Y.ile UiiiueisJtv Lihrary
39002013120101

mi-

%. ,.£;

1 *. ¦(¦"
8 ¦'/•S'J.i^t

1-L

1

;i4"i^-f?-..

."SiSto',

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE

SPANISH CONSPIRACY.

A REVIEW OF

EARLY SPANISH MOVEMENTS IN THE SOUTH-WEST.

CONTAIKIKG

PROOFS OF THE INTRIGUES OF JAMES WILKINSON AND JOHN BROWN;
OP THE COMPLICITY THEREWITH OF JUDGES SEBASTIAN, WALLACE,
AND INNES; THE EARLY STRUGGLES OF KENTUCKY POE AUTON
OMY; THE INTRIGUES OF SEBASTIAN IN 1795-7, AND THE
LEGISLATIVE INVESTIGATION OF HIS CORRUPTION.

BY
THOMAS MAESHALL GREEE",
Author of "Historic Families of Kentucky."

CINCINNATI:
ROBBET CLARKE & CO.
1891.

Copyright, 1891,
By THOMAS MAESHALL GEEEN.

PREFATORY.

In his valuable -work on the "Cession of Louisiana," published
in the first years of this century, Allen B. Magruder stated : "To
¦whatever incomprehensible spirit of delirium the circumstances
may have attributed its origin, yet it is a fact, that about the year
1789, or 1790, a plan was in agitation to separate Kentucky from
the Union and attach it to the Spanish government of Louisiana.
A memorial was drawn up addressed to the executive authority of
the colony expressing the advantage of a union, which was recipro
cated in the same terms on the part of the Spanish governor. The
chimerical plan proceeded so far in its effects upon the public
mind, that a proposition to form the state iuto an independent gov
ernment was introduced into a convention held about that tirae
to form articles of separation from the State of Virginia." The
author of the book in which this statement was made was at the
time a resident of Lexington, Ky. He was a staunch Republican
and an intimate political and personal associate of the taen to
whom the movement in question was attributed ; and, writing soon
after its occurrence, his opportunities for correctly ascertaining the
facts from the men who were fully acquainted therewith were most
ample. A few years after this publication was made by Magruder, an
exposure of the plan to which he had referred was made, in 1806,
in the columns ofthe "The Western World," a newspaper published
(iii)

iv Prefatory.
at Frankfort, Ky. As an effect of that exposure, John Brown,
one of the principals engaged in the plan, deemed it expedient at
the early age of forty-eight to retire forever from public life, and,
as far as possible, to withdraw himself from public observation ;
while Sebastian, his friend and one of his coadjutors, was driven
in merited disgrace from the bench of the Court of Appeals. The
legislative investigation which was forced by that exposure, and
the results of the judicial inquiries which he had himself invoked,
left the unhappy Innes, another of John Brown's associates in the
plan, nothing of which to boast and every thing to most bitterly
lament. And, though a " Scotch verdict " of acquittal was given
to James "Wilkinson, the prime mover and leader in the plan, by
the court-martial which was organized for the purpose, yet his own
letters, since obtained from the Spanish archives, establish the
indubitable truth of the charges made against him, and no one
now questions his guilt.
At a later day, but during the lives of these men, not only were
the charges as to their participation in this plan distinctly formu
lated, but the evidence to sustain them was stated in detail and
passed into history. The historians who afterward wrote upon the
subject accepted and reproduced that statement as a correct repre
sentation of the facts. Butler, who wrote in defense of these men
in 1834, and who had had the fullest opportunity for obtaining every
fact within their possession which in the slightest degree contradicted
the allegations under which they had suffered ; — even Butler was
obliged to confess, "that Mr. Brown, and in all probability many
other of the ancient statesmen of Kentucky, did incline to discuss,
if not adopt, a connexion with Spain, independent ofthe feeble and
disgraced union, which then existed ;" and to protest that the sug
gestion, that the letters of Brown which communicated the over
ture that had been made to him by Gardoqui, had no " meaning "

Prefatory. v
other than to " forward information," was "unworthy ofthe grave
subject of communication," and of the " dignity of the correspond
ents ;" and was " inconsistent with the only manly and triumphant
justification of which," the zealous champion of treason thought,
" the measure may have been susceptible." The historians being thus
substantially agreed upon the facts, differed only as to the degree of
turpitude they involved. Had the question been permitted to re
main one as to whether the sly plotting of treason was reprehensi
ble or commendable, there had been no necessity of now recurring
to the subject.
But, more than a century after the events had occurred,
half a century after the last of those who participated in the con
troversy and the scenes to which it had related had been buried ;
— and after many years of patient labor expended in devising
ways by which facts could be so suppressed, and misstatements of
other facts could be so invented and systematized, as to make his
ancestor's conduct appear to be not only blameless, but actually
patriotic, the late Colonel John Mason Brown succeeded in accom
plishing that result in a manner satisfactory to himself, in the
preparation, reading, and placing in the hands of the printer of a
paper entitled "The- Political Beginnings qf Kentucky." This paper
was not published until some months after its author's death. In
its efforts to conceal John Brown's guilt, it flatly contradicts state
ments which were made on John Brown's own authority. Protest
ing that Butler, who endeavored to apologize for John Brown, had
blindly accepted, and without an examination reproduced state
ments to his grievous injury, which had emanated in malice, the
author of " The Political Beginnings" asserts, that the " so-called
Spanish Conspiracy, gloomily imagined as concocted with Gardoqui,
was but a figment of an incensed political adversary's brain ; a
suspicion unsupported by a particle of testimony, unvouched for by

vi Prefatory.
document, unestablished by deposition, and refuted by every proof."
The book claims to produce evidence discovered by its author,
which furnishes, as it alleges, the complete vindication of John
Brown;— a vindication, it may be remarked, which the prudent
Brown never sought for himself, which no one else was ever able to
offer for hira, but which, if it were possible that he were really in
nocent, it must be admitted his memory for more than fifty years
has most sorely needed. The author thus reopens the entire sub
ject, boldly challenges the world to weigh the alleged evidence, to
pronounce upon its sufficiency, and to criticise the integrity of its
presentation. The writer had taken great interest in that remarkable epoch in
the history of his native state. His acquaintance with the facts
was, however, but limited. He wished to ascertain how far the
astonishing statements which are made in " The Political Begin
nings," and which had arrested his attention, were sustained by
the testimony cited ; whether it were possible that all others had
been in error, and that Colonel Brown alone had unearthed the facts.
He therefore entered upon an investigation of the facts connected
with that singular episode in our history ; — upon the inquiry to which
the whole world had been invited and summoned with such blare
of trumpets. The results of that inquiry are now placed before
the public. In these pages are produced, in their logical connection and
relation to each other, the proofs known to the writer, which show
that, while Kentucky was yet a district of Virginia, an engage
ment was entered into by James Wilkinson with Miro, the Intend-
ant of Louisiana, to separate Kentucky from the United States,
and to subject her people to Spain ; that, as a result of this in
trigue between Wilkinson and Miro, a proposition was, a few
months thereafter, made by Gardoqui, the Spanish Minister to the ,

Prefatory. vii
United States, to John Brown, then a member of the Old Con
gress from Virginia, to grant to the people of Kentucky the privi
lege of navigating the Mississippi, which Spain refused to the peo
ple of the United States, on condition that the people of Kentucky
would first erect themselves into an independent state and with
draw from the Union ; that John Brown, assenting to the propo
sition made to him by the representative of the government of
Torquemada, promised to aid the design ; that, in accordance with
the engagement made by the one and the assurance given by the
other, Wilkinson and Brown, on their return to Kentucky, con
spired with each other, and with Benjamin Sebastian, Harry Innes,
Caleb Wallace, Isaac Dunn, and others, to accomplish the separa
tion which had been concerted with the Spaniards, did all that
they dared do to bring it about, and that their movements in
the Danville Conventions of July and November, 1788, which
were so happily frustrated, were agreed upon, and directed to that
end. It will be shown that in this movement, its leader, Wilkin
son, was not actuated by a desire to promote the growth of the
West by obtaining for the people the freedom of the navigation of
the Mississippi. On the contrary, it will be shown that the motives
for his treason were at once wholly mercenary, selfish, and per
fidious ; that, while he bargained for the exclusive privilege of trade
with New Orleans for himself and his associates, he urged upon
the Spanish authorities that the rigid occlusion of the Mississippi as
against all others, was the sole means by which the people of Ken
tucky could be tempted or driven to a separation from the United
States, that they might thereby obtain, through an alliance with
Spain, a right which that power denied to them while they re
mained a part of the United States.
Corroborative of the direct proofs • adduced are the suppressions,
evasions, and falsifications of the facts resorted to by these men in

viii Prefatory.
their own defense, which they procured to be written, paid for, pub
lished, and circulated, and vouched for to the public to whose sym
pathies they appealed, and whom they attempted to deceive. In
treating those tergiversations it is assumed that innocence does not
need, and never resorts to, fraud and falsehood for its vindication ;
and that, if positive evidence were as wanting as in this case it is
abundant, among the most indubitable manifestations of conscious
guilt are the subterfuges, concealments, prevarications, and delib
erate departures from truth behind which that guilt ever seeks a
refuge. If these propositions be true, as their natural consequence
it follows, as surely as the night succeeds the day, that the author
who, in the advocacy of any cause or in the defense of any man,
systematically conceals material facts, suppresses important testi
mony which conflicts with his own positions, and deliberately makes
statements which the very evidence he cites disproves — not in one
or two instances only, but from his initial to his concluding chap
ter, — thereby discloses his own sense of the wrongful nature of that
cause, and makes manifest his own knowledge or conviction of the
guilt of the man whose cause he had espoused.
Without further explanations, the writer now confidently sub
mits the facts and the evidence to the calm and unbiased scrutiny,
and to the just and inexorable judgment, of all men who take an
interest in the early history of our common country, who value
honor in our public servants, and who insist that due respect shall
be paid to historic truth.
Maysville, Ky., March 2, 1891.

THE SPANISH CONSPIRACY.

CHAPTER I.

The Treaty or 1763 — The Cession of Louisiana to Spain — The Ef
forts OP Spain to Extend Hee Boundaries to the Allegha-
NiES— The Connivance of France — The Design Defeated by
Jay — Mr. Jay's Proposition.
The peace of 1763, which followed the triumph of Brit
ish arms over the allied forces of French and Indians,
secured to the Court of St. James the territorial sover
eignty of all the country east of the Mississippi to which
France had previously asserted the right of dominion.
But prior to the signing of the definitive treaty with Great
Britain, and contemporaneously with signing the prelim
inary articles of agreement with that power, on the 3d
'Tof November, 1762, France, apprehending that her terri
tory of Louisiana might fall into the hands of Great
Britain, had, by a secret treaty, made a free gift of all that
splendid domain to Spain. The apparent generosity of
this voluntary cession of the magnificent territory west
of the Mississippi was somewhat diminished by the fact,
that it had steadily proved a burden and expense rather
than a benefit or source of revenue to the French king ;
and Spain was by no means greedy for the prize thus ten
dered as a proof of friendship and confidence and to con
ciliate her good will. However, the gift was finally ac-_
cepted by his Catholic majesty, not for its own intrinsic
value so much as with the expectation that Louisiana
would iuterpose a barrier between the British dominions
and his own more valued provinces of Texas and Mexico.
Spain did not formally take possession of this fair and
imperial domain until 1769, when, with great pomp and
(9)

10 The Spanish Conspiracy.
parade, General O'Reilly made his entrance into the then
sleepy village of ISTew Orleans.
The definitive treaty of Paris, which restored peace be
tween Great Britain and her colonies and France and
Spain, was signed on the 10th of February, 1763. By its
provisions France surrendered and ceded to Great Britain
not only "her claims to the country south of the lakes and
east of the Mississippi, but also Canada, Nova Scotia, the
island of Cape Breton, and all the other islands and coasts
in the gulf and river of St. Lawrence. The seventh article
of that treaty, out of which, and its alleged conflict with
the previous secret gift of Louisiana to Spain, grew many of
the difiiculties which accompanied subsequent negotiations
between tiie United States and Spain, was as follows, viz :
Article 7. " In order to establish peace on solid and durable
foundations, and to remove forever all subjects of dispute with re
gard to the limits of the British and French territories on tbe con
tinent of America, it is agreed that for the future, the confines
between the dominions of his Britannic Majesty and those of his
most Christian Majesty in that part of the world, shall be fixed ir
revocably by a line drawn along the middle of the Mississippi
river, from its source to the river Iberville, and from thence by a
line drawn along the middle of this river, and the lakes Maurepas
and Poutchartrain, to the sea; and for this purpose, the most
Christian king cedes, in full right, and guarantees to his Britannic
Majesty, the river and port of Mobile, and every thing which he
possesses or ought to possess on the left side of the river Mississippi,
with tbe exception of the town of New Orleans, and of the island
in which it is situated, which shall remain to France ; it being well
understood that the navigation of the river Mississippi shall be equally
free, as well to the subjects of Great Britain as to those of France, in its
whole length and breadth from its source to the sea ; and expressly, that
part which is between the said island of New Orleans, and the right bank
of that river, as well as the passage both in and out of its mouth. It is
further stipulated that the vessels belonging to the subjects of either nation
shall not be stopped, visited, or subjected to the payment qf any duty
whatever." As by the cession of ali the territory owned by France
on the east of the Mississippi, Great Britain had thus be-

The Spanish Conspiracy. 11
come possessed of the left bank of that river from its
source to its mouth, the express provision in regard to its
navigation conveyed only a right which would necessarily
have accompanied the territory ceded, according to all the
laws of nations. It will be understood that the prior grant
of Louisiana to Spain was as yet a secret and had not been
accepted. The rights reserved to France were those which
had been already given to Spain, which afterward took the
place of France in the dominion over Louisiana.
Spanish authority over Louisiana had been scarcely as
sumed by O'Reilly, in 1769, when, owing to an increase of
population by reason of the regiments which came with
him, a dearth of provisions in New Orleans became so ex
cessive that flour rose to $20 per barrel. In the midst of
the general distress a Philadelphian, named Oliver Pol
lock, arrived from Baltimore with a brig laden with flour,
which he oftered to O'Reilly on his own terms. Declining
to accept this generous offer, the Spanish governor finally
purchased the cargo at $15 per barrel; and a promise was
made to Pollock that he should have free trade to Lou
isiana so long as he lived, and that a report of his conduct
should be made to the king.* In 1776, this same Oliver
Pollock was in New Orleans, with other merchants from
Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, and by their exer
tions and enterprise was procured the abundant supply of
ammunition, which was delivered to Colonel John Gibson,
and was conveyed by him to Pittsburg for the use of the
Americans. It was a part of this powder whieh George
Rogers Clark obtained from Virginia in the fall of that
year and shipped to Cabin Creek, for the use of the Ken-

* Martin's History of Louisiana, page 210. Concerning this gentleman,
General Wilkinson wrote (in the second volume of his Memoirs, page
150): "It is notorious to every ancient inhabitant of Louisiana, that
Mr. Pollock's connection with the Spanish officers, at New Orleans, was
the most intimate, and his influence boundless from the admiinistration
of General O'Reilly to that of Governor Miro, from the year 1769 to 1790."
While Wilkinson exaggerated this intimacy and influence, in order to
magnify the importance of Pollock's testimony that he had no informa
tion of Wilkinson's pension from the Spaniards, yet it is certain the one
was unusual and the other great.

12 The Spanish Conspiracy.
tucldans. Spain, like France, being inimical to Great
Britain, and desiring the separation of her colonies from
her, Galvez, then the Spanish governor, connived at the
sale 9f ammunition to Pollock and his associates, though
his government was ostensibly at peace with King George.*
The next year several large boats came from Pittsburg to
New Orleans, and returned laden with munitions, whieh
Pollock had collected at the latter place.f An active cor
respondence was maintained between Galvez and Colonel
George Morgan, who was in command at Fort Pitt, who
meditated a descent to New Orleans, and who contem
plated an attack from that point on Mobile and Pensacola ;
but this was discouraged by Galvez, who had his eye on
the Floridas as a part ofthe future spoil of Spain, and had
no purpose to permit them to be taken by the Americans.
In 1778, Pollock openly assumed the character of agent
forthe United States at New Orleans; and, the court of
Madrid having become less timid in its manifestations of
hostility to Great Britain, Galvez gave assistance to the
Americans, in arms, ammunition, provisions, etc., to the
amount of $70,000, — all of which, with large quantities
bought by his own means, was sent by Pollock to the in
habitants of Western Pennsylvania, of Kentucky, of the
Watauga, and to the posts captured from the British on
the Mississippi. From New Orleans, and largely from
Pollock, came the supplies which enabled Clark to cap-
lure Vincennes and Kaskaskia.J Thence was equipped
the predatory foray of Captain Willing on the British set
tlers of Natchez. In a word, every important military
movement in the west was aided from New Orleans, Oliver
Pollock being, in nearly every case, one of the leading
factors by whom the supplies were furnished. Thus was
the attention of the scattered settlers west of the mount
ains early drawn to the vast importance to them of the
system of mighty rivers which emptied their waters into

*Gayarre, Spanish Domination, page 100.
tlbid. 109.
t Ibid. 112, 113.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 13
the gulf; and while the traders at Pittsburg ascertained
that their easiest and cheapest route for freights to and
from Philadelphia was by way of New Orleans, the inhab
itants of the entire west were made to feel that their nat
ural outlet to the markets of the world was through the
mouths of the Mississippi. 
The Treaty of 1763 had constituted the Mississippi as
the western boundary of North Carolina. But, by pro
clamation bearing date the 7th of October, 1763, King
George had prohibited the granting of " warrants of
survey," or the " passing of patents," or the settlement of
" any lands beyond the heads or sources of any of the
rivers which fall into the Atlantic ocean from the west or
northwest ; " — a measure deemed necessary for quieting
the fears and jealousies of the red men, and which did
much toward destroying the combinations of Pontiac.
A compliance with this mandate -would have prevented the
extension of the frontier settlements west of the mount
ains of North Carolina ; but, in defiance of the prohibi
tion, a considerable number of the hardy and restless
woodsmen and pioneers of that province, had early estab
lished themselves upon the banks of the Watauga, one of
the tributaries of the Holston, where they were quickly
joined by adventurous spirits from Virginia, Maryland
and Pennsylvania. Their numbers had so rapidly in
creased that, in 1776, their claim to representation in the
convention which framed the constitution for the " state "
of North -Carolina was admitted ; and their aggressive dis
position had so extended the area of their occupation
that, in 1777, they were formed into a county of North
Carolina, which had the Mississippi as its western bound
ary ; thus early planting the flag upon and carrying the
dominion and laws of the United States to the banks of
that mighty stream.
The recognition by France of the independence of
and conclusion of a treaty of alliance and commerce with
the United States, was answered by an immediate declara
tion of war against France by Great Britain. To the
treaty between France and the United States was annexed

14 The Spanish Conspiracy.
a secret article, reserving to Spain the right of acceding
thereto, and of participating in its stipulations whenever
she might think proper. The offered mediation by Spain
having been rejected by the Court of St. James, his Cath
olic majesty, uniting with his kinsman of France in the
struggle, on the Sth of May, 1779, published his formal
declaration of war against Great Britain. The Spanish
expeditions against Fort Manchac, Baton Rouge and
Natchez were accompanied by Oliver Pollock, as the agent
of the American Congress. The Floridas having remained
faithful to Great Britain, the Spanish arms were soon di
rected against Mobile and Pensacola, which fell into their
hands. Witnessing with the most lively satisfaction the
rupture between Spain and Great Britain, Congress
' deemed it advisable to invite his Catholic majesty to avail
himself of the secret provision in their treaty with France,
and for this purpose resolved to send a minister plenipo
tentiary to Madrid ; and, on the 27th of September, 1779,
selected John Jay, then the able Chief Justice of New
York, for that most important mission. To this distin
guished gentleman it had been frequently intimated by
M. Gerard, the French minister at Philadelphia, prior to
the embarcation in the war by Spain, that an indispen
sable prerequisite to a treaty with his Catholic majesty
would be a quitting of the Floridas and of the Mississippi
to hiiA ; but when Mr. Jay accepted the mission to Madrid,
heJiard become fully " persuaded that we ought not to cede
to her (Spain) any of our rights, and of course that we
should retain and insist upon our right to the navigation
of the Mississippi." *
~^ Ou the fourth day after his arrival in Cadiz, in the
Spring of 1780, Mr. Jay sent his secretary to Madrid, with
a letter to the Spanish minister for foreign affairs, ac
quainting him with the commission with which he was
charged. The answer invited Mr. Jay to Madrid, but
plainly intimated that he was not expected to assume a
* Life of John Jay, p. 101.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 15
formal character, which must depend on future acknowl
edgment and treaty ;— thus giving him to understand, at
the very outset, that an acknowledgment of American
independence by Spain would, on her part, be made a
matter of bargain, and that she expected to be paid for
admitting a fact, however indisputable ; — and it was
equally apparent to him that whatever designs were enter
tained by Spain were not only countenanced, but, in some
instances,, were even prompted by the French ambassador
at Madrid. He was also soon given to understand that the
claims of the United States to the navigation of the Mis
sissippi prevented Spain from forming a treaty with them,
and, besides, Spain had pretensions as to territoi'y— to"
which the patriotic American would not yield. In sub
stance, the servants of the Catholic King said to the Am
erican minister, whom they refused to recognize : The
price of our acknowledgment of your independence, and
of our forming a treaty of alliance and commerce with
you, is, a subscription on your part to the exclusive right i
of Spain to the navigation of the Mississippi ; your con-|
sent to our taking possession of both the Floridas, and to]
all the country extending from the left bank of the Mis
sissippi to the back settlements of the former British pro
vinces, according to the proclamation of King George o
1763 ; and that you will prohibit your citizens from con
quering or settling in any of the British territorj' to which
we refer. The plans of Spain were not at all concealed,
and as little pains -w^ere taken to disguise the connivance\
in them by France, whose minister at Philadelphia was in- \
structed to and did communicate them to Congress, in
terms that sound more like an order than mere advice
that they be accepted. Mr. Jay declining to accede to
those conditions, Spain refused to render the financial aid
to the United States which had "been solicited. During
the year 1780, he labored in vain to induce the Spanish
Court to enter into negotiations for a treaty. At first.
Congress was also firm. But, wearied with the struggle,
in February, 1781, the Virginia delegates in Congress in
troduced a resolutiou, which was voted for by all the

16 The Spanish Conspiracy.
southern states, with the exception of North Carolina,
and which passed Congress, instructing him no longer to
insist upon the navigation of the Mississippi below our
southern boundary, if it should be found necessary to
make that concession to obtain a recognition of our inde
pendence, and if, by making it, that recognition could be
Obtained. In the meantime, however, in the spring of
1780, — under the instructions of Gov. Jefferson, — a fort
named in his honor had been established by George R.
Clark,-i)elow the mouth of the Ohio, upon the Missis-
prppiT And, on the 2nd of January, 1781, Don Eugenio
Pierre, at the head of sixty-five Spaniards, set out from
it. Louis to capture the little mission of St. Joseph on
Lake Michigan, where h6 found a few British traders.
That the place was at once abandoned by the Spaniards,
who retraced their steps to St. Louis, and that afterwards
Spain founded on this capture a claim for territorial do-
iminion in the north-west, are evidences that this expedition
was without military purpose, and that the enterprise was
purely a legal one against the rights of the United States.
*~^Although privately advised of the new instructions
adopted by Congress, the first official notification of the
act, which was intensely mortifying to him, was received
by Mr. Jay when, on the 11th of July, 1781, the Spanish
secretary of state placed in his hands a letter from the
president of Congress, announcing the altered resolution
of that body. Under those instructions Mr. Jay, again
urging the negotiation, presented the Spanish minister with
the plan of a treaty. In this he had most reluctantly in
corporated an article relinquishing the right of the
United States to the navigation of the Mississippi ; but,
with the courage for which he was remarkable, he made
this conditional upon the immediate ratification of the
treaty by Spain, and assumed the responsibility of accom
panying it by the declaration, that should the treaty not
be concluded before a general peace, the United States
were not to be bound by the offer to surrender the naviga
tion. But, not content with this- humiliating concession,
Spain refused to enter upon a treaty on any basis other

The Spanish Conspiracy. 17
than one which, in addition to abandoning this right of
navigation, and yielding to the Catholic king the posses
sion of both the Floridas, should also concede to his
grasping demands all the territory extending from the left
bank of the Mississippi to the back settlements of the
former British provinces, according to the proclamation
of 176-3 ; and happily, as it turned out, no treaty could be
effected by Mr. Jay, nor would the Spaniard even enter
upon a negotiation. Thus, while the revolution was yet
progressing, did Spain make it apparent that her partici
pation in the hostilities against Great Britain was solely ,
in order to weaken and humiliate that rival power, for/
her own aggrandizement, and not from any sympathy
with the cause of American liberty, which was inimical
to her own institutions ; and thus early did she manifes
her purpose to separate the west from the east.  [
France, which was bound to Spain by compact as
well as by the close relationship and similar faiths oftheir
rulers, united with that power in all her efforts to bring
the independence of the United States under their protec
tion ; aud to limit our boundaries to the Alleghanies, or at
the most by the Ohio river. The separation of the Amer
ican colonies from Great Britain tending to further the
objects of France, she labored earnestly and zealously to
accomplish that result, and was restricted by her own in
clinations and interests not less than by compact from
agreeing to any terms of peace until the independence of
the United States was secured. But, as the United States'
might possibly prefer claims beyond their independence,
which Great Britain might be unwilling to concede, it be
came important to France to have the power of controUing
the negotiation of the American claims ; — so as to avoid,
ou the one hand, a breach of her obligations to the United
States, and, on the other hand, a prolongation ofthe wa^rj&i£.
objects in which she had no interest. And, beyond all this,
France desired to render the ally in whose behalf she had
gone into the war, subservient to her interests in the future;
and she shrewdly calculated that the United States would
2

18 The Span ish Conspiracy.
be more easily reduced to the position of a dependent sat
ellite of the bouse of Bourbon, and would be more readily
controlled by its influence, if the establishment of their
independence should be attended by the contraction of their
boundaries, by exclusion from the Gulf of Mexico, and
Tom all participation in the fisheries, and by causes for
permanent irritation with Great Britain, than if erected
into a powerful empire and reconciled with the mother
(Country by a treaty liberal and equitable in its provisions.
As earlv as 1770, M. Gerard, the French Minister to the
United States, hinted that the United States might find
themselves in the position of the Swiss Cantons, which
had failed to secure a recognition of their independence
from their former sovereigns, but nevertheless enjoyed
" their sovereignty and independence under the guaran
tee of France." In the same memorial to Congress,
M. Gerard adverted to " the manifest necessity of enabling
Spain, by the determination of just and moderate terms, to
press upou England with her good offices, and to bring
her mediation to an issue," which was a hint to Congress
to recede from its ultimata as to the navigation of the
Mississippi and a participation in the fisheries. Congress
then remaining firm, and giving to Mr. Jay a qualified
reference to the ad-vice of their allies upon points not in
cluded in his instructions, the position of the United
States was found not at all to comport with the views of
France. Gerard was succeeded as minister to the United
States by Count Luzerne, who, on the 25th of January,
1780, requested a confereiice with Congress. ^The com-
mittee appointed by Congress to receive- his communi
cations, reported that the French minister had been
instructed by his government to inform Congress of cer
tain points which were deemed of great importance by
Spain, which had theu taken part in the conflict, and
upon which it was necessary that Congress should ex
plicitly explain themselves. These points were identical
with those which had already been communicated to Mr.
Jay at Madrid by the Spanish secretary of state, as ob
stacles to negotiation by his government with the United

The Spanish Conspiracy. 19
States. They 'amounted to a demand for an agreement that
the territory of the United States should extend no fur
ther west than the settieraents permitted _by,the proclama
tion oflT6B"; that the United States thus having no terri
tory upon the Mississippi, had no right to navigate that
stream • tha'f Spain intended to conquer both the Floridas,
and her possession of them must be acquiesced in ; that
the territory on the east of the Mississippi belonged to
Great Britain, and would probably be conquered by Spaiij,
and the French minister advised Congress to restrain their
people from conquests or settlements within the territory
upou which Spain had turned her covetous eyes. (LuzernS-
also communicated the information, which partook ofthe
nature of a threat, that France did not regard the independ
ence of the United States as free from danger until they
were united in amity with Spain; — of course, by acceding
to these iniquitous demands. It was this disingenuous in
terference by France in behalf of Spain which induced
Congress to instruct Mr. Jay to abandon the right to navi
gate the Mississippi, as has been stated. Having suc
ceeded thus far, on the 26th of May, 1781,* Luzerne in
formed Congress that Russia and Germany had offered
their mediation for a peace, and requested Congress to
appoint a committee to confer with him in reference to
the manner of conducting the negotiation, the extent of
the powers to be granted to the American plenipotentiary,
the use to be made of those powers, and as to the confidence
that ought to be reposed in the ministers of the French
king. Assuredly France was disposed to push her advan
tage to the greatest length, but this insolent demand was
acceded to. The count disapproved of the late nomina
tion of a minister to Russia by Congress ; complained that
Mr. Adams, who was then in Europe with a commission
for negotiating a treaty of peace, had assumed the right
under it of treating with England, and requested Congress
to instruct Mr. Adams " to receive his directions from the
Count de Vergennes (the French secretary of state) or from

¦* Secret Journal of Congress.

20 The Spanish Conspiracy.
the jKrson who might be charged with the negotiation in the
noMe ofthe king." Congress had been to such an extent
won over by Luzerne as to agree upon new instructions to
Mr. Adams, in which he was directed to insist upon no
other ultimata in the treaty of peace than that of inde
pendence ; and was instructed " to make the most candid
and confidential communications upon all subjects to the
ministers of our generous ally, the King of France, to
undertake nothing in the negotiations for peace or truce with
out their knowledge or concurrence." It was doubtless at the
suggestion of Luzerne that the committee recommended
that some person should be associated in the negotiation
with Adams, whose sturdy independence was well calcu
lated to inspire apprehensions in those who masked their
designs by insincere professions. The sacrifice of national
dignity did not satisfy Luzerne, and Congress then in
serted in the instructions the following words, viz : " and
ultimately to govern yourself by their (the ministers of the
French king) advice and opinion." Mr. Jay, Dr. Frank
lin, Mr. Jefferson and Laurens were then associated with
Adams as ministers plenipotentiary to negotiate a peace.
When Mr. Jay received at Madrid, in the fall of 1781, his
commission as the associate of Mr. Adams, accompanied
by these humiliating instructions to act as a mere puppet
to be played with by the minister of a despotic king, and
which, as well as the very appointment of Mr. Jay, were
virtually dictated by Luzerne, his mortification and cha
grin elicited from him a letter in which the degradation of
the position assigned him was strongly depicted. Unac
knowledged as the minister of his country, and unable to
negotiate with Spain except upon terms which insatiable
greed strove to extort from the necessities of the republic,
his continued stay in Madrid held out to him no hope of
usefulness ; and it must have been with lively satisfaction
that, in May, 1782, he received a letter from Dr. Franklin
summoning him to Paris, to assist in negotiations for
peace, which the latter expressed the opinion would soon
be opened; — a summons he obeyed with his accustomed
alacrity.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 21
Having become master of the situation by the instruc
tions Congress had been prevailed on to give their com
missioners, France soon gave ominous hints of the sacri
fices which the United States were expected to make.
Taking no measures to facilitate the efforts of Mr. Jay to
form a treaty with Spain, and expressing open disappro
bation of the efforts made by others to form alliances -with
other European powers, the design of the French court
was plainly to render the United States solely dependent
on her, and then to sacrifice our interests in order to keep
us in that dependent condition. The recognition of our
independence by Holland was obtained by Mr. Adams
against the advice and wishes of the French ambassador^
at the Hague. On the_23d of November, 1781, Count
Luzerne addresseA,a coiumunicationto Congress, vaguely
inTi"matingj3.is_a.ppr-eh,en.sians that he might not be able to
" obtain for every staM_all_thej/_wi,shed"jw]c^
matic way of announciiig_. the ..purpose of his court to
stiTp'tEFsoutlTajid west of the_navigation of,th.e.MiBsisai,ppi,
and New England of a participation in the fisheries. ©iT
the 28th of January, 1782, he communicated to Congress
a letter from Vergennes, indicating that the United States
were expected to accept terms which the French court
might regard as " reasonable," and the indisposition of
France " to continue hostilities mainly on account of
America " in case terms deemed reasonable by Frauce
might not prove acceptable to the United States. * On
the 24th of September, 1782, other letters from Vergennes
were laid before Congress, in one of which the wily diplo
mat gave that body to understand the importance of " con
fining themselves within such bounds of moderation, as to give
no umbrage to any one of the poivers at v)ar with Great
Britain ; " the liberal translation of which was, that by
surrendering to Spain the territory west of the Alle
ghanies, and the navigation of the Mississippi, Congress
should avoid giving umbrage to his Catholic majesty.

* Secret Journal of Congress.

22 The Snarii.^h Ceynspirocy.
The discovery of their mistake in giving such instructions
to their commissioners was not made by Congress until
they were thus compelled to sue to a perfidious foreign
prince for their rights. The flatteries of Vergennes had
in the meantime so won over Dr. Franklin, that he was
ready to make the concessions demanded. And this was
the situation when Mr. Jay, who had fathomed the de
signs of France and Spain, arrived in Paris, in June, 1782.
The negotiation for peace had not yet assumed any
definite form. Mr. Jay on leaving Spain had been in
formed that Count Aranda would renew the negotiation
with him in Paris, and to him the American commissioner,
therefore, addressed a letter expressing his readiness for
the necessary conferences.
In the first of these conferences, in the presence of Ver
gennes, Count Aranda commenced with the subject ofthe
western boundary of the United States, proposing to run
a line east of the Mississippi, which should be the western
boundary of the United States. AVhile promptly claiming
that river as the true boundary, Mr. Jay, with becoming
dignity, refrained from discussing the point with Aranda,
who had not given him a copy of his power to treat with
the American commissioners. The count gave him a map
with the proposed line drawn upon it, which was shown
to Vergennes, whose confidential secretary insisted that
Jay s assertion of the right of the United States was not
well founded. This secretary, acting at the instance of
his master, afterwards addressed to ilr. Jay a letter in
which he p)roposed as a conciliatory line, as the boundary of
the United States, which would have deprived them not
only of all the land north of the Ohio, but also of parts of
Kentucky and Tennessee, and of nearly the whole of Ala
bama and Mississippi, which the secretary insisted be
longed to Great Britain and the possession of which must
be determined by the treaty to be made. This letter,
which was a contrivance of Vergennes to fix a boundary
agreeable to Spain, without incurring the responsibility
and odium of direct interference, Mr. Jay never answered.
The object of Spain was to exclude the citizens of the

The Spanish Conspiracy. 23
United States from the Mississippi, and hence she desired
the boundary to be fixed by a line east of that river, and
this purpose was fully countenanced by France. Jay had
given to Aranda a copy of his commission ; he declined
to enter into any discussion with the Spaniard until the
latter had complied with the same ceremonial; if Jay re
fused to treat there could be no cession of the Mississippi
or of the proposed western boundary ; if Aranda tendered
Jay his commission as ambassador, this would itself have
been a recognition of the independence of the United
States, which would have rendered them less dependent
on France; Jay's conduct thus interfered with the plans
of Vergennes. So the convenient confidential secretary
wrote a note to Jay urging him to commence negotiations
with Aranda, because a refusal to do so would be offensive
to the Spaniard ; which note was also left unanswered.
Vergennes' next movement was, in the presence of Ar
anda, to say to Jay, that he had been already informed by
the count of his authority to treat, and surely Jay would
credit him. But Jay was as immovable as he was brave,
and refused to^:-pea-t-¦^vrth— atr^^ pro-wei^wh-idniid not firsl
aekhowliHge _the_ji]d^pejidence_ of his country ; and to
every representation by Vergennes that this acknowledg
ment by Spain might be embraced in" the treaty to be
made, he proudly responded that the independence was
the effect of their contest with the Crown, and that its
acknowledgment must precede negotiation with any
power; and thus, France and Spain continuing to act,iti^
concert for the double purpose of dividing our country
and bringing our independence under the condescending
protection of the French, all attempts at negotiation were
for the time suspended.
On the 25th of July, 1782, George III issued an order
for a commission to Richard Oswald empowering him to
treat v/ith . any "commissioner or commissioners named,
or to be named by the thirteen colonies or plantations in
North America," and by him a copy of this order was
communicated to the American commissioners at Paris,
and by them it was submitted to Vergennes ; who advised

24 The Spanish Conspiracy.
them to treat with Oswald, who was then in Paris, as soon
as the commission should arrive. Dr. Franklin thought
~tlie commission to Oswald would do ; but all the persua
sions and flatteries of the French court were unavailing
to induce the resolute Jay to descend from the ground of
independence to treat under the description of colonies.
And now, Mr. Jay determined, that rather than enter
upon any negotiation derogatory "to the dignity ofhis
"country or injurious to the interests of his country
men, he would assume the responsibility of violat
ing the express commands of Congress, (that the Ameri
can commissioners should act under the advice of Ver
gennes,) and of refusing to act with his colleague. He at
once conferred with Mr. Oswald, in order to render the
latter instrumental in effecting an alteration in the terms
of his commission ; and of such weight were his represen
tations to the representative of the British king, that it
was at Oswald's own request that !Mr. Jay prepared and
gave to him a draught of such a commission as would be
satisfactory, with which a carrier was at once dispatched
to London. In the meantime Mr. Jay again declined to
comply with the advice of Vergennes, who was ignorant
of the result of the conference with Oswald, and who again
urged the commencement of negotiations under the orig
inal commission. The answer to Oswald's dispatch, which
was not sent until the court at London had received
another from Mr. Fitzherbert, the British minister at
Paris, — written immediately after the latter had held a
private conference with Vergennes, — announced the pur
pose of King George to grant to America unconditional
independence as an article of treaty. Jay elicited from Os
wald that this answer was suggested by Fitzherbert and
that the British cabinet had been apprised of the opinion
of Vergennes. Itwasj)bvious_to_Jay that France_wished
to postpone the acknowledgmeut X)f Araerican independ
ence ; because, wheruthat was done, the war would be
abandoned by Great Britian ; the states, having no longer
any thing to apprehend frora their adversary, would cease
_ to look to France for protection and counsel, and would

The Spanish Conspiracy. 25
refuse to yield by treaty any of their rights, which France
might barter away with England for concessions to herself
and her ally — Spain. Thus relieved by the interference
of Vergennes of all sentiments of delicacy towards
France which otherwise he might have felt, Mr. Jay no
longer scrupled to explain to Mr. Oswald the views and
policy of the French court ; showed him that it was the
interest of his government to render the United States as
independent of France as they already were of Great
Britain ; and drafted a joint letter from Dr. Franklin and
himself declaring their unalterable determination not to
treat with any other footing than that of independence ; —
a letter which Dr. Franklin refused to sign, and which,
therefore, was left unsigned by Jay, but the draught of
which was given to Oswald, who sent it to his court. On
the 6th of September, Mr. Jay received from Vergennes'
secretary the letter already mentioned in regard to bound
aries; — from which he discerned that it was the intention
of France to oppose at the peace the extension of the
United States and their claim to the navigation of the
Mississippi ; probably to support the British-Spanish claims
to the country above the 31st degree of latitude, and cer
tainly to all the country north ofthe Ohio ; and, in case the
United States would not agree to divide with Spain in the
manner proposed, to aid Spain iu negotiating with Britain
for the territory she wanted, and would agree that Britain
should have the residue. On the 9th Jay learned, that on
the morning after writing this letter the secretary had a con
ference with Aranda and Vergennes, and had then imme
diately set out for London. His suspicions that the object
of this visit was to arrange terms with Britain which would
deprive the United States of their natural rights to take
fish in the North American seas, that it might be divided
with France to the exclusion of others ; to exclude them
from the navigation of the Mississippi, and to divide the
western country between Great Britain and Spain ; — these
suspicions were confirmed by a copy of a letter he received
addressed by Marbois, the French charge de affairs at
Philadelphia, to Vergennes. Concealing his action from

26 The Spanish Conspiracy.
Dr. Franklin, as well as from the French government,
Mr. Jay immediately sent Mr. Vaughan, an English gentle
man ¦^\''ho was well disposed to America and who resided in
Paris, as a secret agent to the British secretary of state,
instructed to report the determination which had already
been announced, that American independence must be
acknowledged preliminary to a treaty ; that the United
States would never make a peace which would take from
them their rights in the fisheries ; and that the attempt to
exclude them from the navigation of the Mississippi would
sow the seeds of certain future war. The mission of Mr.
Vaughan was attended with such complete success, that
on the 27th of September he returned to Paris, accom
panied by a courier who delivered to Oswald a commission
authorizing him to treat with the commissioners of the
United States of America; — and thus was our independence
acknoa-led.ged. The negotiation, which was then immedi
ately entered upon between ^Ir. Oswald and the two
American commissioners, resulted, in a few days, in an
agreement upon certain preliminary articles, to be incor
porated in the treaty so soon as England and France
should be ready to cease hostilities; — their alliance with
France restraining the United States from making a sepa
rate peace. These articles were drawn by Mr. Jay, and,
in most respects like those of the subsequent definitive
treaty, secured the Mississippi and the fisheries, while the
boundaries were even more extensive than those finally
obtained. The British ministry hesitated to agree because
of the extent of the boundaries, which included nearly
the whole of Upper Canada, and because, also, the articles
contained no provision for the Tories. In a contemporary
conversation with the secretary of Vergennes, he contested
our right to those back lands upon w^hich Spain had set
her eyes, and reiterated his views in regard to the fisheries.
On the 26th of October, John Adams arrived in Paris,
and in him Jay " found a very able and agreeable coadju
tor," who " concurred with him on all the points " whieh
had been raised. Franklin was ultimately brou,ght around
to their views, and assented to "go on with them without

The Sprtnish Conspiracy. 27
consulting this (the French) court," as instructed by Con
gress. On the 30th of November, the provisional articles,
which amounted only to a contract between Great Britain
and the United States, as to the terms of the treaty when
that treaty should be made, were signed by the American
commissioners and Mr. Oswald; and not until the event
was it announced to Vergennes. On the 3d of Septem
ber of the following year, 1783, xVIr. Jay signed the defini
tive treaty of peace, which gave to Spain the "West and
East Floridas ; and by which Great Britain formally ac
knowledged the independence of the United States, and
recognized as their southern boundary a line drawn due
east from a point in the Mississippi, in the latitude of 31
degrees north, which was to be the dividing line between
us and Spain. * It was thus that the selfish projects of
France and Spain were discovered and frustrated by the
sagacity, patriotism, firmness and courage of John Jay
and John Adams ; aud it was to these two, staunchest of
the lovers of republican liberty, that it -\vas due that our
independence was not taken under the protection of the
French monarchy, and that Kentucky did not become a
French or a Spanish province.
The health of Mr. Jay prevented an acceptance of the
invitation of the Spanish court, that he would renew his
negotiations with that power at Madrid. In the summer
of 1784 he returned to the United States, and in Decem
ber of that year accepted the position of secretary of for
eign affairs. Spain had steadily refused to recognize him
as the American minister to her court; but, in tbe spring
of 1785, Don Diego Gardoqui arrived in Philadelphia
bearing a commission from his Catholic majesty to Con
gress. Though this was not of a high grade, he was cour
teously presented by Mr. Jay, and was as courteously
received by Congress. Spain had raade no, treaty with
the United States, and Jay's anticipation that the naviga
tion ofthe Mississippi would continue to form an insuper-

* These particulars have been gathered from the Life of John Jay, by
William Jay.

