REVIEW. 1. Debate in the House of Representatives of the Territory of 2. The trials of Judge Workman and Colonel Kerr, before the 1807. We have already devoted a considerable portion of our journal to the proceedings in the action commonly called the Batture or Alluvion cause of New Orleans; a law-suit the most important and interesting to be found in the juridical history of our country, whether we regard the singular circumstances of the property in dispute, the variety and intricacy of the laws respecting it, or the ingenuity, learning and eloquence of the emiVent persons by whom the affair was so ably investigated before the tribunal of public opinion. Our readers, we are happy to were well pleased with our selection of the publications on stre subject; and the transactions we are now about to lay beere them, arising in the same very interesting territory, are Serhaps not less momentous to the public than the particulars of That celebrated cause. Belonging to the judicial as well as the political history of the union, they come fairly within the scope of our miscellany. Of the memorial which gave occasion to the debate, mentioned in the first publication under review, the following passages seem the most worthy of being recorded: "Extraordinary and alarming events, oblige the legislative council and house of representatives of the territory of Orleans, to appear in the character of complainants, at the bar of your honourable body. "The annexed documents support the following statement of facts, to which we entreat the immediate and efficient attention of the proper branches of government. "The return of the regular forces to this city in last, announced to us the settlement of our differences with Spain upon our frontiers, and we felt grateful to those who had been instrumental in tranquillizing the country. But our tranquillity was of short duration. Measures were soon put into operation which filled the city with alarm, and every thinking mind with the apprehension of the most sinister events. Very active preparations were made for defence, but the utmost mystery observed as to the cause; rumours were put into circulation of an intent to proclaim martial law; and the old forts which command the city were repaired. At length, when a sufficient degree of alarm had been created, the merchants of the city were invited to convene at the government house on the —-day of December last, and many of them attended. They were met by the governor of this territory, and brigadier general Wilkinson. The latter communicated to them that the preparations then making were to oppose col. Burr, who had formed a plan to sever the western from the Atlantic states, and to invade the province of Mexico. That in the prosecution of these objects, he would himself be at Natchez, with two thousand men, by the 20th of December, and would soon after be joined by a body of six thousand men. That with this force he would march down to this city, take possession of it, plunder the banks, and seize the shipping to transport his army, under convoy of a British fleet, to La Vera Cruz. "This information, he said, he had received, partly by a letter from Mr. Burr addressed to him (the general) written in cy pher, and dated the last, and received by him, at Natchitoches, on the 16th of October last; which letter, or a decyphered copy, he produced; and which, among other things, acknowledged the receipt of one from the general of the 6th of the preceding month, and asked his advice as to the propriety of taking Baton Rouge on his way down. Other parts of the plan, not contained in the letter, he stated had been communicated by a messenger from Mr. Burr, who had been sent to him at Natchitoches. "The governor supported the general in a speech, in which he stated his belief in the existence of the danger, and read a letter, which he said was anonymous, but the hand writing of which he knew to be that of a respectable gentleman in Tennessee. The parts of this letter which were read, advised him to beware of traitors to beware of the month of December-to beware of the Ides of March-to beware of the general; and gave hints of some design against the city; it has since been discovered that this letter was actually signed A. Jackson, and advised the governor to beware of Wilkinson. Both the general and the governor united in recommending an embargo on the shipping, as a measure essential to the general safety; the merchants who were present acquiesced in the necessity, and the embargo was laid. A ship of war was immediately stationed below the city to prevent the departure of any vessel without the general's passport, and some which had sailed without this document, were brought back and detained until it was procured, although the necessary clearances from the custom-house had been given; and we believe that although the collector has not since the refused the papers required by law, no vessel is suffered to pass the fort at Plaquemine, without the general's permission. "Upon the illegality of this embargo, we need not offer a single argument. The legislative power of congress alone could legally enforce a measure of this nature. Upon its expediency, many considerations occur. Gen. Wilkinson was the only witness of Mr. Burr's treasonable designs; he stated his plan to embrace the attack of this place, the plunder of its wealth and seizure