good standing and character, bound to join the Burr expedition in the Mississippi River. It will be remembered that they had been subjected to arrest and discharged upon examination. In their boat, rooms had been fitted up for their fair refugee companion, her family and servants, with all the comfort and elegance that could be transferred from the island home. This made it homelike to the point of luxury. They arrived without interruption at Cincinnati. At this point their boat was detained by the authorities for search and seizure, but the most careful scrutiny failed to find the slightest evidence of military intent, and the boat was permitted to proceed on its journey.

With this departure there disappeared from Ohio Waters the last tangible evidence of Aaron Burr's vision of a Mexican invasion. To complete the story the final days of his plans may be written. At Bayou Pierre, thirty miles above Natchez, he was arrested by the Mississippi militia. He was turned over to a Grand Jury, which, after hearing all the evidence against him, refused to bring in an indictment. On the contrary, they presented as a grievance, "the late military expedition unnecessarily, as they conceive, fitted out against the person and property of the said Aaron Burr, when no resistance had been made to the civil authorities." Notwithstanding this, the court refused to discharge him, and Burr fled, only to be arrested later and conveyed to Richmond for further prosecution and trial.

With all the power of Jefferson's administration against him, there could not be found sufficient evidence

to find him guilty of treason and for the fourth time he was acquitted of that charge. Blennerhassett having also been discharged in Mississippi Territory, was afterwards arrested and taken to Richmond where an indictment was found against him which was afterwards abandoned.

President Jefferson was bitterly disappointed at the outcome of the Richmond trial. But there was one quarter that he had turned to with an expectancy in the crisis and it had never failed him. That was Ohio. He was more than gratified at the loyal support given him by the Jeffersonian Democracy of that State. This he publicly expressed in a letter to Governor Tiffin written February 2, 1807:

"Sir: The pressing business, during a session of the Legislature, has rendered me more tardy in addressing you than it was my wish to have been. That our fellow-citizens of the West would need only to be informed of criminal machinations against the public safety, to crush them at once, I never entertained a doubt.

"I have seen with the greatest satisfaction that among those who have distinguished themselves by their fidelity to their country on the occasion of the enterprise of Mr. Burr, yourself and the Legislature of Ohio have been the most eminent.

"The promptitude and energy displayed by your State has been as honorable to itself as salutary to its sister States, and in declaring that you have deserved well of your country I do but express the grateful sentiment of every faithful citizen in it.

"The hand of the people has given the mortal blow

to a conspiracy which, in other countries, would have called for an appeal to armies, and has proved that government to be the strongest of which every man feels himself to be a part.

"It is a happy illustration, too, of the importance of preserving to the State authorities all that vigor which the Constitution foresaw would be necessary, not only for their own safety, but for that of the whole.

"In making these acknowledgments of the merit of having set this illustrious example of exertion for the common safety, I pray that they may be considered as addressed to yourself and the Legislature particularly, and generally to every citizen who has availed himself of the opportunity given of proving his devotion to the country.

"Accept my salutation, and assurances of great consideration and esteem.

Thomas Jefferson.

In Ohio there was an aftermath to the exciting work just ended. The bitter feeling engendered against all who were in the least suspected as being friends or associates of Burr was typified by the persecution of Senator Smith. From the time of the action of the Legislature requesting, conditionally, his resignation, he was pursued relentlessly by his political enemies. And this, too, notwithstanding that he had lent all of his influence and fortune toward carrying into effect the President's proclamation.

That the President approved the movement against Senator Smith can safely be inferred from the fact that

the promoters of it in Ohio were the old Virginia contingent led by Governor Tiffin, and Nathaniel Massie in the Legislature. The latter was made chairman of the committee to which was referred the Governor's special message relative to the Burr expedition, and which promptly reported the legislation by which it was broken up. In "The Life and Times of Lewis Cass," by W. L. G. Smith, it is stated that Jefferson gave to Governor Tiffin authority "to remove every postmaster west of the mountains who should be reasonably suspected of being unfriendly to the unity of the nation." That is, in any way being under his suspicion as an associate or friend of Burr.

The bitterest of all political controversies is that of factions within a party. Where partisan opponents refuse to lead in slander, cruelty and unfairness, the faction fighter will go with the deadliest intent. He spares neither honor, reputation nor gray hairs. This was the character of the fight against Smith; it was waged against him by his own party associates and by men who knew him to be honest and patriotic. He was not the politician that his enemies were. His political honors came from sheer personal popularity and not through intrigue or power. His place was wanted by others, and the Burr excitement offered the opportunity. The plan to unseat him was developed in the Ohio Legislature and soon transferred to the United States Senate. Governor Tiffin was elected to this body January 1, 1807, and took his seat as Senator at the extra session of the Tenth Congress, October 26 of the same year.

The Senate, without division, adopted, on November 27, a resolution providing for the appointment of a committee "to inquire whether it be compatible with the honor and privileges of this House that John Smith, a senator from the State of Ohio, against whom bills of indictment were found at the Circuit Court of Virginia, held at Richmond in August last, for treason and misdemeanor, should be permitted any longer to have a seat therein; and that the committee do inquire into all the facts regarding the conduct of Mr. Smith as an alleged associate of Aaron Burr, and report the same to the Senate." John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts was made chairman of the committee, and on the same day Senator Smith through his colleague, Edward Tiffin, notified the Senate that he was ready for a public examination of the charge against him, and asked an opportunity to vindicate his innocence.

The investigation was long and far-reaching, consisting of much documentary evidence and oral testimony. Francis Scott Key, the author of the immortal "Star Spangled Banner," was one of Senator Smith's counsel. The testimony most relied on by the committee, for it was organized to convict, was that of one Elias Glover of Cincinnati, a fugitive from justice in the State of Connecticut, and at one time a great friend and admirer of Burr. The veracity of this witness was completely broken down. All of these proceedings with the testimony are extant in the "Report of the Committee appointed to inquire into the facts relating to the conduct of John Smith, a Senator of the United States from the State of Ohio, an alleged associate of Aaron Burr," printed by order of the