|
<-*
FEDERAL GAZETTE EXTRA,
_SA'IVIVMY, Sf£P{^MJjJ^RJ^J80?.______
uauWIi
ny legal rjaesfv.ms, no* 10 the evidence i>Hich
migh, be a Iduced. When the evidence should
be gone through, he espected that^ Mr. Hav's
Ovirt act would he to himself a subject of ridi-
cule. Beside i there were separate counsel re-
tained for the several gendemen ; and the ex-
amination ouxht, as nearly as possible, to as.
sums tee shape of a final and regular t-.-ial.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^F Mr Wictbmn observed that Ctrl Burr had
UllR 12 not proved to be guilty under been 'ried fir treason ; and the jury hid found
"this i.ifiic mem, by any evidence sub- a verdict of mot guilty He was oonse-
«'mined to us. We. thefore, find him quently entitled to his discharge, though he had
"NOT GUII.. I'Y " not as yet moved for it- He appears as any
Te.i, form of a ve-dict was objece:'. to by other innocent man, and unless something else
col utr am) ins council who.insisted thai it should be exhibited, he could not with anv de-
. ite ill the usual form, simply. Not Guilty, gree of proprie y be detained longer in Custody.
BURR'S TRIAL.
• A MORE PiRTlCUt AR ACC )UNT
Oo THii PRO JfeEDlHGSOX
1UESDAY Sept. i
The Jury ri'Wtvd and afer an ab;ence of 20
mum e„ returned a verdict in these words ;
.*' We of the Ju'y, fintl that AAetON
Mv Hty contended, that the jury
hoi a
Again I the scene ofacion Uirfhy the counsel
rigli to li.id 'heir verdict in this form if they for thS prosecution, embraces a range f fifteen
hundred miles, .oppose a man aimstedbya
warrant on suspicion of treason or fellony.....
Would not he pio ecuiion be competed to de-
signate some place where the crime was sup-
posed to hav been committed ? Surely he would.
Chief Justice Wih respect 'o the verdict
not guihy, that is a que tion of law and not of
fact On the question ol'a gene al chageof
treason or felony, I understand'he law to be
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ that the accusation may be brought against any
«. ol. liurr contended that tho jury had no right" individual ; and ii is the duty of the judge to
tho'ig'it proper ; and that it should lie recorded
in the vorv wools of the verdict. It migh be
»jo" e satisfactory to tuem, and amounted in ef-
o 'he same rhfftg as a general verdict of
Met Guilty, He knew of no [aw, .Mid he was
\xr- in here vas no principle-ajr'iins' it.
Mr. Rand Iph answered that f»m was a-
¦gainst it ; and in criminal cases,John, was lad.
Why else are precedents always consumed to
attec. aiu what the aw ii^^^^^^^^^^^^™
"to eiring in a *ili e.i v ndct, or m say m >re
tha." whether lie tyas gk 'tyar'not gut ty. The
i m of the ci»?gge given to the |Hry (which
\V s read, at :.is r quest, by ih'e Clcilc ) would
point out their dote. This was, that they
were to say whether guilty or not guilty and no
more
Mr. Hay observed that if '.he-verdict were
not in writing the same objections might oc-
cur, if he Ju y should persist in the firm adop-
ted by them They might direct thei: foreman
te deliver it ore terns, m the very words which
had been ind >rsed on the indictment.
Co.'. Biiir The charge given to th : jury, so
far from including sucli matter aside have
inserted in their verdict expressly exe'udes it.
If tiny hare the
petit jury without their own consent. He was
rather inclined to think tha' 'hey could nor.
CAl Burr said thtre could be no doubt but
that there could not be a jenni trial without
consent of names.
The Chief Ju.'tite mentioned a difficulty
whi h he did not know how the court could
get over. Colonel Burr was now in custody of
the marshs'l, a' d bou d to answer an indict-
mvt for a misdemeanor. He did not know
h w he (otild oe t n-en out of that custod) and
stet lo a foreign jun diction for trial of ano-
ther offence.
