Memoirs of Aaron Burr Part 60

Witbeck's importunities continued, and he became so very urgent and repeated that I was finally (November last), long after the pa.s.sing of the alien bill, induced to offer A. I. Frederick Prevost's bond in the place of Witbeck's. Cazenove took time to consider and inquire; and finding, in fact, that Prevost's bond was a much better one than Witbeck's, agreed to take it. Prevost accordingly executed _to me_ a bond for twenty thousand dollars, of which Harrison drew a special a.s.signment to the Holland Company. We made a memorandum that this exchange should not vary the rights of the parties (viz., the Holland Company and Aaron Burr), and Thomas L. Witbeck's bond was given up. In this transaction I never suspected that Cazenove imagined that _he_ was doing a favour either to me or Thomas L. Witbeck, and I am confident that he never entertained so absurd a belief. It was with great reluctance that I gave Prevost's bond. I had claims on Witbeck which justified me in exposing him to some hazard. Prevost had a family, a clear, independent estate, and did not owe a cent in the world; but he had better nerves than Witbeck, and would not tease me.

About this time we learned that all prospect of selling the land in Europe had failed, and as I never had an expectation of paying except from the land itself, it became necessary to close the transaction. It should be observed, that soon after my contract with Cazenove he received orders, as he informed me, to sell no more under sixteen shillings (two dollars), and afterward I understood that he had raised the price to twenty shillings. In December last we had several conferences for the purpose of settling this business. I offered to give back the land and cancel the covenants. He talked of the penalty.

I replied that be would only recover the damages sustained, which, by his own account, were nothing; for, as the price of the land was raised to twenty shillings, the Holland Company would, by their own estimation, gain one hundred thousand dollars by taking back the land.

He appeared to feel the unreasonableness of his demand, and finally evaded my proposal by questioning his own authority. This I considered as a pretence; some irritation ensued, and we parted without concluding any thing.

Thus the matter remained until May last (1799), when our negotiations were renewed. After various overtures and propositions on either side, it was at length agreed that I should convey to the Holland Company, absolutely, the twenty thousand acres Presque Isle lands. That this should be received in discharge of the advances that Cazenove had made thereon, and in full satisfaction of all damages claimed on the covenants; and that thereupon the covenants should be cancelled, the bond of I. A. Frederick Prevost be given up, and the Holland Company take back their lands. This was accordingly done a few days before Cazenove sailed for Europe, which was, I think, in June last.

I should have noted, that about the year 1792 or 1793, I became jointly concerned with the Holland Company and sundry individuals in the purchase from the State of Pennsylvania of the whole Presque Isle angle, and of other lands adjoining to the amount of a million of acres. The a.s.sociation was called the Population Company, and was under the management of directors, who had a right to a.s.sess on the proprietors or a.s.sociates any sums they might think proper to promote the settlements required by the patents. My interest was one hundred shares, or twenty thousand acres, for which I had paid, at the time I mortgaged to Cazenove, upwards of seven thousand five hundred dollars.

The thing was considered as extremely valuable, and I have no doubt but my interest would, if I could have retained it five years, have been worth to me more than one hundred thousand dollars. Lands within the angle were last year sold at twenty dollars per acre.

Though it be obvious that no damages were due or could have been recovered by the Holland Company on the penalty contained in the covenants, yet I had several motives to urge me to some sacrifice in order to get rid of the business. _First._ I could not repay the advances made by Cazenove, which amounted to several thousand dollars.

_Second._ I could not bear to give any uneasiness to Frederick Prevost, which might have been the consequence of a legal proceeding.

_Third._ I was a little apprehensive of being sued on the covenants for payment of the purchase money. Cazenove, on his part, had but a single motive, to wit--he found that these lands were all I had to give, and that a suit would have produced only expense.

The aforegoing facts are substantially known to Le Roy, Bayard, and McEvers, and to Harrison and Ogden. The two last were consulted on the closing of the business in May and June last (1799). The former of them, Harrison, several times on the exchange of the bonds. I have not spoken to either of those gentlemen on the subject since the transactions took place; but any person is at liberty to do it who may choose to take the trouble.

I have given you a summary of my whole concern with Cazenove and the Holland Company, not knowing what part of it might tend to elucidate your inquiries.