28 The Spanish Conspiracy.
able obstacle to a treaty were fully realized. Besides this
question, the conflicting claims of the United States and
Spain were not easy to be reconciled. The treaty with
Great Britain made the navigation ofthe Mississippi from
its source to its mouth free alike to American and Span
iard, and fixed our southern boundary at a line to be
drawn east from the Mississippi along the thirty-first de
gree of latitude. But the treaty also warranted "West
Florida to Spain, and the northern boundary of that prov
ince bad been extended to a line drawn due east from the
mouth of the Yazoo river, in latitude 32° 28'; and all the
intervening territory the Syianiards had in actual military
possession, and claimed to hold it also under the warranty
of Great Britain ; and, as the owner of both banks of the
Missi.-^sippi, insisted upon her exclusive right to its na-vi-
gation within her own territory. The United States, on
the other hand, claimed the right not only to navigate the
river as far as their own territory on its east bank ex
tended, as fixed at the thirtv-first degree, but to its mouth
as well ; — on the ground that by the treaty with France
of 1763, under which Spain claimed her right to the river
and its navigation. Great Britain had from the same power
derived a concurrent right of navigation from its source
to the Gulf, and that the United States had succeeded to
all the rights which had belonged to Great Britain under
that treaty. * — ¦
As (Tardoqui declared that his king would never permit
any nation to use the river, the United States was reduced
to the .alternative of permitting their clairas to lie dormant
for the present, or of supporting them by arms, which they
were in no condition to do. Congress had instructed Mr.
Jay, as secretary of foreign affairs, "that he enter into no
treaty, compact, or convention whatever, with the said
representative of Spain, which does not stipulate the right
of the United States to the navigation of the Mississippi
and the boundaries as established by the treaty with Great
Britain."' All negotiation was, therefore, suspended by
these confiicting claims, and more than a year had passed
without the slightest progress being made. On the 3d of

_ The Spanish Conspiracy. 29
September, 1786, in answer to .the summons of Congress,
Mr. Jay went before that body and announced his unal
terable adherence to the justice and importance of the
claims of the United States, of which, as has been already
seen, he had been the foremost and most influential advo
cate. He had, however, no anticipation of the rapidity
of the future growth of the "West. He proceeded to state
that a " proper commercial treaty with Spain would be of
more importance to the United States than any they have
formed, or can form, with any other nation." He drew
attention to the family compact between France and
Spain, which, "in case of a rupture between us and
Spain," would almost certainly add France to our foes.
The obstacles to the desired treaty were the questions of
boundary and the navigation of the Mississippi, and he
had found Gardoqui immovable on the latter topic. Un
less it could be in some manner settled, no treaty could be
concluded. Spain already excluded us from the naviga
tion, and held it with a strong hand against us, and it
could only be acquired by war. "We were not prepared
for a war with Spain or any other power, and a large por
tion of the confederation would undoubtedly refuse to go
to war with Spain for the object in question. Though the
navigation would ultimately be of immense importance,
he did not think it would be for twenty-five or thirty
years, and it would be that long before we would be in a
^condition to enforce our rights. He, therefore, deemed it
expedient to enter into a treaty with Spain limited to that
time, and during which we "would forbear_j£_Mse the
navigation of that river below our own territories to the
ocean;"— not cede or barter away our rights. He did not
know that this would be acceptable to Spain, but- he
thought the experiment worth trying. But if this could
not be effected, the " Mississippi would continue shut-
France would tell us our claim to it was ill-founded. The
Spanish posts on its banks, and even those out of Florida
in our country would be strengthened, and that nation
would then bid us defiance, with impunity, at least until
the American nation shall become more really and truly a

30 The Spanish Conspiracy.
nation than it at present is. For, unblessed with an effi
cient government, destitute of funds, and without public
credit, either at home or abroad, we should be obliged to
wait in patience for better days, or plunge into an unpop
ular or dangerous war with very little prospect of termi
nating it by a peace either advantageous or glorious.
Supposing the Spanisl: business out of the question, yet
the situation of the United States appears to me to be
seriously delicate, and to call for great circumspection
both at home and aViroad : nor, in my opinion, will this
cease to be the case until a vitjorous national acovernment
be formed, and public credit and confidence be estab
lished." *
The delegates in Congress from the seven Northern
(States, voting by states and constituting a majority of one,
'decided to rescind Mr. Jays instructions and to leave
him free, if found necessary iu order to conclude a
treaty, to agree to forbear the Use of tbe Mississippi be
low our own boundary, for twenty years ; the six South
ern States, voted against rescinding; and the General As
sembly of Virginia, by resolutions passed by the House in
November and by the Senate on the 7th of December,
1786. instructed her delegates nerer to accede to such a
proposition, in which she was heartily supported by the
other non-concurring states. It required the vote of nine
states to give validity to any treaty which might be agreed
upon by the representatives of the two governments, and
the action of the six Southern States, in case they con
tinued to adhere to their position, made it certain that a
treaty containing such a pro-vision would be rejected by
Congress. But Mr. Jay, regarding tbe action ofthe seven
states as abrogating the restriction upon him, in the spring
of 1787 renewed with Gardoqui the negotiation (which
had slumbered from the previous fall until then,) by pro
posing the stipulation which he had suo-o-e.sted to Con
gress, but modified in regard to time to twenty years, i^.nd
which implied the acknowledgment by Spain of our right
* Secret Journals of Congress, IV, 4.5.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 31
to a navigation which we were to have forborne for a
definite period. But the Spanish minister refusing as
sent to an article which thus conceded by necessary impli
cation our right to navigate that stream, rejected with equal
hauteur a subsequent proposition of Mr. Jay which left
the whole question of right in abeyance, and would con
sent to no treaty which did not in express terms formally
abandon all claim of right by the United States to nav
igate that river below their own territory. The non-con
curring delegates to Congress vigorously assailed the as
sumption that seven states could authorize the minister to
propose an article to a treaty which had been formally
condemned by six states, when it required the assent
of nine states to give validity to the treaty itself; and
-when Mr. Madison left Congress on the 26th of April,
1787, to attend the convention to frame a new govern
ment, the project was considered to be at an end.*
"Washington, who had for years zealously advocated
the construction of a canal between the headwaters of the
James and the Kanawha rivers, as a means of connecting the
west with the east, had, in June, 1786, written to Col. Henry
Lee, then a delegate in Congress, his opinion that it would
be better " neither to relinquish nor to push our claim to
this navigation," but in the meantime " to open all the com
munications which nature has afforded between the At
lantic States and the western territory ; " that " whenever
the new states become so populous and so extended to the
westward, as to really need it, there will be no power
which can deprive themjxjf: the use of JJie Mississippi,"
aird tliat in the meantime it would be best not to urge the
subject; and closed with this remark, which exhibits at
once his sagacity and his apprehensions : " It may re
quire some management to quiet the restless and impetuous
spirits of Kentucky, of whose conduct I am more appre
hensive in this business than I am of all the opposition
that will be given by the Spaniards." The reply of Lee,
who subsequently conformed to the instructions given by

¦*Madi8on Papers, Vol. II, pfige 614.

32 The Spanish Conspiracy.
the General Assembly ofhis state, shows that his individual
opinions were in advance of those of "Washington and
agreed with Jay, that exclusion from the Mississippi was
at the time unimportant to the west, while the commer
cial advantages offered by Spain were of great value to
the east, and that he was inclined to the course suggested by
Mr. Jay a few weeks later.* The response of Washington,
July 26th, 1786, states his previous ignorance of the diffi
culties in the way of a negotiation with Spain, and reasserts
his opinion that address would be necessary in tempor
izing with Kentucky, the population of which was rapidly
increasing. " There are many ambitious and turbulent
spirits," he said7" among its inhabitants, who, from the
present difficulties in their intercourse with the Atlantic
States, have turned their eyes to New Orleans, and may
become riotous and ungovernable, if the hope of traffic
with it is cut off" by treaty.f"
In another letter to Col. Lee, dated October 31st, 1786,
Gen. Washington wrote : " With respect to the naviga
tion of the Mississippi, you already know my sentiments.
They have been uniformly the same, and, as I have ob
served to you in a former letter, are controverted by only
one consideration of weight, and that is, the operation the
occlusion of it may have on the minds of the western set
tlers, who will not consider the subject in a relative point
of view, or on a comprehensive scale, and may be in
fluenced by the demagogues of the country to acts of ex
travagance and desperation, under the popular declamation
that their interests are sacrificed."

¦* See Sparks' Lite of Washington, Vol. IX, page 173.
tlbid., page 180.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 33

CHAPTER II.
The Settlement op the West — Kentucky — Indian Hostilities —
Geo. E. Clark.
Before the commencement of the French and Indian
War, companies had been formed and had obtained grants
of land with a view to the settlement of the country on
the Monongahela and Upper Ohio. The prospecting tour
of Dr. Thomas Walker, Captain Charles Campbell, the
gallant Colonel James Patton, and their sssociates into
Kentucky, as early as 1750, was not a mere idle voyage of
adventure, but was made with a definite purpose of future
colonization. * These various projects were interrupted
by the breaking out of hostilities, but the struggle for su
premacy between France and Britain had scarcely been
terminated by the treaty of 1763, when the thoughts of
the enterprising were once more seriously turned towards
the West. The preparations for the contemplated move
ment were for only a brief time delayed by the wide
spread conspiracy of Pontiac, which made the border
streams of Pennsylvania and Virginia run with the
blood of the frontier settlers. The confederation organ
ized by the sagacious and warlike chief speedily dissolved
upon his failure to capture the strongholds at Detroit,
Niagara and Fort Pitt; and the apprehensions and jealous
ies of the red men were in a measure and for a time
allayed by the proclamation of 1763, to which reference
has been made. The pacificatory effect of the assurances
given in this proclamation was increased by the expedition
of General Bradstreet upon the Erie, and of the gallant

* The journal of Dr. Thomas Walker mentions the loss of his toma
hawk during a tremendous rain-storm. It was found long afterwards
by one of the McAfee's on the banks of Dick's river ; this circumstance
proves that he had penetrated as far as that stream.
3

34 The Spanish Conspiracy.
Swiss. Colonel Henry Bouquet, who penetrated to the
Forks of the Muskingum, and on the 0th of November,
1764, concluded a peace with the Shawanese and Dela
ware?, securing from them two hundred and six of their
unfortunate captives, who were restored to their friends
and homes. Bradstreet had already, about the 21st of
August, concluded a treaty at Detroit with the head men
of more than twenty tribes. The successes of 'Bradstreet
and Bouquet paved the way for the yet more general
treatv of peace made with the various tribes by Sir
WiUiam Johnson, in April, 1765, at the German Flats;
where the Indians proposed as a boundary beyond which
the whites should not go the Ohio or Alleghany and
Susquehanna, to which Johnson had no- authority to
accede; and where the red men agreed to give the
traders whom they had despoiled in the uprising of 1763,
a large tract of land in compensation.
In spite of the royal proclamation of 1763, the aggres
sive pioneers pushed their settlements not only to the
Watauga, in the Cherokee country, but upon the Red
stone, the Monongahela, and the Cheat rivers, in regions
claimed by the Northern Indians, and for which they had
not yet received compensation ; — so that a general border
war was once more feared. In the meantime, the Ohio
Company, the soldiers claiming under Dinwiddle's pro
clamation, and individuals claiming under grants made by
Virginia, were all clamoring for a perfection of their
grants or a completion of their claims, while the Indians
were raging at the constant encroachments upon them.
The orders of General Gage, the Commander-in-Chief of
his Majesty's forces, and of Sir William Johnson, the
Indian Agent, for their removal were defied by the set
tlers, who remained upon and stoutly held their clearings.
Every circumstance demanded that the boundary line sug
gested by the Indians at the conference in 1765, at the
German Flats, should be fixed, and that their title to the
lands ceded by that boundary should be extinguished. In
the spring of 1768, Sir William Johnson received orders
relative to a new treaty -with the Indians for that purpose,

The Spanish Conspiracy. 85
and at once took measures to secure a full attendance of
their representatives. The Congress, which was attended
by deputies from all the Six Nations and the Shawanese
and Delawares, met at Fort Stauwix, in October, 1768, and
sat for nearly seven weeks. The boundary agreed upon
began on the Ohio at the mouth of what is now called the
Tennessee river ; thence it ran up the Ohio and Alleghany
to Kittaning, and thence across to the Susquehanna ; —
thus transferring to the British aiU of the country south of
the Alleghany and Ohio to which the Six Nations had any
claim. The tract between the Monongahela and the
Kanawha was conveyed to the traders who had been de
spoiled in 1763, who named it Indiana. The remainder,
from the Kanawha down, was deeded to King George, for
which the consideration in money and goods, aggre
gating more than £10,000, was paid down. It was agreed
that no claim should ever be based upon the previous
treaties at Lancaster and Logstown.
Upon this treaty, which was not extorted from the In
dians under a pressure of disaster to them, nor by hard
persuasion backed by force, but was made voluntarily and
at once, rested the title of the crown to Western Penn
sylvania, Western Virginia and Kentucky. The lands
ceded were not occupied by any of the Six Nations, nor
were they hunted over by the tribes of that confederacy,
whose habitations and hunting lands were far distant.
The cession was made by chiefs of tribes who were in no
way directly or practically interested in the lands ceded,
under the manipulations of Sir William Johnson, who had
in contemplation the founding of a new and independent
colony in the territory designated ; while the Ohio and
Western Indians, who were immediately and greatly inter
ested, had no voice in the treaty. It is true the treaty
itself states that the Delawares and Shawanese were pres
ent and acquiescing, but it is certain it was not signed by
their chiefs, and that neither those nor any of the other
tribes of the West recognized the validity of the grant
which gave away 'their beautiful hunting lands. It is
scarcely valuable to inquire into the right of the Six Na-

36 The Spanish Conspiracy.
tions over this territory by reason of their alleged con
quests of the Shawanese, Delawares, Miamis, and other
tribes, nearly a century before; the former exerted no
practical dominion over the latter, who did not by any
means assent to the " dependency " on their own part to the
Six Nations, which was asserted in the treaty by which
they steadily refused to be bound. After all, the title was
essentially and practically worthless, and the results to the
settlers who planted themselves upon the lands, and to
the tribes from whom they were wrested, would not have
been different had the treaty never been made. But the
Cherokees also claimed Kentucky, and the histories con
tain vague allusions to a purchase made of their rights in
a portion of the territory embraced in what is now called
by that name, by Colonel John Donaldson and by Dr.
Thomas AYalker at later dates. However, these treaties
served the purpose of quieting the conscience of the
white man, who could cite them as his authority for locat
ing amid the rich canebrakes and sightly groves of beau
tiful Kentucky, where the Indians did not live, but for
the possession of which as their hunting lands the warlike
tribes from the South and North had battled from remote
ages. Settlements were made on the Kanawha in 1772. The
hunters, traders, and explorers who had traversed Ken
tucky during the years following 1767, were but the pre
cursors of the surveyors, who, in 1773, advanced to the
Ohio and made numerous surveys along that river aud in
the contiguous territory. Among others. Captain Thomas
Bullitt had received a commission from Dr. John Conolly
to run the lines for a tract of 2,000 acres at the falls of the
Ohio, and in the fall of that year a patent was issued therefor
by Virginia to that mischievous intriguer. Before proceed
ing upon his mission, Bullitt took the precaution to obtain
the consent of the Indians at Chillicothe, to whom he was
introduced by Richard Butler, and who assented on con
dition that they should not be disturbed in their hunting
south of the Ohio ;— which sufficiently exhibits their con
temptuous disregard for, if not their entire ignorance of,

The Spanish Conspiracy. 37
the treaty of Fort Stauwix. But the circumstance of
most potent influence upon the future settlement of the
country on the Ohio was the liberal bounty in western
lands given to the officers and* soldiers of the Virginia
troops who had served in the British army in the war of
1763. All Kentucky was then included in the vague
boundaries of Fincastle county, Virginia, of which Will
iam Preston was at the time the surveyor. It was as the
deputies of Preston, therefore, that John Floyd, Plancock
Taylor, James Douglas, Hancock Lee, and others made
their surveys for many of these officers and soldiers in
1774, all along the south bank of the Ohio, up the Ken
tucky, and among the cane lands which skirted the Elk-
horn. While the relations between the white and the red men
during the ten years succeeding 1763 were nominally
peaceful, and were really so between the Indians and the
Pennsylvanians, who were traders ; in fact there were fre
quent individual collisions between the Indians and the
Virginians, who were settlers, and whose evident purpose
it was to permanently possess and occupy the lands south
of the Ohio. That the jealousy and animosity of the In
dians were thoroughly aroused by the advent of these
numerous parties of hunters, explorers and surveyors,
upon the hunting grounds of Kentucky, over which they
had roamed for unknown centuries, was but natural.
From 1769, when Stewart fell the first victim in Kentucky
in the war between the races, it continued to be waged
with equal and inextinguishable ferocity and cruelty on
both sides, until this fair portion of creation had been
finally wrested from the savage, and teemed with a manly,
brave, and generous people. Here the white and the red
man seldom or never met without instant aggression from
the one side or the other.
It is foreign to the purpose of these pages to more
than mention the dispute between Virginia and Pennsyl
vania concerning the boundary between those colonies, as
indirectly connected with the events which, in 1774, con
verted t^e aggressive belligerency of individuals into open

38 The Spanish Conspiracy.
and general hostility between the races. The chief fomen-
ter of the disturbances which grew out of that dispute
was Dr. John Conolly; by whom also was issued the cir
cular to all the settlers on'the Ohio below Fort Pitt, which
led to the murder by Michael Cresap and his party of the
friendly Indians whom William Butler had sent as mes
sengers to his agents and employes to return to Fort Pitt
-with the peltries on hand ; to the murder by Cresap of the
peaceable Indians at Captina ; and to the murder by Great-
house of the family of the Mingo Chief, Logan, at Yel
low creek, with every attending circumstance of mingled
treachery, cruelty and cowardice. These were the out
rages which immediately led to the gathering of his
dusky warriors by Logan, and their descent -with aveng
ing hate upon the settlers on the Monongahela, and to
the various kindred acts of retaliation and revenge, on
both sides, which speedily culminated in Dunmore's war
of 1774. The surveying operations in Kentucky were
suspended, the country was at once abandoned by the va
rious parties of hunters, explorers and surveyors, to whom
Boone and Stoner conveyed the warning messages of Dun-
more, and who returned to Virginia, many of them to
participate in the victory at Point Pleasant or to march
with Dunmore into the Indian country in Ohio. They did
not return to Kentucky until the ensuing year of 1775,
when the first permanent settlements were made by Boone,
Harrod, the McAfees, Logan and others. In the mean
time, in spite of the well understood proclamation of King
George prohibiting all purchases of lands from the Indians
by private persons, and notwithstanding the treaty of
Fort Stauwix (of which they probably were not ignorant),
Richard Henderson and his associates of North Carolina,
concluded in March, 1775, at the Sycamore Shoals, on the
Watauga river, a treaty with the Cherokees; by which
those Indians sold to the company all of whatever vague,
shadowy and disputed claims they had upon a large part
of the territory which the Six Nations had already sold to
the King, and to which lands the Ohio Indians insisted that
neither the Six Nations nor the Cherokees had any right or

The Spanish Conspiracy. 39
title. Before the arrival of the alleged new proprietors,
Boone and his hardy woodsmen, acting as pioneers for
this Transylvania Company, had erected the first cabins at
Boonesboro. The associates immediately proceeded to or
ganize what they designed as a proprietary government,
independent of Virginia, (by which colony the right of
dominion was claimed), and having its own separate exec
utive, legislative and judicial officers ; and not only did
they assume the authority to sell lands and convey titles,
but also to put in operation all the machinery and to ex
ert all the powers of government. Conflicts of titles and
of jurisdiction at once sprung up, Virginia interfered and
asserted her paramount authority, and, the proprietors ac
quiescing in the decision, the existence of the new repub
lic was transitory, leaving no ripple behind to show that it
had been even contemplated. Thus, in the very inception
of the settlement of Kentucky, when but a few hunters,
woodsmen, adventurers and surveyors inhabited its entire
expamse of hill and valley, of woodland, canebrake and
prairie, and when but a few monarchs of the primeval
forest with which to construct the scattering huts and
weak stockades had been felled, was witnessed the first
effort for independence. But in the movement there is not
discernible a trace of disloyalty to the cause of republican
liberty, to which Virginia and her sister colonies were soon
to become irrevocably, committed.
Most notable of the daring spirits who had sought the
west in 1774. was one of the gallant sons of a plain farmer
of Albemarle county, Virginia, whose narrow and strait
ened circumstances did not permit him to afford his boys
the educational advantages then within the reach of the
offspring of wealthier Virginian planters. He was not in
any sense well educated, even as that word was under
stood at the time in Virginia, where education was less
general than it was in New England, but the more fortu
nate class of whose youth was not inferior to the same
class in the more northern colonies in broad and liberal
culture. A scanty knowledge of orthography and syntax,
and a little acquaintance with backwoods surveying was

40 The Spanish Conspiracy.
about all the learning to be gleaned from the text books
which the young Virginian possessed. But strong native
powers, quick perception, and an intuitive knowledge of
men, more than compensated for his deficiency in the learn
ing of the schools. His mental faculties were as ready and
active as they were clear and vigorous. In enterprise he
was as alert and audacious as he was cool, decided and in
trepid in action. His open and handsome countenance in
vited the confidence of all; his eminently manly and martial
bearing at once secured respect. A life passed in the
open air, sometimes in labor, but more generally in sur
veying or in hunting, had strengthened a hardy constitu
tion, had accustomed him to feats of endurance and en
dued him with uncomplaining fortitude. Instinctively
men recognized in him a leader in all the vicissitudes of
life on the border and in a debatable land. But to many
of the highest and more valuable qualities was added the
curse of passions he did not curb, and of appetites he
could not control, which became his master, and which
early sapped his strength, clouded his mind, undermined his
character, and wrought his dow-nfall. While the story of
the achievements of George Rogers Clark as related by
the historians is the most brilliant of all that illumine the
annals of the west, that of his life, if truthfully written,
would be found one of the saddest and most pitiful.
In 1772, Clark had come as far west as the Kanawha.
Two years later he was on his way to Kentucky, aud had
reached a point some distance below Wheeling, in April,
1774, when he and the band of hunters with whom he
was journeying determined to inaugurate a war against
the Indians, under the leadership of Michael Cresap. It
is ascertained from Clark's letter w-ritten in defense of
Cresap, that the former was with the latter when the
Indian messengers of William Butler were killed, and
when the peaceful encampment at Captina was assailed ;
and it is mainly to his testimony that Cresap is indebted
for his vindication from the charge brought by Jefferson,
that he was the butcher of the family of Logan. Re
turning with Cresap to Redstone, Clark and most of the

The Spanish Conspiracy. 41
hunters with him enlisted under Dunmore in the war
which quickly followed, and the speedy recognition of
Clark's singular capacity for command and personal in
trepidity obtained for him a captain's commission. He
was with Dunmore in his march into Ohio. During that
fall and winter Clark, and many of the other soldiers under
Dunmore and Andrew Lewis, made arrangements to pro
ceed in their purpose to establish themselves in Kentucky,
which had been interrupted by the brief but bloody
struggle with the Indians; and the early spring of 1775
found him at Harrodsburg, where he at once assumed the
leadership of as hardy and as brave a band of adventurers
as any the world ever saw. In the fall he returned to Vir
ginia, but the next spring made his way a second time to
Kentucky, with whose settlement, defense and progress
his name during the next ten years is inseparably and most
honorably associated. He found the public mind as well
as public affairs in the new settlements all in confusion.
The claims of proprietorship asserted by the Transylvania
Company were repudiated by many of the settlers, who
preferred a formal request to Virginia to assert her para
mount authority. North Carolina also denounced and re
jected the private treaty made between Henderson and the
Cherokees, and it was a disputed question whether the
alleged purchase was within the jurisdiction of Virginia
or in that of North Carolina. This knot the prompt mind
of Clark decided to cut without waiting for it to be untied.
At his suggestion a public meeting was held at Harrods
burg in June, 1776, which elected himself and John Gab
riel Jones as members ofthe Virginia Assembly, provision
for which was made by the convention of 1776. It is said,
in the sketch published in Collins and written by a friendly
and most partial hand,* that this action was a disappoint
ment to Clark, who wished to be appointed as an agent to
negotiate terms with Virginia and not as a mere represent
ative of a handful of the people of the new common
wealth. It may well be doubted if he had as yet fully

* Probably the late Judge Pirtle, who married a relative of Clark.

42 The Spanish Conspiracy.
formulated any plan, except that if Virginia failed at once
to assert her jurisdiction, he intended to use the lands of
Kentucky as a fund to invite settlers and with them to es
tablish an independent state [Collins]. Yet, accepting the
inferior commission confided to their hands, he and his
associate set out at once for Virginia. They found the
convention adjourned, and the assembly not yet met.
Their appUcation to the council for ammunition with
which to defend the west being met with a proposition
to lend instead of give the needed supplies, it is stated by
his eulogist in CoUins, that Clark rejoined "that a country
which is not worth defending is not worth claiming;"
plainly intimating his intention to carry out his original de
sign, to disregard the jurisdiction which the squeamish coun
cU hesitated to maintain for Virginia, and at once to assert
and to endeavor to establish for the settlers who were hud
dled together at Boonesboro, St. Asaphs and Harrod's an ab
solute independence and sovereignty. The thread which
bound spirits liJte his in the west to their countrymen in the
east was indeed slender. Whether he could have carried
with him the earnest men who had sent him as their repre
sentative, and not as their ambassador, to Virginia ; and
what might have been the effect of the action which he
contemplated in a contingency which did not arise, are
themes for conjecture. The powder which Clark de
manded was furnished by the council, was conveyed by
Clark and Jones and seven others from Pittsburg to Cabin
creek, and thence was taken to the stockades of the in
terior. The first assembly of the new State of Virginia
met in October, 1776. The record of the proceedings of
its house of delegates on the second day of the session
shows, that on that day was presented the petition of the
" inhabitants on the western parts of Fincastle county,"
stating their grievances against the Transylvania Company,
recognizing the jurisdiction and authority of Virginia, an
nouncing their action in the election of two persons as
members of the assembly, and requesting their admission
as such, and avowing their readiness " to assist in the
present laudable cause, by contributing their quota of men

The Spa7iish Conspiracy. 43
and money." Two days later the committee reported to
the house that the said persons could not be admitted as
members because the " western part of Fincastle " was
not aUowed by law a distinct representation, but that "the
said inhabitants ought to be formed into a distinct county,
in order to entitle them to such representation ; " and,
after disagreements between the house and senate had
been reconcUed, a bUl was finally passed aboUshing Fin
castle and dividing its territory into three distinct coun
ties, one of which was Kentucky. The qualification for
electors and representatives in the said county were " the
possession of twenty-five acres of land with a house or
plantation thereon, or one hundred acres without a house
aud plantation, and having right to an estate for life at
least in the said land in his own right, or in right of his
wife." Having returned to Harrodsburg late in December,
1776, during the next two years Clark was constantly
alert, active and energetic. Now in the interior of Ken
tucky defending the settlers and their stations ; again
along the Ohio, watching the Indians and guarding against
invasion ; then passing to and from Virginia, planning
offensive measures and perfecting the organization neces
sary to their execution ; — his vigilance was as ceaseless as
his resolution was dauntless. The winter of 1778-9 wit
nessed his daring capture of Vincennes and Kaskaskia,
which transferred our boundary to the northern lakes and
added to the republic five states, rich in all the resources of
boundless material development, and teeming with a popu
lation of restless energies. Had the achievement been less
far-reaching and splendid in its ultimate results, it would
still excite the admiration of all, by the endurance, hardi
hood, and courage of the men engaged, and by the audacity
and skill of the hero by whom it was planned and executed.
Henceforth the services of Clark were of a national char
acter. The fort established by him at the Falls was of no
avail to protect the settlers of the interior from forays by
small bands of savages which crossed the Ohio at many
points above and below. Still less could it prevent those

44 The Spani.ih Conspiracy.
laro-er expeditions of warriors and trained savages under
the* leadership of white men, which were organized and
equipped at Detroit, and which in secret wound their ways
up the valleys ofthe Kentucky and the Licking until they
reached points from which to vent their hate upon de
tached settlers, or to strike at the stations destined for
assault or siege. Their defense devolved upon other gal
lant men, who in turn carried havoc, reprisal, and ven
geance to the Indian towns of Ohio and Indiana. But it
is foreign to our purpose to name them or to dwell upon
their feats of daring, upon the instances of generous self-
sacrifice which proved them noble, upon the sufferings
and horrors to whieh they were subjected, or upon the dan
gers they braved with uuquaiUng hearts and unfiinching
nerve. The last invasion of Kentucky by any large body
of Indians ended at the disastrous battle of the Blue
Licks. The preliminary treaty of peace with Great Brit
ain was made known in Kentucky in the spring of 1783,
and in July of that year, George R. Clark was formally
notified by the governor of Virginia, in terms of praise
and gratitude, that the state was no longer able to employ
him as a general officer in her service.*
¦* On the 10l5d page of his " Pohtical Beginnings," referring to the pas-
sa.L'e of the Ordinance of 17S7, Colonel John Mason Brown says : " That
wide domain, from the Scioto to the Father of \'\'aters, over which the
unaided ralor of Virginia's sons in Kentucky had established dominion,
was readily absorbed into the new nation that was forming." The
writer has been unable to find in the "Beginnings" any reference to
the fact, that a large part of the men who marched with Clark against
Kaskaskia and ^'incennes were recruited in A'irginia for that purpose.
This omission, coupled with the statement just quoted, would convey the
impression that the Illinois was captured by Clark and such soldiers as
he was able to obtain in Kentucky alone, unaided from Virginia or any
other source. This would seem to render proper the correction : That
not only were a large part of the arms and all the ammunition obtained
from Pittsburg, and paid for by Virginia ; not only were the men paid,
the supplies bought, and all the expenses borne, by Virginia; — ^but, in
addition, a considerable portion of the men engaged were recruited in
Virginia, and were transported by her from Pittsburg to the rendezvous
at the falls, whUe others under Colonel Bo-wman inarched by way of
the Cumberland Gap and joined Clark. The impression has prevailed
among many that nearly all the warfare in Kentucky and the West was

The Spanish Conspiracy. 45
the result of merely individual effort. But, so far from that being the
case, the men engaged in all this fighting acted as a part of the regular
militia system of Virginia, and while in active service were regularly
paid by that state. Formal reports of the ammunition and commissary
supplies furnished to Boonesboro, Harrod's, and St. Asaphs were made
by quartermasters to the Virginia executives, and the bills were settled
by them. Some of those made by Joseph Lindsey (who fell at Blue
Licks) the writer has examined. In every respect they would do credit
to any quartermaster-general in the regular army.