Mr. ff.y, I sbal make the motion to the
coiir'.and leave it at the court to decide.
CI iff Justice said he did not know hov he
could do it.
Vtr. Hay I know how to do i'. When the
court iscahed upon to decide, and the difficul-
ty presents itself, I will remove it I do not
expect tn unt;e the knot, but lean cut it.
• r. WiC.hr.an contended that the difficuly
should be removed in the first instance. Col.
Bur wai i ow in custody.
Mr. May observed, that it was obvious the
tion did not occur till the court was ctdied
iheaccued. "> hen the difft-
H_______
upon to tr^nsm ^^^^^^^^^^^^
culty will present itself and not bef ire.
Mr Botts said lie ubje t pieseired two
questions, oiietotwiin/l and the other lutrans-
mi' to a foreign court. Which was the mot
regular in the under rifpn ceer'ings? urely the
comminnent. Suppose Col. Hurt had been in
Custody, andhouu.l osrswer in another couit ;
Could this c mr ac upon t,im till he was dis-
charge'' from hi prosecu ion theie ?
Mr. rj'it^Jti.af ,r m»ki"g some observa ions
as to the course ofpioceemg'- in thiscr.se,said,
that this might be sport to 'he govt' nmenr.----
He would not sty t was death to CI Burr ;
hat It v as death o every ii'd'Vidual \. hem. he
gr.ver.' re.i- might hitik proper to pei ecu e
Chief Jutttcf 1'bis court commits, the dis-
trict judge transmit! Hu' why eoniiitu for
ctrt'U ? e is alteadv in custody.
it r Hjf The application to you, feir, is to
con-nut If the isinc judge should find any
difliciihy, uponei.quiri, g into the ciicumstatices,
it will be removed.
Chief Justice. The only doubt is whether this
court is not bound to hear the whole case be-
fore a decision is made. Suppose the motion
had been made before the district juige, might
he not requite a decision upon ihe present in-
dictment b fore be committed ? ( After examin-
ing the lav.1') the Chief Justice said, that when
a person was to be transmitted to a foieigu
cour', if the offence was bail ble, 'he court was
to take a recognizance of bail. Now, can the
court take a recognizance to appear in another
court, when the party is bound to appear in
this >.
This court is bound to specify the court to
which the accus.d is to be sent ; and the dis-
riered i'. a question of policy not to move for his
discharge immediately In submitting to give
bail as to the misdemeanor in the first instance,
it f a never his intention to admit the right to
demand it.
The Chief Justice said, that he had deter-
mined, in he tirsv instance that bail was de-
maiidable, without considering the subject ful-
ly. He thought the law was clear. Uut he
was open to conviction. He did not think
himself precluded from a full examination of
its ptr.pri ty.
Mr. Hay said, he was not solicitous as to the
result of the m''ion. The question now was
whether the prisoner sh .ul.l appear to he in-
dictment for'a misdemeanor without bail —
Whenever a motion shoa.d be made to dis-
charge him altogether, he.should object to it,
on the gr iUiK.1 that treason had been committed
elsewhere. He relied «pon the act of ongress,
which said, that foi any crime or offence against
theU. ~i the prisoner, upon an arrest, should be
committed or give bail. He also 'died upon
the practice of ihis court in the case of Log-
wood. He had no doubt as to the application
of ihe law of Congress to the practice of the
stare courts in civil cares. His only doubts
were whe'berit applied to criminal cases.
