Memoirs of Aaron Burr, Volume 2.

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Colonel Burr commenced the practice of his profession at the close of
the revolution, under the most favourable auspices; and may be said at
one bound to have taken rank among the first lawyers of the day, and
to have sustained it until he became vice president, at which time, it
is believed, he had no superior at the bar, either in this state or in
the Union, nor even an equal, except General Hamilton.

The eclat which Burr, yet a beardless boy, had acquired by his
adventurous march under Arnold to Canada, through our northeastern
wilds, then a trackless desert; his gallant bearing at Quebec and
Monalouth; his efficient services in the retreat of our army from Long
Island and New-York; and his difficult and delicate command on the
lines of Westchester, followed him to private life, gathered around
him hosts of admirers and friends among our early patriots,
particularly the youthful portion of them, and no doubt essentially
aided him in making his successful professional _debut_. The name of
the chivalrous aid-de-camp who supported in his youthful arms the
dying hero of Quebec was familiar in the mouths of men, and from one
end of the continent to the other he was eulogized for his military
prowess. Such were the cheering auspices under which he sheathed his
sword when his physical energies would permit him no longer to wield
it.

"He was indefatigable," says another legal friend, "in business, as he
had been in his previous studies, and no lawyer ever appeared before
our tribunals with his cause better prepared for trial, his facts and
legal points being marshalled for combat with all the regularity and
precision of a consummate military tactician. No professional
adversary, it is believed, has ever boasted of having broken or thrown
into confusion the solid columns into which he had formed them, or
having found void spaces in their lengthened line, or to have beaten
him by a _ruse de guerre_ or a surprise.

"He never heeded expense in completing his preparations for trial;
and, while laborious himself to an uncommon degree, he did not stint
the labours of others, so far as he could command or procure them.
Every pleading or necessary paper connected with his causes was in
tile first place to be multiplied into numerous copies, and then
abstracted or condensed into the smallest possible limits, but no
material point or idea was by any means to be omitted. His propensity
to concision or condensation was a peculiar trait in his mind. He
would reduce an elaborate argument, extending over many sheets of
paper, to a single page. Had he written the history of our revolution,
which he once commenced, he would probably have compressed the whole
of it in a single volume."

In his professional practice, he never solicited from an opponent any
favour or indulgence any more than he would have done from an armed
foe; but, at the same time, rarely withheld any courtesy that was
asked of him, not inconsistent with the interest of his clients. He
was a strict practitioner, almost a legal _martinet_, and so fond of
legal technicalities, that he never omitted an opportunity of trying
his own skill and that of opposite counsel in special pleas,
demurrers, and exceptions in chancery, notwithstanding the risk of
paying costs sometimes, though rarely incurred, and of protracting a
cause.

The labour of drawing his pleadings and briefs, however, at least
after his return from Europe in 1812, always devolved upon others;
and, with marginal notes of all the authorities which had been
consulted, from the year books downward, which were sometimes in law
French and law Latin, to the last reports in England and some half a
dozen of our states, in which may be properly called law English, were
submitted to his critical acumen; his thousand doubts, suggestions,
hints, and queries, which would start from his mind like a flash, and
for a moment seem to throw into inextricable confusion what had been
laboriously, and perhaps profoundly studied, at last would most
generally be adopted without material alterations or additions.

Colonel Burr's mind cannot be said to have been a comprehensive one.
It was acute, analytical, perspicacious, discriminating,
unimaginative, quick to conceive things in detail, but not calculated
to entertain masses of ideas. He would never have gained celebrity as
an author; but as a critic, upon whatever subject, his qualifications
have rarely been surpassed, though in literary matters and the fine
arts they were only exhibited in conversation. His colloquial powers
were impressive and fascinating, though he generally seemed a listener
rather than a talker; but never failed to say a proper thing in the
proper place."