46 The Spanish Conspiracy.

CHAPTER III.
The Indian Question at the Close op the Revolution— Efforts op
Congress to Preserve Peace— They are Rendered Ineffective
BY THE Jealousy of the States.
That during the Revolution the Indian aggressions upon
the Kentuckians were inspired and aided, and even
planned and led by the British, is not open to dispute. It
was fondly hoped that, upon the conclusion of the defini
tive treaty of peace in 1783, the ratification of which by
the parties was exchanged in May, 1784, the British mili
tary posts in the north-west would be at once surrendered,
and that tbe Americans would then be able to control the
Indians. But one of the articles of the treaty prohibited
the British from carrying away slaves belonging to the
citizens of any of the States, and this was disregarded ;
the British contending that the agreement did not apply
to negroes who had been previously freed by acts of
war, and denying that they had taken away any others.
While there may have been force in their argument, it is
unquestionable that some of the negroes carried off by
them were not in their hands, and had not become free
by the acts of war, at the time the treaty was signed. It
was also agreed in the treaty, that Congress would recom
mend to the States the repeal of all laws which interposed
obstacles to the recovery of debts due to British citizens;
and this Congress did, but, having no power to enforce
this ad-vice, it was rejected by several ofthe States, and no
tably by Virginia. It is probable that Great Britain had
never entirely abandoned the hope of regaining the coun
try west of the Alleghanies, or, at least, of separating it
from the Atlantic States, and of extending over it her
protection. At any rate, the failure by Virginia and other
States to repeal their laws obstructing the collection of
debts due to British citizens, was made the pretext for re-

The Spanish Conspiracy. 47
fusing to surrender the military posts on the northern
frontier, which were with,in the acknowledged limits of the
United States as defined in the treaty of 1783. For a time
after the declaration of peace the Indians continued pa
cific in their actions, if not in their intentions. But hav
ing never acknowledged the sovereignty of Great Britain,
nor having ever been conquered by the United States, they
found it impossible to comprehend how a treaty between
those powers, with which they had had nothing to do, could
extend over them the dominion of one ofthe parties thereto.
They were divided into many tribes having between them
no bond, while the several tribal organizations themselves,
sometimes strong in the numbers and prowess of their
warriors, were always weak in the absence of power to
control the vicious of their own members. Thus it often
happened that, while the great mass of the Indians might
desire peace, a single tribe would be resolved on war ; or,
that a few bad men in a tribe would engage in rapine, for
which the larger portion of the tribe were not wiUingly
responsible. Nor was the wrong all on one side. In a
country situated as Kentucky then was, it was inevitable
that it should become a place of refuge for a full quota of
the lawless from other sections, who found a vent upon the
red men for their murderous and predatory passions. The
savage blows in Kentucky invariably descended upon the
innocent ; and, if reprisal was sought by the whites across
the river, the chances were a hundred to one that the
guilty escaped while the unoffending perished. Thus, un
der conditions of a nominal peace, occurrences having all
the features of the most horrible and relentless war were
only too frequent ; and though these were individual rather
than general, they were not the less potent to keep the
passions of the populations on both sides of the river in a
condition of constant irritation. It is true that the acts
which occasioned so much recrimination and retaliation
were often and designedly exaggerated ; yet enough was
real and undoubted to constitute a serious grievance which
¦ loudly called for action and redress. That the Indians on
their part were incited and encouraged by the retention of

48 The Spanish Conspiracy.
the posts by the British is certain ; and the charge was as
sincerely believed as it was generally made at the time, that,
after the declaration of peace, the murders and depreda
tions by the savages in Kentucky were directly aided and
countenanced by his majesty's officers at Detroit and else
where. Upon the cessation of hostilities with Great Britain,
Congress found itself immediately confronted by this In
dian question: Should a war of extermination be waged
against these powerful tribes, which would be swiftly
bound together by common danger; or should a pacific
policy be pursued and an honest effort be made to concili
ate them by a course of justice and forbearance? The
latter alternative was wisely chosen. But what was the
Congre,-;s which made this election ? At the conception
ofthe Revolution, Congress began to conduct the Govern
ment, without any real authority, but its legislation was
generally accepted by the States under the pressure of
stern necessity ; yet the central authority existed only by
sufferance and might at any time be set at naught by the
caprice or selfishness of the States. The public exigency
demanded something more stable ; the plan for a perpet
ual union under the Articles of Confederation was re
ported, adopted and subraitted to the States for ratifica
tion, but that ratification was not finaUy completed by the
action of Maryland until nearly the close of the Revolu
tion. When this was done the government thereby
formed amounted to little more than a mere agency for in
dependent States, wanting in aU the essentials of actual au
thority and real power. The executive as well as the leg
islative functions were vested in Congress ; for a g-eneral
judiciary no provision was made. No treaty could be
valid unless ratified by nine of the States ; no act of legis
lation was complete without the consentof an equal num
ber. Even then the central authority was lacking in the
auxihary machinery necessary to the strict enforcement of
the treaties so made or of the laws so enacted. Saddled
with the duty of providing for the payment of the war
debt. Congress was not clothed with authority to levy or

The Spanish Conspiracy. 49
enforce the collection of taxes necessary to that end, but
could only recommend to the States the levying of those
taxes, which some of them did promptly, while others
were dilatory, and some absolutely refused. It had the ex
clusive power of making peace or declaring war; but
could neither raise nor equip an army, nor provide for its
support when put in the field. That had to be done by
and through the actions of the States, whieh might raise
the men and provide the money at once to meet the exi
gency ; or dally with the importunity ; or altogether de
cline, as was dictated by a sense of duty, or by mean cen-
soriousness and jealousy, or by the caprice of demagogues
forthe time iu the ascendant. The desire of independ
ence and the authority of Washington surmounted all
these difficulties in the Revolution ; but when the imme
diate necessity impelling to exertion and sacrifice was
withdrawn, the Government was on every side balked and
thwarted from the beginning, and the condition of public
affairs soon became one bordering on chaos. In the midst
of all the difficulties by which it was beset, the Govern
ment was denounced as imbecile and disgraced, by the
very men who were the most open and active in setting at
defiance its just and necessary authority, and who were
the most potent factors, by their villification, contumacy
and plots, in rendering it " despised abroad " and causing
it to be " disobeyed at home ;" and yet who, as naturally as
inconsistently, preferred it, and preferred it for that very
reason, to the new union, the Constitution of which they
did all in their power to defeat, which they sought by con
struction to render even more despicable than the Confed
eration had ever been, and the friends of which they never
ceased to revile. And it was inevitable that, in later years,
the weak and sycophantic apologists for men who con
stantly misrepresented the actions and motives of the Gov
ernment should find, in this denial to it of necessary pow
ers, a justification for the corrupt intrigues and treasonable
conspiracies by which they sought to divide the Union on
the very eve of its birth. [See Butler, page 172.] It was
4

50 The Spanish Conspiracy.
most fortunate for the hopes which depended upon suc
cess in surmounting all these difficulties, that there were
others who had from the beginning viewed with alarm
these defects, and had urged with sagacious patriotism
the formation of a government clothed with power to en
force its own laws and to defend its own life ; who, while
striving to apply the needed remedy, loyally upheld the
weak hands of tbe only government they had which rep
resented even the shadow of American nationality ; who
remembered with gratitude that, even such as it was, it
was under this government their strong arms had -wrested
their independence from the British king, and that, until
a better could be devised and adopted, upon its support
the maintenance of that independence solely rested; who,
therefore, while always striving for something stronger
than this " mere rope of sand," bore with patience the
shortcomings that were inevitable under the existing con
ditions ; who felt themselves linked with hooks stronger
than those of steel to their sister States, by all their mutual
sufferings and common sacrifices of blood and treasure in
the war which the equal gallantry of all had brought to a
glorious issue ; and in whose hearts the sacred flame of
patriotism was ever kept brightly burning.
Complaints made to Congress on behalf of whites in
Kentucky of robberies and murders perpetrated by the
Indians, were met by counter complaints from the agents
appointed by Congress of outrages by whites upon peace
able Indians in Tennessee, Ohio, and Indiana. While the
whites insisted that the Indians were wholly to blame, the
Indians could with justice retort that the murders of whites
were by lawless red men for whom they were not responsi
ble ; that these murders were perpetrated in retaliation, and
that the blows which fell upon themselves were inflicted
on the wholly innocent. While the whites had the greater
degree of justice on their side, and had suffered the more
seriously, the representations of the Indian agents were
entitled to weight and had a basis of truth. To distin
guish the guilty Indians was impossible, nor could it be
always determined to what tribes they belonged. Con-

The Spanish Conspiracy. 51
gress had but just inaugurated what was designed as-a-pacific
policy ; an invasion of the Indian territory by any large
body of troops and striking indiscriminately at the Indians
would have been inconsistent with all these professions
and have kindled a general war. In the meantime, the
settlers in Kentucky were naturally restive under their
many grievances. Congress was not indifferent to their
sufferings, but the jealousy of the States refused to Con
gress the means of efficient action. If Congress moved
more slowly than was demanded by conditions apparent to
Kentuckians, the embarrassment and perplexity of the
situation as it appeared to Congress, as well as the defi
ciency of means at the disposal of Congress, should be
remembered. The idea which was then promulgated by
demagogues, that the failure to act as expeditiously and
as vigorously as the occasion appeared to them to demand,
proceeded from hostility to the western people on the part
of their countrymen in the east, from a callous indifference
to their sufferings and grievances, or from an unnatural
sympathy with the Indians and prejudice against the
whites in the conflict, will not now be received with favor
by the unbiased historian nor be countenanced by the
candid thinker.
Pursuing the policy of pacification which had been de
termined upon, in March, 1784, George Rogers Clark,
Richard Butler, Nathaniel Greene, Oliver Walcott and
Stephen Higginson were appointed by Congress to nego
tiate with the red men. Higginson and Greene declining
to act, Arthur Lee and Benjamin Lincoln were appointed
in their places. The necessity for protecting the commis
sioners by an armed force pending the negotiations upon
which they were directed to enter, occasioned the intro
duction of several propositions to provide the requisite
troops ; but, after prolonged debate in Congress, the best
that could be done was to secure a recommendation to the
States to furnish seven hundred men from their militia,
three hundred of whom were to be used in the immediate
protection of the commissioners. In the following Octo
ber, a treaty of peace and friendship was concluded with

52 The Spanish Conspiracy.
the Six Nations at Fort Stanwix by Butler, Walcott and
Lee ; and in January, 1785, a simUar treaty with Wyan-
dottes, Chippewas, Delawares and Ottawas was concluded
at Fort Mcintosh by Butler, Clark and Lee. In March of
the same year additional commissioners were appointed to
treat with the Southern Indians, and in November a treaty
was negotiated by Benjamin Hawkins, Andrew Pickens,
Joseph Martin and Lauchlan Mcintosh, with the Cher
okees, at Hopewell ; which was followed in January, 1786,
by treaties with the Choctaws and Chickasaws, negotiated
by the same commissioners. The circle was completed by
a treaty concluded in January, 1786, at the mouth of the
Miami, with the Shawanese and some of the Delawares
and Wyandottes, by Butler, Clark and Parsons, the last
named having taken the place of Lincoln.* However
well intentioned these philanthropic measures were, they
did not cause a cessation of individual warfare between
the Kentuckians and Indians. A large number of the
Shawanese, who had been coerced by the treaty at the
mouth of the Miami to acknowledge the absolute sover
eignty of the United States over the whole country ceded
by Great Britain ; to yield up the ownership of large tracts
of their most valuable lands on the east side of the Miami
to the United States for settlement by the whites ; and to
receive as a grant from the United States the lands on the
west of the Miami, of which they had had the undisputed
possession for ages, were incensed at those provisions, and
wreaked their vengeance upon the Kentuckians. The
Indians on the Wabash further to the west, who had never
entered into any of these treaties, had their apprehensions
and jealousies excited to fever heat by the various meas
ures indicating a purpose by the whites to settle upon
-* It appears from General Butler's private journal, published in the
" Olden Time," in 1846, that he, and not Clark, was the actor in the
scene with Kew-Kewepellethe, which has been attributed to Clark by
Judge Hall. The account given by Butler was written on the very day
of its occurrence. The journal in question was given to the publisher
of the " Olden Time," by General Butler's son, the gallant Captain
James Butler of the "Pittsburg Blues," in the war of 1812. There
can be no doubt of its authenticity.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 53
their territory, and continued their hostile aggressions.
In the meantime bands of white men traversing . the
country on both sides of the river rarely met an Indian
without kiUing him ; and their acts were retaliated upon
the people of the district. These harassments and out
rages became so frequent and grievous, that the county
Heutenants made an earnest and spirited representation to
Patrick Henry, then the Governor, soliciting protection ;
and, as Virginia herself possessed no technical right, with
out the authority of Congress, to authorize a hostile expe
dition into the territory north of the Ohio, which she had
previously ceded to the central government, these com
plaints and demands for redress were in time laid before
Congress. The treaties recently made, the complaints re
ceived of aggressions by the whites upon the Indians,
combined with the inherent weakness and lack of means
of the central authority "o prevent immediate action by
Congress. During the summer of 1786, Governor Henry
informed the people of Kentucky that he had represented
their situation to Congress, and had urged the adoption of
measures for their protection ; but in a private letter to
Benjamin Logan he stated the inaction of Congress. At
the same time he gave general directions to the county lieu
tenants, instructing them " to adopt the necessary means
of defense ; " — which, as no one had ever doubted their
perfect right under the laws to resist attack and repel in
vasion, was construed to authorize offensive operations as
the most effectual means of defense. A meeting of militia
officers was held at Harrodsburg. Benjamin Logan, who
was the senior county lieutenant, and as such was entitled
to command, gave his opinion that George Rogers Clark,
who was not then in commission, should be called on to
lead them, and, under this advice, Clark was placed at the
head of a force of a thousand men, who speedily assembled
and marched for the rendezvous at Clarksville, opposite
the Falls. In the, meantime, as doubts were entertained
of the power of county lieutenants to impress men, pro-
-visions and supplies, that question was submitted to the
judges of the district court, who gave a written opinion

54 The Spanish Conspiracy.
that all the power possessed by the assembly was dele
gated to and vested in the county lieutenants. Prior to the
levying and mobilization of this force, the slowly moving
Congress had responded to the appeals of Governor Henry
by sending to the Falls two companies of regulars, out of
the few placed under their control by the jealous states,
and upon the 30th of June had authorized the raising of
the militia of Kentucky, and the invasion of the country
of the mischief makers, under the command of the leading
United States officer [Western Annals]. While, there
fore, the expedition, which was originally designed as
against the Wabash Indians, was not organized nor un
dertaken under these orders of Congress, yet these
orders may be fairly construed as fully sanctioning the
aggressive movements which had been directed by the
Virginia executive. It is now necessary, before pro
ceeding further, that the reader shall turn back a few
years in this review of the record.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 55

CHAPTER IV.
The Initial Struggles op Kentucky for Autonomy.
For some years prior to the treaty of peace with Great
Britain, Benjamin Logan had been second only to Clark
in command and influence ; he was " second to none, per
haps, in the peculiar military talents which the defense of
this country at that time required." When Clark was re
tired from his position as a general officer in the service of
Virginia, the direction of military affairs in the district
devolved upon Logan, as senior colonel and senior county
lieutenaut (of Lincoln county). In 1784, he received in
formation of a proposed invasion of the district by the
Cherokees in large numbers. Whether the intelligence
was purely sensational, or the project was abandoned, can
not positively be affirmed ; but that Logan gave full credit
to the communications made to him is as certain as that
the invasion itself was never actually made. On his own
responsibility he issued a call for a meeting of the officers
of all the several military organizations of the district, to
be held in Danville in November, 1784, for the purpose of
consultation upon measures necessary to repel the threat
ened attack, or to anticipate it by carrying war home to
the Cherokee country. The sense of the meeting was
unanimous that the true policy of defense was not to await
the torch and tomahawk of the Indians at the hearths of
the detached settlers, but by offensive operations to fight
the battle in the Indian country. But no one was author
ized to order such an expedition ; and, if ordered, there
were no laws providing for calling out the militia, to pay
for provisions, or for the services of officers or men, nor to
purchase the necessary ammunition ; and it was felt that
the danger -n-as not sufficiently apparent nor immediate to
justify a reliance upon voluntary contributions or enlist-

56 The Spanish Conspiracy.
ments. So the contemplated movement was abandoned.*
This meeting of militia officers called by Logan issued a
circular address to the people of the district, recommend
ing that on a day named each militia company should
elect one representative, to meet at Danville, on the 27th
of December, 1784, to take into consideration the same
important question of self defense. This meeting was
held at the time and place designated, and was presided
over by William Fleming, who is briefly described in the
" Political Beginnings " as " an influential citizen."! The
* In this connection it may be regarded as worthy of note, that, on
the 22d of Jlay preceding this meeting, James Speed, the grandfather
of Mr. Lincoln's attorney-general of the same name, who had been ap
pointed a magistrate at the urgent solicitation of Willis Green, the clerk
of Lincoln, wrote from his home in that county to Gov. Harrison:
" Many of the inhabitants of this place (Danville ?) are not natives of
Virginia, nor well affected to its government, and are sowing sedition
among its inhabitants as fast as they can, which I fear will have too
great an effect so long as we are pent up in forts and stations, notwith
standing the attorney-general (Walker Daniel) has taken every step in
his power to suppress them. . I fear the faction will increase,
and ere long we shall revolt from government in order to try if we can
govern ourselves, which, in my opinion, will be jumping out of the fry
ing pan into the fire." [ Virginia State Papers.']
t Col. William Fleming was a native of Scotland, and was educated
as a physician. He came to America after the Braddock campaign, but
saw some military sers-ice before the conclusion of the French and
Indian war. He settled in Bottetourt county, Va., and commanded the
regiment from that county at Point Pleasant, where he was wounded.
He was long a member of the Virginia assembly and council, and in
1881 was for a time acting governor of that state. He was a large land
owner in Kentucky, and at the time represented in the Virginia senate
the district which included all Kentucky as well as Bottetourt, and a
number of other counties in the valley and South-western Virginia. He
came to Kentucky in 1779 as one of a commission to provide for the exe
cution of the statute to regulate the claims to land in the district. He
returned to Kentucky in the fall of 1782, with Samuel jMcDoweU,
Thomas Marshall and Caleb Wallace, who, with him, constituted a com
mission to settle the accounts of the officers engaged in the several ex
peditions against the Indians. He did not settle in Kentucky, but,
being here at the time the meeting of 1781 was held, his official position
as the senator of the district naturally suggested him as a suitable per
son to preside over its deliberations. Col. Fleming's wife was a sister of
CoL William Christian. The present William B. Fleming, of Louisville,
is their great grandson.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 57
meeting was animated by patriotism; its conduct was
marked by decorum. In its judgment many of the ob
stacles to that vigorous defense of the district which was
sought by its members could be remedied by suitable leg
islation by the general assembly ; but others, and those the
most serious, from the essential nature of the situation
could only be overcome by a separation from Virginia and
the erection of the district into an independent member of
the confederation.
These opinions were embodied in a resolution in favor
of applying to the General Assembly for legislation ren
dering Kentucky independent of Virginia. This met
with opposition from man}', whom the suggested action
jfllled with strong forebodings. The meeting, therefore,
modestly forbearing to make the contemplated application
to the General Assembly, earnestly recommended to the
people, that, at their regular elections for members of the
Virginia Assembly, in the ensuing April, they should
choose delegates to meet in convention at Danville, in
May, for the express purpose of considering and deciding
the question of an application for the suggested sepa
ration. Accordingly, twenty-five delegates were elected
from the counties of Fayette, Jefferson, I(incoln and Nel
son, into which the district had then been divided, and or
ganized by the election of CoU Samuel McDowell,* as

* A sketch of Col. McDowell may be found in "Historic Families of
Kentucky," by the writer of these pages. In his "Border Warfare,"
Withers states that John McDowell was a private soldier in the French
and Indian war, in the company commanded by Lewis. The list of the
soldiers published in Ilenings' Statutes shows that it was Samuel. Both
Arbuckle and Stuart omit the name of McDowell from the list of cap
tains who fought at Point Pleasant. A ruews letter written at the time
and published in Belfast, as ,well as the account given of the battle by
Isaac Shelby, shows that one of the captains who, after Fleming and
Lewis had fallen, advanced with Field and checked the triumphant In
dians, was McDowell ; and the records of the convention of 1776, of which
he was a useful member, prove that Samuel McDowell commanded a com
pany in that battle. Peyton, in his "History of Augusta County," states that
Major Alexander Stuart commanded the regiment of Virginia militia,
from Augusta and Rockbridge, which did such gallant service at the
battle of Guilford Court House,— commanded it in the absence of Col.

58 The Spanish Conspiracy.
president and Thomas Todd as secretary. Of this con -
vention, George Winter, Christopher Greenup, Jame!
Speed, Robert Todd, Robert Johnson, Caleb Wallace, Ben
jamin Logan, Willis Green, Hary Innes, Levi Todd,
Richard Taylor, James Garrard and John Ed-w^ards werd
members. It was decided that a separation from Virginis
by constitutional methods, and admission as an equa
member into the confederation, were desirable ; that a pe
tition to the General Assembly in accordance with this
judgment be prepared ; that an address to the people ot
the district be published ; and that the proceedings of the
convention, the petition and the address be referred to
another convention composed of delegates to be elected in
July, 1785, and to meet in Danville in the foUowing Au
gust. The acts of the convention were direct; the laja=.
guage employed was free from ambiguity ; and there is
evidence in what was done of an absence of ulterior de
signs. The convention could have acted immediately as
well as refer its proceedings to another similar body.
Marshall attributes its failure to do so and the delicate con
servatism of its course to an uncertainty of an approval
by the people, among whom there was far more pro
nounced opposition to the separation than there was
among the members of the convention. The petition to
the Assembly, calm and temperate, and exhibiting no
effort at display, breathed the true spirit of the resolutions
which had been adopted, basing the appUcation for sepa
ration upon the local situation and the grievances neces
sarily resulting therefrom, and dweUing but briefiy and
without exaggeration upon them in detail. The address
to the people, somewhat warmer in tone, was evidently in
tended to impress upon them a deeper sense of injury than
the people themselves had yet entertained. It indicates
that the members of the convention were conscious of be-
Samuel McDowell, who was sick at the time. The journal kept by Rev.
Samuel Houston, who was a private in that regiment, clearly shows that
Col. McDowell commanded his own regiment in that engagement, which
is confirmed by McDowell's letter concerning the battle, published in
the " Virginia State Papers."

The Spanish Conspiracy. 59
ing in advance of their constituents in their desire for sep
aration, and deemed it necessary to expatiate upon their
grievances, the extent of which the people might not oth
erwise comprehend. It is known that this address was
drawn by J^jaieaJSalkinson, who was a spectator, 'though
not a member, of the convention, and who had the pre
ceding fall come to Kentucky from Philadelphia in order
to engage in commercial pursuits. He was dissatisfied
with the address to the Assembly as too tame and moder-
. ate. It was by his counsel the convention of August
was called. That convention was chiefly composed of
members who sat in the one preceding; but Green and
Greenup did not have seats in it, and among the new mem
bers were Wilkinson, John Coburn and Robert Patter
son. McDoweU was president and Todd secretary. The
petition to the Assembly adopted by the convention of
May was never sent to that body. It was completely ig
nored by the convention of August, to which, by the man
agement of Wilkinson, it had been referred. In lieu there-
~of, one less simple, abounding in rhetorical flourishes, and
having an entirely difi'erent tone, of which Wilkinson
himself was the author, was adopted and forwarded. It
was less a petition than a demand. The Assembly was
asked to pass an act " declaring and acknowledging the
independence of the district;" expression was given to
the "persuasion" that the independent and sovereign
state acknowledged " would as cheerfully be received into
the continental union on the recommendation of our parent
state."
-"^The declaration and acknowledgment of sovereignty
and independence asked for was not at all to be contin
gent upon the admission into the confederation of the
State sought to be erected. Whether the schemer even
then contemplated and endeavored to prepare for a sepa
ration from the Union as well as from Virginia, which two
years later he engaged to promote, is not important. If
so, he had few, if any, confidants, and at the time he was
not suspected of illicit design ; the large majority of the
convention, as well as of the masses of the people, were in-

60 The Spanish Conspiracy.
dubitably true to the Union. It was arranged that this
petition should be presented to and be urged upon the
Assembly by George Muter and Hary Innes.* An
other address to the people, more exciting, impassioned
and exaggerated in expression and tone than the one
which preceded it, and well calculated to subserve its
author's design of inflaming the minds of those to whom
it was directed, was adopted and circulated. This, too,
was written by the controlling spirit of the convention —
Wilkinson. The second resolution of this address was an
argument for, and plainly implied, an assumption by the
district of that sovereignty and independence which the
petition to the assembly requested that body to declare
and acknowledge. The report of the Committee of the
Whole, into which the convention resolved itself, was
modeled after the Declaration of Independence. The as
sertion made therein, that " The law imposing a tax of
five shillings per hundred acres, on lands previously sold,
and directing the payment thereof into the Register's
office at Richmond, before the patent shall issue, is equally
subversive of justice as any of the statutes of the British
Parliament, that impelled the good people to arms," is
noteworthy as an illustration as well of the animus by
which it was dictated as of the inflated and exaggerated
tone of the entire report.
Whatever may have been thought by the General As
sembly of the tone of those papers, the existence of griev
ances as serious as they were real, was apparent to all.
The justice of the request for a separation was promptly"?
recognized by the passage of an act in January, 1786,t for 1
_ -^The statement made by Marshall and others that Muter was at the
time Chief Justice of the district is an error. Cyrus Griffin had been
elected to that position at the session of the General Assembly preceding
this convention, but refused to accept. While attending the following
session of that body, Muter was elected Judge of the General Court to
fill the vacancy occasioned by Griffin's dechnation. Innes at the time
was Attorney-General of the district. During the session acts for his
benefit were passed by the Assembly.
tMr. Madison, who was a member of the House Committee on Courts
of Justice, from which the act in question was first reported, was its au-

The Spanish Conspiracy. 61
the separation and erection of the district into a State of
the Confederation. Provision was therein made for an
election in the ensuing August of representatives to a
fifth convention, to be held at Danville on the fourth Mon
day of September, 1786, which, after organization, was to
determine " -Whether it be expedient for, and the wiU of
the good people ofthe said district, to be erected into an
independent State," on terms and conditions as defined in
the act. If the said convention approved " of the erec
tion of the district into an independent State, on the fore
going terms and conditions," they were empowered " to
fix a day posterior to the first day of September, 1787," on
which the authority of Virginia should " cease and deter
mine forever." But the fundamental condition precedent
was wisely annexed, " That prior to the first day of June,
1787, the United States, in Congress assembled, shall as-
jsent to the erection of the said district into an independ-
ept State, . . . and shall agree that immediately after
the day to be fixed as aforesaid, posterior to the first day
of September, 1787, or at some convenient time future
thereto, the new State shall be admitted into the Federal
Union." [Henning, vol. xii, page 37-40.] Thus, every
thing was made contingent upon the previous action of
Congress assenting to the statehood of Kentucky and
providing for her admission into the Union. And, " iu
order that no period of anarchy " might " happen to the
good people of the proposed State, the convention to meet
in September, 1786, was required to take measures for the
election and assemblage of another convention," " at some

thor in the original form. It was amended in the House, and was
passed by that body January 6, 1786. James Garrard was designated
as the messenger to inform the Senate of this action, but the duty was
actually performed by Christopher Greenup. On the next day, Janu
ary 7th, the bill was referred to a committee, of whom General Henry
Lee was one, and John Brown, who had succeeded Colonel WiUiam
Fleming as the Senator from the district which included Kentucky, was
another. On the 10th, Mr. Brown reported that the committee had,
"according to order, had the said bill under consideration, and had
made no amendment thereto." It was then passed hy the Senate, and
the enroUed bill was signed January 16, 1786.

62 The Spanish Conspiracy.
time prior to the day fixed for the determination of the au
thority of this Commonwealth . . . and posterior to
the first day of June, 1787, . . . with fuU power and
authority to frame and establish a fundamental constitu
tion of government for the proposed State, and to declare
what laws shall- be enforced therein untUthe same shall be
abrogated or altered " by the authority acting under the
constitution thus adopted. The act was forwarded to the
members of Congress from Virginia, who were instructed
to use their endeavors to secure from Congress the nec
essary assent and provision for the admission of Kentucky
into the confederation.
It will be seen that this act was not what had been asked
for, or demanded, in the petition drawn by Wilkinson.
That petition requested the declaration and recognition
by Virginia of our independence and sovereignty, leaving
the state so recognized and declared thereafter to find its
way into the confederation. The act, on the other hand,
made every thing contingent upon the previous favorable
action of Congress, * while the steps required to be taken
in the district necessitated delay. However vexatious this
delay and this most wise and prudent condition was to
Wilkinson, and may have been to others whom he had im
bued with his spirit, by the great mass of the people the
well considered act of Virginia was received with patient
satisfaction. A general disposition was manifested to
conform to its provisions. But Wilkinson, who had
drawn the request for an acknowledgment of sovereignty
and independence, now urged that the circumstances of

* In a letter to Washington, Mr. Madison wrote : " The apparent cool
ness of the representatives of Kentucky, as to a separation, since these
terms were defined, indicates that they had some views that will not be
favored by them. They dislike much to he hung upon the will of Con
gress." [Sparks' Washmgton, vol. 9, page 510.] Four days after the
passage of the act, John Brown was given leave of absence for the rest
of the session. Though he continued a member of the senate, he was
not at any time present during the session of the fall and wint-^r of
1786-7, and never again made his appearance in the senate, until about
the time he was elected to Congress in October, 1787. [See Journals of
Vu-ginia Senate, 1785-6-7.]

The Spanish Conspiracy. 63
the district would not admit of delay ; that, though author
ity existed to repel invasion by the Indians, there was
none for hostile excursions within the Indian territory.
He boldly advocated the immediate declaration and as
sumption of independence and sovereignty by Kentucky,
without compliance with legal formalities, without regard
ing the conditions of the act of the assembly, and without
waiting for the assent of Congress or for any provision for
admission into the confederation. All that, he argued,
was matter for future action ; and, in the meantime, the
exigency was instant. [Marshall, page 242 ; Collins, page
262.] Wilkinson was active and heated in the promulga
tion of his views. He announced himself a candidate for
the convention, and it was given out in speeches made by
Wilkinson himself, as well as in those made by the friends
who were warm and zealous in his behalf, that he would,
on the first day of the election, at Lexington, address the
people, in order to persuade them to an immediate separa
tion, without regard to the conditions imposed by the act
of the assembly. Many were alarmed by those utterances ;
many who were in favor of the separation itself, yet
deemed the evUs that might be for a time continued by
awaiting the time designated, and pursuing the course
pointed out by the general assembly, far less to be dreaded
than the consequences of this revolutionary course which
Wilkinson urged. It was determined that his election
should be opposed and that his heralded speech should be
answered. The person selected to reply to the speech was
Humphrey Marshall; * it is probable that as a candidate

¦* Humphrey Marshall was a son of John Marshall and Mai-y Quisen-
bury ; a nephew of Col. Thomas Marshall, whose daughter Mary he
married. He was born in Virginia in 1760 ; his father's circumstances
were narrow, so that his early educational advantages were hmited.
However, he was sent when a boy to the home of his uncle, Thomas
Marshall, and for a time studied under Scotch tutors with that relative's
children. Those studies were interrupted by his joining the army. The
following, is the brief record of his military service as it appears upon
the papers of the land office at Richmond, Va., viz:
• Richmond, December 14, 1782.
I certify that Humphrey Marshall was a cadet in the state artillery in

64 The Spanish Conspiracy.
for the convention he also led the opposition to the elec
tion of Wilkinson. In the speech made by the latter in
Lexington a number of the laws of Virginia were bitterly
denounced as unjust and oppressive, and it was represented
that the people of the mother commonwealth, being them
selves secure, were indiflerent to the dangers experienced
and to the sufferings endured by their sons and brethren
in Kentucky. The perils by which they were surrounded
were grossly exaggerated, as the means most likely to be
successful in inciting the people to precipitate and illegal
action. They were urged to immediately cut loose from
Virginia, and at once erect themselves into an independent
and sovereign state, without complying with the condi
tions of the act which provided for the election they were
about to hold, without obtaining the assent of Congress,
and without the passage of any act for admission into the
confederation. The thoroughly revolutionary principle
was asserted and maintained, that the right proposed to
be exerted did not proceed from the legislation of the
state, nor was it dependent thereon, but was inherent in
the people of the district, and could be exercised at their
discretion. These arguments were refuted aud this position was
vigorously assailed by his young antagonist, whose strong
natural powers, in spite of the deficiency in his early ad
vantages, fully equipped him for such a debate. Taking
no issue with Wilkinson as to the propriety and even ne-
1777; made an officer in the same regiment in 1778; a captain L. 1,
December IS, 1779 ; and that he is now a supernumerary.
,„ ^ George Muter, Col. S. G. R.
Benjamin Harrison.
AYarrant for 4000 acres issued to Humphrey Marshall, December 19,
1782. He was a purchaser at the second sale of lofs in Lexington, in 1783.
But he was certainly m Kentucky before that time ; probably settUng
in the district the year before, and becoming a deputy, under his uncle.
Col. ^Marshall, in the surveyor's office of Fayette county. In the mean
time he had studied law, of which profession he became an. able and
distmguished member. He returned to Virginia to marry in 1784. At
the time of his first colhsion with WiUdnson he was twenty-six years
old.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 65
cessity of a separation, the time when this should take
place, and whether independence and sovereignty should
be assumed as an inherent right or be regulated by the law
of the parent State, became the particular subjects of con
troversy. It was shown that the aggressions of the In
dians were growing less frequent and the magnitude of
the grievance from that source was decreasing, while the ,
constant influx of population into the district was daily
adding to its means and facilities for defense. And much
stress was laid upon the impropriety and dangerous ten
dency of the disregard for law which would be manifested
by the course advocated by Wilkinson, as well as upon the
pernicious consequences of the revolutionary principle
upon which it was founded. Unable to maintain the posi
tion he had assumed, Wilkinson then resorted to the subter
fuge of contending that the expression in the law, ''pos
terior to the 1st of September, 1787," which regulated
the time of the separation, meant before and not after that
date. In the rejoinder, his young antagonist placed the
orator between the horns of a disagreeable dilemma:
"Either he did not know the meaning of the word 'pos
terior' or he meant to impose upon his audience. In
the one case he was unfit to guide; in the other unsafe to
follow." [Marshall, page 243.] The friends of Wilkinson
prevented the opening of the polls until late in the day ;
and, when it was found that he received but few votes,
while the bulk of those cast were bestowed upon his oppo
nent, they had the polls soon closed for the day. Those
of the opposition who were thus disappointed in their
purpose to vote on the first day of the election, proclaimed
their intention to return and vote on the last day. (The
election lasted five days.) Wilkinson's friends were driven to
resort to a trick to secure his election. The militia officers,
who were in his interest, were induced to order musters on
the last day of the election in those parts of the county
unfavorable to him. To these musters the people were
summoned, and many of his opponents who attended thus
lost their votes, whUe his friends disregarded the summons
5

66 The Spanish Conspiracy.
and voted. In those portions ofthe county favorable to
him, no musters were ordered, and the acti-vity of his
friends obtaining the polling of a full vote, his election and
that of his associates on the ticket was secured.* [Mar
shall, page 244.]
* Wilkinson never forgave this opposition and exposure by Hum
phrey Marshall. Two years later an attempt was made by Jordan Har
ris to assassinate Marshall, upon the absurd failure of which a series of
¦vituperative and scurrilous assaults were made upon MarshaU in the
Lexington Gazette, over the signature of Harris. These were -written
for Harris (who seems to have been as weak as he was violent) by a
protege of Wilkinson, and were paid for by him.

The Spanish Conspiracy. ¦ 67

CHAPTER V.
The Expeditions of Clark and Logan in the pall op 1786— The
Humiliating Failure op Clark's Expedition and its Cause —
His Conduct at Vincennes after the Expedition had been
Abandoned — Logan in no way Connected Therewith — The Il
licit Enterprise op Green, and Clark's Connection — The Gov-
orner Informed by Letters from Danville — Clark Censured —
The Men who were Responsible — The Deceit Practiced by
Brown and Innes in 1806, imitated by Colonel J. M. Brown
IN 1890.
It has been stated that the militia who organized under
the leadership of George Rogers Clark, in the fall of 1786,
for an expedition against the hostile Indians of the
Wabash, rendezvoused at Clarksville,* Indiana, where
more than a thousand men assembled early in September.
But the number not being deemed sufficient to accomplish
all the objects of the expedition, a council of war was
held on the 13th of September, of the field officers of the
several counties, which was presided over by Benjamin
Logan, and at which it was determined that a field officer
from each county should return, get together all the de
serters and delinquents and collect the rest of the militia
as soon as possible, and march with them to rejoin Clark
at Vincennes. General Logan, Colonel Levi Todd, Colo
nel Robert Patterson and several others were selected to
execute this order. The next day, however, Clark ad
dressed to General Logan a written order directing him to
assemble the militia as decided by the council of the field
officers, and to impress supplies, etc. ; but, instead of re-

*Virginia had given to Clark and his officers and men who captured
Kaskaskia and Vincennes (1778-9) 200,000 acres of land in one body
lying along the Ohio river, in Indiana, as bounty for their services in
that campaign. In the midst of this grant, the town of Clarksville was
incorporated and estabUshed. It was situated opposite the FaUs, at a
point between the present cities of New Albany and JeffersonviUe.

