did not own a single musket, nor bayonet, nor any single article of military stores,—­nor did any other person for him, by his authority or knowledge.  His views had been explained to several distinguished members of the administration, were well understood and approved by the government.  They were such as every man of honor and every good citizen must approve.”  Upon this paragraph Mr. Parton makes the following extraordinary comments:—­“Mr. Clay, there is reason to believe, went to his grave in the belief that each of these assertions was an unmitigated falsehood, and the writer of the above adduces them merely as remarkable instances of cool, impudent lying.  On the contrary, with one exception, all of Burr’s allegations were strictly true; and even that one was true in a Burrian sense.  He did not own any arms or military stores:  by the terms of his engagement with his recruits, every man was to join him armed, just as every backwoodsman was armed whenever he went from home.  He had not issued nor promised any commissions:  the time had not come for that.  Jefferson and his cabinet undoubtedly knew his views and intentions, up to the point where they ceased to be lawful.”

To this miserable tissue of sophistry and misrepresentation the only reply we have to make is, that Burr’s statements were the unmitigated falsehoods which Henry Clay believed them to be.  For at that very time stores were collected on Blennerhassett’s Island; other persons were bringing arms for Burr’s service and with his knowledge; the winter previous he had offered commissions to Eaton and Truxton; and a month before this statement was made, his agent had arrived at Wilkinson’s camp with the direct proposition to that officer, that he should attack the Spaniards, hurry his country into a war, and enter upon a career of conquest which was to result in dismembering the Union.  And yet Burr solemnly declared upon his honor that he was engaged in no design “contrary to the laws and peace of the country,” and that “his views were such as every man of honor and every good citizen must approve,”—­and Parton says these averments were true.  We have no wish to deal harshly with this writer; but such an impudent defence of a palpable falsehood is a disgrace to American letters.

Every well-informed person knows the miserable issue of this ill-contrived conspiracy.  The only emotion which it now excites in the student is wonder that the thought of it could ever have entered a sane mind.  A wilder or more chimerical scheme never disturbed the dreams of a schoolboy; yet no one has ever pressed a reasonable undertaking with more earnestness and confidence than Burr his visionary purpose.  He exhibited, throughout, an infatuation and a degree of incompetency for great achievements, which would cover the enterprise with ridicule, were it not for the misfortunes which it brought upon himself and others.

We do not desire to linger over the last period of Burr’s life.  His deadliest foe could not have wished for him so terrible a punishment as that which afflicted his long and ignominious old age.