As a public speaker, his ideas were not diffuse enough; or rather, he
appeared to lack fluency to make a long, and what is called an
elaborate argument upon any matter, however grave or momentous. In a
cause in which he was employed as associate counsel with General
Hamilton, an incident occurred, in relation to Chief Justice Yates,
not unworthy recording. It speaks a language that cannot he
misunderstood, and is demonstrative of the influence which he had over
the feelings as well as the minds of his hearers. It was the
celebrated case of Le Guen vs. Gouverneur and Kemble, one of the most
important, in regard to the legal questions and amount of property
involved, which at that day had been brought before our tribunals, and
in which case he completely triumphed. Only a short period previous to
his decease Colonel Burr remarked, that on this occasion he had
acquired more money and more reputation as a lawyer than on any other
during his long practice at the bar. A letter was addressed to Thurlow
Weed, Esq., requesting him to apply to the Hon. John Van Ness Yates,
son of the late chief justice, and ascertain whether the incident, as
reported, was founded on fact. To that letter Mr. Weed received the
following answer.

JOHN VAN NESS YATES TO THURLOW WEED.

Albany, July 8th, 1837.

DEAR SIR,

After some difficulty in finding my father's notes of the argument in
the case of Le Guen vs. Gouverneur and Kemble, I have ascertained that
the account you showed me, given in the letter of M. L. Davis, Esq.,
is in the main correct. My father's notes of General Hamilton's
argument are _very copious_. Those of Colonel Burr's are _limited_, in
this way--"Burr for plaintiff, I. The great principles of commercial
law which apply to this case are"--then follows a hiatus of some
lines. After which, as follows:--

"II. The plaintiff"--another _hiatus_.

"III. !!!!!" and this concludes all I can find.

Hamilton's eloquence was (if I may be allowed the expression)
_argumentative_, and induced no great elevation or depression of mind,
consequently could be easily followed by a note taker. Burr's was more
_persuasive_ and _imaginative_. He first enslaved the _heart_, and
then led captive the, _head_. Hamilton addressed himself to the _head_
only. I do not, therefore, wonder that Burr engrossed all the
faculties of the hearer. Indeed, I have heard him often at the bar
myself, and always with the same effect. I do not recollect, in
conversation, any particular allusion of my father's to Burr's
argument in the case of Le Guen _vs_. Gouverneur and Kemble; but I
have frequently heard him say, that of all lawyers at the bar, Burr
was the most difficult to follow in the way of taking notes. Yet Burr
was very _concise_ in his language. He had no pleonasms or expletives.
Every word was in its proper place, and seemed to be the only one
suited to the place. He made few or no repetitions. If what he said
had been immediately committed to the press, it would want no
correction.

Yours respectfully,

J. V. N. YATES.

Colonel Burr's style of speaking at the bar was unique, or peculiarly
his own; always brief; never loud, vehement, or impassioned, but
conciliating, persuasive, and impressive; and when his subject called
for gravity or seriousness, his manner was stern and peremptory. He
was too dignified ever to be a trifler; and his sarcasm, sometimes
indulged in, rarely created a laugh, but powerfully told upon those
who had provoked it. His enunciation was slow, distinct, and emphatic;
perhaps too emphatic; and this was pronounced, by his early and
devoted friend, Judge Paterson, [3] a fault in his mode of speaking
while a youth, and seems never to have been fully corrected, as he did
that of rapid utterance, attaining the true medium for public speaking
in this respect. He spoke with great apparent ease, but could not be
called fluent, although he never appeared at a loss for words, which
were always so chaste and appropriate that they seemed to, have been
as carefully selected before they fell from his lips as if they had
been written down in a prepared speech and committed to memory. His
manner was dignified and courteous; his self-possession never for an
instant forsook him. He never appeared hurried or confused, or
betrayed the slightest embarrassment for want of ideas to support his
argument, or language in which to clothe it; and possessed a memory so
well disciplined as never to forget any thing in the excitement of the
legal forum which in the retirement of his study he had intended to
use. He has frequently been heard to say that he possessed no
oratorical talents; that he never spoke with pleasure, or even
self-satisfaction, and seemed unconscious of the effect which he
produced upon the minds of his audience.

Colonel Burr accorded the palm of eloquence to General Hamilton, whom
he frequently characterized as a man of strong and fertile
imagination, of rhetorical and even poetical genius, and a powerful
declaimer. Burr's ruling passion was an ardent love for military
glory. Next to the career of arms, diplomacy, no doubt, would have
been his choice, for which not only his courtly and fascinating
manners, but every characteristic of his mind peculiarly adapted him.
It is idle now to speculate upon what he might have been had
Washington yielded to the importunities of Madison, Monroe, and
others, and appointed him minister to the French republic. Our
country, before which he then stood in the original brightness of his
character, would have been honoured in the choice, both at home and
abroad, and his own destiny, at least, would have been widely
different.