68 • The Speinish Conspiracy.
joining him, to march at once to surprise the Indians of
the Mad River towns in Ohio, with whom Clark had as
sisted in negotiating a treaty in the preceding January (at
the mouth of the Miami), but who were charged with vio
lating that treaty. Logan, Todd, Patterson and the others
deputed for the purpose left Clark immediately, and pro
ceeded with great celerity to execute his commands. Lo
gan quickly collected his men, crossed the Ohio at ^vlays-
viUe, and, marching with equal rapidity and secrecy, would
have surprised a large body of those Indians in their prin
cipal town, had it not been for the alarm given them by a
deserter. As it was, a number of warriors were killed,
many prisoners were captured,* and the Indian country
was swept with fire. The completely successful expedition
returned in twenty days.
AVhile Logan was thus performing the duty to which he
had been assigned, Clark marched to Vincennes. There
a delay of nine days ensued while awaiting the arrival of
provisions and stores which had been shipped from the
Falls. When these arrived, the larger part had been
spoiled. It is said that Clark opposed this delay, urging
a forced march against the Indians, but was overruled by
his officers, some of whom have been charged with excit
ing the men to mutiny. In spite of the considerable dis
affection which was at once manifested, the march towards
the Indian country was resumed, on short rations, until,
after two or three days of discontent, nearly one-third of
his men refused to proceed further, and, led by their offi
cers, determined to return to Vincennes. Notwithstanding
this defection, the force remaining with Clark numbered
more than six hundred gallant men, a larger and better
equipped body than any of those with which he had in
forraer and better days spread desolation throughout the
Indian country, and made his name a terror to the savage
heart. It was large enough, had other conditions been
favorable, to have accomplished the object sought. But
-* Among the prisoners taken were the wives of Moluntha, whom Mc-
Gary had murdered, and his son, who took the name of Logan, became
a friend of the whites, and was murdered by Indians in IlUnois, in 1812.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 69
mutual confidence between the men and their chief no
longer existed. After a hurried and tumultuous council,
the order for the return was given ; the two parts of the
army uniting in the evening marched together back to
Vincennes, which they reached on the 8th of October. It
has pleased the undiscriminating eulogists of a gallant man
to place the entire responsibility for this .most mortifying
of failures upon the officers of General Clark, who are
alleged to have been his enemies and to have envied his
fame. Those officers have been charged -with sowing the
seeds of dissatisfaction among the men, by falsely repre
senting Clark to have been unfit for command ; and con
temporary chroniclers relate as an instance of the alleged
calumnies set afloat by those jealous officers the report
which was current, that Clark had sent a flag of truce to
an Indian town, offering them the choice of peace or war,
and had thus destroyed the chance of a surprise, which
was of such immense importance in savage warfare. But
care has always been taken not to name those enemies, and
not to state any causes they had for enmity.
At this distance the unbiased reader -will find it easier
to believe, that the charges made by those officers were
true, and that Clark was unfit to lead, than that three hun
dred Kentuckians, who had never before turned their
backs upon a foe, availed themselves of lying pretexts to
abandon a commander of such brilliant prestige, and to
turn back from an expedition in which they had volun
tarily embarked. After all, the truth would be but a mel
ancholy repetition of the story which families all over the
world lament to relate of kinsmen, whose brilliant promise
and achievements in youth served to render the more
gloomy the clouds and darkness in which the sun of their
lives went down. That truth is, that the life of exposure
to which Clark had been subjected had tempted him to
resort to stimulants to sustain his strength and energy ;
that the inducements to this dangerous indulgence had
increased during years of comparative idleness, which to
so vaulting and proud a spirit was well nigh insupport
able ; and that the pernicious habit had grown upon him

70 The Spanish Conspiracy.
until it had become his master. A slave to his own pas
sions and appetites, the power to control which he had
lost, he had become unfitted to guide or command others.
By frequent exhibitions of himself in an intoxicated con
dition and with clouded mind, in his camp and to his men,
he had at once forfeited their confidence and their respect,
and their unwillingness to trust themselves to his direction
and to march to battle under his orders, was as natural
as it was inevitable.
Upon returning to A^ncennes a council of field officers
sanctioned, so far as such a body could give sanction to
such a measure, Clark's determination to maintain a gar
rison at Vincennes, which was in the heart of the territory
Virginia had years before ceded to the United States, and
over which Virginia had neither control nor jurisdiction.
If the strategic value of this movement as a measure for
the protection of Kentucky against the Indians was open
to question, there could be none that Virginia herself had
no power to authorize it without the consent of the Con
gress, nor of the improprietj-, to use no stronger phrase, of
Clark's proceeding therein, as a sort of private enterprise,
without the assent of Congress or the direction of his
state. jSTevertheless, measures were taken to recruit a gar
rison of 250 men under Colonel John Holder, and a com
pany of artillery to be commanded by Captain Valentine
Thomas Dalton, and of this corps General Clark " assumed
the supreme direction." If the organization of this force
resembles the banding together of the " free companies,"
which terrorized Europe in the middle ages, those placed
at its head had as little respect for private right as that
exhibited by the most predatory of the Condottierri.
Clark commenced at once to levy recruits, appoint officers,
and impress provisions, without the pretense even of legal
warrant, and without the shadow of any other authority
than that which proceeded from himself.^
But ere long he went further than the levying of this
irregular force and the Ulegal and unauthorized seizure of

* Secret Journals of Congress, LV., page 310.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 71
private property for their sustenance. His once clear
and vigorous mind had become inflamed by indul
gence and made desperate by the chagrin of failure. His
rage found a vent upon the unoffending Spanish mer
chants who had established themselves as traders at Vin
cennes, Kaskaskia, and at other points in Illinois. Un
der his orders their property was seized and confiscated ;
not merely that which could be used for mUitary purposes,
but furs, taffy, honey, various descriptions of dry goods,
etc., which were sold. Clark asserted that the proceeds of
the sales were used to pay the men whom he recruited.
But there was evidence which was generally believed at
the time, and which there was only too much reason to be
lieve, that a large part was appropriated to private pur
poses. Boats coming from Vincennes to I^Tew Orleans
were seized; one was robbed of property belonging to
Spaniards to the amount of $10,000 — in retaliation, as was
alleged.* Universal complaint of the lawless depredations
of Clark's men went up from the French residents at
Vincennes and Kaskaskia. In their proclivities for plun
der they were a mere banditti, but little better than In-
dans.f These robberies, for as such they were branded at
the time and really were, occurred not only after Clark's
expedition against the Wabash Indians had been defi
nitely abandoned, and they had agreed to attend a Grand
Council at Vincennes, in the ensuing April, to make a
treaty of jjeace and friendship, but also after the return of
Logan from his successful expedition against the Shaw
anese, on the Mad river. From a purely military stand
point, it appears from Logan's letter to the governor, that
he regarded the garrisoning of Vincennes as a " wise and
prudent" measure. But he had refused Clark's request
to convene a board of field officers to sanction the seizure
of supplies to sustain a garrison outside the limits .of the
district and beyond the jurisdiction of Virginia.J He was
in no way responsible for nor connected with Clark's
* St. Clair Papers, Vol. II, page 21.
t Ibid., page 22.
J Virginia State Papers, Vol. IV, 202.

72 The Spanish Conspiracy.
mortifying failure. And the condemnation brought upon
Clark by his subsequent conduct at Vincennes never cast
its shadow upon the fair fame of Logan. ITor had that
gallant man any participation in the designs far other than
the defense of Kentucky against the Wabash Indians,
which contemporary evidence too clearly establishes, were
entertained by the mind of Clark — unhinged by excess
and rendered desperate by mortification. There is an un
happy concurrence of evidence that Vincennes was to
have been used as the base from which the attack,
which Clark meditated, upon St. Louis and the Nat
chez was to have been made; and that these seizures of
the property of Spanish subjects were intended to precip
itate a collision with that haughty power.*
'¦* iNIarshall (Vol. 1, page 109) intimates that AVilkinson was jealous of
Clark, and rejoiced over his failure. " General Wilkinson," (says the
historian) " who was at the Falls of the Ohio, wrote to a friend in Fay
ette ' that the sun of General Clark's military glory had set, never more
to rise.' There was much meaning in this sentence, which those who
had fathomed Wilkinson knew how to interpret." Without attributuig
to Wilkinson the secret ambition of supplanting Clark, this prediction
might very naturally have been founded on what he knew of Clark's
habits and of his loss of public confidence thereby. The subjoined is
an extract from a letter written at the time by some one in Kentucky to
a friend in Philadelphia. The extract was forwarded from Philadelphia
to the Governor of Virginia, but at what time it was received by that
functionary does not appear, nor is the name of the -writer given. All
the circumstances, however, point unerringly to Wilkinson as the au
thor. The following is a copy of the extract as it is given in the Virginia
State Papers, viz:
[Extracted from a Letter from a gentleman in Kentucky to his
friend in PhUadelphia, December 12, 1786.]
" Clark is playing Hell. He is raising a Regiment of his own, and
has 140 men stationed at Opost, already now under the command of
Dalton. Seized on a Spanish Boat with 20,000 Dollars, or rather seized
three stores at Opost worth this sum, and the Boat which brought them
up. J. Jl. Jones, Commissary General, gets a large share of the plun
der, and has his family at Opost. Piatt comes in for snacks. He brought
the Baggage and a thousand pounds of smaU furs to the FaUs the day I
left it. Plunder-all ¦  means to go to Congress to get the Regiment
put upon the establishment. He is the 3rd Captam. The taxes, he
teUs his associates, are necessary to bear his expenses ; but he don't re
turn. I laid a plan to get the whole seized and secured for the own-

The Spanish Conspiracy. 73
/ The suggestions of Mr. Jay in the fall of 1786, (referred
to on a former page), that Congress would rescind its in
structions and, permit him to propose to the Spanish a
treaty for twenty-five years, during which time the United
States would agree to forbear their right to the navigation
of the Mississippi below their own boundaries, were made
to Congress while that body was in secret session. isTot-
withstanding this fact, the proceedings thereon soon be
came partiaUy known ; and by the artful and designing
these suggestions of the Secretary for Foreign Affairs
were easily magnified into an actual treaty to the same
effect. That the seizure of the property of Spanish mer
chants by Clark was not simply a measur-e to obtain nec
essaries for his irregular troops, but was directly prompted
byx exaggerated rumors concerning Mr. Jay's suggestions
to Congress, and was absolutely designed as a hostile move
ment against Spain, can scarcely be doubted.
On the 4th of December, 1786, Thomas Green, then a
citizen of LouisviUe, wrote to the Governor of Georgia,
(which State claimed a western boundary extending to the
Mississippi and embracing a part of the territory occupied
and held by Spain above the 31st degree of latitude) —
declaring the public sentiment to be that the treaty with
Spain was " unjust, cruel and oppressive ;" that it would
"subjiigate" the western people to a "worse slavery"
than any to which Great Britain had ever presumed to
subject the people of any part of her dominions ; that the
minds of the people of Kentucky were " very much exas
perated against both Spaniards and Congress ;" that the

ers, and BuUett and Anderson will execute it. Clark is eternally drunk,
and yet full of design. I told him he would be hanged. He laughed
and said he could take refuge among the Indians. A stroke is medi
tated against St. Louis and the Natchez."
Similar information was written by a gentleman in North Carolina
to a member of Congress from that State. These statements might be
disregarded, as not vouched for by responsible names, were they not
unfortunately fully sustained by statements made under oath and re
duced to writing by Christopher Greenup, as well as by the statements
formally made to the Governor by sixteen of the most prominent men
then in Kentucky.

74 The Spanish Conspiracy.
Spanish property at Vincennes and in the Illinois had been
seized by the troops of Clark " in retaliation for the
many offenses" of Spaniards; that General Clark, "to
gether with many other gentlemen of merit," had
" engaged to raise troops sufficient " and to " go -with
me to the Xatchez to take possession," pro-vided the Gov
ernor of Georgia would give them countenance and the
lands claimed by that State ; that General Clark and the
others would be " ready to proceed down the river on the
shortest notice," and were merely awaiting a favorable
answer to set out ; and for further particulars referred him
to the bearer, William Wells.* To a committee appointed
at Dan-ville (evidently by members of the convention who
were there) to receive from him such information as he
might choose to give, Clark afterwards admitted the seizure
of the property of the Spanish traders, but alleged that it
was for the sole purpose of subsisting the troops he had
enlisted at Vincennes without authority ; asserted that he
never sow the letter of Thomas Green, had no purpose to
molest the Spaniards at Xatchez ; and understood Green's
object to be to establish a settlement at or near the mouth
of the Yazoo, under the authority of the State of Georgia.
The committee reported this as General Clark's statement,
but, as no settlement could have been made at the mouth
of the Yazoo at that time, under the authority of the State
of Georgia, without certain hostilities with the Spanish,
they evidently attached but little value to his assertion of
pacific intent, which was contradicted by his every act.
It was but natural for them to beUeve, and the unbiased
reader wiU find it difficult not to beUeve with them, that
General Clark knew the contents of Green's letter, when
they had the evidence before them that he had given a
written bond to contribute an equal amount with the
writer thereof to pay Wells for his trouble in conveying
that letter to Georgia.f
*S€e Appendix A for letter in fuU. tLouisviLLB, December 4, 1786.
Jefferson County, ss.
Whereas, WUliam WeUs is now employed by Colonel Thomas

The Spanish Conspiracy.

75

About the same time that Green's letter was dispatched
to the Governor of Georgia copies of an infiammatory and
incendiary production, apparently by the same author, was
circulated with an air of secrecy among many of the set
tlements in the west, and particularly in Sevier's in
surrectionary would-be State of Frankland— Tennessee —
whence one of them was forwarded to the Governor ot
Virginia. It branded the alleged treaty with Spain as a
" grievance not to be borne ; " that the acts which drove
the colonies into the Revolution " were not so barefaced
and intolerable;" that to subject their shipments down
the river beyond our own territory to the Spanish laws
was " an insult to our understanding ; " that " twenty
thousand troops could be raised west of the Allegheny and
Apalachian , mountains " to resist ; that " we have taken
all the goods belonging to the Spanish merchants at Vin
cennes and the Illinois ; " that " preparations are now
making here (Louisville) to drive the Spaniards from their
settlements at the mouth of the Mississippi ; " that in case
the hostile expedition against Louisiana " was not coun
tenanced," and those engaged therein " succored (if need
be) by the United States," " our allegiance will be thrown ofi',
and some other power applied to. Great Britain stands
ready, with open arms, to receive and support us. They
have already oftered to open their resources for our sup
plies." * While it is not probable that the sentiments of
the writer or writers of those letters were generally shared

Green and others to go' to Augusta, in the State of Georgia, on public
business, and it being uncertain whether he will be paid for his jour
ney out of the public treasury : should he not be, on his return, we,
the subscribers, do jointly and severally, for value received, promise to
pay him, on demand, the several sums that are affixed to our names, as
witness our hands:

Thomas Green, . . .

. £10 00

James Huling, . . .

. £1 00

John Williams, . . .

1 00

David Morgan, . . .

. 1 00

George R. Clark, . .

. 10 00

John Montgomery, . .

. 1 00

Lawrence Muse, . .

3 00

Ebenezer S. Piatt, . .

. 1 00

Richard Brashears,

5 00

Robert Elliott, . . .

10

James Patton, . . .

3 00

Thomas Stribling, . .

. 1 00

Secret Journal op Congress, IV, 318.

*See Appendix B.

76 The Spanish Conspiracy.
or countenanced by the people in the west, it would be
idle to deny that among them were many disappointed and
turbulent adventurers, who were disaffected towards Vir
ginia as well as towards Congress, who did indorse these
views, who were eager to join in the proposed movement,
or in any other which might have afforded to their restless
ambitions occupation and a promise of wealth, and who
fully expected to be led by Clark.
When the time arrived for the meeting of the conven
tion which had been authorized by the Virginia Assembly
to be held at DanviUe, in September, 1786, and to which
Wilkinson had been elected under the circumstances
which have been stated, it was found that so many of the
members were absent on the expeditions of Clark and of
Logan against the Indians of the Wabash and of Mad
river, that a quorum could not be assembled. To keep
the body alive those present met and adjourned from day
to day until January, when a quorum at last attended
which proceeded to business. A number of the
members were in Danville in December, when Wells
passed through and exhibited Thomas Green's letter to
the Governor of Georgia, as well as other papers ; besides
the members a number of gentlemen were in Danville,
then the seat of the district court, on legal business.
Copies were made of the papers exhibited by Wells, which
were sent to the Governor of Virginia inclosed with the
subjoined letter, by the gentlemen whose names are at
tached. Some of those gentlemen were members of the
convention. Some resided in Danville and others prac
ticed law. Others were there on business. 'So other
equal number of men in the west at that time were of
greater prominence or possessed greater infiuence.*
Danville, December 22, 1786.
To Hix E.rceUency the Governor of Virginia :
Sir— Whatever general impropriety there may be in a few private
individuals addressing your Excellency, on subjects of public nature,
we can not resist those impulses of duty and affection which prompt us
-'¦'Colonel Thomas Marshall and John Brown were members of the
convention of 1786.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 77
to lay before the Honorable Board at which you preside, a state of cer
tain unwarrantable transactions, which we are apprehensive may,
without the reasonable interposition of the legislature, deeply affect
the dignity, honor and interest of the Commonwealth.
The testimonials which accompany this, will give your Excellency a
general idea of the outrage which has been committed at Post St. Vin
cennes, of the illicit views of Mr. Green and his accomplices, and the
negotiation, which has taken place, between General Clark and the
Wabash Indians.
We beg leave to add, that we have reason to believe, property has
been plundered to a very considerable amount, and that it has been
generally appropriated to private purposes.
We are fearful .that Green will find no difficulty in le-vying auxillia-
ries in the titular State of Frankland, and the settlements on Cumber
land ; in the meantime, attempts are daily practiced to augment the ban
ditti at St. Vincennes, by delusive promises of lands, bounty and cloth
ing from the officers appointed by General Clark.
AVe beg leave to suggest, to the serious consideration of your Excel
lency, the necessity of carrying into effect, the treaty proposed in
April ; for we fear, that the savages when assembled, if they are not
amused by a treaty, or kept in awe by a military force at St. Vincennes,
will form combinations among themselves, hostile to this country, and
before they disperse, may turn their arms against our scattered settle
ments, in such force as to overwhelm them.
To the superior wisdom and the paternal care of the heads of the
Commonwealth, we take the liberty of submitting, the matters, herein as
mentioned, in full confidence, that every necessary measure, will be
unmediately adopted, and have the honor to be with every sentiment
of respect, your Excellency's most obedient,
JAMES WILKINSON. HARY INNES.
BENJ. POPE. EDMUND LYNE.
J. BROWN. RICHARD C. ANDERSON.
CALEB WALLACE. RICHARD TAYLOR.
JOHN CRAIG. JAMES GARRARD.
CHRISTO. GREENUP. CHARLES EWING.
T. ]\[ARSHALL. JOHN LOGAN.
GEORGE MUTER. JOHN EDWARDS.
This letter was accompanied by an affidavit, taken be
fore Christopher Greenup and given by one IS'eeves, prov
ing the manner of the seizure of the property in question,
and the subsequent sale of many of the articles. It is
noteworthy that it was signed by Colonel Richard C. An
derson, who shortly after married General Clark's sister;
by Colonel Richard Taylor, the father of the president ;
and by Benjamin Pope, who were neighbors of, and

78 The Spanish Conspiracy.
friendly to, Clark, Avho had opportunities of knowing the
facts in the case, and who would not have put their names
to such a statement without indubitable evidence of its
truth. At the same time another letter was written to
Governor Randolph, which asserted that the treaty at the
mouth of the Aliami had effected no " salutary purpose,"
and attributed the failure to the alleged ancient prejudices
entertained against all Virginians by General Richard
Butler and Parsons, two ofthe commissioners; implored
the governor that, in case any treaty should be made -with
the Indians of the Wabash, in pursuance of the arrange
ment proposed by Clark, he would exert his influence to
have the comraissioners appointed from Kentucky, and
recoramending General James Wilkinson, Colonel Richard
Clough Anderson and Isaac Shelby as " persons well quali
fied for the purpose and against whom no exception can
be taken ; " which recommendation was immediately fol
lowed by this paragraph : " We lament that the unfortunate
habits to which General Clark is addicted, obliges us to ob
serve that we consider him utterly unqualified for business
of any kind." This letter was signed by T. Marshall, Ed
mund Lyne, Richard Taylor, J. Brown, Hary Innes,
George Muter, Caleb Wallace, John Craig, Benj. Pope
and Charles Ewing. * These letters show why it was, and
to whose representations it was due, that General Clark
never thereafter had any public employment from Vir
ginia. On the receipt of those letters and papers, the state
council of A^irginia, on the 28th of February, 1787, ad
vised that the letters and papers be transmitted to the
Virginia delegates in Congress, to be laid before that
body ; that General Clark be notified of the disavowal of
his acts and authority in the enUsting of troops at Vin
cennes ; that the executive declare their displeasure at his
conduct in seizing the property of Spanish merchants, and
-* A copy of the entire letter from the original among the Virgmia
archives -nas made by Wm. Wirt Henry and forwarded to the -writer at
his request.

• The Spanish Conspiracy. 79
that it should be disclaimed in a special proclamation ;
that a copy of the order of the councU be sent to the dele
gates in Congress, in order that the Spanish minister
might be made acquainted with their action ; and that the
" attorney -general be consulted on the documents afore
said, and be requested to take himself, or call upon the
attorney-general of Kentucky, as the case may require, to
take such steps as may subject to punishment all persons
guilty in the premises." Thereupon Governor Edmund
Randolph (who had succeeded Patrick Henry) issued' his
proclamation in accordance with this advice. *
Mr. Madison, on the part of the Virginia delegation in
Congress, laid before that body this action of the Execu
tive with the accompanying papers, on the 28th of March,
1787.t The next day the delegation made the same com-
-* The following copy of the original manuscript in the executive office
at Richmond, Va., was obtained by the writer through the courtesy of
Mr. Wm. Wirt Henry, viz :
Virginia, to-wit :
By his Excellency Edmund Randolph, Esquire, Governor of the
Commonwealth. A Proclamation.
Whereas, it has been represented to the Executive that George Rogers
Clark, Esquire, after having under the colour of an authority wrong
fully supposed to be derived from them, recruited a number of men for
the support of the post of St. Vincennes, hath moreover seized the
property of certain subjects of his Catholic majesty to a considerable
amount. In order therefore that the honor of this Commonwealth may not sus
tain an injury from a belief that the act above mentioned has in any
manner received the public sanction, I do hereby declare, with the ad
vice of the Council of the State, that the said violence was unknown to
the Executive until a few days past, and is now solemnly disavowed,
and that the attorney-general has been instructed to take every step
allowed by law for bringing to punishment all persons who may be cul
pable in the premises.
Given under my hand and the seal of the Commonwealth this twenty-
eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven
hundred and eighty-seven.
[Seal.] Signed : Edm. Randolph.
tin his note of the course of the delegation in placing the action of
General Randolph before Congress, Mr. Madison referred to the " in-

80 The Spanish Conspiracy. .
munication to Don Gardoqui, the Spanish minister.* On
the 24th of April following, General Henry Knox, the
Secretary of War, was directed by Congress to take im
mediate and efficient measures " for dispossessing a body
cendiary efforts on foot in the western country against the Spaniards."
[iladison Papers, Vol. L., page 598.]
•'In the Madison Papers there is an interesting account of this inter
view between the Virginia delegation, at which, >lr. iMadison states, " a
free conversation " was had. The Delegates endeavored to impress the
minister with the opinion that the " concerted occlusion " of the Mis
sissippi would produce in the western people an " unfriendly temper,"
"both against Spain and the United States," Clark's conduct being cited
as an illustration ; and that this would probably have the efiect " of
throwing them into the arms of Great Britain." Numerous arguments
were ui-.tred upon the minister why it was against the interest of Spain,
as well as of the United States, that the navigation of the Mississippi ,
should lie closed to the western people. In response, Gardoqui affirmed
that "Spain would never accede to the claim of the L^nited States to
navigate that river," and urged that, "as a result" of what the Dele
gates hail said, " Congress could enter into no treaty at all." "He inti
mated," says Mr. jNladison, "with a jocidar air, the possibility of the west
ern people becoming Spanish subjects ; and, with a serious one, that
such an idea had been brought forward to the King of Spain hy some
person connected with the western country, hut tliat his majesty's di-gnity
Wild character could nerer coanteuance il." It will be observed that this was
priar to the instructions given by the Spanish Court to Gardoqui, as the
result of Wilkinson's intrigue with 31iro, to do all in his power to promote
the severance of the west from the Union ; and that, while apprising
the Virginia Delegates that such an idea had been "brought forward to
the King of Spain hy some person connected with the western country,'-'
the minister repudiated the thought as one dishonorable to his sov
ereign. Yet it is upon ilr. :\Iadison's account of this interview, and
upon his account of a conversation of a similar tenor between the min
ister and :\lr. Bingham and himseU, that Colonel John Mason Brown
bases his assertion, that Gardoqui " had quite clearly broached a propo
sition that Kentucky should be abandoned to Spain;" and that "both
IMadison and 31onroe had conversations of similar import with Gar
doqui," to the conference between the Spanish minister and John
Brown, in which Gardoqui, as stated by Colonel Brown, " suggested that
the western country should secede from the Union and put itself under
the sovea?ignty of Spain." [Frankfort Centennial Address, page 14.]
Colonel Brown refers to the pages in the Madison Papers, which con
tain the accounts of those interviews, but, as is his custom when
making erroneous statements, he is careful not to quote Mr. Madison's
language, which does not justify Colonel Brown's version. [Madison
Papers, A'ol. IL, pages 590 to 594, and 599 to 602.]

The Spanish Conspiracy. 81
of men who had, in a lawless and unauthorized manner,
taken possession of Post Vincennes in defiance of the pro
clamation and authority of the United States."*
The action ofthe sixteen conspicuous Kentuckians who
addressed the Governor of Virginia on the subject of
Clark's conduct, which was as projDer as it was prompt;
the eminently wise advice of the Executive Council, in con
sonance with the wishes and suggestions of the Kentuck
ians ; the moderate action of Governor Randolph ; and
the decisive steps of Congress in consequence of the in
formation they had imparted and of this advice and ac
tion, fortunately prevented the precipitation of hostilities
in which the United States would have been confronted
by the combined armies of France and Spain, bound to
gether by a family compact.
In, February of 1787, during the absence of General
Logan in Virginia, f a band of Indians from Chickamauga
perpetrated several murders in Lincoln county, among
them that of a man named Luttrell. Colonel John Logan,
(a younger brother of General Logan) who was second in
command in Lincoln, hastily gathered a considerable
party, struck the trail of the murderers, followed it into
Tennessee, captured the horses that had been stolen, and
slew a number of the depredators. He then struck the
trail of another band of Indians, followed it into the
Cherokee country, killed seven of the Indians and wounded
others, and captured their horses and a large lot of game
and furs. The last mentioned band was a party of Chero
kees returning to their homes from a hunting expedition,
who claimed to be peaceful, and who were protected by
the treaty of Hopewell, which had been made with that
*0n the Sth of the same month, Mr. Madison wrote to Governor
Randolph, suggesting, if it could be done under no other provision, that
Clark should be proceeded against under the " act of the last session
(of the Virginia Assembly) concerning treason and other offenses com
mitted -without the Commonwealth." [Madison Papers, Vol. IL, page
630.] t He had gone to Richmond to settle the accounts of his expedition
against the Mad river Shawanese.
6

82 The Spanish Conspiracy.
tribe. The attack upon them was asserted to have been
mistake or accident ; and then was palliated on the groun(
that two of the horses captured from them had beei
stolen in Lincoln county not long before, one of whicl
belonged to Hary Innes. {Letters of Ben. Logan, Har,
Innes, Arthur Campbell, and Joseph Martin, in Virginia Stat
Paper,'?.] The greatest exciteraent at once spread through
out the Indian country. Retaliations by the Indians o
course follo\ved. In fact a general outbreak, not only bj
the Cherokees, but by other warlike tribes of the south-
ern Indians, was with the utmost difficulty prevented
About the same time other forays were made upon Ohic
and Indiana savages, by Robert Todd, Colonel Oldham
and others, and these northern Indians also were in
cluded in treaties recently concluded. Colonel Joseph
Alartin, the Indian agent in Tennessee, Colonel Arthiii
Campbell, -^vho commanded the militia in South-western
A^irginia, and the agents elsewhere, laid the complaints oi
the Cherokees and other Indians before Governor Randolph,
-ft'bo, in consequence, addressed a letter to Hary Innes,
directing him as the attorney-general ofthe district, "to
institute the proper legal inquiries for indicating the in
fractions of the peace " by " the late hostilities committed
against the Indians," — meaning thereby the raids of Col.
John Logan, Robert Todd, and other similar unauthorized
expeditious of recent occurrence. * This letter, however
found Air. Innes in a very different state of mind from that
in which he had joined in the protests against the iUicit
schemes of Green and the violent conduct of Clark at

¦* The foUo-wing is the letter in full, viz : " Richmond, May 1, 1787.
Sir:— We have reason to beheve that the late hostilities committed
on the Indians, have caused their resentments. It is the duty of gov-
emmpnt to prevent and punish, if possible, all unjust violences. I
beg leave, therefore, to urge you to institute the proper legal inquiries
for indicatmg the infractions of the peace.
I am, sir, your most obedient servant,
^.. -r-r -. Edm. Ranholph.
Mr. Hary Inxes,
Attorney-General, Kentucky.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 83
Vincennes. Certainly he had not up to that time publicly
advocated, and it may well be doubted if he had even
contemplated, the schemes which his response to Governor
Randolph's communication shows that he meditated when
that response was made. That response was in many
ways remarkable, but in nothing more than as a revelation
of the motives by which Mr. Innes, holding office under
Virginia, was animated in the transactions of the near
future. By pleading their vagueness, he evaded compli
ance with the directions of the governor.
For the information of that functionary he enumerated
the several minor raids to which he knew tlie governor's
letter referred. The situation was summed up by the as
sertion that " The Indians have been very troublesome on
our frontiers, and still continue to molest us." This was
stated to prepare the way for and to justify this: "From
which circumstance I am decidedly of opinion that
this western country will, in a few years, Pevolt from the
Union, and endeavor to erect an Independent Government ; for
under the present system, we can not exert our strength,
neither does Congress seem disposed to protect us, for we
are informed that those very troops which Congress di
rected the several states to raise for the defense of the
western country are disbanded. I have just droj^ped this
hint to your Excellency for refiection ; if some step is not
taken for protection, a little time will prove the truth
of the opinion." The letter concludes thus : " I have
been requested by the Attorney-General for the Eastern
District to carry into effect such measures as should ap
pear to be necessary for punishing General Clark and oth
ers for their conduct at Vincennes last fall, and make re
port to him. This direction, I perceive to be authorized
by the order of the Council of the 28th of February,
whereby the Attorney-General is directed to call upon the
attorney of Kentucky, etc. The honor and dignity of
this district call upon me to disavow such a jDower, and
that it is the Executive alone who are to call upon me
in cases of this nature, and to them alone am I to make
report. I shall be always happy to receive the counsel and

84 The Spanish Conspiracy.
advice of the Attorney- General of the Eastern District,
but never can acknowledge him as my superior." *

* The foUowing is the letter in full, as pubished in the Virginia State
Papers, and as compared with the original for the writer, viz :
Hary Ixxes to His Excellency, Edml'xd Randolph.
Kentucky, July 21st.J Sir: Your Excellency's letter, of theist of
Mav, was delivered to me on the r.th inst., and alter reflecting on the
contents, I feel myself constrained to ask of the Executive in what ca
pacity they view me, because, from the tone of your letter it would he
construed that I was vested with some executive powere. Your letter
directs me to institute the proper legal inquiries for indicating the in
fractions of the peace. How I am to proceed on that business from so
vague a direction, I know not. In my official capacity I can not do it;
in a private capacity, it would render me odious. But from whom I am
to inquire, or against whom your Excellency wishes a prosecution to be
instituted, your Excellency's letter is silent.
If your Excellency calls upon me in a private capacity, I shall be ever
ready and wiUing to give you such information, as far as may come to
my knowledge, of any matter in which the weal of the state may be in
terested, and shall now give you the information on the subject which
your letter refers to, viz : Colonel John Logan's excursion in February
last and some others.
Indians had made their appearance upon our south-eastern fron
tiers at several different times in the fall and winter. Some of our
hunters had been attacked, and early in February one of our citi
zens kUled at his own house. This induced Colonel John Logan, the
then commanding officer of Lincoln, to raise his corps to range on the
waters of the Cumberland, and to rendezvous at or near the place where
the person had been killed, which was on the branch of Green river.
Within a few mUes of the place of rendezvous Colonel Logan came
upon the traU of the Indians, who, it was supposed, had committed the
murder. He followed and overtook them, killed seven, and got posses
sion of the horaes and skins they had along, among which was a val
uable mare of mine and horse belonging to a Mr. Blaine, of Lincohi,
also a rifle gun, which was well known to belong to a person who was
murdered in October in the •wilderness, on his journey to this district.
Judge from these facts of the innocence of the Cherokees.
Since the excursion of Colonel Logan, one hath been made by some
volunteers from Fayette and Bourbon, under the command of Colonel
Robert Todd, to the Scioto, in consequence of an information received
from the Shawanese of the hostile conduct of a small tribe, said to be
Cherokees, who had settled on Paint creek. Upon this occasion three
were killed and seven taken, who have since made their escape.
Last faU an excursion was made to the Saline by some volunteers
from Nelson, under Captain Hardin, who feU in with some Indians,
thi-ee or four of whom he killed, and put the others to flieht. Another

The Spanish Conspiracy. 85
The Attorney-General for the Eastern District at the
time was the younger brother of Hary Innes,— the gaUant
soldier, the stainless patriot, the gifted orator, Colonel
James Innes.
Hary Innes, when he wrote this letter, was of mature
years, and 'had had large experience in public affairs.
Certainly such a letter was not written without the gravest
consideration by its author. Assuredly he did not make
the prediction that the country of which he was an influ
ential citizen would soon " Revolt from the Union," when
neither he nor any of his acquaintances contemplated a
step so important! Beyond peradventure, the action so
confidently predicted had been discussed in his presence
and by his friends, and among thera had so considerable a
hath been made from Jefferson the last of May, under Major Oldham,
upon the waters of the Wabash, but nothing was done. The Indians
have been very troublesome on our frontiers, and still continue to mo
lest us, from which circumstance I am decidedly of opiniou^that this
western country Wilkin a .few~years,_Revcni'Trom ,the Union and - en
deavor to erect an Independent Government; for, under the present sys
tem, we can not exert our strength, neither does Congress seem dis
posed to protect us, for we are informed that those very troops which
Congress directed the several states to raise for the defense of the west
ern country are disbanded. I have just dropped this hint to your Ex
cellency for matter of reflection ; if some step is not taken for protec
tion, a little time will prove the truth of the opinion. Before I close
my letter, my duty to support the dignity of this district compels me to
remonstrate against a late order of Council. I have been requested by
the Attorney General for the Eastern District to carry into effect such
measures as should appear to be necessary for punishing General Clark
and others for their conduct at Vincennes last fall, and make report to
him. This direction, I perceive, to be authorized by the order of Council,
of the 28tli of February,whereby the Attorney-General is directed to call
upon the Attorney General of Kentucky, etc.
The honor of the dignity of this district call upon me to disavow such
a power, and that it is the Executive alone who are to call upon me
in cases of this nature, and to them alone am I to make a report.
I shall always be happy to receive the counsel and advice of the At
torney General of the Eastern District, but never can acknowledge him
as my superior.
I have the honor to be your Excellency's most obedient servant,
Hary Innes.

86 The Spanish Conspiracy.
following that they felt sure of success in the movement.
The letter is not a mere friendly note of information and
warning to the Governor. It is an argument for, and an
attempted justification of, the predicted " Revolt from the
Union," which the writer hoped, not less than he believed,
would soon be made as he announced, and which he, a
law officer of Virginia, was prepared to advocate and
maintain. He did not oppose, but favored it. The whole
trend ofhis conduct during the ensuing months was to no
other end.
That this was his deliberate purpose is made absolutely
certain by a peculiar incident, to the nature of which the
attention of the reader is now expressly called : ITineteen
years after this letter was written by Hary Innes — in
1806 — when he was Judge of the Federal District Court
of Kentucky, he, together with General Jaraes Wilkin
son, Judge Sebastian and Honorable John Brown, were
charged in editorials and communications in a newspaper
called the Western World, with having been implicated in
an intrigue with Spain to erect Kentucky into an Inde
pendent State, to then separate the State so erected from
the Federal Union, and to form an aUiance with Spain,
for the ostensible purpose of obtaining the freedom ofthe
navigation of the Mississippi. The charge was bitterly
denied by Innes and his friends, and was denounced as a
vile calumny, and as the emanation of personal malice,
having no foundation in truth. It was alleged in his be
half, as well as in that of Wilkinson, Sebastian and Brown,
that they were in favor of separating Kentucky from Vir
ginia, and of erecting the district into an independent state,
but that the separation they urged was from Virginia only,
and not from the Union, which, it was asserted, was never
for a moment contemplated by any of them. The ablest of
the writers iu their defense was AVUliam Littell, a lawyer of
considerable Uterary abiUty, then living in Frankfort. At
the soUcitation of John Brown, and on the promise of a
liberal compensation for his labor, Littell was induced, in
the fall of 1806, to publish a pamphlet in defense of these
men, the information contained in which was furnished to

The Spanish Conspiracy. 87
him by John Brown and Hary Innes; the papers in the
Appendix of which were prepared and furnished to him by
Hary Innes; for writing which he was paid by John
Brown, Hary Innes and Thomas Todd ;* the printing of
which was paid for by Hary Innes, John Brown, Thomas
Todd and Caleb Wallace ; which was circulated by tliem ;
"the statements in which were made in their interest, and
were by them communicated to Littell and vouched for to
the public, to whose confidence and sympathy this appeal
was made in their behalf; and for the accuracj?^, sincerity
and integrity of which they were as responsible as if their
names had been signed to its every statement and to the
copy of every document. This pamphlet was entitled '
"A ISTarrative of Political Transactions in Kentucky, by
Wm. Littell." It dwells at length upon the alleged
grievances Kentucky had sustained at the hands of Vir
ginia and Congress.
In the Appendix, marked " Ifo. X.," was published

-*In the suit for libel brought by Hary Innes, against Humphrey Mar
shall, Littell was made a witness by Marshall, and gave his deposition
on the 10th of November, 1812. He deposed " that he received the
documents forming the Appendix of that book late in the fall of 1806,
and that he received them from Hary Innes, the plaintiff in this cause ;"
that several months after he had published articles in the Palladium
in answer to the attacks made upon Innes, Brown & Co., in the Western
World, " Mr. John Brown called on this deponent and told him, ' we
(not mentioning any names,) have concluded to have a pamphlet
published, containing a number of documents and animadversions on
them, and, as we are pleased with your style, we would wish you to do
it, or words to that import;' that upon his suggesting a want of time,
|Brown said, 'we mean to make you a liberal compensation,' that he
undertook the work, was ' referred to Mr. Innes for the documents,
received them, and wrote the book with all practicable expedition ; '
when called on to state his charge for his labor, he did so ; was paid $50
by Innes, and that he ' received the residue of the compensation from
Mr. John Brown and Colonel Thomas Todd, as far as he knows and
believes. Mr. Brown he knows did pay him, and either Mr. Brown or
Mr. Innes, he does not remember which, paid him some money in the
name of or in behalf of Colonel Todd.' " The original deposition from
which these extracts are taken is among the records of the Mercer Cir
cuit Court. Wm. Hunter, the printer, testifled that he was paid for
publishing the pamphlet by Hary Innes, John Brown, Caleb Wallace
and Thomas Todd.