Mr. Wnkhtm considered that the act of Con-
gress declaring that the vsuci: mode of process of
the several slates in criminal cases should bca-
dopted, was conclunve upon this question—
The act of Cong-res; fixes the punishment, but
tl e proceedings are to be accordiug to thelaws
ol the teveial ntates. Me had no objection to
state ihe motives which governed the counsel
of Col. Eurr, in submitting to bail as to trie
misdemeanor. uch was the infatuation of
tne public mind, that if the grand jury had
nit found a true bill as to the. treason, it was
believed that Col Burr would have been taken
with or without process, and sent to some o-
ther place He ihereidre gave bail as to the
misdemeanor, in order that he might be under
the protection of the court
The C Ju%t said, that when he gave his o-
pinion on the question of entering into an ex-
amination of evidence with a view to send the
accused to Cumberland or to some other place,
it was predicated on the idea that he was ac-
tually confined by the process of'his court «
The precedents of thi. court which have been
quoted, seem to settle the practice very differ-
ently from my ideas of the law of Congress, in
relation to criminal prosecutions. The ques-
tion de erves considerarion ; and .f I should be
of opinion that I am bound by those precedents
then ihe foundat ion on which I gave my opin-
ion fats.
Mr Hay enquired, where would be the pro.
priety of issuing a process to bring a person in-
to curt, who 'as already beforeit
The C. Just, said lhat if a capias should be
derermirted to be the proper process, lie sheuld
consider the state of the party as sufficient, and
might itireci -he marshal! to take him imo cus-
tody j bur if a summons should be considered
Ihe regular process, he could not make such an
ordei ; and a wiriir imi; t be awarded. If a
Venire issues, it ill involve a question, whe-
tl'.e pjrty is no. entitled toa continuance.
1 he court took time to consider, and ad-
journed iill to-morrow, 10 o'clock
THURSDAY Sept. 3d.
The Chi f Justice delivered ids opinion as to
the prop.r process on an indictment for a mis-
deme.'Orof he kind harged against Col. Burr;
thensu t of which was, after exanwving the
law ot Congress and reviewing all the pr ce-
dents, that the regular process was a capias.
As soon as this opinion was delivered, Mr.
Hay observed that he would then proceed to
ihe t ial of the indictment for the misdemeanor.
C Jus. The issue must be made up, I suppose.
about it as possible.— The government had se-
lected a particular place for Col -lurr's trial ;
and from the success of that prosecution the
court will easily argue the rate of those which
might come after. As to the motion wiioh
was menaced bv Mr. Hay, i' would not be for-
gotten that inqjests had been aueady held on
these ac s in Kentucky and Tennessee.
The Chief Jutice observed, that in demand-
ing bail on the present occa ion, he wou d not
make »tiy reference to any charge which may
be made hereaf'er; that on the former occa-
sion, he had not taken into view he charge af
treason, nor ought be to do it on the preteiu
occasim j that he thought and does still think
that his former bail was a very high sum j for to
bail any man in a sum six times higher than the
fine to which die punishment of that offence
could subject him, was cer ainly a high sum,
particularly in a country whose constitution for-
bids th' exaction of excessive bail ; but that he
was disposed on that occasion to require a-s high
a bail as he could reconcile with his ideas of
propriety. Ci.cum tances howeyer had varied
since that occasion. Debts >f a civil nature had
come against the accused, which would neces-
sarily increase the difficulty "f his giving hail.
U der all these considerations he sh udd be
content with the sum of 5000 doPars.
Mr- Wirt suggested whether the taking of
bail would not entangle the prosecution in iheir
motion for commitment; and whether this mo-
tion could not be heard before the present mea-
sure was adopted.- Would nm this recogni-
zance impeoe the mo ion fin comlhitment i
Th Ch. Justice 'bserved, 'hat the court cou'd
not hear such a mition at present. Theycoi.ld
hear it at any time, if the counsel for the pro-
secution would get rid of'he 'rial for misde-
meanor. For so long as Mr. Burr was bu^id
by bis recognizance, he him elf could not take
him out of he posstssion of the court to send
him to another court for trial
Mr. Wir . Is rhecuvt then prepafed ro say
that after a man is bailed for a \ inferior offence,
he is exempt from any motion to commit him
for a higher offence ? Wi I not such a motion
operate to exonerate him from his recogni-
zance ?
