Memoirs Of Aaron Burr, Volume 1 by Matthew L. Davis (best book recommendations .txt) 📖
- Author: Matthew L. Davis
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During A Period Of Forty Years I Was Intimately Acquainted With
Colonel Burr, And Have Reason To Suppose That I Possessed His Entire
Confidence. Some Time After His Return From Europe In 1812, On
Different Occasions, He Suggested Casually A Wish That I Would Make
Notes Of His _Political Life_. When The Memoirs And Correspondence Of
Mr. Jefferson Were Published, He Was Much Excited At The Statements
Which Were Made In His Ana Respecting The Presidential Contest In
Congress In 1801.
He Procured And Sent Me A Copy Of The Work, With A Request That I
Would Peruse The Parts Designated By Him. From This Time Forward He
Evinced An Anxiety That I Would Prepare His Memoirs, Offering Me The
Use Of All His Private Papers, And Expressing A Willingness To Explain
Any Doubtful Points, And To Dictate Such Parts Of His Early History As
I Might Require. These Propositions Led To Frequent And Full
Conversations. I Soon Discovered That Colonel Burr Was Far More
Tenacious Of His _Military_, Than Of His Professional, Political, Or
Moral Character. His Prejudices Against General Washington Were
Immoveable. They Were Formed In The Summer Of 1776, While He Resided
At Headquarters; And They Were Confirmed Unchangeably By The Injustice
Which He Said He Had Experienced At The Hands Of The
Commander-In-Chief Immediately After The Battle Of Long Island, And
The Retreat Of The American Army From The City Of New-York. These
Grievances He Wished To Mingle With His Own History; And He Was
Particularly Anxious To Examine The Military Movements Of General
Washington On Different Occasions, But More Especially At The Battle
Of Monmouth, In Which Battle Colonel Burr Commanded A Brigade In Lord
Stirling'S Division. I Peremptorily Refused Entering Upon Any Such
Discussion; And, For Some Time, All Communication On The Subject
Ceased.
Colonel Burr, However, Renewed The Conversation Relative To His
Memoirs, And Agreed That Any Thing Which Might Be Written Should Be
Confined To Himself. With This Understanding I Frequently Visited Him,
And Made Notes Under His Dictation. I Never Asked Him A Question On
Any Subject, Or In Relation To Any Man Or Measure, That He Did Not
Promptly And Willingly Answer. On His Part There Was No Desire Of
Concealment; Nor Did He Ever Express To Me A Wish To Suppress An
Account Of Any Act Of His Whole Life. So Far As I Could Judge, His
Only Apprehensions Were That "_Kind Friends_," As He Sometimes Termed
Them, By Attempts At Explanation, Might Unintentionally Misrepresent
Acts Which They Did Not Understand.
Preface Pg 2I Devoted The Summer Of 1835 To An Examination Of His Letters And
Papers, Of Which There Is An Immense Quantity. The Whole Of Them Were
Placed In My Hands, To Be Used At My Discretion. I Was Authorized To
Take From Among Them Whatever I Supposed Would Aid Me In Preparing The
Contemplated Book.
I Have Undertaken The Work, Aware Of The Delicacy And Responsibility
Of The Task. But, If I Know Myself, It Has Been Performed With The
Most Scrupulous Regard To My Own Reputation For Correctness. I Have
Aimed To State Facts, And The Fair Deductions From Them, Without The
Slightest Intermixture Of Personal Feeling. I Am Very Desirous That A
Knowledge Of Mr. Burr'S Character And Conduct Should Be Derived From
His Miscellaneous Correspondence, And Not From What His Biographer
Might Write, Unsupported By Documentary Testimony. With This View Many
Of His Private Letters Are Selected For Publication.
I Entertain A Hope That I Shall Escape The Charge Of Egotism. I Have
Endeavoured To Avoid _That_ Ground Of Offence, Whatever May Have Been
My Literary Sins In Other Respects. It Is Proper For Me, However, In
This Place, And For A Single Purpose, To Depart From The Course
Pursued In The Body Of The Work. It Is A Matter Of Perfect Notoriety,
That Among The Papers Left In My Possession By The Late Colonel Burr,
There Was A Mass Of Letters And Copies Of Letters Written Or Received
By Him, From Time To Time, During A Long Life, Indicating No Very
Strict Morality In Some Of His Female Correspondents. These Letters
Contained Matter That Would Have Wounded The Feelings Of Families More
Extensively Than Could Be Imagined. Their Publication Would Have Had A
Most Injurious Tendency, And Created Heartburnings That Nothing But
Time Could Have Cured.
As Soon As They Came Under My Control I Mentioned The Subject To
Colonel Burr; But He Prohibited The Destruction Of Any Part Of Them
During His Lifetime. I Separated Them, However, From Other Letters In
My Possession, And Placed Them In A Situation That Made Their
Publication Next To Impossible, Whatever Might Have Been My Own Fate.
As Soon As Colonel Burr'S Decease Was Known, With My Own Hands I
Committed To The Fire All Such Correspondence, And Not A Vestige Of It
Now Remains.