88 The Spanish Conspiracy.
what purported to have been a true andL faithful copy ofthe
letter written by Innes to Governor Randolph, which pre
tended copy was furnished to Littell by Judge Innes him
self, to be laid before the public. But the pamphlet shows
upon its own face that from the copy placed before the peo
ple, the words, " Revolt prom the Union," which were in
the letter written to the Governor, were stricken out ; and
that the sentence was changed to read thus : " From
which circumstance I am decidedly of opinion that this
western country will, in a few years, act for themselves,
and erect an independent government," etc. And when
Humphrey Marshall, the historian, who had only the
version published by Littell, charged and demonstrated
that, by the logic of the circumstances under which the
words were used, they could only mean a government in
dependent of the Union, he was answered by Innes and his
friends that this construction originated in the malice of
the accuser, and was slanderous and false ; that the words
meant simply a state government independent of Virginia,
but forming a jaart of the Union, a separation from which,
they asserted, had never for an instant been considered by
Innes. But the reader has the advantage of knowing
what Innes actually did write to Governor Randolph, —
which H[uniphrey Marshall did not know, — and from his
own written words possesses indubitable proof that no in
justice was done to Innes by liumphrey Marshall's
animadversions upon this letter. By suppressing these
words in the manner shown, Innes manifested his own
painful consciousness of their unerring import, as well as
of the conclusions that would inevitably be reached by all
who should ascertain that he had used them. The neces
sity which drove Judge Innes to the deceit involved in
this suppression of his own written words, and to the sub
stitution therefor of others, which he and his friends
denied possessed the meaning which was directly conveyed
by those he had really written, was most urgent. Colonel
John Mason Brown, the self-constituted champion of
Judge Innes, in a note at the bottom of page 83 of his " Po
litical Beginnings," refers to the ].)age in the Virginia

The Spanish Conspiracy. 89
State Papers, on which this letter, as it was written by Innes
to Governor Randolph, is pubUshed, which shows that he
had read the correct copy of that letter. He quoted from
that letter the words which immediately follow the sup
pressed and altered passage, but carefully suppressed thC'
significant words by which the quoted passage was pre
ceded, aud which Innes hiraself had suppressed in the pre
tended copy published by Littell. It is thus made appa
rent that Colonel Brown was aware of the discrepancy be
tween the letter as it was actually written by Innes and
the false copy thereof published by Littell, and was con
scious that the Une of defense which he had adopted for
Innes, in 1890, prohibited the publication of what Innes
himself had suppressed, in 1806.*

-*'The subjoined is a copy of the " copy" of the letter as published in
Littell's ¦' iV"arraii-iic" by Judge Innes. By noting the discrepancy be
tween the original and the pretended copy, the reader will easily de
tect the nature of the artifice practiced by Judge Innes and his motive
therefor. Kentucky, July 21, 1789.
Sir— Your excellency's letter of the 1st of May, delivered to me on
the 6th inst., and after reflecting on the contents I feel myself constrained
to ask of the executive in what capacity they view me ? Because from
the tenor of your letter it would be construed that I was vested with
some executive powers ; your letter directs me to institute the proper
legal inquiries for indicating the infractions of the peace.
In my official capacity I can not do it ; in a private capacity it would
render me odious. But of whom I am to inquire, or against whom your
excellency wishes a prosecution to be instituted, your letter is silent.
If your excellency calls upon me in a private capacity, I shall be ever
ready and wUling to give you such information as far as may come
to my knowledge, of any matter in which the weal of the State may be
interested; and shall now give you the information on tho subject
which your letter refers to, viz.: Colonel John Logan's excursion in
February last and some others. Indians had made their appearance
upon our south-eastern frontiers at several different times in the fall
and winter;- some of our hunters had been attacked, and early in Feb
ruary one of our citizens killed at his own house ; this induced Colonel
John Logan, the then commanding officer of Lincoln, to raise his corps
to range on the waters of Cumberland, and to rendezvous at or near the
place where the person had been killed, which was on the brancli of
Green river. Within a few miles of the place of rendezvous. Colonel
Logan came upon the trail of the Indians, who it was supposed had
committed the murder. He followed and overtook them, killed several

90 • The Spanish Conspiracy.
The omission of those -ivords, pregnant with meaning
and containing the very kernel of the issue in contro
versy, and the rearrangement of the sentence by Innes,
were not accidental, nor was the suppression without a
distinct design -ndiich is too obvious to require to be stated.
The undeniable fact which stands out, that Judge Innes,
who was as amiable in his social relations as his official
station was dignified, did this thing is too painful to be
dwelt upon; the nature of the act is one upon which
every reader will make his own comment ; nor does the
writer care to inquire further into the motive for the de
liberate connivance at this suppression by the critical
essayist, who has so wantonly resurrected these old con
troversies from the grave in which they had slumbered
for more than half a century. The^incident here related
and got possession of the skins and horses they had along, among
which was a valuable mare of mine and a horse belonging to a Mr.
Blain, of Lincoln ; also, a rifle gun which was well known to belong to
a person who was murdered in the wilderness in October last on his
journey to this district. Judge from these facts of the innocence of the
Cherokees. ."^ince the excursion by Colonel Logan, one hath been
made by some volunteers from Fayette and Bourbon under the com
mand of Colonel Robert Todd, to the Scioto, in consequence of informa
tion received from the Shawnees of the hostile conduct of a small tribe
said to be Cherokees, who had settled on Paint creek. Upon this occasion
three were kUled and seven taken, who have since made their escape.
Last fall an excursion was made to the Saline by some volunteers from
Iselson, under Captain Hardin, who fell in with some Indians, three or
four of nhom he killed, and the others put to flight.
Another hath been made from Jefferson in June last under Major
Oldham, upon the waters of the Wabash. Nothing was done. Indians
have been very troublesome on our frontiers, and still continue to mo
lest us; from which circumstance I am decidedly of opinion that this
western country will, in a few years, act for themselves and erect an in
dependent .government ; for under the present system we can not exert
our strength. Neither does Congress seem disposed to protect us, for
we are informed that those very troops which Congress directed the
several States to raise for the defense of the western country are dis
banded. I have just dropped this hint to your excellency for matter of
reflection. If some step is not taken for our protection a "little time wUl
prove the truth of the opinion. hhave the honor to be, etc.
_, Hary Ixnes.
Governor Randolph.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 91
is even less important as declaring the real sentiments and
proclivities of Judge Innes when the letter was written,
than it is significant of his capabilities under pressure,
and typical of all the methods employed in the defense of
John Brown, Judge Innes, AVilkinson and Sebastian, from
Littell's " Political Transactions," in 1806, to Colonel
Brown's "Political Beginnings," in 1890.

92 The Spanish Conspiracy.

CHAPTER VI.
Brown- .^nd Ixnes, after Giving Governor Randolph the Information
WHICH Induced the Censure of C'lark, Conceal that Fact from
THE People and Falsely Contend that he was Censured because
he Conducted an E.vpeditiox Acjainst the Indians — False Pre
tense THAT Ben Logan was also Censured for the SA>rE Reason —
Colonel J. il. Brows Discovers the Trick of His Gr-vn-dfathee
.A.ND Imitates it — His Efforts to Cast a Slur upon Colonel !Mae-
SHALL.
Another incident immediately connected with -n'hat has
been stated in the foregoing, and ot like essential nature,
will further aid the reader in forming a just appreciation
of the character of the defense made for these men, by
themselves, and by their most recent and most hardy
champion ; and -ndll in a measure prepare him for the
developments hereafter to be made in these pages.
After stating the eftbrts made by Governor Henry in the
spring of 1786 to secure immediate action by Congress
for an ofleusive movement against the Indians, the Littell
pamphlet, in Chapter III, proceeds : " The obstinate in
attention of Congress to these representations induced the
executive of Virginia to give some very general directions
to the county lieutenants of the district. Under these in
structions two expeditions -svere carried on against the
Indians north ofthe Ohio; one under the command of
General Clark against the Wabash tribes, the other by
Colonel Benjamin Logan against the Shawanese." A little
further on in the same chapter, referring to the spring of
ITbT, occurs this passage :
" In the spring of this j-ear, the Indians infected and seemed likely
to overrun the whole country. Great depredations were committed m
almost everj- quarter. Congress though repeatedly urged by the executive
of Virginia, pertmaciously refused to afford the people any protection,
and without assigning any reason for the measure, disbanded the troops
which had apparently heen raised for that purpo.se. And the executive
of Virginia now am-iured the officers who projected and conducted the

The Spanish Conspiracy. 93
two expeditions mentioned in the last (this) chapter as conducted by
General Clark and Colonel Logan, in consequence of orders received
from the executive."
The " ISTarrative," contiuuing to dwell upon the " dis
tressing situation " of the country, then recounts the con
duct of the Cherokees ; the raid of Colonel John Logan ;
the complaint of the Indian agent (Colonel Joseph Mar
tin,) ; the instruction of the governor to Innes to "insti
tute the proper legal inquiries for indicating the infraction
of the treaty," (a misquotation) ; and the reply of Innes.
It was plainly the intention to convey by these statements
the idea, that General Clark and Benjamin Logan were
censured by the executive of Virginia /or " projecting and
conducting," and because they had so "projected and con
ducted," the two expeditions in question ; and such would
indubitably be the impression received by any one who
reads these statements and who is uninformed as to the
real facts, with which all the parties who paid for the
writing and printing of Littell's pamphlet were fully ac
quainted. These facts were then, and are now : That no
censure was ever passed by the executive of Virginia*
upon General Clark for having " projected and conducted "
his expedition against the Wabash Indians ; that the
charges brought against him for misconduct which occa
sioned the failure of that expedition were preferred by his
own officers, but no censure was cast upon him by the
executive on that account ; that the censure which the
executive did pass upon General Clark related exclusively
to his conduct at Vincennes, subsequent to the abandon
ment of the expedition, not so much for assuming to re
cruit men and commission officers without legal authority,
but particularly for his seizure upon the property of Span
ish merchants there and in the Illinois, in violation of the
laws of nations, and in derogation of the dignity of the
state ; and that this censure was induced by the representa
tions of, and proof furnished by, Hary Innes, John Brown
and Caleb Wallace, (among others) — the very men who

* Patrick Henry had ceased to be Governor, and was succeeded by
Edmund Randolph, who was the executive alluded to.

94 The Spanish Conspiracy.
cited this action as a manifestation of the ill will of the
governor to Kentucky and as one of the acts which, they
alleged, drove her people to exasperation. That they
might by this complaint against Virginia concUiate the
favor of the numerous and influential relatives of Clark,
these men did not scruple to conceal from them, as well as
from the people to whose confidence and generous sympa
thy they appealed, that the censure passed upon him was
produced by their own letter. That the imposture might
succeed, and that the people might be persuaded that
Clark was humiliated because he had defended them
against the Indians, Judge Innes, (one of whose omis
sions from his letter to Randolph, in the pretended copy
thereof he published in Littell, has already been noted,)
found it equally necessary to omit, and did omit, from the
same alleged copy the passage in the original, in which he
declined to obey the directions to prosecute Clark
" for his conduct at A^incennes," — the publication of
which would have disclosed the true ground for the cen
sure, and thus have defeated the object of the statement.
The dead Logan could not oppose to the assertion that he
had been censured by the governor that scornful denial it
would have met had he been alive. But as it affected him,
the statement was even more destitute of truth than it
was as relating to Clark. That Judge Innes himself did
not then construe the letter of the governor (of May 1,
1787) concerning the " late hostilities committed on the
Indians," to refer to the authorized expeditions in the pre
vious September and October, but only to the minor unau
thorized excursions which had recently been made by John
Logan, Todd and others, is apparent from his own reply ;
whUe the proclamation of the governor and the order of
the council, disavowing the conduct of Clark at Vincennes,
on their own face show that neither had application to
Benjamin Logan, nor to his expedition, nor to any act in
which he had participated or for which he was in any way
responsible. Aside from the pamphlet issued by Innes and Brown,
in 1806, and the work of Colonel John Mason Brown in

The Spanish Conspiracy. 95
1890, no book ever published contains an intimation upon
which this injurious statement concerning Logan could
have been based. There is not a suggestion of such a thing
in the Virginia State Papers. A careful search among the
archives at Richmond failed to discover a single line giv
ing it the shadow of countenance.* He was not included
in the terms of, nor in any honest implication that can be
drawn from, the censure visited upon Clark, nor was any
reproach cast upon him by any governor throughout his
long, useful and honorable mUitary career. The state
ment in Littell was wholly an invention, the motive for
which is perceptible. The purpose ofthe "Narrative"
was, by the raost gross exaggerations, to raake it appear
that Congress and Virginia were distinctly hostile to Ken
tucky, and that this hostility was so flagitiously mani
fested as would have justified almost any act of which the
people, in their alleged desperation, might have been
guilty. As a fiagrant illustration of this hostility, the
pretense was made that Clark was censured for projecting
and conducting his expedition against the Wabash In
dians. But an incredulous reader might have asked, if this
was the cause of the censure, why was it solely visited upon
Clark who marched to the Wabash and then marched
back again, without meeting an Indian ; while Logan,
who burned eight of the largest Shawnee towns, ravaged
their corn-fields, killed hundreds of their cattle and more
than a score of their warriors, was left unrebuked? The
coupling of Logan with Clark, as having been included in
and aggrieved by the censure pronounced upon the latter,
was deemed necessary in anticipation of such inconvenient
inquiries. Colonel John Mason Brown, however, was not beset by
the temptations which harassed his grandfather and Innes
when so hardly pressed by the Western World. He rested
under no sore necessity other than that imposed upon him
by the task which he had of his own accord assumed.
Yet, in his "Political Beginnings " occurs this remarkable
passage :

*Made by Colonel Raleigh Colston at my instance.

96 The Spanish Conspiracy.
" Clark had been striving with desperate valor and tenacity of pur
pose to hold Vincennes and Illinois.*' Logan had completely seconded
him hurrying back from the AVabasht to make an attack on the Mad
river towns of the Shawnees. Their incredible toil, patriotic sacrifice
of time and estate, and all their splendid services extorted nothing bet
ter than a chilling rebuke. No sooner had Patrick Henry entered the
office of governor (in December, 1786) than the evil days began for
George Rogers Clark and the policy he represented. The new governor
of Virginia (Edmund Randolph) was quickly apprised by private let-
terst from Kentucky, that, " General George R. Clark had undertaken,
without authority, to raise recruits, nominate officers and impress pro
visions in the District of Kentucky for the defense of the Post of Vin
cennes, and had for that purpose also seized the property of Spanish
subjects contrary to the law of nations.? Governor Randolph gave all
the offense and irritation possible in proceeding upon this apparently
anonymous inform ation.H He wrote to Hary Innes, Attorney General
for tlie district of Kentucky, adverting in very general terms to the
complaints that had reached him, and instructed him in vague lan-

'* Clark had as much valor and tenacity as any one, but it did not re
quire a great deal of either to hold Vincennes, which was not at that
time threatened. And as for the Illinois, he had no men there at all
except the squads he sent to seize upon the property of unoffending
Spanish traders, whom they effectually cleaned out of all they had that
was valuable. (See Harmer's letters in the St. Clair Papers.)
tThe proceedings of the council of field officers held at the camp
near Clarksville, on the 13th of September, 1786, show that Logan then
and there left Clark to return to Kentucky to prepare for his expedition
against the Shawnees. Logan was not nearer than Clarksville to the
"Wabash, whither Colonel Brown found it necessary to transport him, to
connect him with Clark and to include him in the censure passed upon
the latter.
t The private letters were those signed by John Brown, Hary Innes,
Wilkinson, "Wallace and others, which will be found on former pages of
this book.
? Here Colonel Brown referred to a note at the bottom of page 322,
Vol. 4, Virginia Calendar State Papers. This note relates to the letters
noted just above, but does not either fully or accurately state their con
tents, and gives the name of Thomas MarshaU only as the author.
Exactly why the names of the others were not given, or why that of Col
onel MarshaU was selected, out of the sixteen, to be given as the
author, is not by me fuUy understood, unless it may have been that his
was the flrst name signed to the paper. The note in the State Papers is
misleading. ^ What Colonel Brown styles " this apparently anonymous information"
was the letter signed by his own grandfather, by Hary Innes, Caleb
WaUace, James Wilkinson, Christopher Greenup, George Muter, Rich
ard Taylor, Thomas Marshall and eight other prominent citizens. But

The Spanish Conspiracy. 97
guage " to institute the proper legal inquiries for indicating the infrac
tions of the peace."" The answer of Innes was characteristically
frank. He showed how there was not enough of distinct direction in
the governor's letter to warrant any official procedure. But he im
proved the occasion to warn the governor that such persistent neglect
(both Federal and on the part of Virginia,) to protect the Kentucky
frontiers, coupled with complaintst against the men, who, being thus
neglected, protected themselves, and followed by official prosecutions of
leaders like Clark and Loganf [Benjamin] would almost certainly drive
the people to desperation, and, he added, for the executive's informa
tion: "I have just dropped the hint to your excellency for matter of
reflection; if some step is not taken for protection a little time will
prove the truth of the opinion." § Clark wisely refused to be provoked
by the instructions that came from the Attorney General of Virginia
directing Innes to institute a criminal prosecution. Logan quietly re
tired to his farm  "
Benjamin Logan died in 1802, in blissful ignorance that
he had ever been subjected to the "chilling rebuke" from
Governor Randolph, which Colonel Brown, following in the
footsteps of his grandfather and Innes, incorrectly states
that the hero received.^ It is true that Logan " quietly
retired to his farm after a successful campaign," but only
as it was equally true of all other, militia officers of that
day, when they were not engaged in active service. But
that he did this in consequence of any " chilling rebuke"
which had been administered to him, as Colonel Brown
intended to have it believed, is wholly untrue. He re
mained quietly ou his farm but a short time. The month
the gaUant Colonel, on a later page, imputes it to Colonel Marshall
alone. ¦* The letter of the governor, as already stated, related exclusively to
the " late hostUities committed against the Indians," by Colonel John
Logan, Todd, et. al., and had no reference to Clark.
t The complaints against Clark were preferred by Innes himself, as
well as by Brown, WaUace and others.
t No prosecution of Ben. Logan was ever proposed. The threat that
Kentucky would " Revolt from the Union " was not made in connection
with the directions concerning Clark.
§ Here Colonel Brown discreetly faUs to mention that the mode in
which the exasperation would vent itself, in Innes' opinion, was by a
"Revolt from the Union."
H A sketch of General Logan and some account of his descendants
was published in "Historie Families of Kentucky," by the present writer.
7

98 The Spanish Conspiracy.
of January, 1787,* found him in Richmond, where he was
treated with respectful consideration by the governor and
council, with whora he settled the accounts of his expe
dition, which the General Assembly ordered to be paid.
Orders were given that the arms and araraunition which
the Assembly had voted for the defense of Kentucky
should be delivered to him, on the Dick's river. (See bond
of John Jouitt, Joseph Crockett and Richard Terrill, State
Papers, Vol. IX., page 226.) He continued to occupy
the position of the first officer in coramand in Kentucky,
and to honorably discharge its duties, until the change in
the form of the Federal Government in 1789. By Gov
ernor Randolph he was on several occasions called upon to
perform important services, and was invariably addressed
with courtesy, and there was manifested towards him that
confidence which his high character was so well calculated
to inspire. The records show that it was upon him his
fellow citizens relied to pacify the Cherokees. It was he
who held the council at Limestone with the Shawnees,
where he restored to them the wives and son of the aged
Moluntha, whom the savage McGary had murdered; he
had given them a refuge in his own home. His active in
fluence in all military affairs in the district continued to
be in every direction exerted. j

*The General Assembly had previously taken action for the defense
of the district, such as was satisfactory to the Kentucky representatives
in that body. One of these representatives. Colonel Joseph Crockett, in
a letter to the governor, bearing date November 27, 1786, gave this testi
mony : " Since he has had the honor of a seat in the legislature he had
observed with pleasure that the Executive was doing all in their power
for the welfare and safety of the western frontier." [State Papers, vol.
IV., page 185.]
t General Logan was not, however, altogether free from smaU annoy
ances. One of these, as it appears from his letter to Governor Randolph,
[State Paper.?, vol. IV., p. 267] was the "private recommendation" which
he had been informed and believed had been made by Innes and Muter,
"for four gentlemen to be commissioned by Congi-ess to transact Indian
affairs in the destrict of Kentucky,'' which would have supplanted Logan.
The letter, which is full of good sense and bad speUing, breathes a lofty
contempt for the men who, as the author alleged, while engaged in this
work privately, were, to his face continually sounding his praises. The

The Spanish Conspiracy. 99
The letter of Hary Ipnes in reply to Governor Randolph
fully informed Colonel Brown that the directions of the
governor had no application, and that Innes did not under
stand them to apply, to Benjamin Logan nor to his expedi
tion. Even if Colonel Brown never saw the proceedings of
the council or the proclamation of the governor convey
ing the censure, he knew that it did not apply to General
Logan or to any of his acts, and that no directions had
ever been issued to Innes to institute proceedings against
him. The letter which elicited the action of the council
and governor against Clark, with the names of all its six
teen conspicuous signers, was published in Billon's History
of Indiana. The Western Annals made known that, albeit
he afterwards evaded the direction to prosecute Clark,
Judge Innes was one of those who gave the governor the
information which induced that direction. Perrin's His
tory of Kentucky names Wilkinson as one of the signers
of that letter, and mentions the number and respectability
of the others. If Colonel Brown can be presumed to
have been really ignorant, that what he describes as " ap
parently anonymous information," was a letter signed by
his own grandfather and Innes, and by their friends Wal
lace and Wilkinson, and others, then his historical reading
was neither so thorough nor so extensive as his admirers
would persuade people to believe. If he was misled by
the note in the State Papers, which he cited aud from which
he quoted ; if he really supposed that the letter which was
signed by his grandfather and fifteen others, proceeded
from Thomas Marshall alone, he nevertheless certainly
knew, that his statement that Randolph had proceeded
"upon apparently anonymous information," was exactly
the reverse of correct. Whatever his motive in this, it
assuredly was not one of delicate consideration for the
sensibilities of the descendants of Colonel Thomas Mar-

brave man wrote : "But notwithstanding these little twists can be made
by Indiveduals and Gentlemen of Destinktion, let their Reasons Either
be self Intrust or predjudice, it shall have no effect on me to neglect
any Matter of Buisness wherein the Intrust of Kentucky is so much
depending."

100 The Spanish Conspiracy.
shaU, for he was the person -whom (a little farther on) he
intended to stigmatize as " an envious correspondent."
But, if he knew that the information was vouched for
by the names of sixteen of the most x>rorainent men iu
the district and was true, and yet, (seeking to pander to
the pride of Clark's relatives,) had an object in making it
appear that not only was the governor's action harsh and
unjust, but that it was induced by idleand " envious" re
ports entitled to no credence ; and if he knew that his
grandfather and Hary Innes were two of the men who
furnished this information, and yet, to propitiate the favor
of Clark's relatives for the flimsy defense of John Brown
he had undertaken, -^vished to conceal from them and the
public his participation in the responsibility for the repre
sentations on which the censure was based;* — in that

¦» Referring to the "Ordinance of 1787," for the government of the
north-western territory, and providing for the future creation of states
out of the territory ceded by Virginia to the United States, on page 85 of
" Political Beginnings," ColonelBrown saj-s : " It (Congress) fcoM^^/ declared
that the most western of these 'new states' 'should extend from the
Wabash to the Mississippi.' The line of Clark's conquest was assumed
as the national boundary toward the west. The benefit of aU his labors
were appropriated, while even yet an envious correspondent was report
ing to General Randolph that Vincennes was obstinately reinforced and
held against Spaniard and Indian by Clark without authority.'' In or
der to point out the person whom he described as " an envious corres
pondent," ColonelBrown then cited the note at the bottom of page 322
of the Virginia State Papers (Vol. IV) which names Thomas Marshall
alone as the author of the letter in question, which was signed by
Brown, Innes, their friend AVilkinson and others. While the reader
will appreciate the fine enthusiasm of Colonel Brown, he will be at a
loss to understand the peculiar quality of that holdness in Congress,
which was involved in the declaration that the most western of the new-
states to be erected out of the north-western territory should extend
from the Wabash to the JMississippi, where the treaty with Great Britain
four years before had fixed our western boundary. The rhetorical effect of
this brilliant passage is so very fine that one involuntarily regrets that
its historical value should be impaired by the irrepressible facts, that the
Mississippi had been assumed and acknowledged as our western bound
ary years before ; that there was profound peace between the United
States and Spain ; that there was not a Spanish soldier within hundreds
of miles of Vincennes ; that the only Spaniards there, or in the Illinois,
were the unoffending traders whom Clark despoiled of their goods and

The Spanish Conspiracy. 101
case, every one can easily comprehend his motive for sup
pressing the names of those who wrote the letter, and de
scribing it as " apparently anonymous ; " which on any
other hypothesis is wholly unaccountable. And if he was
struck with admiration at the adroitness with which his
grandfather and Innes concealed theraselves, while repre
senting to a credulous people that Clark and Ben. Logan
were censured for protecting them against the Indians ;
and if he deemed their exploit worthy of his own emula
tion, it will sufficiently explain the otherwise incompre
hensible character of his " Political Beginnings."

jfars; and that, after the treaty of 1783 with Great Britain, the only
efforts of Spain to extend her frontiers east of the Mississippi were by
means of the overtures subsequently made by Miro to Wilkinson, and by
Gafdoqui to John Brown, and by de Carondelet to Innes and Sebastian.
vA-fter admiring this eloquent passage in the " Political Beginnings," the ,
reader will not be surprised to find that Col. Brown, warming with his
subject, and referring to the Vincennes episode, stated, on page 123 of that
work, that " Clark and his Kentucky troops had already seized Spanish
posts and confiscated Spanish munitions ; " — as if Vincennes had been
a Spanish fort, or as though the beaver skins of which Clark despoiled
the traders, had been loaded ! And why Colonel MarshaU should have
been " envious " of the gallant and unhappy General Clark, it would
have sorely taxed Colonel Brown's ingenuity to have explained.

102 The Spanish Conspiracy.

CHAPTER VII.
The Convention of 1786 — The General Assembly, for Good Reasons,
Postpones the Date op the Separation — Politicians Seek to In
fluence THE People; but the Convention Loyally Accepts the
Situation — The News of the " Jay- Project " Known in Ken
tucky IN THE F.ALL OF 1786 — PkOOF THAT It WAS KnOWN TO BRCfWN,
Innes and Others Certainly as E.arly as December, 1786 — The
ViRGINI.V AsSEJtELY PaSSES RESOLUTIONS RELATING THERETO IN NO
VEMBER, 1786 — The Action op the General Assembly Known in
Kentucky in January, 1787 — Brown, Innes and Sebastian Knew
OP it BEFORE THEIR CIRCULAR OF MaBCH, 1787 — .ToHN MaSON BrOWn's
Misrepresentations Exposed.
It has been stated that so many of the delegates chosen
to the convention of September, 1786, were engaged in
the expeditions of Clark and Logan, that the few who
asserabled in DanviUe at the appointed time, flnding them
selves without a quorum, in order to keep tbe body legally
alive met and adjourned from day to day until a sufficient
number were present for the transaction of business ; and
that this did not occur until January, 1787. In the mean
time, the reasons why the terms of separation flxed in the
act of the Assembly could not possibly be complied with,
on account of the absence of the members, with a respect
ful request that those terms should be modified to meet
the situation, were embodied in a memorial, which was
for-R'arded to John Marshall, for presentation to the Assem
bly, of which he w-as a member.* This was done by Mr.
¦¦-ilembers had heen elected to the House at the same time that dele
gates to the convention were chosen. These members were: John
Rogers, Joseph Crockett and John Fowler, from Fayette ; Richard Ter
rill and John Campbell, from Jefferson ; John Jouitt, Andrew Hynes,
James Henderson and George Jackson, from other counties. The names
given are all which are preserved. All of these attended the assembly.
John Brown was a member of the Senate, but he did not attend a single
day during the session, remaining in DanvUle attending the convention,
of which he was a member. The reason why the business was entrusted
to Marshall, notwithstanding the presence of these gentlemen, is ob-vious.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 103
Marshall, who failed to secure the alterations desired.
Instead, the Assembly, on the lOtli of January, 1787,
enacted that members of another convention* should be
elected in the ensuing August, to meet in DanviUe, on the
third Monday in September, to whom should be submitted
the question of separation ; in case of affirmative action,
the authority of Virginia was to cease not later than the
first day of January, 1789 ; provided that, prior to the
fourth day of July, 1788, Congress should as.sent to the
erection of the State and provide for her admission into
the Union. This delay was predicated upon the fact that,
so much valuable time having been lost by the absence of
the members of the convention, there was not sufficient
remaining for the convention, and the people f of the
district, to comply with the prescribed conditions wisely
fixed by the original act of separation, in time to enable

¦*Henning's Statutes, Vol. XIL, page 240.
tThe following extract from a letter of John MarshaU to his father.
Colonel Thomas MarshaU, who was a member of the convention, gives
the sound reasons for the delay, which were generally accepted as con
clusive by the convention, to which the contents of the letter were
made known, viz.:
" The act is not precisely such as I wished it to be, nor is it conform
able to the resolutions of the committee before whom I appeared, but
it may, perhaps, be formed on cautious principles ; on principles more
to the peace and harmony of the district than had my wishes (which
were to enable the present convention to decide the question finally)
prevailed. Those, sir, who introduced and passed the law, reasoned
that the power delegated to the convention by the people, to decide
upon a separation, was limited in point of time to a decision to be
made in such time that Congress might consider and determine on the
admission of your State into the Union, by the flrst day of June, 1787,
that an existence for twelve months was given for other purposes
pointed out in the law ; that as you are very much divided among
yourselves, and there does not appear to be in the minority a dispo
sition to submit with temper to the decision of the majority, and the
measures of the convention in consequence of a defect in the original
law, would be liable to some objection. The most safe, unexceptionable
and accommodating plan is to pass a law in which the defects of the
former act may be corrected, and which shall enable the present con
vention either to sit till their term has expired, or to call immediately
a new convention, to the decisions of which the disappointed can make
no objection."

104 The Spanish Conspiracy.
Congress to assent and provide for the adraission of the
new State prior to the first day of June, 1787, as stipulated
in the original act of separation passed by the assembly.
In evidence of the good will which inspired this legislS^
tion, the assembly reiterated its sincere purpose that the
district should become a State under the original condi
tions " whenever the good people thereof so determine and
the United States in Congress shall thereof approee." Con
vinced of the justice of the reasoning on which this delay
was based, John Marshall yielded to the new act a reluct
ant assent, and in a letter which was immediately for
warded to Kentucky, stated the argument which made its
wisdom apparent.* [Littell.]
Late in January, 1787, a quorum of members attended
the convention, by whom it was immediately resolved,
" That it was expedient and the will of the good people of
the district, that the same should become a state separate
frora and independent of Virginia, upon the terms of the
act." Scarcely had the convention time to get down to
its other work, when information was received of the
changes made in the law, which rendered nugatory all
that had been done and made necessary a repetition of all
these preleminary forms, f The keen sense of disappoint
ment experienced by the delegates to the convention was
-''The writer has seen only the extracts from this letter, which were
published in Littell, who states that it was addressed to Colonel Thomas
Marshall. John Mason Brown reproduces those extracts from and
credits them to LitteU, without stating to whom the letter was addressed.
[Political Beginnings, pages 77 and 73.]
t Humphrey Marshall, Vol. I, page 254, states that this information
was received by the president of the convention. Colonel Samuel 51c-
DoweU, " in a letter from a member of the legislature ; " but does not
name the member. On the same page, he states that John Marshall
" by letter, stated the reasons which influenced the general assembly in
passing the new law ; " but he does not state to whom this letter was
addressed. The statements of Littell and Marshall are easily reconciled
on the presumption that the letter ro Colonel IMcDowell was written by
some member of the assembly other than John Marshall, probably by
one of the Kentucky members ; and that the letter of John Blarshall,
in which he explained the motives of the assembly, and referred to its
action concerning Jlr. Jay's suggestion, was to his father. Colonel
Thomas MarshaU.

I tn

The Spanish Conspiracy. 105
natjiral. It was inevitable that among them men were
found who seized upon so favorable an occasion to throw
odium upon the assembly for an act rendered necessary by
occurrences which that body did not control ; and who
endeavored to arouse and inflame the people, not only
against Virginia, but against the Union as well. Still, the
convention adjourned without an outbreak more serious
than ebullitions of passion on the part of some of the
politicians ; by the great body of the people the situation
jwas accepted with becoming moderation. Their conduct
under all environments and incitements was a splendid
illustration of the law-abiding spirit, the patient endur
ance of grievances for which a peaceful remedy may be
had, the steady courage amidst difficulties, and the persist
ent purpose under all discouragements, which, with the
unfaltering faith taught by the Calvinistic philosophy, are
the distinguishing characteristics of the Scotch-Irish race,
which was then so largely dominant in the public affairs of
the district. But now another appeal to passion was made,
another and a greater temptation was oflFered, only to be
resisted and overcome.
— The communication made by Mr. Jay to Congress on
the 3d of September, 1786, when summoned before that
body to explain the obstacles which had prevented the
conclusion of a treaty with Spain ; and the suggestions he
then made, that it would be expedient to rescind the in
structions previously given him by Congress, in order that
he might propose to the Spanish minister a treaty limited
tO' twenty or thirty years, during which time the United
States should "forbear" to navigate the Mississippi below their
southern boundary, were made known in the west in the fall
of the same year. This is shown by the letter of Thomas
G-reen, dated December 4, 1786, prior to which time the
intelligence had been generally circulated throughout the
west. The fact was known in Virginia as early as Octo
ber, and on the 17th of November, 1786, the representa
tives from Kentucky, * and West Virginia, and a number
-* Kentucky then had from ten to fourteen delegates in the assembly.

106 The Spanish Conspiracy.
of officers who had served in the revolution and were in
terested in lands in Kentucky, addressed to the assembly
a memorial remonstrating against the proposition. It will
scarcely be denied that they had the interest of the west
as much at heart as any of the inhabitants thereof. Yet
they resorted to no inflammatory appeals to passion, nor
called a convention, but made known their grievance and
stated their wishes to the legislature of their state, as the
constitutional organ through which an appeal should be
made to Congress. The house of delegates, accordingly,
passed on the 29th of !N"ovember, and the Senate on the
7tli of December, 1786, resolutions, the first of which
states that the action was based upon the remonstrance of
" sundry inhabitants of the western country." * These
resolutions, which were of the most decisive character,
condemned the proposition in the strongest terms, and in
structed the Virginia delegates in Congress never to accede
to " Jay's project." That the exaggerated reports repre
senting that Congress had actually concluded a treaty
with Spain ceding to that power the navigation of the
Mississippi for thirty years, were prevalent throughout
Kentucky and the west in the fall and early winter of
17si;, is proved by the inflammatory circular, dated De
cember 4, 1786, which was distributed and as well as by
the letter of Thoraas Green to the governor of Georgia ;
and that those reports were known to John Brown, Hary
Innes, and George Muter at least as early as December
22, 1786, is incontestibly established by their signatures to
-¦¦ The Journal of the Senate shows that the affirmative vote by which
these resolutions were passed was of Senators Alexander St. Clair,
William Hubbard, ilatthew Anderson, Robert Rutherford, John Syme,
Thomas Roane, John P. DuvaU, Nicholas CabeU and Charles Lynch.
Nicholas Cabell was the conspicuous senator in promoting their passage,
and was appointed to communicate the action of the Senate to the
house of delegates. He was one of the sons of Dr. WUliam Cabell, and
the ancestor of Mrs. Helm Bruce, of Louisville. The senators who
voted in the negative were Colonel BurweU Bassett, Turner SouthaU,
Isaac Aveiy and Thomas Lee. Colonel Bassett's wife was the sister of
Jlrs. Washington, and they were the ancestors of the wife of Governor
Buckner. The sister of Colonel Bassett married Bsn. Harrison, of
Berkeley, and was the mother of President WUliam H. Harrison.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 107
the letter of that date complaining of Clark's conduct at
Vincennes and of Green's illicit designs.
The letter of a member of the General Assembly which
conveyed to the President of the convention at Danville
the intelligence of the new act of separation, was written
after the passage of that act (January 10, 1787), and yet
reached Danville late in the same month. On the 11th of
January, 1787, the General Assembly adjourned, and the
Kentucky members soon thereafter returned to the dis
trict.* If it can be presumed that out of all the members
present from Kentucky in the assembly, at whose partic
ular instance the resolutions were passed, there was not
one who deemed the subject of the navigation ofthe Mis
sissippi of sufficient importance to induce him to trans
mit to his constituents information of the action of that
body thereon ; if it can be credited that even after their
return to their homes, those representatives failed to make
known the action Virginia had already taken; — still it is
certain, that the letter of John MarshaU, which stated the
reasons that animated the assembly in postponing the
time for the separation ofthe district, and which also made
known the action of the assembly in reference to the " Jay
project," was received in January, 1787, before the adjourn
ment ofthe convention, and that the contents were made
known to its members. While it is probable that the
great mass ofthe people were ignorant that Virginia had,
through her assembly, authoritatively spoken (there was
no public press in the district at the time), yet the facts
were well known to all the prominent men assembled in
Danville at the time, among whom were John Brown, Hary
Innes, Georsre Muter, who were residents of the place, and

*-The trip from Richmond to Kentucky usuaUy occupied about three
weeks. The gallant John Jouitt, one of the Kentucky members at this
time, was delayed by the preparations necessary for conveying the large
quantity of arms and ammunition contributed by Virginia for the de
fense of Kentucky, from Redstone Old Fort, on the Monongahela, to
the mouth of Limestone (MaysvUIe) ; still he reached Kentucky in
March, as shown by his letter.

108 The Spanish Conspiracy.
Benjamin Sebastian, who attended the session of the dis
trict court.*
The letter of John Marshall giving information of the
emphatic and spirited action of Virginia, which was re
ceived during the sitting of the convention, was calculated,
as it was intended, to soothe any irritation that might
have been previously excited.f But, a few weeks after

-*The resolutions of 1786, referred to, were as follows, viz.:
1. " Resohid, unanimously. That a copy of the memorial of sundry in
habitants of the western country, be transmitted to the delegates repre
senting this State in Congress.
2. " Resolved, unanimously, That the common right of navigating the
Mississippi, and of communicating with other nations through that
channel, be considered as the bountiful gift of nature to the United
States, as proprietors of the territories watered by said river and its
eastern branches.
3. " Resolved, unanimously. That the confederacy, having heen
formed on the broad basis of equal rights in every part thereof, and
confided to the protection and guardianship of the whole ; a sacrifice of
the rights of any one part, to the supposed, or real interest of another
part, would be a flagrant violation of justice and a direct contravention
of the end for which the federal government was instituted, and an
alarming innovation on the system of the Union.
4, "Resolved, therefore, unanimously. That the delegates represent
ing this State in Congress, be instructed, in the most decided terms, to
oppose any attempts that may be made in Congress, to barter or sur
render to any nation whatever, the right of the United States to the
free and common use of the river Mississippi ; and to protest against the
same as a dishonorable departure from that comprehensive and benev
olent policy which constitutes the vital principle of the confederation;
as provoking the just resentments and reproaches of our western breth
ren, whose essential rights and interests would be thereby sacrificed
and sold; as destroying that confidence in the wisdom, justice and lib
erality of the federal councils, which is so necessary at this crisis, to a
proper enlargement of their authority ; and finally, as tending to under
mine our repose, our prosperity, and our Union itself : and that the
said delegates be further instructed to urge the proper negotiations with
Spain for obtaining her concurrence in such regulations touching the
mutual and common use of the said river, as may secure the permanent
harmony and affection of the two nations, and such as the wise and
generous policy of his Catholic majesty wiU perceive to be no less due
to the interests of his own subjects than to the just and friendly views of
the United States.
t The following is the extract from that letter published by LitteU,
and reproduced in "Political Beginnings," viz: " The negociation which
has opened with Spain, for ceding the navigation of the Mississippi— a

The Spanish Conspiracy. 109
the adjournment of the convention, an association of men
styling themselves " a committee of correspondence in the
western part of Pennsylvania," addressed to the people of
Kentucky a circular, which contained this statement, viz :
" That John Jay, the American secretary for foreign affairs, had made
a proposition to De Gardoqui, the Spanish minister, to cede the naviga
tion of the ]\Iississippi to Spain for twenty-five or thirty years ; in con
sideration of some commercial advantages, to be granted to the United
I States ; but such as the people of the western country could derive no
Lprofit from."
A meeting was thereupon held in Danville, and the fol
lowing circular was addressed and distributed to the peo
ple, viz :
"Circular Letter directed to the different Courts in tfie Western Country.
Kentucky, Danville, March 29, 1787.
"A respectable number of the inhabitants of the district, having met
at this place, being greatly alarmed at the late proceedings of Congress,
in proposing to cede to the Spanish court the navigation of the Missis
sippi river, for twenty-five or thirty years, have directed us to address
the inhabitants on the western waters, and inform them of the measures
which it is proper for the district to adopt.
" The inhabitants of the several counties in this district, will be re
quested to elect five members in each county, to meet in Danville on
the first Monday of May, to take up the consideration of this project of
Congress ; to prepare a spirited but decent remonstrance against the
cession ; to appoint a committee of correspondence, and to communi
cate with one already established on the Monongahela, or any other
that may be constituted ; to appoint delegates to meet representatives
from the several districts on the western waters, in convention, should a
convention be deemed necessary ; and to adopt such other measures as
shall be most conducive to our happiness. As we conceive that -all the
inhabitants residing on the western waters are equaUy affected by this
partial conduct of Congress, we doubt not but they will readily approve
of our conduct, and cheerfuUy adopt a similar system, to prevent a
measure which tends to almost a total destruction of the western coun
try. This is a subject which requires no comment; the injustice of the
measure is glaring ; and as the inhabitants of this district wish to unite
their efforts to oppose the cession of the navigation of the Mississippi,
with those of their brethren residing on the western waters, we hope to
negociation so dishonorable and inju.rious to America, so destructive of
the natural rights of the western world — is warmly opposed in this coun
try (Virginia), and for this purpose the most pointed instructions are given
our delegates in Congress. I persuade myself that the negotiation will
terminate in securing instead of ceding that great point." [Littell's Appendix
8, page 21.]