Chief fiKtice The court have no right to
luai such a motion.
feir Wirt. I mean no disrespect to the
court ; but they will peimj me to enquire
whether a man if bound only for 5000 dollars, is
thereby exonerated fiom any respoi sibili y fur
tbeperpetra'ion of come eutrrnou' crime; such
as murder or treason * Does not such a doctrine
hold out the chance, of Impunity to every man
that ischargedwiih * capital offence i
Chief Justice Does not this incorvenierce
arisi from your placing yours Ives in this si u-
ation >-------Mr. '>1arrin. I'le counsel may easi-
ly get rid of his difficulty by entering a nolle
PBe-EO_vn to the indie.mem for the mtsdeniea-
ror.
Mr. Wirt. This subjec' i - real y important
ina national point of view, "uppese 'ha this
mai.t should go into another dts.iict and jierpe-
trate seme hein us offence such as muider or
treason is -here'.o means of holdi g him in
confinement for his trial ? Is the recognizance
in which he is now to be b"uvid, to oxonerate
him from all responsibility ?
Mr Burn bserved, that the gentleman should
state an analogous case, sueh *s the pri sent 5
of levying war, » here two in¦ admen.s grew nut
of the same ac . Let the attorney eiuer .Nolle
Piosequi and he nay 'hen proceed 10 his mo-
tion forcommi'inent.
Mr Hay -uggeeted a method for removing
the difficulty He v#i,h*a to remove Mr. Burr
forhis trial to another district. Most of the
witnesses have been here for a long time, and
he wishad f dismiss them as Soon as possible.
Lei the court then hear this motion, if af
-Mr Burr. A le'ter has been demanded the evidence is pro.'uced, aid not till then does
from'he President of the United tates, which the difficulty occur ; he c; nnot be removed un-
has been often promised, but never produced, der existing citcumstances, the c< unsel for the
I wish to know if that letter is in court, and prosecution would then eirer an ixoneretuk
whether it cannot be put into the hands of the or wave the necessity of his appearance altege-
clerk.-----Mr. Hay. I believe that it is not in ther.
my possession, for I have not been able to find
it among my papers afer a mi one search. It
is possible that it may be among them Per-
Mr. Botts objected to this method of bargain-
ingwrhthecourt,that "they will exonerate if
tlu; court would only commit " Who occasion-
al! that of BUnnerbassett and trict judge is bound so tend hirrw.-
Smi.h was quit
Mr. Bla nerha.jett and
„,,,..... T__,. eparae and distinct, and
that the motion could not be blended To hear brought into court bv the
them toge'1-.er w'iild te.'d to pridu.ecoiifu..iaii. Mr /V v observed th
lie should insist that the mo'i n against him
be taken upseparaely. He should insi..; that
the motion against him be taken up separate-
ly. He shiuloaiso insi t 'hut there be a specifi-
cation of theplace where he ofTei ce is suppo-
sed o have been committed.
Mr ff,y said, he did not know that he itis
hound to specify the place : but he had no ob-
jecioii todorig it as far as it was in his power.
It, is said that B rr was at the m< 11 h of Cum-
berland ; there he was joined by Blannerhas-
sett and Smith ; atta from thence de'cended the
liver wih the forces which he had been c >l-
lectingS' th-.-ir number of men and military ac-
'¦oiiiiements increasing till the monvnt when
they-were finally dispersed. It will be in the
p wer of the court .0 say after ihe evidence
should be heard, whether they should be sent
Hii another place for trial, and to what place.
A He confessed tlfat he made the motion with a
'great deal of re ucance He had pandered
the 'u'-iject very mi'ich : and it was lie com e
which ids conscience and a sa-i.ne of duty pre-
scribed. 1 he form ef ihe motion was objected
'to It was said that we h itl no right i'o'bleivl
* the examination of'be three jjetsons accu-ed.
The proprie y of this c urse must be obvi.us.