By those who know me, it will never be credited that any man on earth would have the hardiness even to propose to me dishonourable compensations; but this apart, the absurdity of the calumny you allude to is obvious from the following data, resulting from the deeds and known facts:

That at the time the Alien Bill was under consideration, and long after, the bond, the covenant, and the penalty were objects of no concern, as we had reason to believe that the lands were or would be sold in Europe, so as to leave me a profit:

That Witbeck's bond was _never given up_, but exchanged for one more safe and valuable:

That I had not, nor by possibility could have, any interest in this exchange, as it was relieving one friend to involve another still more dear to me:

That, so far from any understanding between Cazenove and me, we had controversies about the very bond and penalty for more than a year after the pa.s.sing of the Alien Bill: That no part of the penalty was ever due from me to the Holland Company; and that of course, they could never have demanded the bond, which was expressly a security for the penalty, and not for the payments:

That nevertheless I did finally give Cazenove a valuable and exorbitant compensation to induce him to cancel the covenants and discharge the penalty.

This, sir, is the first time in my life that I have condescended (pardon the expression) to refute a calumny. I leave to my actions to speak for themselves, and to my character to confound the fictions of slander. And on this very subject I have not up to this hour given one word of explanation to any human being. All the explanation that can be given amounts to no more than this--_That the thing is an absolute and abominable lie_. I feel that the present detail is useless and trifling; but you have asked with good-nature, and I could not, with the appearance of good-nature, refuse. I pardon you the labour I have had in writing, and for that which you will have in reading no apology can be due from

Your friend and obedient servant,

A. BURR.

In January, 1801, Colonel Burr's daughter Theodosia was married to Joseph Alston, Esq., of South Carolina. Mr. Alston was in his twenty-second, Miss Burr in her eighteenth year. He was a gentleman of talents and fortune, and a few years after his marriage was chosen governor. Some opinion of his style of writing may be formed by his defence of early marriages; while that portion of his letter which relates to his native state cannot be uninteresting to South Carolinians.

THEODOSIA BURR TO JOSEPH ALSTON.

New-York, January 13th, 1801.

I have already written to you by the post to tell you that I shall be happy to see you _whenever you choose;_ that I suppose is equivalent to _very soon;_ and that you may no longer feel doubts or suspicions on my account, I repeat the invitation by a packet as less dilatory than the mail; but for all these doubts and suspicions I will take ample revenge when we meet.

I yesterday received your letter of the 26th of December, and am expecting your defence of early marriages to-day. My father laughs at my impatience to hear from you, and says I am in love; but I do not believe that to be a fair deduction, for the post is really very irregular and slow--enough so to provoke anybody.

We leave this for Albany on the 26th inst., and shall remain there till the 10th February. My movements will after that depend upon my father and _you_. I had intended not to marry this twelvemonth, and in that case thought it wrong to divert you from your present engagements in Carolina; but to your solicitations I yield my judgment. Adieu. I wish you many returns of the century.

14th January.

I have not yet received your promised letter; but I hope it may be long in proportion to the time I have been expecting it. The packet has been delayed by head-winds, but now that they are fair she will have a quick pa.s.sage; at least such I wish it. Adieu, encore.

THEODOSIA.

JOSEPH ALSTON TO THEODOSIA BURR.

Charleston, S. C. December 28th, 1800.

Aristotle says "that a man should not marry before he is six-and-thirty:" pray, Mr. Alston, what arguments have you to oppose to such authority? Hear me, Miss Burr.

It has always been my practice, whether from a natural independence of mind, from pride, or what other cause I will not pretend to say, never to adopt the opinion of any one, however respectable his authority, unless thoroughly convinced by his arguments; the "ipse dixit," as logicians term it, even of Cicero, who stands higher in my estimation than any other author, would not have the least weight with me; you must therefore, till you offer better reasons in support of his opinion than the Grecian sage himself has done, excuse my differing from him.

Objections to early marriages can rationally only arise from want of discretion or want of fortune in the parties; now, as you very well observe, the age of discretion is wholly uncertain, some men reaching it at twenty, others at thirty, some again not till fifty, and many not at all; of course, to fix such or such a period as the proper one for marrying, is ridiculous. Even the want of fortune is to be considered differently, according to the country where the marriage is to take place; for though in some places a fortune is absolutely necessary to a man before he marries, there are others, as in the eastern states for example, where he marries expressly for the purpose of making a fortune.