110 The SpaJiish Conspiracy.
see such an exertion made upon the important occasion, as may con-
¦vince Congress that the inhabitants of the western country are united
in the opposition and consider themselves entitled to all the privileges
of freemen, and those blessings procured by the revolution, and will
not tamely submit to an act of oppression which would tend to a de
privation of our just rights and privUeges.
" We are, gentlemen, with respect, your most obedient servants,
George Muter,
Harry Innes,
John Brown,
Benjamin Sebastian."
The attention of the reader will at once be arrested by
these facts : First, that the stateraent made in the circular
that the proposition in question had been made by Congress
to the Spanish minister was untrue, and was not even war
ranted by the information the authors had received from
the Pennsylvania committees, by whom it was only alleged
that the proposition had been made to the Spanish min
ister by John Jay, our secretary for foreign afiairs. Second,
that the circular -\vithheld from the people the important
inforraation which its authors had frora John Marshall's
letter, even if they did not have it from the Kentucky
representatives in the Assembly, that Virginia had already
acted on the subject in a raanner the most prompt, em
phatic and decided. [The want of mail facilities and of a
public pi-ess, leaving the people in ignorance of pubUc
afiairs, placed them much at the mercy of the designing
and unscrupulous.] Third, that in addition to preparing
a remonstrance against the proposed cession, appointing a
committee of correspondence to communicate with that
in Pennsylvania and with any other, and delegates to meet
with delegates from other districts in the west in a con
vention ; that, in addition to all this, the convention called
by the circular was invited to " adopt such other measures
as shall be most conducive to our happiness," which cer
tainly gave a very wide latitude to a self-constituted body,
possessing no legal power whatever. With this exception
the verbiage of the circular was unobjectionable. But, if
only legal methods were contemplated, and if the right of
united remonstrance and protest only was expected to be
resorted to, it is difficult to conceive what result the
authors of this circular hoped that the meeting it caUed

The Spanish Conspiracy. Ill
could accomplish by such means more effective than that
which would be attained by the authoritative resolutions
of the Virginia Assembly, which had been passed four
months before, and of which they already had full knowl
edge. The people at large, who had no opportunity of
knowing the real facts, and who were imposed upon by
this circular, were greatly disturbed, as its authors in
tended they should be, and acted as they were requested to
do. Delegates to the convention were elected from all the
counties, and met in Danville in May, when the facts as to
the real action of Congress, which was not stated in the
circular, and as to that of the Assembly, which the cir
cular had suppressed, were made known to all, and the
exaggerations of the circular were corrected. After nu
merous propositions, calculated and designed to increase
the fears and add to the excitement of the people had
been offered by the authors of this circular, and by others,
in the shape of remonstrances, and had been defeated, the
convention, finding themselves completely anticipated by
the action of the Assembly, and that there was nothing
proper and legal to be done that was left for them to do,
adjourned,* without action of any kind. It was in June
after the issuing of this circular and after this meeting,
that General Wilkinson, made his first trading venture to
ISe-w Orleans ; and it was in July that Hary Innes, one of
the signers thereof, wrote to Governor Randolph that, in
his opinion, " this western country will, in a few years.
Revolt from the Union," whieh opinion and the declaration
thereof, if it be conceded that they should not be associated
-with the circular and with the movement whieh it sought
to inaugurate throughout .the whole of the western coun
try, assuredly does not render that circular and atterapted
movement the less signiticant.f
-* CoUins, vol. I., page 264.
tin his letter to Mr. Jefferson, March 19, 1787, \_Madison Papers, vol.
IL, page 624,] Mr. Madison refers to this movement: "I have credible
information that the people living on the western waters are already in
great agitation and are taking measures for uniting their consultations. The
ambition of individuals will quickly mix; itself with the original motives

112 The Spanish Conspiracy.
* It did not suit the purpose of John Brown and Hary'
Innes to make known to the people through the pamphletl
they induced LitteU to write in 1806, that they had re-'
ceived information of Jay's proposition at least as early as
December, 1786; so that fact, as well as their participation
in the letter to Randolph, was carefully omitted from the\
'\ Political Transactions." And a statement was raade of
the communication received from the Pennsj'lvania com
mittee in March, 1787, as if that was the first informa
tion -which had been received in Kentucky of that propo
sition. In the Appendix to the Political Transactions the reso
lutions passed by the Virginia assembly in 1806 (by the
house on the 29th of l^overaber and by tbe senate on the
7th of December), -n-ere published, and the date of their
passage -was given as the 29th of E"ovember, 1786. And
in the course of the " Narrative " it was stated that the
convention called by the circular issued by Brown, Innes,
Muter and Sebastian, and which met in Danville in May,
1787, adjourned without action, "becauseth&j learned that
the legislature of Virginia had entered into several resolu
tions, on the subject, expressed in strong language, and
had instructed her delegates in Congress to oppose the
cession ; " — as if that had been the first information re
ceived of those resolutions ; — which may have been true
of sorae of the delegates, but was utterly untrue as to
Innes, Brown, Muter and WUkinson, who had known of
the fact from the letter of John Marshall received during
the session of the convention in January. In Littell's Ap
pendix was also published the second series of resolutions
on the same subject which were passed by the Virginia
house of delegates (they were never introduced into the
senate) on the 12th of November, 1787, as if they had been

of resentment and interest. Communication wUl gradually take place
with then- British neighbors. They will he led to set up for themselves, to
seize on the vacant lands, to entice immigrants by bounties and an ex
emption from Federal burdens, and in aU respects play the part of
Vermont, in a large theater. Lt is hinted to me that British partisans are
already feeling the pulse of some of the western settlements."

The Spanish Conspiracy. 113
the result of the circular of Innes, Brown & Co., and of
the meeting in Danville in May of that year ; and, in re
producing this second series, Littell gave the correct date
of their passage — November 12, 1787.
On the 81st page of his " Political Beginnings," Colonel
John Mason Brown reproduces the resolutions which were
passed by the house of delegates on the 12th of November,
1787, crediting them to Littell, who gave that date as the
time of their passage ; but, in publishing these resolutions,
he represents them to have been the resolutions which
were passed by the house of delegates on the 22th of No
vember, 1786, which resolutions were also published in
Littell with their proper date. If this was not the most
strange of all possible inadvertences, the only rational mo
tive that can be conjectured for the omission of the reso
lutions really passed in 1786, and the substitution therefor
of those which were passed in 1787, may be found in the
fact, that the first of the series of 1786, which speaJss of
the remonstrance of " sundry inhabitants of the western
country," shows at whose instance the action was taken,
and disproves the claim which Colonel Brown makes on a
subsequent page of his book, that the exclusive credit for
obtaining this action was due to his grandfather. It has
already been seen that his statement that the letter of
John Marshall conveyed the first news of the Jay project
Kentucky is untrue. * The purpose of John Marshall's
allusion to the subject in the letter referred to was evi
dently not to give news of " Jay's project" to the people of
Kentucky, for it assumes as a fact what he knew to be
true, that they had had that news months before his letter
was written ; but it was to give assurance of the warm
opposition to the project which existed in the eastern part
of Virginia, of the pointedness of the instructions to
oppose it, which had been given to the Virginia delegates
in Congress, and of Mr. Marshall's own conviction that
the result of the negotiation would be the securing of that

* See letter of Thomas Green to the governor of Georgia, and that of
John Brown, Innes, and others to Governor Randolph.

114 The Spanish Conspiracy.
navigation for the west, instead of an abandonment
thereof to Spain. Its natural tendency as well as its pur
pose was, not to create exciteraent and irritation, but to
relieve fears that had been previously entertained.
But, not satisfied with his erroneous statement that this
letter gave "the first news" of the project. Colonel Brown
proceeded to ascribe the conduct of John Brown and
Innes in issuing their circular to the alarm produced by
that letter and the corroboration it received from other
sources. On the 79th page, he says : " It (' the news thus
sent to the west by John Marshall ') greatly alarmed all
who appreciated the vital importance to Kentucky and
the people of an unobstructed na-vigation of the Missis
sippi. A meeting of citizens at once convened, and in
their behaU' a circular-letter was put forth over the signa
tures of George Muter, Harry Innes, John Brown and Ben
jamin Sebastian. It bore date 29th March, 1787." As
this letter of John Marshall was received before the ad
journment of the convention in January, several months
after the " news of Jay's project " was prevalent all over
Kentucky and Tennessee, and two months before the issu
ing of that circular, it is evident that the circular was not
predicated upon nor caused by that letter, as Colonel
Brown intimates, and that the excitement and apprehen
sion which Innes and Brown did all in their power to
create and increase, was not occasioned by any " news sent
to the west by John Marshall." Colonel Brown goes on
to say : " The circular attracted immediate and earnest
attention. A conference was held at Danville in May (as
the circular-letter suggested), but happily Virginia had
already taken action that emphatically voiced the senti
ments of the west." . . Colonel Brown then tells us
that the resolutions passed by Virginia on the 29th of K'o-
vember, 1786, which "were long delayed in reaching the
western settlements," reassured the people of Kentucky.
This is true, as it relates to many of the delegates in the
May meeting and to the great body of the people. Bat
the signers of that circular had no need of that reassur
ance. They knew that Virginia had "happily already

The Spanish Conspiracy. 115
taken action;" knew of the authoritative instructions the
assembly had given to Virginia's delegates in Congress ; —
knew it from the very letter which Colonel Brown (in his
efforts to fasten upon John Marshall the responsibility for
the bad disposition which gave birth to the circular) says
gave them their "first news " of the project ! Why then
did they ever issue the circular ? If a legal remonstrance
was all they meditated, did they expect one from a meet
ing of the people of a district of Virginia, a meeting
which possessed no legal power, would be more potential
than that which had already gone forward from the con
stitutional authority of the whole state ? The explanation
given in Madison's letter to Jefferson, which has been
quoted, affords the only rational solution.
After having taken these strange liberties with the
facts. Colonel Brown, warming with his subject, was en
couraged to take yet greater liberties with his readers.
The denial in the quotations made from the " Political
Beginnings," that John Brown, Innes & Co. knew of
" Jay's project" until John Marshall's letter was received;
and the further denial that they knew of the action hap
pily taken by Virginia until after they had issued their_
circular of March 29, 1787 ;* makes clear Colonel Brown's
own consciousness of the unfavorable light in which the
certainty that John Brown had knowledge of that action
prior to the circular would place his grandfather. Still the_
temptation to claim for his own ancestor the exclusive
credit of having been the principal factor in the defeat of
¦* There are in Kentucky and scattered throughout the west a large
number of the descendants of the men who then represented Ken
tucky in the Virginia Assembly. They are modest people, unassuming
and not given to boast of their ancestry. Besides, they feel that there
was nothing in the conduct of those who went before them which
needs explanation or demands a vindication. For that reason, perhaps,
, they would be the last persons in the world to claim for their ancestors
a credit which did not belong to them, and to which others were en
titled. To give them a chance the writer deems it proper to say, that
the delegates from Kentucky who procured the passage of those resolu
tions were : Colonel John Campbell, Captain John Jouitt, James Hen
derson, Colonel Joseph Crockett, John Fowler, Richard Terrill, George
Jackson, John Rogers and Andrew Hynes.

116 The Spanish Conspiracy.
the " Jay project" was irresistible. So on the 121st page
of the " PoUtical Beginnings" he coolly assures the con
fiding pubUc that " Brown, representing Kentucky as~a
Senator in the Virginia Assembly, procured from it the
emphatic declaration of 26th (he meant the 29th of No
vember, 1786, already mentioned) ;" and he then quotes
one of the resolutions passed by the House of Delegates
on the Vltli of November, 1787. His language was intended
to convey the impression that John Brown was in the
Senate in November, 1786, when the resolutions of that
date were passed, and that he had procured their passage.
When it is necessary to magnify the importance of this
very remarkable man, John Brown, his yet more remark
able grandson transports him from Danville, Kentucky,
where he in fact was at the time,* to Richraond, Virginia;
fully acquaints him with all the details of" Jay's project"
and represents him as procuring the passage by the Vir
ginia Assembly on the 29th of Xovember, 1786, of the
resolutions condemning that project, with which, in fact,
he had nothing whatever to do.f When it is desired to
have it appear that the agitation fomented by Brown and
Innes and their friend Sebastian, in the spring of 1787, was
the effect of the letter of John Marshall, it is alleged that
the "first news " of the Jay project reached Kentucky iu
that letter, which was not received until the last of Janu
ary, 1787; although their signatures to the letter to Gov
ernor Randolph prove that Brown and Innes had received
the news of that project in December, 1786, if not earlier.
And to palliate the significant circular, it is pretended
'" His signature to the letter to Governor Randolph, December 22,
1876, shows that he was then in Danville.
t On the 1st of November, 1786, the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Virginia
Senate was ordered to take into custody a number of the absentees,
among whom was John Brown, who did not attend during a single day
of the session. Though he continued to be a member of the Senate,
Mr. Brown did not take part in any of the deliberations of that body
from the day he was excused from further attendance that session, in
January, 1786, until he went on to secure his election to Congress in
October, 1787. [See Journals of Virginia Senate.]

The Spanish Conspiracy. 117
that no information that Virginia had already " hapjyly
acted" in November, 1786, was received until after the cir
cular had been issued on the 29th of March, 1787 ; and
this, notwithstanding that that information, according to
the extract printed by Colonel Brown hiraself (page 78),
was conveyed in the very letter of John Marshall which
he says brought to Kentucky the "first news of 'Jay's
project,'" and which was received two montbs before that
circular was issued. As a " Comedy of Errors " the " Po
litical Beginnings" is au admirable production.*

¦* John Marshall was a member of the House of Delegates which
passed the resolutions of that year. He and his father, Colonel Thomas
MarshaU, were both members of the House of Delegates of 1787, which
passed the second series. The latter were never introduced into the
Senate. The record shows that John Brown had no part in passing
them. The following is a copy of that record from the original journal
made for the writer by Colonel Raleigh Colston, viz :
Monday, November 12, 1787.
¦' The House then, according to the order of the day, resolved itself
into a committee of the whole House on the State of the Common
wealth ; and, after some time spent therein, Mr. Speaker resumed the
Chair, and Mr. Thruston reported that the Committee had, according to
order, again had the state of the Commonwealth under their consider
ation, and had come to several resolutions thereupon, which he read in
his place, and afterward delivered in at the clerk's table, when the
same were again severally twice read, and on the question put there
upon, agreed to by the House as foUoweth : ,
Resolved, that it is the opinion of this coynmittee, That the free use and navi
gation of the western streams and rivers of this Commonwealth, and of
the waters leading to the sea, do, of right, appertain to the citizens
thereof, and ought to be considered as guaranteed to them by the laws
of God and nature as well as compact.
Resolved, that it is the opinion of this committee. That every attempt in Con
gress, or elsewhere, to barter away such right, ought to be considered as
subversive of justice, good faith, and the great foundations of moral
rectitude, and particularly destructive of the principles which gave
buth to the late resolution, as well as strongly repugnant to all confi
dence in the Federal Government, and destructive to its peace, safety,
happiness and duration.
Resolved, that il is the opinion of the committee, That a committee ought to
be appointed to prepare instructions to the delegates representing this
State in Congress to the foregoing import, and to move that honorable
body to pass an act acknowledging the rights of this State, and that it
transcends their power to cede or suspend them ; and desiring the said

118 The Spanish Conspiracy.
Relieved by the absence of Wilkinson, who had gone tol
New Orleans, the people proceeded in August, 1787, with
out acrimonious discussion and without tumult, to elect
delegates to the convention authorized by the new act of
separation to meet in Danville in September of that year.
The district had no-n' been divided into seven counties,
which chose the delegates in equal numbers — thirty-five
in all. The list of the delegates is correctly given by Col
lins ; Colonel Samuel McDowell again presided, and Thomas
Todd was secretary. The convention met on the 17th of
September, the day fixed by law. It was again quickly
and unanimously resolved to be " expedient for the good
people of the district, that it should be separated from the
rest of the state upon the terms and conditions prescribed
\)y law." An address to Congress, couched in respectful
language and requesting the admission into the Union of
the new state to be erected, under the name of Kentucky,
was adopted. The time when the authority of Virginia
should end was fixed as the 31st of December, 1788. Pro
vision was made for the election of members to a con
vention authorized to frame a coustitution for the new
state. And the members of the Assembly from the dis
trict were requested to use their efforts with that body to
have an inhabitant of the district chosen as one of the
Virginia delegation to Congress. The convention, having
fully and satisfactorily discharged all the duties devolved
on its members, then adjourned, after a brief session
which had been as peaceable as the elections at which
those members were chosen had been orderly. Wilkinson
was in New Orleans. John Brown was not a delegate.
Whether he had gone to Virginia before the meeting of
the convention, in order to resume his long vacant seat in
the State Senate, as intimated by MarshaU ; or whether ^

delegates to lay before the General Assembly such transactions as have
taken place respecting the cession of the western na-vigation.
Ordered, That ]Messrs. Thruston, Henry, Nicholas, Fisher, Harrison,
Meriwether, Smith, Dawson, Monroe, Lawson, Corbin and Mason be
appointed a committee to prepare instructions pursuant to the said
resolutions.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 119
he delayed his journey until after the convention had
formulated the request that a member of Congress should
be chosen from the district, and then went on to secure
that position for himself, can not now be determined.
(The Assembly met October 15th, and Brown was in his
seat October 23, 1787, on which day he was elected to
Congress.) Judge Muter had drawn back from the preci-
-'pice. And Sebastian and Innes, in the absence of Wilk
inson and Brown, made no sign.

120 The Spanish Conspiracy.

CHAPTER VIII.
James Wilkinson — Looks to a Separation from the Union, and an
Alliance with Great Britain or with Spain — If He Fails with
One, Determines to Negotiate with the Other— Two Strings
TO His Bow — His Expedition to New Orleans in 1787 — His En-
gage.ment with Miro and Promise to Separate Kentucky from
THE Union and to Subject Her People to Spain — The True
Consideration for His Exclusive Commercial Privilege — The
LTtter Selfishne.ss of Wilkinson in the Negotiations — The
Misrepresentation's and Suppre.ssions op Colonel John Mason
Brown.
From his advent in Kentucky in 1784, as the active rep
resentative of a Philadelphia mercantile association, no
man in the district exerted a more extended nor a more
corrupting infiuence in its public affairs than General
James Wilkinson. Slightly under the average height, his
form was yet a model of symmetry and grace, and his
manly and dignified carriage at once attracted the atten
tion of every observer. If his brilliantly handsome face
won instant admiration, his gracious manners no less
pleased and invited confidence. While fitted by native tal
ents to move in the most refined circles of American society,
he yet possessed and exerted all the arts which secure the
favor of the multitude and excite the enthusiastic admira
tion of the vulgar. His command of language enabled
him with ease to give to his ideas a forceful expression,
while his fuU and musical voice was pleasant to the auditor.
With an ardent and mercurial temperament, the fire of
which was easily communicated to others, his gesticu
lation was at once animated and studied. With these
genuine qualities of an orator, he had all the tricks of a
popular declaimer. As a writer he had precisely that
order of talent which was most effective at the time and

The Spanish Conspiracy. 121
with those to whom his literary effusions were addressed.*
Dealing largely in exaggeration, yet most skillful in sup
pressions and in muddying the waters, his defense of him
self before the court-martials which tried him in 1808 and
afterwards, was more adroit, and not less ingenuous than
that made for his friend and coadjutor in intrigue, John
Brown, in the " Political Beginnings." With real capacity
for military command and love for the "pomp and circum
stance of war," he was fertile in resources, invincible in
energy, and courageous in battle. Constantly asserting
the integrity of his own motives, and boasting of his own
love of truth, as well as of glory, he was not slow to
resent, by an appeal to the duello, if need were, any im
peachment of his honor. And jQt he was probably as
utterly destitute of all real honor, as venal, as dishonest,
and as faithless as any man that ever lived. His selfish
ness was supreme, and his self-indulgence boundless, while
his knowledge of all that is mean and corrupt in mankind
seemed intuitive. With an ambition that was at once
vaulting and ever restless, and a vanity that was immeas
urable, to gratify the one and to offer incense to the other,
he did not scruple to pander to the vices of his fellows,
to excite their cupidity, and to tempt them to treason. An
inappeasible craving for the adulation of the sycophantic
impelled him to the most pri)digal expenditures to sup
port an immodest hospitality and a vainglorious state, to
which his ruined fortune was inadequate; he plunged
heavily into debt and was then careless of his obUgations ;
and to the pecuniary losses his extravagance occasioned to
others he was indifferent.

-* Colonel John Mason Brown's estimate of Wilkinson's style as
"turgid," differs widely from that expressed by his grandfather and
Innes of the literary attainments and talents of the friend who so far
outshone them. Of his memorial to the Spanish Intendant of Louisi
ana, LitteU's "Narrative," which Brown and Innes adopted as their
own defense, as it was also equaUy one of Wilkinson and Sebastain,
says: "This memorial was much admired by the literary gentlemen
present in the convention for its dignified style, the copious and compre
hensive view which was taken of the subject, the elegance of tlie com
position, and its peculiar adaptation to work upon the fears and avarice
of the Spaniard."

122 The Spanish Conspiracy.
The Maryland family from which James Wilkinson
sprung was in every way respectable. To prepare him
for the practice of medicine he was well educated. Pre
ferring the career of arms opened to the aspiring by the
Revolution, he entered the American service before he
had attained his majority, and by activity, address, and
really valuable services rose to the position of clothier
general, with the rank of a Brigadier. His name figured
more conspicuously than pleasantly in the scandals which
ruined Conway, and left a taint upon the fame of Horatio
Gates. His patrimonial estate, which was never large,
having been entirely dissipated before he came to Ken
tucky, his avowed object in removing to the west was
here to regain what he had squandered in the east. On
arriving in Kentucky he immediately encouraged the
production of tobacco, for which there could be no mar
ket except in Louisiana, or by the outlet of the Missis
sippi's mouth. A native of Maryland, he had none of
that reverence and filial affection for Virginia which so
many of her sons in the wilderness cherished ; nor, as
events demonstrated, was his love for the Union whose
uniform he had worn strong enough to prevent his dis
honorable descent to the position of a stipendiary of
Spain in an intrigue for its dismemberment. It has been
seen that the rejection of the temperate address to the
General Assembly, which had been adopted by its prede
cessor, by the convention of August, 1785, as well as the
substitution therefor of one breathing a different spirit,
and of which he was the author, were induced by his in
fluence ; that the address to the people, of which he was
also the author, which was adopted by the same conven
tion, was weU calculated to excite and inflame ; and then,
when the Assembly, instead of simply declaring and rec
ognizing the independence and sovereignty of Kentucky,
as his address had rather demanded than requested, made
the separation of the district from Virginia and its erec
tion into a state to depend upon the previous assent of
Congress and its reception into the Union, he vehemently
urged an immediate assumption of that independence and

The Spanish Conspiracy. 123
sovereignty contrary to the law. When, in January, 1787,
the Assembly postponed the time of the separation, be
cause the time remaining was not sufficient for the action
deemed necessary for obtaining the expression of the will
of the people, and the subsequent consent of Congress, and
the admission of the new state into the Union, by June 1,
1787, he was the most open and violent in his expressions
of chagrin, in his denunciations of the Assembly, and in
his expressions of contempt for Congress.
Having previously gathered all the tobacco, flour and
bacon, he could buy with his own slender means,* or with
borrowed money, or on credit, and having shipped them
on flat-boats to New Orleans, in June, 1787, he soon fol
lowed his cargoes. His own letter to Gardoqui, written
some months later,f is witness that " having nothing to
hope from the Union " he had, before starting upon this
expedition, deliberately determined to seek the "patron
age " of Spain as a means of relieving his impecuniosity,
of proposing the schemes which were agreed upon with
Miro; and, if they were rejected by the Spaniard, of then
" opening a negotiation with Great Britain, which had
already been active in the matter." Whether the agita
tions he had industriously fermented, and the revolution
ary measures he had audaciously advocated in Kentucky,
were designed as the mere preliminaries to prepare an
easy way for success in the schemes in which he immedi
ately engaged ; and whether the subject had been discussed
between Innes and others and Wilkinson when the letter
to Randolph predicting an early " Revolt from the Union,"
was written, are less important inquiries than it is to as
certain what those schemes actually were in their incep
tion and progress.
The scheme to separate the west from the rest of the
United States, which was subsequently adopted by Spain,

* The statement of Colonel Brown that he had in the brief three
years of his residence in Kentucky already made an independent for
tune, is a very great mistake.
t Wilkinson's letter to Don Gardoqui, January 1, 1789, Gayarre's
History of Louisiana, Spanish Domination, page 249.

124 The Spanish Conspiracy.
was, as early as January 1, 1784, hinted to Arthur O'Neil,
the Spanish Governor of Pensacola, by Alexander Mc-
Gillivray, a half-breed Indian, who united in himself the
talents of a warrior, of a diplomat, and of a statesman.*
Warned by the contemplated movement of Green and
Clark the previous fall, Navarro, then the accomplished
Intendant of Louisiana, on the 12th of February, 1787,
wrote to his government that the enemies to be feared
were not the English, but the Americans, who must be
" opposed by active and sufficient measures ;" and to this
end urged the encourageraent of iramigration to Louisiana,
by the removal of restrictions upon her commerce, and the
promotion of her industries. " The only way to check
thera," he wrote, " is with a proportionate population, aud
it is not by imposing commercial restrictions that this pop
ulation is to be acquired, but by granting a prudent exten
sion and freedom of trade. "f In furtherance of the policy
thus urged upou his court. Governor Miro, in the spring
of 1787, had " somewhat relaxed in the restrictions upon
the river trade, and had granted permission to a number
of Araerican families to settle in Louisiana."! The regu
lations which restricted the commerce of Louisiana to a
trade with Spain only would soon have depopulated the
province ; and, therefore, infractions of those restrictions
had been winked at by the colonial government, " and for
sorae tirae a lucrative trade had been carried on, not only
on the Mississippi, but also, and principally, with the city
of Philadelphia."§ But, suddenly ,_ Gardoqui severely rep
rimanded Navarro, whom he " forced to proceed to the
harshest measures," which occasioned great distress
among the citizens of Louisiana. General Wilkinson,
who had friends and correspondents, if not partners,
among the Philadelphians in New Orleans, anticipated but
trifling obstacles to the success of his venture. An inter-

¦'- Gayarre's Louisiana, Spanish Domination, page 158.
t Gayarre, pages 182-3. Colonel Brown omits this from his extract on
page 93.
t Ibid., page 185.
'i Ibid., page 185.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 125
terview with Governor Miro secured a speedy revocation
of the order which had been issued to seize Wilkinson's
cargoes, WUkinson was permitted to sell his produce free
of duty, and was hospitably entertained by the Spanish
officials. These unusual attentions, and his growing inti
macy with the proud Spaniards, excited wondering com
ment. Besides the exemptions from seizure and duty then
granted him, an arrangement for future shipments was
made with Miro, not only of his own merchandise, but of
that of his friends, which should be shipped in Wilkin
son's boats. This official permission he carried back to
Kentucky ; it was renewed the following year and again
in 1790. And to relieve his immediate necessities, Daniel
Clark, Sr., was induced by the Intendant Navarro to
advance the adventurer |3,000.
During the administrations of Washington and Adams
the conduct of Wilkinson excited the suspicions of
those executives. At his solicitation, Daniel Clark, Junior,
— a nephew of Daniel Clark, Senior, — who at the time of
Wilkinson's intercourse with Miro was employed in the
secretary's office at New Orleans, and who, when his repre
sentations were made, was a Spanish subject, and, as such,
was interested in concealing from the government of the
United States the real character of that intercourse ; — this
man was induced by Wilkinson to address a memorial to Sec
retary Pickering, representing that the privileges granted to
Wilkinson were extorted from the fears of Miro, to whose
apprehension of an invasion from Kentucky, it was alleged,
he had successfully appealed. Afterwards, when Louis
iana had passed into the possession of the United States,
and was represented in Congress by Clark, whose duties
had changed with his altered allegiance and position ;
finding that Wilkinson, who was then in command of the
army, maintained his corrupt relations with Spain, Daniel
Clark presented to Congress a sworn statement, in which
he alleged that those privileges were granted to Wilkin
son in consideration of his undertaking to separate Ken
tucky from the Union and bring her under the sovereignty
or protection of Spain; that Wilkinson became a pen-

126 The Spanish Conspiracy.
sioner of Spain, and continued to receive a pension from
that power long after he had re-entered the army of the
United States ; and he specified the times and places at
which Wilkinson had received various sums, the amount
of which he named, in payment of that pension. Charges
formulated in accordance with this statement were pre
ferred against Wilkinson, who was tried upon them by
court-martial in 1808. He was successful in impeaching
the testimony of Clark, by producing in rebuttal the
apparently conflicting statements of the memorial which,
at his importunity, Clark had addressed to Pickering a
few years before. He impeached the evidence of Thomas
Power, another important witness against him, by showing
a similar discrepancy between it and a previous statement
he had cajoled from Power. In his own behalf Wilkin-
~ibn did not scruple to insinuate that he had obtained the
valuable privUeges of trade by corrupting Miro and other
Spanish officials. That his relations with the Spanish
government, in the sale of tobacco directly to that gov
ernment, had ceased before he re-entered the army; and
that the sums it was proved he had received while holding
a commission from the United States, were balances due him
on all old and , legitimate commercial transactions. And
Oliver Pollock, who was an intimate of Wilkinson, and,
possibly, associated with him in his ventures ; — Oliver Pol
lock, whose relations with the Spaniards was known to have
been so confidential that it was assumed he would cer
tainly have known had any pension been paid to Wilkin
son, and yet from whom Miro carefully concealed his
negotiations with that adventurer ; *— Oliver PoUock tes
tified in behalf of his friend, that he did not know of such
a pension, and from his intimacy with the Spaniards he
thought he would have known it had one been paid. On
the contrary, he said, he had it from Miro himself, that
" he had consented for General WUkinson to bring down
tobacco iu hopes to pacify the Kentuckians and people of
the western country, to prevent a rupture between Spain
* Miro's dispatch to Valdes, November 3, 1788, Gayarre, page 222.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 127
and America, aud in order to give time for negotiations
between the two powers relative to the navigation of the
Mississippi." Had this testimony been given in good
faith, and had Miro been partly influenced by a wish to
avoid hostilities from Kentucky, the fact would not have
been at all inconsistent with his undoubted desire also to
separate Kentucky from the Union, and that Wilkinson
made a treasonable engagement to aid him in that enter
prise. The court-martial acquitted Wilkinson on the
ground that, whatever might have been the relations be
tween Wilkinson and Spain before he re-entered the army,
they had no jurisdiction to inquire into nor to punish him
therefor. That his commercial relations had ceased before
he went into the army. That, as he had made sales of
tobacco to the Spanish government before he became an
officer of the United States, the natural presumption was,
that the sums which had been paid him were in liquidation
of debts due to him on account of his previous commer
cial transactions. And so he was acquitted. Clark and
Power were both discredited by their own previous state
ments. It was impossible for them at that time to clear
the waters which Wilkinson muddied by documentary
evidence sufficient to convince a court which had been Or
ganized in Wilkinson's favor. Yet his treason has been
since established by his owm letters so clearly that no one
is so hardy as to deny it ; that he was for years a Spanish
pensioner has been indisputably proved ; the entire scope
and tenor of Clark's testimony against him, except as to
the date when the pension commenced, have been abso
lutely confirmed ; and that he was correct even as to the
date is abundantly supported by other facts.
Wilkinson remained in New Orleans during the months
of July and August, 1787, and in September made his way
home by way of the gulf and ocean. While there he con
certed with Miro a memorial addressed to the latter, but
really intended for the Court of Madrid, to whom it was
immediately forwarded. Its exact terms have never been
made public. They probably differed in some expressions,
if not in material respects, from the alleged copy, which

128 The Spanish Conspiracy.
was exhibited by Wilkinson on his return to Kentucky,
which he read in the Danville Convention of November,
1788, and the composition of which the " literary gentle
men " of that Convention thought so " elegant." The
copy of the memorial which was read in the Convention
was not handed in at the clerk's table for inspection by
the members, but was retained by its author. It was not
published at the time. The only report of it was made by
Colonel Thomas Marshall, who had read it and who heard it
read, and wrote au account of it to Genaral Washington. In
his letter to Miro, February 12, 1789, Wilkinson assured him
that " in order to elicit an unequivocal proof of the dis
positions of that assembly (the Convention) I submitted
to its examination my original memorial and the joint
answer of yourself and Navarro," and that he had re
ceived the unanimous thanks of that body in approbation
of his conduct. On the 11th of April, Miro forwarded this
letter of Wilkinson to Madrid, with his comments, in
which he spoke of the boldness of Wilkinson's act in pre
senting this memorial to the Convention, and continued :
" In so doing, he has so completely bound himself, that,
should he not be able to obtain the separation of Kentucky
front the United States, it has become impossible for him to
live in it, unless he has suppressed, which is possible, certam^
passages, which might injure him."* It sufficiently appears
from this, that the memorial committed Wilkinson to the
separation of Kentucky from the Union, and invoked the
aid of Spain ; and to that length the copy read by him in
the Convention undoubtedly went.
The nature of Wilkinson's arrangement stUl furtheT
appears in the letter of Miro to Valdes, of January 8th^
1788, already quoted, in which he says : " The delivering
up of Kentucky into his majesty's hands, which is the
main object to which WUkinson has promised to devote himself
entirely, would forever constitute this province a rampart
for the protection of New Spain." The western people
¦* Gayarre, page 254.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 129
-would no longer have any inducement to emigrate, if they
were put in possession of a free trade with us. This is the
reason why this privilege should be granted only to a few
individuals having influence among them, as is suggested in
Wilkinso7i's memorial, because on their seeing the advan
tages bestowed on those few, they might be easily persuaded
to acquire the like by becoming Spanish subjects."'* Every
official report made by Miro to his government incontesti
bly demonstrates that his understanding of the arrange
ment made with Wilkinson was, that the latter would
devote himself to the task of separating Kentucky from
the Union.
On the other hand, the letters from Wilkinson to Miro
furnish proof equaUy strong, that the understanding of
the former in reference to the part he was to play did not
differ from that of the Spaniard. Their minds had com
pletely met. By one of his boats which reached New
Orleans in April, 1788, Wilkinson wrote Miro and
Navarro of his safe arrival home, and that " all my predic
tions are verifying themselves, and not a measure is taken
on both sides of the mountains ivhich does not conspire to favor
ours ; " which a man of a far less sanguine temperament
might weU have beUeved. On the 13th of May, 1788,
Wilkinson wrote to Miro and Navarro a letter which fully
discloses his construction of his bargain. From it this is
an extract :
" On the first day of January of the next year, 1789, by mutual con
sent, this district will cease to be subjected to the jurisdiction of Virginia.
It has been stipulated, it is true, as a nesessary condition of our inde
pendence, that this territory be acknowledged an independent State by
Congress, and be admitted as such into the Federal Union. But a con
vention has already been called to form the constitution of this section
of the country, and I am persuaded that no action on the part of Con
gress will ever induce this people to abandon the plan which they have
• adopted, although I have recent intelligence that Congress will, beyond
a doubt, recognize us as a sovereign State. The convention, of which I
have spoken, will meet in July. I will, in the meantime, inquire into
the prevailing opinions, and shall be able to ascertain the extent of the
influence of the members elected. When this is done, after having