Blannerh-'Sse-t and Snii.h would not be bound
by evidence which was not d.'iv redv in iheir
presence. If a, motion hotiid be made sepa-
rately, the evidence, must be three tunes re-
peated It is 'iipposi-d tha" much confusion
will resu t from a j.-int eiamitiaiion He did
not expect 10 have he, rd .ucii Observations :td-
y dressed to the cotet. Howevci c'iiaoiir.'lliov--
cver could: e\ the cjse may be. 'he court will
He said
indictment.
if! Smith were
hal.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^ the three persons
then before ihe curt, all fteodinthe tame si-
tuations,and 'he same difficulty applied to all.
He regie ted bat the court had not expressed
an opi uOii before the prisoners had been rent
for. He was not di-posed to disturb the opin
ions of the cour' ; bu would go on with the
trial for a mt-siiemea-.r against Col. Burr.
The clerk wa> about to lead the indie ment
for a misdemeanor, when he was intcmip ed
by Col. Burr, who said he was not to be ar-
iaigned, but might plead by attorney
ha h was not in court upon that
Ke -.vas 011 y in court because he had no' mov
ed to he discharged from the first indictment.
He hdpedlha nothing which h:ul passed would
pretc H a lull consideration e>f his subject. In
ibis case he wi-hed to set up certain land
marks by which others might be guided, who
wee 'o follow ; and he feared there would be
tin
Mr. Wirt enq ired as to the effect f the pro-
clamiti >ri who h wa made by the Mar hal :rf.
tcr'he 'j. ry had re'en . ed their verdict The
-e was, (and the one which had been
itthisrae,) for libe officer to make
iroeia . a'io- if arty person ' knew of any tre.-
...... felonic . or o her misdemeanors c m-
" mitred or d ne by the prisoner a' the bar, let
>'¦ them come t'-.th and they shall be heard.---
" fee prisoner at lit bar stands upon his de-
,; itverence," iltat is, his discharge
Mr. tiny. It was at first objected that Col,
Bbit was in custody, a d therefore he c^uld net
be transmitted to any other court. We are
]>.'¦.'.• tole, ihat he is not in custody.
Mr •¦"** capias by which
the body could b" arrested. He relied particu-
larly on ihe opinion of judge Itedell prououiic-
iVfundeU's case, in which he considered
actice of ihe state courts as adopted
throughout by the judicial act of Congress, and
on trie practice in Sinclair's case, which was a
prevention under this very act. —In the latter
case, the process was a summons.
Col. Burr observed, that his counsel consi-
ett
the f
haps it may noi. be necessary to produce it. as ed the present difficulty.' Not the court, but ihe
------------ It is oppression to be thus giving so
many teces to one otfeuce; particularly af'er
they have been so complcti ly baffled in one of
their prosecxtions.
Mr. Wirt. lf-a>s give two different faces to
this prosecution, it is because be has given so
many faces to his tiansaclimls. j\ j5 because he
was looking at the Sarrie time to the North as
well as to the South ; Si; I while projecting a
central revolution ; he Was mulitalinir an inva-
sion to Mexico. As to 0111 being baffled in the
o her prosecution, it was notty, n, lne want ()f
evidence, but from his escaping miler the shelter
of the law. We have thought asthe Grand Ju-
ry did, and as the m -st iliumiua't^ men in 'he
state have done, we have been miiv(i by that
very interpretation of the opinion 01 the su-
preme court, which almost every man in the
state would have given.
Mr. Botts was going to show on a previo,s
occasion, that it was impossible to make two
charges out of one over act : but Mr. ''• ira
now says that it is because the act itself has
two faces. But is there any act which may not'
have J000 ?—Gentlemen are misled by a spe-
ciei of fanaticism against Col. Burr ; and it
will be in our power hereafter to dimonstrate
that we are directed by a regard to the rights
and liberties of the people
ft r. Bu'r then observed that he had lately
discovered that a letter of gen. Wilkin sen's of
12th of Nov was material to his defence. He
had made an affidavit to thai effect.
there is a copy of il which is r acy to be verifi
ed by the oath of more than one person.-—Mr.
