of the libel suit Of lines against Marsha "
1907 500 The main object OF the historian mas oeo"
% rcf,te the statements of Colonel Mason Brown com
corning John Brown. That purpose, we CONSIDER nus
been fulfilled in perfectly conclusive manner IL
will he impossible henceforh for any one 10 main ul
serously that John Brown not concerned III d
deliberate sustained and systematic conspiracy " W
Kentucky out Of the Union, and equally lnpoSsioo ~
clear him of the charge Of seeking to hahd the 0'
50 separated over to Spain. OF course 10 us WIN
look back upon the events and spccnlauons Oh "'",
time from so high a vantage ground OF accoihPl9n0u
facts. II NAV appear preposterous that the pracu'
bi,itv ~ such scheme should have been DeeNeu
In But the future is always dark. and neither n
ington nor Jaw nor Madison, nor Adams, nor 'en0
SON. nor Hamilton had the Temotest conccpuoh VI -.
was To come to pass after they had left the sase'
Of the commonest and strongest beheis n"uu -
years aro was that progress would be Slow tha' o
FOR several cencratons and especially that the seo
mont Of the more distant regions would be the WORN
of centuries. l., obod
mt even in those primitive days events narcleu
too quickly for the Spanish conspiracy. filsV " We
conlpose them came The ratification OF inc 'i'oH
Next came the treaty with Spain whch oPc"eo V'Y
navigation of the Mississippi James WilklnSoh slo"e'
his precedence when he fatty declared to inc ep@S
omissary sent to him about the latter Oh tese c'o
that the game was up that Spain had thrown AWAY -
one opportunity and that thencefvrwaiu IL WIN
yraste Of time TO try to win over the people OF Ken
tncky The truth was that the whole SCHEME ""u
rested from the first upon the question oi sei-ee.
nvoyed N the free navigation of the river, ahd' 'AV
settled and out of the way there renamed ITO iS'"'
upon which the conspiratois coud oepehu III d' NJ
The situation too had changed IN other wa"
adopton of the Constitution had wrought elei0i ''
Grafton in the general condition OF things Ooinu0
in Congress was returning, and with 1t loyalty 70 Co
,on Under anv circumstances, the chances OF SPAN
wopd have been bad. but they were hopeless anu
This Wilkinson was among The first TO realize
Thus, In due course the exposure occurred ana all
the consprators were threatened. If there seems al
this distance some ground for surprise tnat "nle 30
much of the matter had for years been Known +"
many. there was comparatively little popular feehng
expressd the peculiar conditions of the time ana
region must he taken into account once, If only III
passing way perhaps, some such plan as that OF
Wilkinson and Brown generally thought OF IN
Kentucky and though everything had changed 'here
was inevitably no disposition to visit too severely
oeences which might have been those Of the Common
wealth. This at all events is such charitable view
as modern Kentucky would take and 1t has the virtue
of explaining what otherwise might be rather incom
prehensible The tale Of the Spanish Conspiracy as
related by Mr. Green however, Is not likely to pre-
dispose any fairmnded reader to conformation OF the
deeds of the arch-potters whose work. could 1t have
succeeded would have been wholly reactonary, de-
structive and evil.