Notwithstanding oratory was not his forte, and he never spoke in
public with satisfaction to himself, still many anecdotes are told of
him which would show that the effect of his speeches were sometimes of
unequalled power. It is said, that at the close of his farewell
address to the Senate of the United States on his retirement from the
vice-presidency, there was scarcely a dry eye to be seen among his
grave auditors, many of whom were his bitter political adversaries.
His manner of speaking was any thing but declamatory, and more
resembled an elevated tone of conversation, by which a man, without
any seeming intention, pours his ideas in measured and beautiful
language into the minds of some small select circle, dislodging all
which they may have previously entertained upon a particular subject,
and fixing his own there, by the power of a seeming magical
fascination, which he could render, when he chose, almost
irresistible. To judge him by his success as a public speaker, few men
could be called more eloquent.

As a monument of his legal knowledge and talents, his trial at
Richmond may be referred to. The two volumes of Reports which contain
it exhibit on almost every page the impress of his great mind, in its
singular acuteness and perspicacity, and great powers of analysis and
argument. On that trial were engaged some of the ablest lawyers of our
country, and he manifestly took the lead of them all. But the
abilities which he displayed, hour by hour, and day by day, through
that long protracted contest, in which the verdict sought for by those
who then wielded the political destinies of our country was an
ignominious death, were no less remarkable than his unshaken firmness
and high moral elevation of deportment, struggling as he was for
honour and for life.

_Fiat Justicia ruat coelum_, was the motto of Chief Justice Marshall
on the trial of Colonel Burr. He was acquitted, but his acquittal was
not owing to the clemency or partiality of his judges. His acuteness
as a lawyer, and the adroitness with which he managed his defence,
contributed greatly, no doubt, in saving him from becoming a victim,
though his innocence of the charge of treason which had been brought
against him could hardly have effected that acquittal. Here, then, his
talents have done some good to his country, even if it be of a
negative character. They saved it from a stain of blood, which would
have been as indelible as is that of Admiral Byng upon the escutcheon
of England.

After Colonel Burr's return from Europe in 1812, he was engaged in
several important causes, in which he was preeminently successful. His
legal opinion in the great steam-boat cause aided in breaking up that
monopoly. He was originally employed in the important land trial of
Mrs. Bradstreet, and in the Eden causes, involving a large amount of
property in the city of New-York, and turning upon some of the nicest
points of the most difficult branch of the law of real property: he
triumphed over almost the entire force of the New-York bar, backed by
powerful corporations and individuals of great wealth, which they
profusely lavished in a long-protracted contest. He commenced the Eden
suits in opposition to an opinion which bad been given by General
Hamilton, Richard Harrison, and other members of the profession of
high standing, and on the faith of which opinions the parties in
possession of the lands had purchased and held them at the time the
suits were commenced.

Had Colonel Burr assiduously pursued the study of law through life,
like Marshall, Kent, and others, it is not easy to conjecture to what
elevated point he might have risen; but such was not his destiny; the
bent of his genius, which had received its inclination at the stirring
period of the world when he entered into active life, was military.
But to show his persevering industry in his practice as a lawyer, and
his power of enduring fatigue, even when almost an octogenarian, the
following letter, written by him, is inserted.

Albany, March, 1834.

Germond's, Wednesday Evening.

Arrived this evening between 6 and 7 o'clock, having been _forty-five_
hours in the stage without intermission, except to eat a hearty meal.
Stages in very bad order--roads excellent for wheels to Peekskill, and
thence very good sleighing to this city. The night was uncomfortable;
the curtains torn and flying all about, so that we had plenty of fresh
air.

The term was closed this day. Nelson will hold the Special Court
to-morrow morning--have seen both Wendell and O'Connor this
evening--all ready--came neither fatigued nor sleepy.