*Gayan-e, page 199.
9

130 The Spanish Conspiracy.
previously come to an understanding with two or three individuals ca
pable of assisting me, I shall disclose so much of our great scheme as
may appear opportune, according to circumstances, and I have no
doubt but that it will meet with a favorable reception; because al
though I have been communicative with no more than two individuals,
I have sounded many, and whenever it has seemed expedient to me to
make known your answer to my memorial, it has caused the keenest
satisfaction. Colonel Alexander Scott Bullitt and Hary Innes, our attor
ney-general, are the only individuals to whom I have entrusted our
views, and in case of any mishap befalling me hefore their accomplishment
you may, in perfect -security, address yourselves to tliese gentlemen, whose politr
ical designs agree entirely with yours. Thus, as soon as the new govern
ment shall be organized and adopted by the people, they will proceed
to elect a governor, the members of the legislative body, and other
officers, and I doubt not but that they will name a political agent to treat of
the affair in which ve are engaged, and I think that all this will be done by
the month of March next. In the meantime, I hope to receive your
orders, which 1 will do my utmost to execute. I do not anticipate any
obstacle from Congress, because, under the present federal compact, tftat body
can neither dispose of men nor money, and the new government, should it
establish itself, will have to encounter difficulties which will keep it
weak for three or four years, before the expiration of which, I have good
grounds to hope, that we shall have completed our negotiations, and
shall hare become too strong to be su-bjected hy any force which may he sent
against us." [Gayarre, pages 209-10.]
On the 15th of June, 1788, Miro sent to Madrid a copy
of Wilkinson's letter. From the observations with which
he accompanied that letter, the following is an extract;
the major referred to in which extract was Isaac Dunn,
the confidential agent of Wilkinson, and who was in charge
ofhis boats and their cargoes, viz.:
" This major confirms all of Wilkinson's assertions, and gives it out as
certain that, next year, after the meeting of the first assembhes in which
Kentucky will act as an independent State, she will separate entirely from
the Federal Union; he further declares that he has come to this conclu
sion from conversations among the most distinguished citizens of that
State ; that the direction of the rivers which run in front of their dwellings points
clearly to the povier to which they ought to ally themselves, but he declares that
he is ignorant of the terms on which this aUiance will be proposed."
[Gayarre, page 212.]
It seems also from a letter of McGillivray, the half-
breed, to Miro, which the latter forwarded at the same
time, and the statements in which are unfortunately
fully confirmed by letters from John Sevier to Miro, that
delegates from Tennessee had assured him that the peo
ple of that section, as well as those of Kentucky, were

The Spanish Conspiracy. 131
ready "to throw themselves into the arms of his majesty,"
and were " determined to free themselves from their de
pendence on Congress, because that body can not protect
either their persons or their property, or favor their com
merce, and they therefore believe that they owe no obedi
ence to a power which is incapable of benefiting them."
The sentiment is closely akin to that of Hary Innes' letter
to Randolph. Extracts might be multiplied almost in
definitely, to show not only the bargain of Wilkinson,
but that a well defined purpose existed on the part of
many to " Mevolt from the Union ;" but enough has been
presented to satisfy the reader of the existence of that
purpose. In the spring of 1788, Navarro left for Spain.
In his last official dispatch he renewed his solemn warn
ings of the danger to the Spanish domination in Louis
iana and Mexico which proceeded from the restless am
bition and activity of their American neighbors. The
remedy he suggested and urged, and the application of
whi-ch he deemed not very difficult if the propitious cir
cumstances then existing were promptly utilized, was a
separation of the west from the Union. The means by
which this could be done were, by " granting every sort of
commercial privileges to the masses in the western region,
and showering pensions upon their leaders!" The accom
plished Gayarre states, that this dispatch " produced a
deep impression at Madrid, and confirmed the government
of Spain in the policy which it had begun to pursue."
Whether Wilkinson was bribed by the direct payment or
promise of a pension in money from the inception of his
engagement with Miro, or received his pecuniary compen
sation at first in the shape of exceptional trade privileges
and in the price paid by the Spanish government for his
tobacco, is a matter into which it is unimportant to in
quire. The relative degrees of turpitude in the two
modes of corruption may well be left to casuists to deter
mine. His own letters indelibly stamp his scheme as
treasonable and his motives as wholly selfish and mer
cenary. That Colonel John Mason Brown was fully conversant

132 The Spanish Conspiracy.
with all the details of the correspondence between WUk
inson and the Spanish officials, as well as with the repre
sentations made by the latter to their court at Madrid, is
made apparent by the note at the bottom of page 20 ,of
his Frankfort Centennial Address, in which, after refer
ring to the " representations of the Spanish officials to
their government," as given in Gayarre, he says : " That
work {Gayarre) has been freely consulted and"used in the
preparation of this address." From his citations from
these " representations," and from other parts of Gayarre,
however, he carefully excluded every sentence concerning
this scherae which had been concocted by Wilkinson with
Navarro and Miro. On page 7 of that address, Wilkin
son's " grossly improper conduct, while holding the highest
military command, and his receipt of money frorn the Spanish
authorities," are admitted. But the fact that, before he
had any railitary coramand, and contemporaneously with
securing the trade permit, (his address in obtaining which
is admiringly dwelt upon by Colonel Brown,) Wilkinson
entered into a conspiracy with the Spaniards to separate
Kentucky from the Union and to subject her to Spain,
and that the two were evidently ]3arts of the same nego
tiation, is scrupulously concealed from the readers of that
eloquent oration. Immediately following a statement of
Wilkinson's return to the army in the latter part of 1791,
Colonel Brown, on page 14 of his address, says : " It is
to be deplored that he did not, in forsaking civil life,
abandon totally his commerce with the Spaniard; for
holding to the mercantile relations proper enough in his civil
days, he wrecked his name and fame and fortunes in a
dishonorable intrigue. When the crime of a high mili
tary officer can be extenuated only on the plea that he Ued,
and that he deceived the foreigner whose gold he took,
palliation is impossible." Again, on page 16 of the ad
dress. Colonel Brown says : " Wilkinson's moral downfall
was of a later date," [than his appointment to the army in
1791], " his disgraceful attitude as a stipendiary of the
Spanish king was not assumed untU 1797, most probably."
Disentangled from the ambiguity in which his meaning is

The Spanish Conspiracy. 133
ingeniously cloaked, the orator could only have intended
to convey to his auditors the impression, that, prior to
Wilkinson's return to the army in 1791, his relations with
Miro were strictly commercial, were " proper enough,"
and were innocent ; that the sole impropriety in his con
duct was in continuing, after he had become a soldier, the
mercantile relations with Miro, which were innocent so
long as he remained a civilian ! And while writing this,
Colonel Brown had before his eyes the evidence in Wilk
inson's own letters, that the latter had, four years before
he re-entered the army, made an engagement with Miro
to devote his time to an effort to separate Kentucky from
the Union, and that the mercantile privileges extended to
him were granted in consideration of that pledge? The
manifest injustice that would be done to Colonel Brown
in one direction by assuming that he intended to say, that
a scheme to dismember the Union, though dishonorable
in an officer, was " proper enough" in a civilian, and as all
intimations of the nature of Wilkinson's engagements at
that time are excluded from the address, forces into prom
inence the disagreeable alternative, that he intended to
deny in that address the facts of which he had distinct
knowledge and irrefutable proof. But, in his "Political
Beginnings" (page 71) the same talented author admits
that, in 1787, when Wilkinson obtained his trade permit,
" he began with Miro an intrigue that fully committed
him to Spain ;" — which is as true as it is that Colonel
Brown knew it very well when, failing to state the fact to
his auditors at Frankfort, he suavely informed thera that
Wilkinson's " moral downfall was of a later date " than
1791. The reconciliation of the two statements with each
other, and with that " historic veracity " of which Colonel
Brown writes- in the " Political Beginnings," is left to
those whose talents are competent to the task.
On his return from New Orleans to Kentucky, Wilkin
son called at Mt. Vernon, on the 7th of December, 1787.
Finding his former commander solicitous for the adoption
of the " new plan," he informed Washington that North
Carolina (through which he had passed) was "unanimous

134 The Spanish Conspiracy.
for the adopting"* the constitution; which was very,
very far frora true. In February, 1788, he reached Ken
tucky. The morning after his arrival at his home in
Fayette he dispatched a messenger with a letter to Hary
Innes, who then resided in Danville, and who, the next
day, returned -\vith the messenger to Wilkinson's home.
Shortly after reaching Wilkinson's, Mr. Innes went
with him into a room apart from the other guests,
and there held a long and confidential consultation with
jhis host.f What the nature of the conversation between
them, that could not be had in the hearing of Charles Scott
and the other guests, was, may be inferred from Wilkin
son's statement in his letter to Miro (May 15, 1788), that
while he had sounded raany, yet " Colonel Alexander Scott
Bullitt and Hary Innes, our attorney general, are the only
individuals to whora I have intrusted our -views, and, in
case of any mishap befalling me before their accomplish
ment, you may, in perfect security, address yourselves to
these gentlemen, whose political designs agree entirely loith
yours."X Certainly there was not one of his intimates to
whom he would more naturaUy have communicated his
engagements with Miro, than to the signer of the call
for the Convention of May, 1787, who had, in July of that
-* Sparks, Vol. IX., page 288.
t In the case of Innes r. Marshall, Eichard Thomas deposed that he
had gone with Wilkinson on his trading expedition in 1787 as far as the
Chickasaw Blufis, and then returned to Kentucky with a letter from
Wilkinson to his wife, and remained at WUkinson's untU the latter
returned, in the Winter of 1788. " That on the evening of the day on
which General Wilkinson returned he got the deponent to get ready to
carry a letter for him next morning over the Kentucky river to Hary
Innes, who then lived in the town of DanviUe, and furnished him with
a horse and gave him a hah sovereign as compensation and to hear
expenses. This deponent further says that he went to :Mr. Innes' with
a letter to give him from General WUkinson, which he delivered to said
Innes. That Innes kept the deponent -with him that night, and was
busy writing a great part of the night, and next moming made an early
start with the deponent back to General Wilkinson's, where he (Innes)
was received by General WUkinson, and shortly after they two went
into a room together, leaving General Scott and several other gentlemen
with the deponent drinking some spirits in the common room or hall."
t Gayarre, page 209.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 135
year, written to Gov. Randolph, that, " in a few years, this
western country will Revolt from the Union," and who, in
1806, struck those significant words out of what he vouched
for as a true copy of what he had written. A short tirae after
this conversation, about the 1st of March, 1788, Innes ap
plied to Joshua Barbee, of Danville, to know if he would
descend the Mississippi for General Wilkinson ; and, Barbee
consenting, he was employed, together with Richard
Thomas, by Wilkinson, to carry dispatches to Miro, and
to the commandant at Natchez, and a letter to Daniel
Clarke. The dispatches were placed in a trunk, which
was weighted with rocks, with orders to sink the trunk in
case there should be any danger of its contents falling into
the hands of parties other than those to whom they were
directed, and for Barbee to deliver these with his own
hands.* Barbee and Thomas were kept in ignorance of
the nature of the dispatches to Miro; and, in his suit
against Humphrey Marshall an attempt was made by
Innes to have it appear that it related simply to Wilkin
son's commercial ventures ; but it was really the letter in
which Wilkinson gave Miro information that all things
were conspiring to insure the success of their intrigues,
and which was forwarded by Navarro and Miro to Madrid
in their dispatch of the 11th of April, 1788.
On the 15th of May, Wilkinson again wrote, by Major
Isaac Dunn, who was in command of the boats containing
the second of his cargoes, stating his confident expectation
that, though the law of Virginia consenting to the separa
tion stipulated, as a necessary condition of the independ
ence to be granted, tbat the district should first be ac
knowledged by Congress as independent, yet that no ac
tion Congress might take would ever induce the people to
abandon the " plan," which he represented that they had
" adopted ; " and assuring Miro, that so soon as the consti
tution should be framed by the convention to meet in July,
and the government of the new state should be organized
by the election of the officers, ¦\ " I doubt not but that they
* Gayarre, page 206.
t Ibid., pag€! 209.

136 The Spanish Conspiracy.
will name a political agent with power to treat of the affair in
lohich we are engaged." That the mercurial and sanguine
Wilkinson actually anticipated, and had only too good
reason to hope, that this result would be attained, all the
evidence tends to establish; and that he faithfully tried to
accomplish it, and, so far as he dared, fulfilled his bargain
with the Spaniard, is certain. His statement iu a private
letter to Miro, that " he, (Wilkinson) fiattered himself
with the prospect of his being the delegate of his state to
present to rae (Miro) the p>ropositions offered by his country
men, and that he hopes to embrace me in April next" which
was duly communicated to his court by Miro, was as
honest a declaration as ever came from the lips or pen of
the needy and unscrupulous adventurer.
D'Arges, who had " received instructions from Gardoqui
and the Count of Florida Blanca, one of the members of
the cabinet of Madrid, to do all in his power to secure the
dismemberment of the American Union," had gone to
New Orleans to solicit aid from Miro, who prevented him
frora proceeding to Kentucky, in order that, as he ex
plained to his court, the vanity of Wilkinson might not
be wounded by the discovery that a rival was engaged in
the same enterprise, and might snatch from him the re
wards of success. In the meantime every facility -n^as
afforded by Miro to Wilkinson, not only to ship his
tobacco to New Orleans, but also for the purchase of
merchandise there and its shipment on boats to Kentucky ;
" because," as he explained to his court, " it is exceedingly
important that the western people should see, before declaring
themselves for a change of domination, that the true channel
through which they have to be supplied -n-ith the objects
of their wants, in exchange for their own productions, is
the Mississippi." He wrote, as he stated to his govern
ment, to Wilkinson not to sell his goods for more than
they cost him in New Orleans, " because it is highly im
portant that this first essay should inspire the inhabitants
of Kentucky with the most flattering hopes. I have good
reasons to expect that the arrival of the boats wiU produce
the most agreeable sensation among those people, and will

The Spanish Conspiracy. 137
make them feel more keenly that their felicity depends on
the concession of such commercial facilities by his majesty,
and for the acquisition of which I conceive there are but
few sacrifices which they would not make."*
Wilkinson himself, in order to impress the people of the
district with the advantages of a change of political rela
tions, not less than from a natural love of vainglory, as
sumed increased magnificence in his equipage and stylish
living, dwelt profusely upon the advantage of navigating
the Mississippi and of a commercial connection with
Louisiana, with broad hints to the public, "that nothing
was necessary to bring it about but separation from Vir
ginia and the independence of Kentucky." -j- The effect
of this upon the minds of a people who had been carefully
instructed that Jay had wanted to abandon the rights to
navigate the river, that Congress would not procure this
commerce for Kentucky ; but that now General Wilkinson
had opened up the one and secured the other , /"or them : was
to make Wilkinson the idol of the hour, and to direct
popular clamor, prejudice and hate against the few who
were bold enough to express their convictions, that, be
hind all these favors granted to Wilkinson, there must
needs be designs other than commercial and which boded
no good to the public peace. In the midst of all this
laudation of Wilkinson the fact, that the privileges of
commerce with the Spaniard which he had secured were
limited to himself, was apparently ignored ; and if it was
suggested that an individual could scarcely obtain fran
chises for his private benefit, which all the efforts of Con
gress had been unavailing to obtain for the western people,
without committing himself in some occult way to the
po-vver granting the favors, there were champions always
at hand to attribute such suspicions to jealousy of a man
whose energy equaled his popularity.
The elections for members ofthe convention to frame a
constitution, which had been authorized by the assembly

'•Gayarre, page 220.
t MarshaU, Vol. I, page 283.

138 The Spanish Conspiracy.
to be done, provided Congress should previously give their
assent to the separation and to the reception of Kentucky
as an independent member of the confederation, were held
even while all the bells were ringing the praises of the
most perfidious of traitors. Wilkinson himself, his inti
mate friend, Innes, Caleb Wallace, and Sebastian, whom
Wilkinson had completely captured before the meeting of
the convention, were all elected as members. John\
Brown, who had been sent to Congress, and who did not
return to Kentucky until the following September, was
not a member of the convention of July, 1788, though his
name is in the list published by Collins, which was evi
dently intended as that of the members of that body.
Nor was Muter, who had removed from Danville and was
for a time relieved from a malign influence, a member
thereof.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 139

CHAPTER IX.
The Necessity for a More Perfect Union and a Government Clothed
with National Powers for National Purposes — The Efforts
Made to Defeat the Establishment of the Government by Those
WHO WERE Most Denunciatory of the Impotence of the Confed
eration — The Adoption op the Constitution — John Brown and
HIS Coterie in Kentucky Opposed to the Ratification.
There is no year more memorable in American history
than that of 1787, during which the convention of dele
gates from the several States completed its great labor of
framing the Constitution, and submitted its work to the
separate States for ratification. The necessity for a gov
ernment, clothed with the power of making and the means
to enforce laws, to take the place of the weak confedera
tion, which was little more than a sort of central agency,
which could only recommend measures to the States, and
whose labors for the commonweal were constantly
thwarted by narrow jealousies within the States, which
frequently refused to comply with those recommendations,
had become apparent to our statesmen. That " thirteen
sovereignties pulling against each other, and all tugging at
the federal head, will soon bring ruin on the whole," was
the gloomy prognostication of the chief whose influence
and authority and wisdom had surmounted and counter
acted during the war the evils of the system whieh he de
plored. The remedy he suggested was " a liberal and
energetic constitution " to take the place of the " lax or in
efficient government" of the articles of confederation.
Perhaps the one man to whose daily experience the de
fects in the federal system, which threatened our experi
ment of republican government with an early and dis
graceful faUure and eaddened the retirement of Washing
ton at Mt. Vernon, were more actively brought home
than to any other, was the able and gallant General Henry

140 The Spanish Conspiracy.
- Knox. As Secretary of War his life was made a burden
by the applications on the one hand for protection against
the Indians, and on the other by complaints that the
whites were not only constantly encroaching on the In
dian lands — in defiance of treaties, the ink of which was
scarcely dry — but were as continually murdering the In
dians themselves. Congress could place neither men nor
money at his disposal, and the States refused to grant him
either, with which only he could enforce the treaties
which secured to the Indians their lands free from molesta
tion on the one hand, or punish their depredations and
aggressions against the whites on the other, and thus pro
tect both races. Virginia assailed him with the most
angry expostulations because the Indians were encouraged
to their murderous attacks upon the Virginia settlers of
the Kentucky district, by the retention of the military
posts in the north-west by the British ; and to his every
representation to the British officers commanding those
posts, that their retention was a violation of the treaty en
tered into by their government, the curt reply was re
turned, that the treaty had been violated by the refusal of
Virginia and other States to repeal their laws suspending
the collection of debts due to British citizens.
While continuing to inveigh against the secretary be
cause the posts were held, Virginia refused to repeal the
laws which were made the pretext for holding them ; and
the States which most loudly clamored of the inefficiency
of the secretary, for not compeUing the British to evacu
ate the posts which they did not surrender voluntarily,
were precisely those which most obstinately refused him
the means with which to comply with such demands.
If there was any one who felt equally with Knox, the
urgent necessity that the United States should become a
nation, it was the honest, the incorruptible, the courage
ous and patriotic John Jay. He was embarrassed by many
of the difficulties which surrounded and hampered the
Secretary of War. Besides these he was made to feel
those which beset his negotiations with Spain. His con
victions as to our right to the navigation of the Missis-

The Spanish Conspiracy. 141
sippi, and of the ultimate value and importance of that
navigation had been asserted and remained unaltered.
His purpose never to barter away the right was unchange
able. But he had no conception of the rapidity of the
growth of the west, and, in common with others, persuaded
himself that the navigation would be of little practical
value for a quarter of a century. By tliat time, if Spain
did not concede that right, we would be able to enforce it
by arms. In the meantime, we were in no condition for a
war with any power. Nor could the States, upon which
the otherwise powerless central government must rely for
men, money, and supplies, be united in a war for such a
purpose. Under those circumstances it was, that he sug
gested to Congress a treaty with Spain, limited to twenty
or thirty years, during which time we would forbear the use
of that navigation, by accepting which Spain would admit
the right after that time which was claimed by iraplication.
He explained that if we insisted immediately on our right
to navigate the Mississippi, Spain would at once strengthen
her posts on the banks of that stream, "and bid us defi
ance with impunity, at least until the American nation
shall become more really and truly a nation than it is at
present." It was in order that the strength of an united
country, acting under a vigorous central authority, might
be exerted to enforce this and other rights, to maintain
peace at home and to uphold republican credit, dignity
and honor abroad, that Washington and Adams, the
liberty-loving Jay, the gifted Hamilton, the gaUant Knox,
and the intrepid Henry Lee, with the bulk of the veterans
who had borne the brunt of the revolution, desired that
_lijthe rope of sand" should give way to a cable of iron.
The subject of intensest anxiety with those capable and
far-seeing patriots was, whether the instrument by which
the central authority ceased to be a Congress to advise
the States, and became a Government of the People, would
be ratified by the States. For months Virginia was in
-the doubtful column. To General Knox, Washington
wrote from Mt. Vernon of "the unfair (I might, without
much impropriety, have made use of a harsher expression)

142 The Spanish Conspiracy.
conduct, which has been practiced to raise the fears and to
inflame the minds of the people" of Virginia. "Pains
have not been wanting," he declared, " to inculcate a be
lief that the proposed general government will, without
scruple or delay, barter away their right to the navigation
of the Mississippi." To Thomas Johnson, of Maryland,
he wrote : " The sentiments of Kentucky are not known
here yet (April 20, 1788). Independent of these, the par
ties in this State are pretty equally balanced." Later he
wrote to John Jay, that Uttle doubt remained of the rati
fication by Virginia "if no mistake has been made with
respect to the Kentucky members." On the 4th of June,
Mr. Madison wrote from Richmond to Washington: "I
dare not, however, speak with certainty as to the decision.
Kentucky has been extremely tainted, is supposed to be gen
erally adverse, and every kind of address is going on pri
vately to work on the local interests and prejudices of that
and other quarters." Four days after the date of Madi
son's letter, Washington again wrote to Mr. Jay, that the
friends of the Constitution "express apprehension of the
arts that may yet be practiced to excite alarms with the
members from the western district (Kentucky)." A week
later he wrote to General Knox: "Much appears to de
pend upon the final part which the Kentucky members
will take; into whose minds unreal dangers, respecting
the navigation of the Mississippi have been industriously
infused." The arguraentative resources of Madison and of Wythe,
of Edward Randolph and his brother-in-law, George Nich
olas, of John MarshaU and James Breckenridge, and of
Walter and Gabriel Jones; — the eloquence of James
Innes, which rivaled that of Henry, — the personal influ
ence of Washington, operating from Mt. Vernon : were
all needed and taxed to carry the ratiflcation through the
Virginia convention by the meagre majority of 89 yeas
to 79 nays. Of the fourteen delegates from Kentucky
only three voted for ratification ; two were sUent ; and the
others, unrelentingly hostile, gave negative votes. Among
the last was every man upon whom Wilkinson, or Sebas-

The Spanish Conspiracy. 143
tian, or John Brown, or Hary Innes could have wielded
the sUghtest infiuence. The three who helped to estab
hsh our government were Rice Bullock,* Robert Brecken
ridge,! and Humphrey Marshall, all revolutionary officers.
* He was the ancestor of the Bullocks of Shelby county and the
father of the wife of Eichard Butler, of CarroUton; a near relative of
the late Waller and Edmund Bullock, of Fayette, the progenitors of a
worthy and a sterling race ; and, more remotely a kinsman of the family
of the same name in Mason.
t Alexander and Robert Breckenridge were sons of Colonel Robert
Breckenridge, of Virginia, by his flrst wife. .Their mother was a Miss
Poage, daughter of the first Robert Poage, of Augusta county, sister of
WiUiam Poage, who was kUled by the Indians near Harrodsburg, and
aunt of the late General Robert Poage, of Mason county. Their mother
dying when they were young, and their father forming a second mar
riage with Letitia, daughter of John Preston and sister of Colonel WU
liam Preston, Alexander and Robert Breckenridge were bound as ap
prentices to Francis Smith (who had married another daughter of John
Preston) to learn from him the trade of a carpenter. They became
capital mechanics; but, preferring the career of arms, they both en
tered the American army early in the Revolution, became officers, and
made good records for themselves. After the close of the war both came
to Kentucky, locating at first in Fayette, but settling permanently in
Jefiierson. Alexander married the widow of Colonel John Floyd, and
was the father of the late General James D. Breckenridge, of Louisville,
and of Captain Henry Breckenridge, who was greatly admired for his
talents, captivating manners and personal beauty. Alexander Brecken
ridge was a member of the convention of 1787, and, with Humphrey
MarshaU, helped to give its proceedings a peaceful and tranquilizing
efiect. He died early and young. Robert Breckenridge, who was the
more energetic and intellectual of the two brothers, was a member of
the Virginia Assembly of 1788; a member of the convention which
ratified the constitution in the same year ; a member of the convention
which framed the first constitution of Kentucky in 1792 ; was the
Speaker of the flrst House of Representatives for the State, and, was
successively re-elected to that position three times. For a short time
he was county lieutenant for Jefferson, but seems never to have taken
any active part in actual fighting in the west. He and his younger
half-brother, James Breckenridge, not only voted side by side with
John and Humphrey Marshall to ratify the Constitution, but were also
with them in the hearty and vigorous support they all gave to the ad
ministration of Washington, which John Breckenridge, the able, elo
quent and singularly beloved half-brother of the one and full brother of
the other, did much to embarrass. John Breckenridge was the Presi
dent of the Democrat Society at Lexington, and the author of the Ken
tucky Resolutions of 1798-9. The four Breckenridge brothers were the
gallant ofifepring of a brave and honest sire. The mother of John and

144 The Spanish Conspiracy.
They appear to have taken no active part in the debates
of the convention. But their votes counted in the slender
majority, which, had they been cast adversely, would have
been reduced to four. It has been claimed that to their
position and influence, as western members, it was due
that the proposition carried at all. The last uamed had,
two years before, boldly assailed the proposition that Ken
tucky should assurae independence and sovereignty with
out and against law, and without the assent of Congress,
had checked the audacity of Wilkinson, from Avhom he
forced a modification of his position and a ridiculous
attempt to explain away his utterances. As a member of
the convention called by Brown,- Innes, Muter and Sebas
tian in May, 1787, he had assisted in defeating the propo
sitions designed to excite the fears and to inflame the
minds ofthe people; and to compel an adjournment with
out action of any kind. As a member of the convention
which met in the fall of that year, he had aided in giving
to its action a peaceful direction and tranquilizing efiect.
And no-R', in 1788, at the aspiring age of twenty-eight
years, with the full knowledge that the overwhelming
mass of his immediate constituents were opposed to the
action to Avhich he -was irapelled by his own clear judg
ment and solemn convictions of duty, he, alone of the
delegation from Fayette, contributed his vote and the
whole weight of his strenuous exertions to the establish
ment of the government which lifted our country from
the slough into which it had sunk in its weakness. For
this vote he was most bitterly assailed. His own reasons
therefor are interesting as indicating the character of the
James, Letitia Preston, transmitted to her descendants her intellect,
her elevated character, her comeliness and her grace. John and
James were cousins-german to John Brown ; but they were so differ
ent from him in everj' mental, moral and physical characteristic, that
no one would ever have suspected that one drop of kindred blood
flowed in their veins. General Robert Breckenridge never married.
He accumulated a large fortune, which he left to Eliza, only daughter
of his nephew. General James D. Breckenridge, and wife of Shakes
peare Caldwell.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 145
man and the principles which animated his entire public
life: " He had participated in the scenes of the revolution — heard the want
of power in Congress, often deplored, and witnessed its defects, as to the
Indian afiairs, and the Union generaUy ; to which he was strongly at
tached ; he had also been an observer of General Wilkinson's conduct,
which was not to be accounted for upon legitimate motives ; and he
deemed the new constitution an improvement of the federal system —
after hearing it ably discussed ; his own convictions he could not vio
late ; these taught him that he was subserving the real interests of liis
constituents — and according to these he acted ; putting to hazard and at
naught his own popularity. Thinking withall, for his experience was
yet in its bud, that the people possessed intelligence, and justice enough
to perceive and applaud the propriety of the course pursued."
Colonel John Mason Brown, in his " Political Begin
nings," states, that " the bent of educated opinion in Ken
tucky was evidently in favor of the federal constitution,
but insisted on certain necessary amendments;" and, that
while Thomas Allin and Matthew Walton, two of the
members of the " Danville Political Club " voted against
the ratification of the constitution, " the other membei-s
seem to have been, without exception, zealous supporters
o'f the new plan for Union and constitutional govern
ment." But the fiercest assailants of the constitution
avowed themselves as favorable to " the hew plan for
Union and constitutional government." They found it
more convenient to " ijisist on certain necessary amendments "
merely, than it was to avow themselves distinctly as op
posed to a change from the " old plan" under which ship
wreck and chaos were impending. Nevertheless, as the
several state conventions were not agreed as to what
amendments were "necessary," and as they had no power
to enact any amendments whatever ; and as the only
question presented to those conventions was whether they
would reject the constitution as it was presented to them,
or ratify, leaving its amendment for future action as pointed
out in its provisions; — it inevitably resulted that those
who "insisted on certain necessary amendments," whether
they were sincere as Henry proved himself to be, or
hypocritical as others were, were hostile to the constitution
as it stood, were opposed to its ratification, and were for
10

146 The Spanish Conspiracy.
the rejection of " the new plan for Union and constitu
tional o-overnment," upon which the state conventions
were called to act. The sagacious mind of Washington,
which was rarely at fault, saw, " that this, (the constitu
tion as presented), or a dissolution of the Union, awaits
our choice, and is the only alternative before us." To La
fayette he wrote his maturest conviction, that, in case the
constitution should be rejected, and another general con
vention should be called, its members " would not be able
to agree upon any system whatever," that many of the
objections that had been urged " would operate equally
against any efficient government that might be proposed , "
and that there was " no alternative, no hope of alteration,
no intermediate resting-place between the adoption of this
and a recurrence to an unqualified state of anarchy, with
all its deplorable consequences." . —
r^^ There were some members of that "Political Club,"
I who wished the constitution ratified. But there were
' others beside Thomas Allin and Matthew Walton, (who
voted against the ratification,) who were in line with " the
bent of educated opinion in. Kentucky, which insisted, on cef-
iain necessary amendments ;" which insistence involved the
rejection of the constitution, taking the risk that a second
general convention would be called, with the all but cer
tainty that, if ever called, it could never form a scheme of
government upon which the discordant elements, inflamed
by passion and prejudice, could agree. It is not to be sup
posed that the author of " PoUtical Beginnings " intended
to be understood, that his grandfather and his grand
father's brother, James, and their friends, Innes and
Sebastian, who were all members of the " Political Club,"
were out of sympathy with " the bent of educated opinion
in Kentucky." It is true, the author asserts that when
John Brown " repaired to New York he was earnestly im
pressed -ft'ith the -wisdora and necessity of immediately
adopting" the constitution; that John Brown was in
cordial agreement with Madison in regard to the constitu
tion, and that it was partly owing to this position that he
was chosen as a delegate to Congress by the Virginia as-

The Spanish Conspiracy. 147
sembly. But underneath all this mass of assertion, the
substantial truth seems to be, that John Brown was one of
those educated men in Kentucky who " insisted on certain
necessary amendments," and, made their previous adoption
a condition precedent to the ratification of the constitu
tion, to which, without those amendments, he was opposed.
This is corroborated by Humphrey Marshall's statement,
made during the life time of John Brown, and which was
not denied, that, during Marshall's attendance upon the
Virginia convention, he had " been abundantly forwarned
of the loss of popularity " if he voted for the ratification,
I" and admonished, that it was Mr. Brown's decided opinion,
rendered in a letter to a member, that the constitution ought to
be REJECTED." The Wilkinson party in Kentucky, of
whom Brown was one, were known to be almost, if not
quite, unanimously opposed to the constitution. This was
especially the case with those who had been active, as
Brown had been, in producing and exciting public clamor
on the subject of the navigation of the Mississippi. It
has been seen from the letters of Washington, that the
opposition to the constitution in Kentucky was mainly
from that faction.
In Littell's pamphlet, published by John Brown and
others of that faction, the statement was made that
" there was much reason to fear that bartering away the
navigation of the Mississippi would be one of its (the
new government's) first acts." It can scarcely be doubted
fthat John Brown, who, in 1806, thus asserted that there
was " much reason," in November, 1788, after the Consti
tution had been adopted, for the ' fear' that this bartering
jaway " would be one of the first acts " of the new govern
ment, exerted his influence, so far as it went, to prevent the
establishment of that government, which there was much
reason to fear, would do that thing. That he succeeded
in making the amiable and trusting- Madison believe him
to be a friend of that Constitution and Governnient, from
which so much was to be feared, if it is at all true that
Madison did so believe, is not at all incompatible with
what all other circumstances conspire to establish as the

148 The Spanish Conspiracy.
actual truth, that he was as decidedly hostile to it as any
delegate from Kentucky -ndio openly opposed the ratifica
tion of that instrument. Not one scintilla of evidence
has ever yet been produced tending to disprove Mar
shall's emphatic declaration.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 149

CHAPTER X.
John Brown is Elected to Congress — Kentucky's Application Placed
IN His Charge — The Adoption op the Constitution by Ten States,
Including Virginia, Necessitates the Reference of the Applica
tion TO THE New Government, which had thus Been Formed —
Gardoqui's Proposition — It is Favored by John Brown, Who
Writes Letters to Kentucky Ascribing Sinister Motives to Con
gress — He Urges Kentucky to Disregard the Advice op that
Body, to Form a Constitution and Erect Itself Into a State, in
Order to Adopt Measures to Promote Her Own Interests —
Those Interests Clearly Indicated in the Gardoqui Overture^
The Trick Played by John Brown to Conceal the Motive of that
Overture — It is Imitated by His Grandson.
On the 12th of November, 1787, the name of Joh^
Brown appears for the last time on the journal ofthe Virl
ginia Senate.* To him the duty of placing before Con4
*This was the date of the passage of the second series of resolutions
in regard to the navigation of the Mississippi by the House of Delegates,
which were never introduced into the Senate, and a transcript of which
John Brown did not even take the trouble to carry with him to Con
gress. In fact these resolutions, which are those quoted in the " Polit
ical Beginnings " as having been passed in 1786, never were forwarded to
the Congressional delegation. [See letter of Madison tO' Edmund Ran
dolph, Sept. 24, 1788, Madison Papers, Vol. II., page 677.] . The Mr. Thrus
ton, by whom they were called up in the House of Delegates, was the gal
lant Colonel Charles Mynn Thruston, a worthy scion of the cavaliers, not
of the rakehelly and swashbuckler variety, but of the nobler type of the
stern Strafford, the chivalrous Ormond and the princely Hamilton. He
descended from a family which became early seated in Gloucester,
where he was born. His wife was a member of the numerous and
highly reputable family of Buckner. They were the parents of Buck
ner Thruston, who became distinguished as a judge and as a U. S. Sen
ator from Kentucky. Among the Kentucky descendants of Colonel
Charles Mynn Thruston are the family of his name in Louisville ; that
of the late Judge Pirtle, and of the late Dr. Lewis Rogers, of the same
city ; and Mrs. Paxton MarshaU, of Mason. He graduated at William
and Mary College ; was an officer in the French and Indian war ; be
came an Episcopal minister, and continued in that profession until the
Revolution; he then raised a company and marched to join Washing
ton in New Jersey. At an engagement at Amboy his arm was shat-

150 The Spanish Conspiracy.
gress, the respectful application by the convention of Sep-[
tember, 1787, that assent should be given to the establish-'
meut of the independence of Kentucky, in accordance
with the conditions expressed in the act of the Virginia
Assembly (of January 10, 1787), and for the admission
into the confederation of the new State to be thus erected,
had been expressly entrusted. But, no quorum of Con-'
gress met until the last of January, 1788 ; the applicatior
was not presented by Mr. Brown until the 29th of Feb
ruary. The reason for the delay assigned by Mr. Brown
that " great part of the winter and spring, there was not
a representation of the States sufficient to proceed to this
business : " was probably the true cause. Even after a
quorum was had, the members were too much occupied
with -watching the reports of the action of the several
States upon the question of ratifying the new Constitu
tion (many of the members of Congress were also dele
gates to the respective State conventions) to give proper
attention to their immediate business.
It was not until the 30th of May that Congress fixed
upon the 2d of June as the day for considering the appli
cation. On that day Congress, sitting as a committee of
the whole, cheerfuUy adopted the report presented by Mr.
Otis, of^Massachusetts, asserting the expe3iency~of^'~erect-
ing " the Kenttrek^.:^strict;i;nto2au^^
and referring the appUcation of the^onvehtion and the
acts of the Assembly of Virginia to a committee to be
composed of one member from each state, to prepare audi
report an act assenting to the " independence of the saiq
district of Kentucky, and for receiving the same into the

tered. He was promoted to a Colonelcy, but as the regiment to
which he was appointed could not be raised, he became a supernumer
ary. After drawing the sword he never resumed the gown ; but be
came presiding judge of the Frederick Court, and frequently repre
sented that county m. the assembly. In 1809 he removed to Louisiana,
where he died in 1812. The battle of New Orleans was fought upon the
place of his mterment. The presentation of these resolutions by this
gaUant veteran, and their advocacy by such men as Patrick Henry,
George Mason, and Nicholas, sufficiently refute the pretense that their
passage was "procured from the assembly " by John Brown.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 151
Union as a member thereof in a mode conformable to the
articles of confederation." There were but eleven of the
states then having delegates present, and to a committee
of that number Congress the next day referred the pa
pers, with directions to draft and report a bill to give
effect to the sense of that body as it had been thus form
aUy declared. Among the members of this committee
there was no difficulty in agreeing upon the terms of the
bill ; nor is there an iota of testimony to sustain the asser
tion made by John Brown in his letter to Muter, that the
delay in reporting the bill which was drawn by that com
mittee was occasioned by the opposition of a majority of
its members to the measure.
Ere three weeks had passed, however, intelligence was
brought that New Hampshire had transmitted her ratifi
cation of the Constitution, which gave the number requis
ite for its adoption aud the establishment of the Republic
of the People. Moreover, though no formal and official
notification of Virginia's action on the 26th of June had
been received; yet, by the 1st of July, Mr. Madison, fresh
from the scenes of his polemic triumphs, had arrived in
New York ; and it was known that Virginia, of which
Kentucky was a part, already made the tenth of the assent
ing commonwealths, that the confederacy had become
moribund, and that the new Union was about to be
_launched upon its career of magnificent achievement.
That the confederacy was on the eve of dissolution, that
the rightful powers of its Congress to grant the appli
cation had thus terminated, was the ample justification for
the request (on the 2d of July) made by the committee on
whom had been imposed the duty of drawing a bill for
that purpose, to be discharged. The bill, which had been
"^drawn by the committee, was then promptly offered by
John Brown, was seconded by Edward Carrington, and
was made the special order for the next day. When it
was then called up by Mr. Brown for consideration, a sub
stitute was offered by Mr. Dane, of Massachusetts, who
made a motion to postpone the bill until a vote could be
had upon his substitute. As efforts have been made to

