Former Vice President Aaron Burr Acquitted of Treason

These two issues of The Balance and Columbian Repository feature coverage of the Burr Conspiracy and Aaron Burr's trial in federal court in Virginia.

[AARON BURR]. The Balance, and Columbian Repository, January 6, 1807. Hudson, New York: Harry Croswell. 8 pp. (1-8), 9.25" x 11.5". General toning throughout; some light staining.
And: The Balance, and Columbian Repository, September 15, 1807. Hudson, New York: Harry Croswell. 8 pp. (289-296), 9.25" x 11.5".

Excerpts
[January 6 issue:]
"The Conspiracy, Begins to wear such a serious aspect, that we conceive it to be our duty to collect every particular which can throw any light on the subject, and spread the whole before our readers. We must not, however, implicitly believe every thing we hear. We must make a proper distinction between facts, and mere reports and conjectures." (p2/c1)

"It is mentioned in a letter from Washington City, that two companies of militia, which had been ordered out by the governor of Ohio, and dispatched after Burr's boats, had seized two of them, and forced eight more into a creek, where they were blockaded by the ice, and would be captured; but that several others, with arms and ammunition on board, had escaped down the river." (p2/c2)

"Extract of a letter from a gentleman in Pittsburg, Penn. to a member of Congress, dated December, 1806. A number of young men, inhabitants of this town, amounting to seven, have set out with an intention to join Col. Burr, in his expedition against Mexico...." (p3/c3)

"In contradiction of these accounts, it is stated that the Grand Jury of the Kentucky District, summoned to examine into the subject of the conspiracy, have acquitted col. Burr of every improper design, that has been laid to his charge." (p3/c3)

[September 15 issue:]
"The following paragraphs appear in the jacobin prints. They are offered to the candid and unprejudiced reader without comment. Had Burr's alleged treason proved successful, the very wretches who would now deprive him of a fair trial, would have been the first to flock round his standard. How natural is it for the base to desert a fallen leader!" (p2/c2)

"Richmond, Monday, August 31.
"A numerous audience assembled for the purpose of hearing the truly important opinion about to be pronounced by the Chief Justice of the United States....
"The Chief Justice delivered in writing the opinion of the court which was uncommonly lengthy, learned and argumentative. Two hours and a half were consumed in reading it. The result was in favor of the motion made by Col. Burr and his counsel to exclude the evidence. The doctrines expressed and maintained with great ingenuity and logical acuteness were in substance, that although it was admitted and declared to be law that the actual presence at the scene of action of a person concerned in an act of levying war against the United States is not necessary to constitute him a principal traitor; yet a person not present, but at such a distance from the spot where the overt act is committed as not to be able personally to co-operate with or assist those who actually perform it, (his criminality consisting only in his advising and procuring the treasonable assemblage of men, or in his being engaged in league with them) must be specially indicted;–and that no evidence against such persons is admissible on a general indictment charging the levying war against the United States...." (p3/c1)

"The joy and exultation visible in the faces of Colonel Burr and his friends were such as might have been expected." (p3/c2)

"Tuesday, September 1....
"Mr. Hay informed the court the opinion delivered yesterday had been maturely considered by the counsel for the United States, the result of which was that he had nothing farther to offer, of evidence, or argument, to this jury.
"The jury then withdrew; and, after an absence of twenty minutes, returned into court, and Col. Carrington their foreman offered their verdict, in the following words indorsed on the bill of indictment:–'We of the jury find that Aaron Burr is not proven to be guilty under this indictment by any evidence submitted to us. We therefore find him not guilty.'
"Col. Burr and his counsel warmly objected to this verdict, as informal, and not authorized by the charge given to the jury when they were sworn; contending it was their duty to say 'guilty' or 'not guilty,' and no more; and that they had no right to return a verdict in writing, but only ore tenus." (p3/c2)

Historical Background
The Burr Conspiracy was a plot alleged to have been planned by Aaron Burr. A group of planters, politicians, and army officers, led by former Vice President Aaron Burr, would attempt to create an independent country by drawing territory from both the United States and Mexico. In 1806, Burr recruited volunteers for a military expedition down the Mississippi River. General James Wilkinson, who at first supported Burr, revealed Burr's plan to President Thomas Jefferson. Reluctantly convinced that Burr was planning to attack Spanish territory, Jefferson ordered his former vice president's arrest and worked behind the scenes to see that he was convicted. Burr surrendered to authorities near Natchez but later escaped. He was recaptured on February 19, 1807, in Alabama, and taken to Virginia to stand trial for treason.

Chief Justice John Marshall, who distrusted and detested Jefferson (and the feeling was mutual), presided at the trial in August 1807. Witness testimony was inconsistent, and the star prosecution witness admitted that he had altered a letter implicating Burr. Chief Justice Marshall instructed the jury that intent without action was insufficient to convict a person of treason. The federal jury found Burr not guilty on September 1, and Burr soon left for a self-imposed exile in Europe until 1811.

The Balance, and Columbian Repository (1801-1807) was established in May 1801 in Hudson, New York, thirty miles south of Albany on the Hudson River, by Ezra Sampson (1749-1823), George Chittenden (1776-1845), and Harry Croswell (1778-1858). In January 1804, Croswell became the sole owner and continued publishing the newspaper until December 1807. It was succeeded by The Balance in 1808 and The Balance, and New-York State Journal from Albany in 1809 and 1810. While editing the more moderate Federalist newspaper The Balance, and Columbian Repository, Croswell also simultaneously founded in 1802 and edited the extremely partisan Federalist newspaper The Wasp under the editorial pseudonym of "Robert Rusticoat." Croswell was convicted in 1803 of libeling President Thomas Jefferson in The Wasp. He appealed to the New York Supreme Court of Judicature, and Alexander Hamilton represented Croswell in the appeal, arguing that the freedom of the press consisted in the right to print the truth, even if it reflected on "the government, magistracy, or individuals." Although the Supreme Court narrowly sustained the conviction by refusing a new trial in a 2-2 decision, the New York legislature incorporated Hamilton's position into law in 1805 and it became part of the New York state constitution adopted in 1821. After Croswell's newspaper failed in Albany, he was jailed for debt. He then entered the ministry and was ordained in the Episcopal Church in 1814. He served as rector of Trinity Church in New Haven, Connecticut from 1815 until his death.

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