Bar. I cannot admit a copy. It is certainly
strange that afer 1 bePresident's promise, this let-
ter is not here------Mr. Martin It is within my
knowledge,'bat Mr. Rodney has been to rhe
city of ¦ ashington since the application was
made fir this paper------Mr. Hay. I have
made a minute search, among the large bundles
of papers which Mr. Uodney has transmitted
tome, but I have not yet found it. Ceneral
Wilkinson has a copy of the letter verified on
oath ——(7 Jus. Unless ihe loss of the origi-
nal be proved, a copy cannot be admitted.
Mr. Burr then observed that lie should nov
call the attention of the court >o the subject of
bail ; as the opinion just delivered by the court
demands bail; that since bail Was demanded of
him on a former occasion, circumstances had
considerably varied, and some had occurred
which ought to mitigate the amount of bad:
that it was useless for bim to mention those ch-.
cumstances as they were well known, and it
would consequently be understood ihat he was
not as able to give as much bail ; that it should
also be rrcol.ected, that the prosecution for trea-
son had failed ; and that under such circum-
stances he conceived that half ihe sum which
was demanded on a f-rmer occasion was suf-
ficient for the. present.
Mr. Butts repeated the sane idea, fie ob-
served that in tins country the state of a man's
property was a criterion for the amount of
bail ; and that it cculd not be expec ed that a
man of no property should give high bail.—
Col i mi's circumstances were well known.
Mr. Hay oiffered in one respect from the op-
posite counsel Col eurr had certainly been
ecqiiitud on ihe charge of treason, but it was
no: after* full exhibition of the evidence.- —
A small pottiou indeed had been produced;
but the greatest part of the most interesting evi-
de, ce had been excluded It was proper that
the charge for treason should be fully investi-
gated somewhere j cither in Ke¦ tucky, Ten-
nessee or the Mississippi Territory; and that
Mr Burr's person should be kept safe until he
htm-elf c.uld have an opportuni'y "f moving
for his commiimen'- ™« he should certainly
Oo.as soon -.-'"e trial lor the misdemeanor
wrI,o.i ,.^rmii him,
Mr. Wic&bam hoped thai bail wonld not be
taken in tefereece to a future motion Col. B.
hat been tried raid acquitted And what has
been proved with respect to the misdeme«nor?
N'lthii g,that was done in the state of Viigi-
nia
Mr Botts hoped when this motion was made
that the court would see in it an attempt most
alarming ; and they wou.d consider it as a
gei-n, which if not crushed in time, would here-
Mr. Hay observed that he had that letter ;
?.Ter grow up to the extreme danger of the but he would beg leave to state, that in gen
rights and liberties of •Vmerican ci'iaens. It W's letters there was a great deal of matter
was best howevev ta say at this time as little* which ought not to be i^le public- among
the rest several strictures Upon ceitain cha-
racters in the. Western country, which werft
fteeiy imparted to the govetnivieiii in the strict-
est confidence. Wobld it riot-be bet'erto thisjj
the court with the selection of such part? as it
might deem necessary to the defence of tho
accu-ed ! ¦ ^
Mr. Martin. Are we to Have a sScret tribu-
nal ' Let the argument be in writing:
r. Hay then proposed toJtirjmr1 those let*
ters 10 the inspection ofei'her Mr Randolph.^
or Mr. Botis, or vir. Wiekham , the man so
selected to pledge himself upon hjnour not tQ
divulge he coiifideiitialcontCrits. If there was
any difference bf opinion as to what were con-
fidential passages, the court were to decide.
Mr. I'urr's c'Uiicil objeced to inspecting »•
ny thing which was not also submitted to theiS
client.
The subject was waved for the present, on
Mr. Burr's suggesting that the opposite coim?
sel might perhaps come to some understanding
on this noint during he recess of the court.
Chief Ju rice dete mined tha: he would pro-
ceed upon the trial of the indic'ruent f *r amis?
demeanor, to-morrow, if Col Burr should be
ready.