It Is With Unaffected Reluctance That This Statement Of Facts Is Made;
And It Never Would Have Been Made But For Circumstances Which Have
Transpired Since The Decease Of Colonel Burr. A Mere Allusion To These
Circumstances Will, It Is Trusted, Furnish Ample Justification. No
Sooner Had The Newspapers Announced The Fact That The Memoirs Of
Colonel Burr Were To Be Written By Me, Than I Received Letters From
Various Quarters Of The Country, Inquiring Into The Nature Of The
Revelations That The Book Would Make, And Deprecating The Introduction
Of Individual Cases.
Preface Pg 3These Letters Came To Hand Both Anonymously And
Under Known Signatures, Expressing Intense Solicitude For Suppression.
Under Such Circumstances, Am I Not Only Warranted In These Remarks,
But Imperiously Called Upon To Make Them? What Other Mode Remained To
Set The Public Mind At Ease? I Have Now Stated What Must For Ever
Hereafter Preclude All Possibility For Cavil On One Part, Or Anxiety
On The Other. I _Alone_ Have Possessed The Private And Important
Papers Of Colonel Burr; And I Pledge My Honour That Every One Of Them,
So Far As I Know And Believe, That Could Have Injured The Feelings Of
A Female Or Those Of Her Friends, Is Destroyed. In Order To Leave No
Chance For Distrust, I Will Add, That I Never Took, Or Permitted To Be
Taken, A Single Copy Of Any Of These Letters; And, Of Course, It Is
Quite Impossible That Any Publication Hereafter, If Any Should Be Made
Of Such Papers Or Letters, Can Have Even The Pretence Of Authenticity.
The Author.
New-York, November 15Th, 1836.
Chapter I Pg 4
The Grandfather Of Colonel Aaron Burr, The Subject Of These Memoirs,
Was A German By Birth, And Of Noble Parentage. Shortly After His
Arrival In North America, He Settled In Fairfield, Connecticut, Where
He Purchased A Large Tract Of Land, And Reared A Numerous Family. A
Part Of This Landed Estate Remained In The Possession Of His Lineal
Descendants Until Long After The Revolutionary War. During Colonel
Burr'S Travels In Germany, In The Year 1809, Various Communications
Were Made To Him, Orally And In Writing, By Different Branches Of The
Burr Family, Some Of Whom Were Then Filling High And Distinguished
Scientific And Literary Stations.
His Father, The Rev. Aaron Burr, Was Born In Fairfield, On The 4Th Day
Of January, 1715, And Was Educated At Yale College. In A Manuscript
Journal Which He Kept, And Which Has Been Preserved, He Says, "In
September, 1736, With Many Fears And Doubts About My Qualifications
(Being Under Clouds With Respect To My Spiritual State), I Offered
Myself To Trials, And Was Approved As A Candidate For The Ministry. My
First Sermon Was Preached At Greenfield, And Immediately After I Came
Into The Jerseys. I Can Hardly Give Any Account Why I Came Here. After
I Had Preached For Some Time At Hanover, I Had A Call By The People Of
Newark; But There Was Scarce Any Probability That I Should Suit Their
Circumstances, Being Young In Standing And Trials. I Accepted Of Their
Invitation, With A Reserve, That I Did Not Come With Any Views Of
Settling. My Labours Were Universally Acceptable Among Them, And They
Manifested Such Great Regard And Love For Me, That I Consented To
Accept Of The Charge Of Their Souls.
"A.D. 1738-39, January The 25Th, I Was Set Apart To The Work Of The
Ministry, By Fasting, Prayer, And Imposition Of Hands. God Grant That
I May Ever Keep Fresh Upon My Mind The Solemn Charge That Was Then
Given Me; And Never Indulge Trifling Thoughts Of What Then Appeared To
Me Of Such Awful Importance. The Ministers Who Joined In This Solemn
Transaction Were Mr. Dickinson, Who Gave The Charge, And Mr. Pierson,
Who Preached. Mr. Dickinson, Who Presided At This Work, Has Been Of
Great Service To Me By His Advice And Instruction, Both Before And
Since My Ordination.
"In November, 1739, I Made A Visit To My Friends In New-England, And
Again In March, 1740. In The Following August Gust I Was In A
Declining State Of Health, And By The Advice Of My Physicians Visited
Rhode Island. From Thence I Proceeded To Boston. On The 19Th Of
September I Heard Mr. Whitefield Preach In Dr. Colman'S Church. I Am
More And More Pleased With The Man. On The 21St, Heard Him Preach In
The Commons To About Ten Thousand People. On Monday, Visited Him, And
Had Some Conversation To My Great Satisfaction. On The 23D, Went To
Hear Him Preach In Mr. Webb'S Church, But The House Was Crowded Before
Mr. Whitefield Came. The People, Especially The Women, Were Put Into A
Fright, Under A Mistaken Notion That The Galleries Were Falling, Which
Caused Them To Hurry Out In Such A Violent Manner, That Many Were
Seriously Injured And Five Killed. The Same Day, Mr. Whitefield
Preached At Mr. Gee'S Church.
Chapter I Pg 5
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