of its shipping; and in order to counteract these projects, it was determined to keep all the shipping in the harbour, to deprive them, by enlisting their seamen, of all hopes of escape, to detain the treasures of the banks, and by withdrawing all the outposts, and collecting the military force at New Or leans, to leave all the territory open to the invasion of the enemy. "We do not pretend to be judges of military operations, but on a point so essential to our safety as the defence of our territory, and so important to the union as the maintenance of its tranquillity, we can but advert to the impropriety of keeping the regular forces insulated in this city, and withdrawing the garrisons from fort Adams and Natchitoches, when the obvious policy, if invasion were apprehended, would have been to have met it in the defiles of the upper country, aided by a numerous militia, instead of waiting an attack in a town incapable of defence; or if the attack of the Spanish dominions were meditated, to have occupied the garrisons situated on their frontier. "The embargo was a serious evil to our country; its imme diate operation is already severely felt in the injury of private credit. The extent of its consequences cannot be easily calculated. In a government subject to events like this, commercial operations must be always uncertain, confidence must be destroyed, and the price of insurance, and uncertainty of returns, will always damp the spirit of enterprise, enhance the price of imports, and lessen that of staple commodities. These evils are already felt. The capitals about to be invested in our lands, in our public institutions, and in loans to our inhabitants, are suddenly withdrawn, and the spirit of emigration to our territory is destroyed; and a fall of at least twenty-five per cent. in the price of real estates, attests the misfortune of our country. Measures more deeply to be deprecated, because they struck at the root of all a freeman ought to value in life-measures fortunately unknown in the history of the American people, and which, we devoutly pray, may be only cited hereafter to show the exemplary punishment that followed their adoption. "On Sunday the 13th of December, Doctor Erick Bollman, a resident and house-holder of this city, was arrested by two military officers, under the command of brigadier-general Wilkinson; his papers were seized—he was denied the privilege of consulting counsel-and was immediately hurried out of the territory. Two other persons, (citizens of the United States,) were arrested by a similar order and confined on board a bomb-ketch, opposite the city. For some days neither the arrest of these last persons, nor the place of their imprisonment, was sufficiently known to justify any judicial steps for their release. At length one of them, (Mr. Ogden) remarkable for his height, was discovered from the shore-a proper affidavit was made, and a ha beas corpus obtained [from judge Workman,] in obedience to which, and contrary to the express order of general Wilkinson, the officer of the navy in whose custody he was, brought him before the judge, and he was released. The other, Mr. Swartwout, was immediately removed to more close confinement, and measures were taken, by frequently changing the officer of his guard, to avoid any proper return to the writ issued for his release. "An affidavit of the arrest of Bollman was presented to one of the judges of the superior court, on the afternoon of the 14th of December, together with the writ of habeas corpus, for his allowance; and it was urged by the gentleman who presented it, that the case was an urgent one-that the prisoner would probably be removed out of the reach of process by the next day. The allowance of the writ was at that time refused by the honourable William Sprigg, senior judge of the superior court, in order, as he alleged, that he might consult his colleague, and he not being at home, the motion for the habeas corpus was directed to be made in open court. On the following day, this motion appears to have been made by Mr. Alexander, supported by Mr. Livingston, both counsellors of the superior court; the writ was allowed. On Thursday the 18th of December, general Wilkinson, to whom the writ was directed, made his return, in which he set forth: "The undersigned, commanding the army of the U. States, takes on himself all responsibility for the arrest of Erick Bollman, on a charge of misprision of treason against the government and laws of the United States, and has adopted measures for his safe delivery to the executive of the United States. It was after several consultations with the governor and two of the judges of this territory, that the undersigned has hazarded this step for the national safety, menaced to its base by a lawless band of traitors, associated under Aaron Burr, whose accomplices are extended from New York to this city. No man holds in higher reverence the civil institutions of his country than the undersigned, and it is to maintain and perpetuate the holy attributes of the constitution against the uplifted hand of violence, that he has interposed the force of arms in a moment of extreme peril, to seize upon Bollman, as he will upon all others, without regard to standing or station, against whom satisfactory proof may arise of a participation in the lawless combination. (Signed) "JAMES WILKINSON. 1 |