A. B.

Footnotes:

1. For the remarks which I am now about to present to the reader I am
principally indebted to two highly intelligent members of the bar.
_Either_ of whom is fully competent to a development of Colonel Burr's
legal character; and _neither_ of whom would be disqualified by any
prejudices in his _favour_. These gentlemen, it is believed,
entertained different views as to the Practical value of that species
of reading which is necessary to form what is by some termed "a truly
learned lawyer."

2. Colonel Burr's brother-in-law, Judge _Tappan Reeve_, and his uncle,
_Pierpont Edwards_.

3. see Vol. I., Ch. III.

CHAPTER II.

Before entering upon the details connected with the election of 1800,
a brief history of the rise and progress of political parties in the
State of New-York is deemed necessary. By the Constitution adopted
during the revolutionary war, the state was divided into four
districts, viz., The Southern, the Middle, the Eastern, and the
Western. In the Southern District was included the counties of
Richmond (_Staten Island_), Kings, Queens, and Suffolk (_Long
Island_), New-York (_Manhattan Island_), and Westchester. These six
counties, from the autumn of 1776 until the summer of 1783, were in a
great measure in the possession of the British forces, and those
portions of them which were nominally within the American lines were
generally inhabited by tories and refugees. Lord North, or the most
unrelenting of his followers, were not as much opposed to American
independence as were the tories of the united provinces. The city of
New-York became the rendezvous of the most intelligent and influential
of this class. From this point they communicated with the British
premier, through their correspondents in London. Many of them that
were in exile from their late homes in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and
Connecticut, left their families behind them, under the protection of
the whigs. By this arrangement facilities were afforded for
ascertaining the position, resources, and movements of the rebel
armies. These facilities were not neglected, and the information thus
obtained was promptly communicated to the British commander-in-chief
in New-York, and to the ministry in England. The whigs felt that
ingratitude was returned for their hospitality, and, in consequence,
they became daily more incensed against the tories.

It is believed that the war would have terminated in 1780 or 1781, if
the British minister and his military commanders in America had not
been constantly led into errors by the opinions and advice of the
refugees, but especially those residing in the city of New-York.
Entertaining such views, the suffering whigs, in their most trying
hours, consoled themselves with the hope and belief that, when the
struggle should terminate and the country become independent, their
oppressors and persecutors would no longer be permitted to remain
among them. These were the predominant feelings of the men who were
perilling their lives and enduring every species of privation and
hardship for the freedom of their native land.

During the year 1778, Joseph Galloway, formerly of Philadelphia,
sailed for England. His correspondence was extensive, and he became
the depository of all the grievances of the American loyalists. He was
the medium of communication between them, Lord North, and Lord George
Germain. He possessed, in a high degree, the confidence of those who
were the conscience keepers of the king. Among the correspondents of
Mr. Galloway may be enumerated William Franklin, former governor of
New-Jersey, Daniel Cox, and David Ogden, members of his majesty's
council in New-Jersey, the Rev. Dr. Inglis, subsequently bishop of
Nova Scotia, and Isaac Ogden, counsellor at law of New-York, John
Potts, a judge of the Common Pleas in Philadelphia, John Foxcroft,
postmaster general of North America, &c., &c. None of Mr. Galloway's
correspondents exhibited a more vindictive spirit than the Rev. Bishop
Inglis. These letters were private and confidential, excepting so far
as, the ministry were concerned, for whose use most of them were
intended. None of them, it is believed, have ever heretofore found
their way into print. They are now matters of history. They are well
calculated to develop the secret designs of the tories, and, at the
same time, they afford the strongest view that could be given of the
patriotism, the sufferings, and the untiring perseverance of the sons
of liberty in those days. Some extracts will now be made from the
original manuscripts, for the purpose of showing, in a limited degree,
the cause, and thus far justifying the hostile feelings of the whigs
towards the refugees.

The _Rev. Bishop Inglis_, under date of the 12th December, 1778,
says--"Not less than sixty thousand of the rebels have perished by
sickness and the sword since the war began, and these chiefly farmers
and labourers. I consider it certain that a famine is inevitable if
the war continues two years longer; nay, one year war more will bring
inexpressible distress on the country with regard to provisions, and
this will affect the rebellion not less than the depreciation of their
pasteboard dollars. The rebellion, be assured, is on the decline. Its
vigour and resources are nearly spent, and nothing but a little
perseverance and exertion on the part of Britain is necessary to
supress it totally. Butler and Brandt's forces, Indians and loyalists,
I am told, amount to five or six thousand men. They have distressed
and terrified the rebels more since last spring than the whole royal
army.