But, allowing both these objections their full force, may there not be a single case that they do not reach? Suppose (_for instance, merely_) a young man nearly two-and-twenty, already of the _greatest_ discretion, with an ample fortune, were to be pa.s.sionately in love with a young lady almost eighteen, equally discreet with himself, and who had a "sincere friendship" for him, do you think it would be necessary to make him wait till thirty? particularly where the friends on both sides were pleased with the match.

Were I to consider the question personally, since you allow that "individual character" ought to be consulted, no objection clearly could be made to my marrying early.

From my father's plan of education for me, I may properly be called a hot-bed plant. Introduced from my infancy into the society of men, while yet a boy I was accustomed to think and act like a man. On every occasion, however important, I was left to decide for myself; I do not recollect a single instance where I was controlled even by advice; for it was my father's invariable maxim, that the best way of strengthening the judgment was to suffer it to be constantly exercised. Before seventeen I finished my college education; before twenty I was admitted to the bar. Since that time I have been constantly travelling through different parts of the United States; to what purpose I leave you to determine.

From this short account of myself you may judge whether my manners and sentiments are not, by this time, in some degree formed.

But let us treat the subject abstractedly; and, as we have shown that under particular circ.u.mstances no disadvantages result from early marriages, let us see if any positive advantages attend them.

Happiness in the marriage state, you will agree with me, can only be obtained from the most complete congeniality of mind and disposition, and the most exact similarity of habits and pursuits; now, though their natures may generally resemble, no two persons can be entirely of the same mind and disposition, the same habits and pursuits, unless after the most intimate and early a.s.sociation; I say early, for it is in youth only the mind and disposition receive the complexion we would give them; it is then only that our habits are moulded or our pursuits directed as we please; as we advance in life they become fixed and unchangeable, and instead of our governing them, govern us. Is it not _therefore_ better, upon every principle of happiness, that persons should marry young, when, directed by mutual friendship, each might a.s.similate to the other, than wait till a period when their pa.s.sions, their prejudices, their habits, &c. become so rooted that there neither exists an inclination nor power to correct them? Dr. Franklin, a very strong advocate for my system, and, I think, at least as good authority as Aristotle, very aptly compares those who marry early to two young trees joined together by the hand of the gardener; "Trunk knit with trunk, and branch with branch intwined, Advancing still, more closely they are join'd; At length, full grown, no difference we see, But, 'stead of two, behold a single tree!" [1]

Those, on the other hand, who do not marry till late, say "thirty,"

for example, he likens to two ancient oaks;

"Use all your force, they yield not to your hand, But firmly in their usual stations stand; While each, regardless of the other's views, Stubborn and fix'd, it's natural bent pursues!" [2]

But this is not all; it is in youth that we are best fitted to enjoy that exquisite happiness which the marriage state is capable of affording, and the remembrance of which forms so pleasing a link in that chain of friendship that binds to each other two persons who have lived together any number of years. Our ideas are then more refined; every generous and disinterested sentiment beats higher; and our sensibility is far more alive to every emotion our a.s.sociate may feel.

Depend upon it, the man who does not love till "thirty" will never, never love; long before that period, he will become too much enamoured of his own dear self to think of transferring his affections to any other object. He may marry, but interest alone will direct him in the choice of his wife; far from regarding her as the sweetest friend and companion of his life, he will consider her but as an unavoidable enc.u.mbrance upon the estate she brings him. And can you really hope, my Theodosia, with all your ingenuity, to convince me that such a being will enjoy equal happiness in marriage with me? with me, about to enter into it with such rapture; who antic.i.p.ate so perfect a _heaven_ from our uniting in every study, improving our minds together, and informing each other by our mutual a.s.sistance and observations? No--I give you full credit for your talents, but there are some causes so bad that even you cannot support them.

Enough, however, of this topic till we meet; I have already given you a volume of nonsense upon it.