Col. Burr was declared by the court to be
discharged from the indie ment for Trea on.
Genera! J natban Dayton appeared in court;
and Mr. Wickham observed, hat if it was the
pleaure of the prosecution to proceed up. n the
iodietment for Treason, fourd against general
Dayton, some steps would be necessary pre-
paratory to a 1 rial.
Mr. Hay said that afer the decision of the-
court upon the doctrine of Treason, he did not
see the propriety of incurrmg 'he expense and
trouble of a trial ; especially as be did not
know of any act charged against him which
would amount to treason, under ihat decision.
He therefore 'bought it the most correct course
to enter a nole prosequi as to that indictment ;
which was accordingly done.
Mr Wic'-ham then, as attori ey for general
Dayton, pleaded not guilty to the indictment
foi a rniscUmeanor.
FRIDAY,Sept. 4.
Col. Burr renewed the .svhjectoffhe
two letters from Gen- Wilkinson, lj>
the president of the United States, one.
of the 21.v< October, I80(j, and the o-
ther of the 12M November of the same
year, for the production of which a writ
of subpoena t'uees tecum fad bees a-
warded. He said that he had a right to
process of contempt, but astltis mode
of proceeding would be very unplea*
sant, and must necessarily produce de-
lay, >t might perhaps he avoided ly
abiainingacopy of that of 'theQlst it '$
which was said to have been Ion r
mislaid, if such copy could he satisfac-
torily authenticated. With respect ta
the letter of the Vtth November which
teas stated to conta'n certain cortftden*
t'alcommunications from getu Willing
son to the president, and which th* at*
torn ey for the United States had ex*
pressed a willingness to produce, wHh
the exeept:on of those parts which
were said to be confidential, he was
not at present dhpoted to accede to the
proposition. He had reason to believe-
that the whole letter had been shewn
without disguise to others, and had been
used against him.
Mr. Hay sa>d, that he could assure
the accused, that the letter had never
been seen by o«_f human being to his'
knowledge, except the person to whom
it icas addressed, the counsel for
the United States, the Chief Justice,
and some of Col. Burr's counsel, to
•whom it was confidently communicated,
with a view to ascertain whether any
arruvgement could not be made for its
production wth the exception of those
parts, whichin his judgment ought not
to be disclosed.
Col. Burr said, he would be more ex.
plicit. He would as];, whether the let-
ter or a copy had not been produced
to the grand jury f
Mr. Hay. / do not know that either
ihe original or a copy were ever laid
before the grand jury, t believe that
they were not But I am not so u'ell
acquainted with what parsed with tl\e
grand jury as some other gentlemen arc
Mr. Hay said', there could be no donH
of the accuracy of the copy. Before he
was certain that he ha.d the orig noJ
letter of the V2th Nov. he obtained a
copy from Gen. Wilkinson, wheh he
found, in comparison, was coirect m
the most minute particulars. He mer-.
t'onedthis circumstance merely to show
the strong probability that the copy of
the Icttei of the <£{st of October migiii-
be relied upon as equally correct.
Mr. Duncan wdsmwn. On inspect.
ing the copy of the letter of the c2lst
of October, lie said it was in the hand
vsriting of capt. Walter Burling, aid-
de camp to Gen. Wilkinson on the Sa-
bine expedition ; that he was intimate-
ly (tcqituintcdwith that gentleman, had
often seen him write, and knew his
hand writing well.
Mr. Hay said, that he teas toil fins to
slate on affidavit, if required, that hn
/'•'d not the original. Mr. Rodney had
InftA-med him that he had sent all ttuz
letters. A large packet had been re-
ceived, hut he had not been able t Jiud
this particular one.
Mr. Beats moved for a s1 bprxpru*
duces tecum to be.dirt-cted to Mr. Ha:p
for the production of the » ghtal let-!
terof the i'ith Nov. 18DO which then
lay before him. He denied 'he right if
the government to withhold 'henaper.
Col. Bprr said that state secieti
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