_Isaac Ogden_, under date 22d November, 1778, says--"Thus has ended a
campaign (if it deserve the appellation) without anything capital
being done or even attempted. How will the historian gain credit who
shall relate, that _at least_ twenty-four thousand of the best troops
in the world were shut up within their own lines by fifteen thousand,
_at most_, of poor wretches, who were illy paid, badly fed, and worse
clothed, and scarce, at best, deserved the name of soldiers?"

_Daniel Cox_, under date of 17th December, 1778, says--"Ned Biddle has
declined his seat in Congress. The truth is, he means to do more
essential service in the assembly, which has ordered the general sense
of the people to be taken respecting the present constitution of
Pennsylvania. Joe Reed is elected, and accepted the honour of being
president and commander-in-chief of the state."

_John Potts_, under date 1st March, 1779, says--"An opinion prevails
here that government (the British) will adopt the mode of devastation.
If that should really take place, adieu to all the hopes of the
friends of government ever again living in America. Be assured that,
should government be restored by such means, her friends would find it
impossible to travel this country without a guard to prevent
assassination. This is not only my opinion, but the real sentiments of
every friend to government. I have conversed with none, except some of
the violent tories, indeed, of New England, _who seem to partake of
the savage temper of our countrymen_." G---- N----[1] has said, in a
confidential letter to a friend of his, "that government wish to get
rid of this country, and is only at a loss how to do it without
leaving it in a situation to injure her."

_Daniel Cox_, 28th February, 1779, says--"At any rate, I see absolute
ruin attend us poor attainted loyalists should the colonies be given
up, or this place (New-York) be evacuated. I once fondly imagined
neither would happen. I wish that our old friend, the Black Prince, [2]
could have the direction here again, and have the glory of conducting
the future operations to a happy conclusion. I think he is more
calculated for it than somebody [3] else, who, though he may possess
zeal and honesty, wants head."

_Isaac Ogden_, 8th March, 1779, says--"Admiral Gambier is ordered from
this station, to the universal joy of all ranks and conditions. I
believe no person was ever more generally detested by navy, army, and
citizen, than this penurious old reptile."

_Daniel Cox_, 10th April, 1779, says--"In an open letter to me, Mrs.
Cox speaks of the increasing depreciation of the continental money,
under the allegory of an old acquaintance of mine lying in a deep
consumption. Should Great Britain be really treating, and give us up,
there must be an end to her glory. But such a misfortune I can never
believe her subject to, unless from her own folly and internal
factions of the accursed opposition."

_Thomas Eddy_, under date 5th month, 3d, 1779, says--"From accounts
received by last packet of the determined resolution of government to
pursue the war in America with vigour, I am led to believe that the
leaders in the rebellion must give up before fall. Indeed, when I
consider the dissatisfaction universally prevalent caused by the
badness of their money, I should not be surprised if such an event
would take place as soon as General, Clinton opens the campaign."

_Bishop, Inglis_, 14th May, 1779, says--"Remonstrate loudly to those
in authority against treating with the Congress--treating with them is
establishing them, and teaching the Americans to look up to them for
deliverance and protection. We have been guilty of a fatal error in
this from the beginning; we now see and feel the consequences. This
should teach us wisdom and better policy. Though we should conquer the
rebels, yet, if an accommodation is settled with the Congress, I shall
consider the colonies as eventually lost, and that in a little time,
to Great Britain."

_John Potts_, 15th May, 1779, says--"In my last I mentioned some
sanguine hopes which I could not help entertaining, from the prospect
of an election to be held in the beginning of April, for a new
convention, as they call it, in Pennsylvania. Those hopes are now
totally destroyed by the efforts of Joe Reed [4] and the violent
party. Their artful cry of tory against the party in favour of the
convention raised a flame too great to be withstood, and procured more
than twelve thousand signers to petitions against that measure, in
consequence of which the assembly rescinded the resolution for holding
the election."

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