Now for the fable, I cannot call it description, your "dear friends"

have given you of this state. "The country," they say, because of the marshy grounds, "is rendered continually unhealthy with fever and agues." One would really conclude from this that we were a good representation of a meeting of _Shaking Quakers_. Alas! beautiful and romantic hills of Carolina, which the delighted traveller so often stops to admire; fair and fertile plains interspersed with groves of the orange, the lemon, and the myrtle, which fling such healthful fragrance to the air, where are ye fled? Has some earthquake, some sudden and dreadful concussion of nature, ingulfed you? No! You still remain for the delight and ornament of our country; you have lost existence only in the imagination of some beau or belle of New-York; who, ignorant of the geography and appearance of the most celebrated states, believes every other place except the Park and the Battery a desert or a marsh. But let us proceed:--"As to Charleston, an annual epidemic, joined to the yells of whipped negroes, which a.s.sail your ears from every house, and the extreme heat, make it a perfect purgatory!" What! is Charleston, the most delightfully situated city in America, which, entirely open to the ocean, twice in every twenty-four hours is cooled by the refreshing seabreeze, the Montpelier of the south, which annually affords an asylum to the planter and the West-Indian from every disease, accused of heat and unhealthiness?--Island of Calypso, where reigned perpetual spring! may we not, after this, expect thy flower-enamelled fields to be metamorphosed into dreary wastes of snow, and the sweet concerts of the feathered choir, which elysionized thy woods, converted into the howling of the tiger, or the horrid bark of the wolf? But this is not all, unfortunate citizens of Charleston; your disposition has been even still more outraged than your climate. Your mildness, humanity, and benevolence, are no more; cruelty, barbarity, a sanguinary love of torture, are now your distinguishing characteristics; the scream, the yell of the miserable, unresisting African, bleeding under the scourge of relentless power, affords music to your ears! Ah! from what unfriendly cause does this arise? Has the G.o.d of heaven, in anger, here changed the order of nature? In every other region, without exception, in a similar degree of lat.i.tude, the same sun which ripens the tamarind and the anana, ameliorates the temper, and disposes it to gentleness and kindness. In India and other countries not very different in climate from the southern parts of the United States, the inhabitants are distinguished for a softness and inoffensiveness of manners, degenerating almost to effeminacy; it is here then, only, that we are exempt from the general influence of climate: here only that, in spite of it, we are cruel and ferocious! Poor Carolina!

"The state of society, too, is equally inviting. The men and women a.s.sociate very little; the former employ themselves either in the business of life, or in hunting horse-racing, and gaming; while the latter meet in large parties, composed entirely of themselves, to sip tea and look prim!" Would a stranger who had been among us, who had witnessed the polished state of our society, the elegance of our parties, the case and sociability of manners which prevail there, the constant and agreeable intercourse between the s.e.xes, the accomplishments of our ladies, that proud and elevated spirit among the men which would feel "a stain like a wound," believe the account you have written meant as a picture of South Carolina? Would he believe, still further, that it was drawn by an American? No. He would suppose it the production of some jaundiced foreigner, who had never visited us, and who set down every thing out of his own country as rude and Gothic. Now I recollect Morse gives a description something like this of _North_ Carolina; and I suspect your "friends" stole their account, with a little exaggeration, from him, but mistook the state. I have now replied to the fable of your "dear friends" in a _veritable_ style; but, setting aside rhapsody, if you have time to read it, I will give you a proper and impartial account of our country in a few words. Possibly it may serve to amuse you, if still confined by your ankle.

For about sixty or seventy miles from the seacoast, the land is, perhaps, more uninterruptedly level than any equal tract of territory in the United States; from that distance it gradually becomes more hilly, till, as you advance into the interior, you become entangled in that chain of mountains which, rising in the back parts of Pennsylvania, runs through that state, touches a corner of Maryland, and, extending through North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, forms a line between the Atlantic and transatlantic states. In upper Carolina it is as healthy as anywhere on the continent. The people are robust, active, and have a colour as fine as those of Rhode Island. In the low country, it is true, we are visited by "the fevers and agues"

you mention, but it is only at a particular season, and near the banks of the rivers. In this we are by no means singular; those who reside on the borders of the lakes, the Connecticut, the Delaware, and the Potomac, are equally exposed. On the seacoast we again find health; Charleston, till within a few years past, was remarkably healthy.

Since '93 it has been afflicted, at different times, during the summer, with an epidemic, which has certainly proved extremely fatal; but ought it to be called an "annual visitant" here any more than at Boston, New-York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, &c., all of which places have been equally, and some of them more, afflicted by it?