152 The Spanish Conspiracy.
create the belief that this motion proceeded from hostility
to Kentucky, and from jealousy of the South, it is worthy of
note that the motion for postponement was seconded by
Mr. Tucker, of South Carolina, and was supported by
every southern man present except the Virginia delega
tion ; and that then the substitute itself -^vas carried by the
votes of all the states, including Virginia, Mr. Brown him
self reraaining silent, and Mr. Yeates, of New. York, vot-
ins: in the nearative. That substitute, which exhibits the
just, fair and concUiatory spirit of Congress, and of its
northern members whose motives were aspersed by John
Brown; — which so concisely states the facts and motives
that influenced the wise action, and expresses so clearly
the unanswerable logic of the situation, is as follows, viz :
" ^\'hereas application has been lately made to Congress by the Legis
lature of Mrginia, and the district of Kentucky, for the admission of
the said district into the Federal Union, as a separate member thereof
on the terms contained in the acts of the said legislature, and in the
resolutions of the said district relative to the premises. And whereas,
Congress having fully considered the subject, did on the third day of
June last resolve that it is expedient that the said district be erected
into a sovereign and independent state, and a separate member of the
federal union, and appointed a committee to report an act accordingly,
which committee on the second instant was discharged — it appearing
that nine states had adopted the constitution of the United States,
lately submitted to conventions of the people.
And whereas a new confederacy is formed among the ratifying states,
and there is reason to believe that the State of Virginia, including the
said district, did on the twenty-sixth of June last, become a member of
the said confederacy.
And whereas an act of Congress in the present state of the govern
ment of the country, severing a part of said state from the other part
thereof, and admitting it into the confederacy, formed by the articles of
confederation and perpetual union, as an independent member thereof,
may be attended with many inconveniences, while it can have no effect
to make the said district a separate member of the federal union formed
by the adoption of the said constitution, and therefore it must be mani
festly improper for Congress assembled under the said articles of con
federation to adopt any other measures relative to the premises, than
those which express their sense that the said district as a separate state
be admitted in the Union, as soon as circumstances shall permit proper
measures to be adopted for that purpose :
Resolved, That a copy of the proceedings of Congress relative to the
independence of the district of Kentucky, be transmitted to the Legis
lature of Virginia, and al,so to Samuel ilcDowell, Esquire, late president

I'he Spanish Conspiracy. 153
of said convention, and that the said legislature and the inhabitants of
the district aforesaid be informed, that as the constitution of the United
States is now ratified. Congress think it unadvisable to adopt any fur
ther measures for admitting the district of Kentucky into the federal
union as an independent member thereof under the articles of confed
eration and perpetual union ; but that Congress thinking it expedient
that the said district be made a separate state and member of the Union,
as soon after proceedings shall commence under the said constitution,
as circumstances shall permit, recommend it to the said legislature, and
to the inhabitants of the said district, so to alter their acts and resolu
tions relative to the premises, as to render them conformable to the
provisions made in the said constitution, to the end that no impediment
may be in the way of the speedy accomplishment of thi.s important
business." Had it been deemed proper to add aught to this cogent
reasoning and just conclusion, it might truthfully have
been stated, that both the acts of Virginia had unmistak
ably evinced her determination, that the district should
not be taken from under her authority until provision had
been previously made for its admission into the Union ;
and that the unavoidable inference remained, that it was
equally her will, now that she had entered into the new
Union, that the same condition should apply as to Ken
tucky's admission into it; that recognition of the inde
pendence of Kentucky and her admission into the confed
eration would neither have admitted her into that new
Union, to provide for which the Congress ofthe confeder
ation had no power, nor have imposed upon the State
thus created any obligation to seek such admission ; that
admission into the new Union could only be obtained by
the States of the confederation by ratifying the Constitu
tion, against which the large majority of the Kentucky del
egates to the Virginia convention had voted, and to which
an overwhelming majority of her people were known 'to
be opposed; and that the only effect of receiving her then
into the fast declining confederation would have been to
have soon left her free from all political bonds to the
United States, an independent and sovereign State, sep
arated from them by the barriers of the Alleghanies, at
liberty to make her own treaties and to form alliances
wheresoever she listed ; — an almost certain prey to the

154 The Spanish Conspiracy.
Briton, who still held with strong hand the military posts
in the north, or to the Spaniard, whose cannon com
manded the banks and mouth of the Mississippi, whose
minister at New York -\vas even then intriguing with
the western delegate in Congress, and whose governor
of Louisiana had already bought Kentucky's most bril
liant and most influential citizen.
Of this determination by Congress, Colonel Brown ad
mits, that it was a "right conclusion," that the "logic of
the situation was all with the substitute moved by Mr.
Dane, of Massachusetts." "This substitute," Colonel
Brown informs us, " was temperate and conciliatory in
language, perfectly fair in its statement of the facts, and
it embodied a series of explanations and reasons that were
indisputably sound." For this substitute, every southern
delegate in Congress, except John Brown, who was silent,
voted. That he "held his peace" is explained by his
shortly after urging tbe people of the district to declare
independence and assert sovereignty, without regard to
the act of Virginia or to the assent of Congress. By this
step Kentucky would have been placed, so far as the act
itself could have been made effective, outside of the con
federation, as well as outside of the Union of the Consti
tution. This "wise action" of Congress was represented
by John Brown in Littell's pamphlet, " to have been owing
to the malign influence of an eastern politician, whose tal
ents for intrigue have become famous throughout the civ
ilized world" (probably meaning thereby the able and
patriotic Jay). "The conduct of Congress," he declaredT
referring to Dane's substitute, which his grandson so
highly commends, and for which his colleagues voted, " on
the appUcation of the district, manifested the existence of
some sinister political design." He explained that this
sinister design was to give up to Spain the right of navi
gating the Mississippi, and to oppose the progress of the
west and the creation of new States therein, though he
knew that the same Congress had most emphatically re
pudiated the sinister design which he attributed to it, and
had already made provision for the creation of new States

The Spanish Conspiracy. 155
in the west. This was a repetition of one of the scandals
ous misrepresentations which Washington so bitterly con
demned, and which was resorted to by William Grayson,
in the Virginia convention, in his frantic endeavors to de
feat the ratification of the Constitution, to inflame the
Kentucky members of that body, and to prevent the es
tablishment of a government wdiose laws the demagogues
ijould no longer with impunity defy.
/ To Oliver Pollock, of whose intimate association with
the Spaniards and interest in the trade with Louisiana and
the west he had knowledge, — to Oliver Pollock, John
Brown communicated " in confidence " his determination
" to return home, and, on his arrival, to call for a general
assembly of his fellow-citizens, in order to proceed imme
diately to declare themselves independent, and to propose
to Spain the opening of a commercial intercourse with
.reciprocal advantages." Pollock disclosed to Miro this
intention, which Brown declared to him. The Intendant
wrote to his court, under date of November 3, 1788, that
Valdes, the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, might
"rest assured, that Bro-wii, on his arrival in Kentucky,
finding Wilkinson and his associates disposed to surren-
I der themselves up to Spain, or at least to put themselves
[jinder her protection, will easily join them."* The " in-
* " Oliver Pollock, a citizen of Philadelphia, who arrived here three
days ago, in a vessel from Martinique, has' disclosed to me that Brown,
a member of Congress, who is a man of property in Kentucky, told him
in confidence that, in the debates of that body on the question of the
independence of that territory, he saw clearly that the intention of his
colleagues was, that Kentucky should remain under the jurisdiction of
Congress, like the county of Illinois, and that a governor should be
appointed by them for that province as for the other ; but that, as this
was opposed to the welfare of the inhabitants of Kentucky, he was de
termined to return home, (which he did before Pollock's departure from
Philadelphia), and, on his arrival, to call for a general assembly, of his
fellow-citizens, in order to proceed immediately to declare themselves
independent, and to propose to Spain the opening of a commercial in
tercourse with reciprocal advantages ; and that, tu accomplish this ob
ject, he would send to Pollock the necessary documents, to be laid be
fore me and to be forwarded to your excellency. He requested Pollock
to prepare me for it in anticipation. Your excellency will, therefore,
rest assured that Brown, on his arrival in Kentucky, flnding Wilkinson

156 The Spanish Conspiracy.
dependence" which John Brown thus announced liis pur
pose to urge Kentucky to declare, was not simply inde
pendence of Virginia, but of the confederation and of the
new Union as well ; for, neither under the articles of the
one nor under the constitution of the other, could a State
make any treaty or form any alliance, commercial or oth-
-R'ise, with a foreign power.
The confidential interview with Pollock was evidently
after John Brown had ascertained from Gardoqui the na
ture of the instructions he had received from Madrid in
the preceding March, as the direct result of the memorial
of AVilkinson, which had been forwarded to Spain in Sep
tember, 1787, and of the urgent advice of the gifted Na
varro, that no time should be lost in the adoption of meas
ures necessary to populate Louisiana and to procure a sepa
ration of the west from the Union.* It was discerned by
statesmen at Madrid that the republican institutions of
America were inimical to those of Spain, and they fore
saw that the growth and extension of the Union would
ultiraately endanger the Spanish possessions of Louisiana,
Texas and Mexico. Faithful to his instructions to labor
for the dismemberment of that Union, and anticipating
the action of Congress, Gardoqui took occasion " to culti-
and his associates disposed to surrender themselves up to Spain, or at
least, to put themselves under her protection, will easily join them, and
it is probable, as Wilkinson has aheady foretold it, that, next spring, I
shall have to receive here a deputation appointed in due form. I acted
toward Pollock with a great deal of caution, and answered him as one
to whom had been communicated some new and unlooked-for informa
tion, giving him to understand that I could not pledge to him my sup
port before seeing the documents he expected." [Miro's dispatch to
Valdes, Nov. 3, 1788. Gayarre, page 222.]
-* " Don Diego Gardoqui, about the month of March last, received from
his court ample powers to make with the people of this district the ar
rangements he might think proper, in order to estrange them from the
United States and induce them to form an alliance with Spain. I re
ceived this information, in the first place, from Mr. Brown, the member
of Congress for this district, who, since the taking into consideration of
our application to be admitted into the Union has been suspended, en
tered into somu free communications on this matter with Don Diego
Gardoqui." [Wilkinson's letter to Miro, February 12, 1789. Gayarre,
page 241.]

The Spanish Conspiracy. 157
vate the frieudship of the aforesaid Brown, and to intro
duce such topics as he (I) thought would produce good re
sults " for the accomplishment of the scheme of disunion
ha.had been ordered to prosecute. In those frequent in
terviews held prior to and after the decision of Congress,
Gardoqui " touched upon those obstacles imposed by
'our treaties with other nations, which forbade us accord
ing any extension of favor to his section of country ivhile
pertaining to the United States," and " artfully insinuated
that only themselves could remove the difficulty, inasmuch as
if separated they would aflbrd excuse for regarding them as
an interior district without maritime designs, and perhaps
we could devise some, plan for adjusting the markets so
much needed in our own possessions." The wily Span
iard was too polite, even had he not been too circumspect,
to at once bluntly tell the listening statesman from the
west, that his Catholic raajesty, warned by the most astute
of his counsellors of the perils to be apprehended from
the future vigor of the young giant, if time and room
were given for its development, was intent, above all other
things, on dismembering the Union, and strangling repub
lican Uberty in its germ. Nor did he explain in detail, that
one great motive of the Spanish diplomacy in refusing to
listen to any suggestion that the United States had a right
to navigate the Mississippi, was to use that matter as its
most valuable aid in accomplishing its design of disunion.
But he did inform Mr. Brown, as he had all along in
formed Jay, that this right on the part of the United
States would never be admitted by Spain. And, however
his suggestions of treason to the world's hope of freedom
may have been veiled by the pretext, that treaties with
other nations prevented the extension of this privilege to
the people of Kentucky so long as they continued a part
ofthe Union ; but that, if Kentucky would sejDarate from
the Union, then those treaties might be evaded on the
ground that, as an interior state, she was without mari
time ambitions ; — still, Gardoqui intended to give and did
give Mr. Brown distinctly to understand, aud the member
of Congress fully understood, that so long as Kentucky

158 The Spanish Conspiracy.
remained a part of the Union, the privilege of navigating /
the Mississippi would never be granted to them by Spain. j
He was given to understand, too, and did understand,
that if Kentucky -n'ould first -withdraw^ from the Union,)
then, and not until then, upon that fundamental coudi-i
tion precedent, and upon no other, Gardoqui was author
ized to negotiate with the state, thus separated from and
independent of the Union, for the extension of that privi
lege to her people. There was no room for misunder
standing Gardoqui's proposition, nor did Brown misap
prehend Gardoqui's object. As the words fell from the
lips of tbe Spaniard he " carefuU v observed" the expres
sion of Brow^n's countenance, and it " seemed to him (me)
that he (I) could discern the satisfaction it gave."
Brown promised to consider the proposition, and to
have further talk with Gardoqui upon the subject. He
carefully revolved the proposition in his own mind, view-^
ing it in its relations to the future of the Kentucky people,
and, beyond doubt, in its probable bearings upon his own
fortunes. Then, several days after the interview in which
he had given Gardoqui his promise, he sought the latter at
the Minister's own residence. There he renewed with the
Spaniard the discussion ofthe interesting topic. Gardoqui
then "repeated the same and other observations" — be
coming more direct and bolder as Brown evidently pre
pared for capitulation. It is scarcely a mere fancy, that
the Spaniard drew an alluring picture of the profits and
wealth to be reaped for the Kentucky people by the pros
pective commerce with Louisiana and the rich islands of
the gulf, to which they -n-ere invited. Due appreciation
of the good manners -n-hich distinguish the Castilian gen
tleman forbids the beUef that the Minister suggested pe
cuniary or other personal reward to Mr. Brown as the
result of successful efforts by him to promote the design
disclosed; yet it is scarcely possible that no such consider
ation found a lodgment in Brown's own mind. He ex^
pressed himself " as quite satisfied and obUged " to Gardo-/
qui for the offer which the latter had made to him. And
he " admitted, in confidence," that he had, by a messenger,

The Spanish Conspiracy. 159
[already announced to his constituents the action of Con
gress, and that he had " communicated to them t\iQ favor
able disposition he had discovered " in Gardoqui to grant
the navigation of the Mississippi as the price of their
separation from the Union.
He further assured Gardoqui that, as a consequence of
the information he had forwarded to his constituents of
the " good disposition he had discovered " in the Spanish
minister, he hoped to " communicate matters of import
ance productive of benefit to that country." By this he
meant the Spaniard to understand, and Gardoqui did so
understand, that he hoped to soon communicate to Gar
doqui that the district had declared her independence, as
sumed sovereignty and had withdrawn from the Union,
as Gardoqui desired, so as to entitle her people to the
" benefit " of the promise Gardoqui had made. He did not
forget to tell the Spaniard that a convention would be
held in Danville in July — the month in which their con
versation was held, — and " tbat he expected it would re
solve upon the erection of an independent State," — which
could only be done by violating all the conditions of the
act of the Virginia Assembly, and, as the Congress had
made no provision to admit the State so erected, would
have disconnected it equally from the confederation which
was about to die and the Union which was in process of
accouchement. It was thus alone he could have hoped
that any " benefit " would accrue to the people of Ken
tucky from the " favorable disposition he had discovered "
in Gardoqui. He told Gardoqui, that he would leave New
York the 1st of August, and that he would arrive in
Kentucky in time to " inform." his constituents of the
proposals made by Spain, and to " aid in what he had dis
cussed" with the Spanish envoy. " On taking his leave,"
the sanguine Mr. Brown enthusiastically " thanked me
(Gardoqui) for himself and in the name of all the country
(Kentucky), which would be under lasting obligations to
me,"— for having offered the navigation of the Mississippi,
which had been obstinately refused to the United States,
as a bribe to Kentucky to cut adrift from the Union and

160 The Spanish Conspiracy.
its destinies ! Eve, as she looked with fascinated eye
upon the hateful head and deadly coils of the arch enemy
of man, did not more easily nor more eagerly succumb.*

>ubjoine(l is the fuU text of Gardoqui's dispatch of July 25, 1788, as
copied from the -' Political Beginnings," page 146, viz.:
" In mv dispatches of 18th April, I had the honor to inform your ex
cellency of that movement which the District of Kentucky had renewed
in tonsequence of the consent given by Virginia (of which it forms a
part) to its reel Ignition and admission by Congress as a sovereign, inde
pendent state. The matter was agitated vigorously of late, and a com
mittee named, composed of one member from each state, and after
wards upon consideration (as the order of the day) in a general session
of Congress, it was agreed that the demand was just; though in view of
the various eircumstanees of the time, it was referred to the new gov
ernment. " This determination was -^ery distasteful to those who promoted the
separation of the district, and particularly so to Mr. John Brown, a
landed proprietor and resident in that Distiict, who was interested in
that matter, among others, as member in Congress. Finally the busi
ness was passed over to the new government, in which the State of Vir
ginia will lie included as part, because of her consent to join the con
federation, >riven before the fourth of the present month. Foreseeing
some of these nccurrences, 1 took occasion during the past year to cul
tivate the friendship of the aforesaid Brown, and to introduce such
topics as I thought would produce good results.
"Our friend.ship gradually increased and my sentiments naturally
made an impression on him, inasmuch as they touched upon those
obstacles, imposed by our treaties with other nations, which forbade us
according any extension of favor to his section of country while per
taining to the United States, artfully insinuating that only themselves
could remove tlie difficulty ; inasmuch as if separated they would afford
excuse for regarding them as an interior district without maritime de
signs, and perhaps we could devise some plan for adjusting the markets
s(j mucli needed in some of our possessions.
" 1 carefully observed his appearance as I told him this, and it seemed
to me that I could discern the satisfaction it gave. He said he would
reflect upon it, and would see me and talk at leisure upon the subject.
Several days passed and he came to this house, where a few days since
we had a long conversation in which we renewed the subject, and I re
peated the same and other observations. He seemed quite satisfied
and obliged to me, and admitted, in confidence, that he had, by a mes
senger who had left some days before, communicated to his constitu-
uents the decision of Congre.ss concerning the separation, referring to
the favorable disposition he had discovered in me, and, in short, that
he hoped to communicate matters of importance productive of benefit
to that country. He told me, in conclusion, that this month the con
vention would meet, and that he expected it would resolve upon the

The Spanish Conspiracy. 161
John Brown was fresh from these conferences with the
Spanish minister when he made to Oliver Pollock the
"confidential" declaration of his purpose, which, as it
appears from Miro's dispatch to his Court, Pollock
in turn shortly after repeated to Miro, and which was
identical with that related by Gardoqui. The very na
ture of these conferences excludes from the probabilities
the suggestion of Colonel John Mason Brown, that Madi
son, or some other member of the Virginia delegation,
was present thereat, and places that intimation among the
vain and empty imaginings of the author. And the very

erection of an independent state ; that he expected to leave this place
the 1st of August, and that he would arrive in time to inform and aid
what he had discussed with me, for he deems it a very fit and impor
tant subject for consideration, and for the present he thanked me for
himself and in the name of all the country, which would be under last
ing obligation to me. This, your ExceUency, is another element of this
arduous business, in which I believe that now more than ever it be-
'hooves us to take occasion to make sure for ourselves without incurring
resentment of others. I beg that your Excellency will condescend to
inform me if this has the approbation of his majesty, and that the ele
vated understanding of your Excellency will direct me, so that if any
sudden occasion should occur I may meet it effectively and without
clash, which I confess seems difl[icult. Your Excellency is aware that
the power his majesty has designed to confer on me mentions the
' United States,' and will serve to direct me if occasion offers to do any
thing within its scope.
" I think we need not be disturbed by the English intrigues for ob
taining the Wendship of that District, because its inhabitants well know
how infinitely important to them is communication and friendship with.
their neighbors of the Lower River who have that which they need,
and the port which naturaUy pertains to their country.
" It is more than likely that the before mentioned member will again
see me before he departs, and I will not lose an opportunity of for
warding affairs or of informing your Excellency of what may have
occurred. In the meantime I conclude, again submitting myself to the
orders of your Excellency, and praying that God may guard the life of
your Excellency many years.
" New York, 25th July, 1788. Most Excellent Sir, I kiss the hands of
your Excellency.
" Your most obliged and obedient servant, Diego De Gardoqui."
11

1&2 The Spanish Conspiracy.
letters * of Madison which he cites, but does not qn.ote, for
his bold assertion that Gardoqui had " quite clearly
broached a proposition that Kentucky should be aban
doned to Spain," to Madison; and that (jardoqui "had
conversations of -ii/nilar inqiort " -with Madison and Mou

lin a note at the bottom of page 14 of the Centennial Address, Col
onel Brown ,says : "Madison, under date 19th of March, 17s7, writes
verv fully to Jefferson concerning the agitation existing in the western
country, and Gardoqui's plan of offering right of narigaiion, if Kentucky
would join Spain. iThe IMadison Papers, vol. 2, page 622)." There is
not a line nor a word in the letter cited lo furnish the shadow of a war
rant for Col'jnel Brown's statement. Mr. Madison informed .lefferson
that -'A late acci'lental conversation with Gardoqui proved to me ihoJ
thenegotio.tiori (Jay.- isnrr-.'ted.'' '• But although it appears that the
intended sacrifice trill not be inade, the consequences of the intention and
the attempt are likely to be verj- serious.'' . " I have credible infor
mation that the people li-ving on the Western waters are already in
great agitation, and are taking measures for uniting their consultations.
(This had reference to the movement of the Committee of We.-tem
Pennsylvania, and anticipated the circular of Brown, Innes, Sebastian
and Muter.) The amhition of indifiduaU vill quickly ini:ir it.-<elf it:ith the
original motires of resentment and intereft. (Madison seems to have under
stood human nature, and to have anticipated its operations upon John
Brown, Harj- Innes and Benjamin S.-bastian.) Communications wUl
gradually take place with their British nei.trhbors, Tliey trill he led to fet
vp for thetn-wlves (that was what Han.' Innes threatene'l to do in his letter
to Governor Randolph), to SL-ize on the vacant laml.s. to entice en^iirants
by bounties and an exemption from federal burdens, and in aU respects
play the part of Vermont on a large theatre. It is hinted to me that
British paili.-ans are already feeling the pulse of some of the western
settlements. Should those apprehensions not lie imaainarj'-, -Spain may
have equal cau~e with tbe L^nited States to rue this unnatural attempt
to shut the Mississippi. Gardoqui has been admonished of the danger
and, I believe, i- not insensible t'j it, though he affects to be otherwise,
and talks as if the dependence of Britain on the commercial favors of
his court would induce her to play into the hands of Spain." This is
the only mention made of Gardoqui in the letter, and from the begin
ning to the end of it the name of Kentucky is not mentioned, nor is
there a single expression from the beginning to the end of the letter
which can be construed a,s aUuding to Kentucky other than th'>3e
contained in these quotations. It contains not one word which could
possibly have suggested to Colonel Brown that Gardoqui had proposed
to Madison a "plan of offering right of natrigation if Kentttcky aould join
Spain.'' That plan was never proposed nor sugaested by Gardoqui to
Madison. He did formally and officially propose it to .lohn Brown, a
year later, and John Brown promised to '- aid '" in promoting that plan.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 163
roe, to that in which he proposed to John Brown that
Kentucky should withdraw from the Union in order to
secure the navigation of the Mississippi : furnish the most
explicit contradiction to Colonel Brown's statement, which
they show to have been an invention, without even the
quality of ingenuity to commend it. While Colonel
Brown's positive and most venturesome allegation, that
Gardoqui did not claim John Brown as won over by him,
is absolutely refuted by the words of Gardoqui's dispatch,
which he reproduces in the " Political Beginnings," that
Brown said he deemed Gardoqui's proposition as " fit
and important for consideration " and that he would re
turn home in time to " inform and aid what he had dis
cussed with me."
In his " Political Beginnings " Colonel Brown publishes
what purports to be memoranda made by John Brown of
his testimony before the legislative committee which in
vestigated the charge against Sebastian in 1806 ; — which
memoranda represent John Brown to have stated that he
had informed Mr. Madison of Gardoqui's proposition when
it was made. The official report of the testimony which
John Brown gave in that case, does not, however, confirm
the memoranda; but, on the contrary, is strong prima
facie evidence that the statement which appears in the
alleged memoranda is untrue. But were the memoranda
correct, and the deposition signed by John Brown himself
jin error, as to what he then testified ; and were the alleged
jtestimony also true, it would prove that Mr. Madison was
lot present at the conference between John Brown and
jardoqui. Eor, if he was there and heard it, why should
lohn Brown have communicated to Mr. Madison what he
lad heard from Gardoqui's own lips in John Brown's pres-
nce ? If Colonel Brown believed the memoranda to be
uthentic and its statements true, it results that he could
ave had no faith' in his own argument that Madison was
resent at and participated in the conference, — the very
ature of which forbids the thought that Colonel Brown's
^gestion could be correct.
The statement made in the " Beginnings," that, John

164 The Spanish Conspiracy.
Brown, after his conference with Gardoqui, " now knew
unmistakably from the lips of the Spanish minister that
nothing but a pretext, such as would evade the complica
tions of an old diplomacy, was sought for permitting the
people of the west to enjoy the natural advantages of
their geographical position," possesses greater merit for
its faultless grammatical construction than as a candid re
lation of the facts. The ofiicial dispatch of Gardoqui,
which apjiears in the " Beginnings," and the ofiicial com
munications of Navarro and Miro to their court, which
are excluded therefrom, unfortunately combine to prove
that the reference to the " old diplomacy," as a reason why
the right of navigating the Mississippi from its source to
its moutli which Great Britain had acquired in 1763, and
which the United States had acquired by the revolution,
could not be conceded to them, was the "pretext; " while
the real aim of the Spaniards, Diplomats and Intendant,
was to divide the Union, and that the Mississippi was the
means by which they sought to tempt or drive Kentuck
ians to disloyalty. When this purpose was disclosed to
John Brown by Gardoqui, it appears from the dispatch of
the latter, that Mr. Brown deeraed the matter " fit for con
sideration," and promised to " aid " in what had been pro
posed to him.
The " Beginnings " continues : " It was now definitely
adraitted that trade through the Mississippi would be
' winked at ' until a formal international treaty could be
concluded, if only some excuse like the declaration of a new
state could be presented as a palliative to Spanish pride of
opinion." But the facts with which Colonel Brown was
famiUar show, that Spain had refused, and at that very
time continued to persistently refuse, to make any treaty
with the United States which admitted even by implica
tion their right to that navigation, or one which did not
explicitly abandon that navigation belovp our own bound
aries. The expression which fell from Gardoqui, " that in
case of a treaty (which should abandon our right to the
navigation) trade through the Mississippi and other chan
nels would be winked at," was in a conversation with Mr.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 165
Madison more than a year before he made his proposition
to John Brown, and was not one by which he or his court
were bound. In the meantime, as the result of the advice
of Navarro, and of the intrigue with Wilkinson, he had
received explicit instructions to exert himself to separate
Kentucky from the Union. The " excuse like that of a
declaration of a new state " which he -sought, was that of a
state separate from the Union, whose position would drive
her to seek an alliance with the government of the In
quisition. And that was what John Brown knew unmis
takably from Gardoqui's own lips, and that was the posi
tion in which he agreed to " aid " in placing Kentucky.

166 The Spanish Conspiracy.

CHAPTER XI.
John Brown Writes Letters to Colonel McDowell, Muter and
others. Suppressing the Reasons Assigned by Congress for its
Action, and A.ssigning Sinister Motives Therefor. — His " Sliding
Letter " to ^McDowell — He A\'ithholds from McDowell the Fact
that a Separation from the Union wan the Price Demanded by
Spain in Return for her Proposed F.wors — He Reve.^ls Himself
MORE FULLY IN A LeTTER TO IMUTER — HiS BROTHER, JaJIES, AFTER
WARDS Denies that he ever Wrote such \ Letter and Traduces
James M. ^Marshall for St.vting that he had — In 1806, John
Brown Suppresses the Letter to IMuter, and Pretends that it
gave the same Account of the Gardoqui Ovekture as was given
BY his Letter to McDowell — It Disappears from the File of the
(tazette— The Browns all Figitt Shy of it — Colonel Brown
Publishes IT in a Mutilated Form — Imitates the Prestidigitat-
iN(; OP HIS Grandfather.
In his secret conference with (jardoqui, as appears from
the dispatch of the latter to bis court, John Brown " ad- j
mitted, in confidence, that he had by a messenger who
had left New York some days before, communicated to
his constituents the decision of Congress concerning the
separation," and had referred to the proposition made to
him by (jardoqui. It seems certain that he sent by that
messenger a number of letters other than the one received
by Judge Samuel McDowell, but to -^vhora they were
addressed, or what were the exact terms used in those
other letters, can not now be ascertained. The only letter
which it can now be proved that he sent by that messen
ger * was the letter received liy Colonel McDowell, who had

* There were rumors at the Danville convention ot July, 1789, of let
ters which had been received other than the one addressed to Colonel
McDowell. These rumors did not refer to the letter written to Muter,
which was not received untU the fall of 1788. The one addressed to
McDoweU was received hefore the 28th of July, 1788, on which day the
convention met. It must have been written and forwarded inrmedialrly

The Spanish Conspiracy. 167
been the stated president of all the previous conventions,
save that presided over by Fleming, and whom he cor
rectly calculated would be chosen to the same position by
that about to assemble. He expected and intended his
letter to McDowell to reach that venerable gentleman on
the eve of the assembling of the convention, which it did ;
and to make certain of this wrote and transmitted it at
once. He also expected, as he informed Gardoqui, that,
as an efiect of that letter, the convention " would resolve
upon the erection of an independent state," in defiance of
the conditions expressed in the act of the assembly and in
contempt of the decision and advice of Congress. But
one newspaper was then published in Kentucky, which
received intelligence of movements on the Atlantic coast
only after .long delays. Their Congressman was the
medium upon whom the people naturally and necessarily
tiepended for correct information of measures affecting
their interests which were before the body of which he
was a member. It was manifestly and peculiarly his duty
lo have transmitted to that convention information not
only of the action of Congress upon their application, but
he reasons assigned by Congress for that action. But,
lot satisfied with merely suppressing those reasons, " which
tvere indisputably sound," and which were so well calcu-
ated to convince, and conciliate and soothe and assure,
John Brown substituted therefor reasons of his own, which
attributed this just action to jealous animosity to the west
after the action of Congress on July 3d, and the making of a direct
proposition by Gardoqui, and hefore the conference described in the
latter's dispatch. The letter to IMuter was dated the 10th of July, 1788,
was not received until the fall, and was not probably sent by the same
messenger. Colonel Marshall wrote to Washington that he had read
"some" of Brown's letters, which referred to more than one. Muter
wrote that he " knew that letters similar to that to me had been received
much earlier, even previous to the sitting of the convention in the
month of July, of that year, and that a letter, or a part of a letter from
him was read in convention." This shows beyond doubt that he
wrote other letters than those addressed to McDowell and Muter. But
they were suppressed by his friends, and it was denied they were writ
ten.

168 The Spanish Conspiracy.
and to sinister designs, as he afterwards did in the Littell /
pamphlet. The motives he ascribed to Congress were cal- |
culated to inflame and exasperate. They were intended^
to precipitate the revolutionary separation from A'irginia,
which he told Gardoqui he expected. By this course
Kentucky would have been placed in readiness to erabrace
the proposals raade to him by Gardoqui, which he after
wards obsequiously thanked the Spaniard for having raade.
The precise terms of that letter to McDowell were never
made public. In its body no mention vf&s made of Gar
doqui's overture. But he contrived a "sliding letter,"
written on a separate piece of paper, and marked " con
fidential," which he inclosed in the other ; and which was
in these words :
" In a conversation I had with Mr. Gardoqui, the Spanish minister,
relative to the navigation of the Mississippi, he stated that, if the people
of Kentticky would erect themselves into an independent state, and appoint a
proper person to negotiate with him, he had an authority for that purpose, and
would enter into an arrangement vjith them for the exportation of their produce
to New Orleans, on terms of mutual advantage."
The fundamental condition precedent, annexed by Gar
doqui, and understood by Brown, that this " independent
state " must be separate from and independent of the Union,
as well as of Virginia, was not disclosed in this letter to
the stern and vigorous McDowell. It will be perceived
that, instead of explicitly and precisely stating the condi
tions under which Spaiu was ready to open the Mississippi
to Kentucky, in this letter to Colonel McDowell the pru
dent Mr. Brown left a bridge over which to retreat in
case McDowell should repel the proposition of disunion.
That bridge was to have been the sarae paltry pretense be
hind which he sought to shelter himself iu the Littell
pamphlet in 1806 : That what was meant by an " inde
pendent state " was, a state separate from and independent
of Virginia, but yet a meraber of the Union. The ambig
uous phrases eraployed in the " Political Beginnings," * by

'Political Beginnings," page 150.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 169
an accomplished master ofthe art of circumlocution, show
that the same construction is even now sought to be placed
upon Gardoqui's dispatch.
With the weak and unstable Muter, who had been so
greatly under the influence of himself and Innes, and
under that influence had signed the circular of March 19,
1787 ; — with Muter, Mr. Brown felt secure iu being more
explicit. The letter to Muter, was dated July 10, 1788,
and in its lines John Brown himself stands revealed. In
that letter he alleged, that the majority of the committee
to which the application of Kentucky and the act of the
assembly had been referred " could not be prevailed on to
report a bill for the admission of Kentucky into the
Union, because they were opposed to that admission." At the
same time he suppressed the unanswerable reasons assigned
by Congress why they had ceased to have any rightful
authority to grant the request, and for referring the ap
plication to the new government which had then been
established ; and suppressed also all the conciliatory ex
pressions in favor of admitting Kentucky into the new
Union, and the cordial and hearty advice that the district
should get all things in readiness to be received into that
new Union at the earliest practical moment. He referred
to the refusal to receive Kentucky as if it had been the
action of the "Eastern States" only; assigned as their
reason, that Vermont or Maine was not brought forward
at the same time, and expressed the opinion that the
eastern states never would assent to the admission of Ken
tucky except in that contingency ; emphatically aflarmed,
that " the jealousy of the growing importance of the western
country, and an unwillingness to add a vote to the southern
interest are the real causes of opposition ;" and wound up with
the assertion that these causes would " continue to exist" to
a certain extent even under the new government. To give
consistency to these animadversions upon the motives of
the eastern states, to whose jealousy and ill will he
ascribed the action, he carefully suppressed the fact that
the delegates of every southern state present, except those
of Virginia, had unanimously voted to postpone the bill

170 The Spanish Conspiracy.
in order to take up Dane's substitute ; and that the dele
gates from Virginia, saving himself alone, had then joined
-\vith the other suuthern states in passing the substitute
itself! As presented Ijy Mr. Brown, the situation for
Kentucky was, indeed, gloomy.
After this dismal outlook had been set forth, Mr. Brown
proceeded to say that, the question then presented to the
district was, whether it -\vould continue its connection with
A'irginia, " or to declare its independence and proceed to
form a constitution of government ; '' to abide by the law,
obtain a new act of the assembly, and apply for admission
into the new Union, or to act without law, resort to revo
lution, and assume sovereignty, which would not only
scjiarate them frora A^irginia, but would leave them with
out other political ])oii(ls. "'Tis generally expected," he
-wrote, " that the lattei- will be the determination, as you
liave proceeded too far to think of relinquishing the
measure, and the interest of the district will render it
altogether inexpedient to continue in j'our present situa
tion until an application for admission into tbe Union can
be made in a constitutional mode, to the new govern
ment." More urgent advice could not have been given
them to do what he had told Gardoqui he expected them
to do ; and which -would have been the first step necessary
in the plan he had promised Gardoqui to return home and
" aid." " This step," he continued, " will, in my opinion,
tend to preserve unanimity, and will enable you to adopt
irttli effect snclt hiea.-<nres as may be necessary to promote the
Interests of the district." A^iewed in the light cast upon it
by the dispatch of Gardoqui and the stateraent of PoUock
to Aliro, what were the " raeasures " this declaration of
independence and assumption of sovereignty would have
enabled them to " adopt," and what was the nature of the
"interest of the district" which their adoption would
promote, are unmistakably discerned. But to make assur
ance doubly sure, and to unfaUingly indicate the measures
to be adopted and the interests to be promoted, in the
very next sentence he himself pointed them out by dis
closing the proposition of Gardoqui. He wrote :

The Spanish Conspiracy. 171
" In private conferences Lhave had with Mr. Gardoqui, the Spanish Minis
ter, at this place, I have heen assured by him in the most explicit terms, that if
Kentucky will declare her independence, and empower some proper person to
negotiate with him that lie has authority, and will engage to open the navigation
of the Mississippi, for the exportation of their produce, on terms of mutual ad
vantage. But that this privilege NEVER can be extended to them
WHILE PART OF THE UNITED STATES, hy reason of commercial
treaties existing between that court and other powers of Europe. As there is
no reason to doubt the sincerity of this declaration, I have thought
proper to communicate it to a few confidential friends in the District,
WITH HIS permission, uot doubting but that they will make a prudent
use of the information, which is in part confirmed by dispatches yester
day received by Congress from Mr. Carmichael, our minister at that
court, the contents of which I am not at liberty to disclose." -*
This leaves no room for cavil. The man who runs may

* The following is the full text of the letter referred to, viz :
" New York, July 10, 1788.
"Dear Sir : — An answer to your favour of the 16th of March was to
gether with several other letters, put into the hands of one of General
Harmar's officers, who set out in May last for the Ohio, and who prom
ised to forward them to the district ; but I fear that they have miscar
ried, as I was a few days ago informed that his orders had been counter
manded, and that he had been sent to the garrison at West Point.
" Indeed I have found it almost impracticable to transmit a letter to
Kentucky, as there is scarce any communication between this place and
that country. A post is now established fi-om this -place to fort Pitt, to
set out once in two weeks, after the 20th inst., this will render the com
munication easy and certain. Before this reaches you, I expect you
will have heard the determination of Congress relative to the separa
tion of Kentucky, as a copy of the proceedings has been forwarded to
the district by the secretary of Congress a few days ago.
" It was not in my power to obtain a decision earlier than the 3d in
stant. Great part of the winter and spring there was not a representa
tion of the states sufficient to proceed to this business, and after it was
referred to a grand committee, they could not be prevailed upon to report, a
majority of them being opposed to tlie measure. The eastern states would
not, nor do I think they ever will, assent to the admission of the district
into the union, as an independent state, unless Vermont, or the prov
ince of Maine, is brought forward at the same time.
" The change which has taken place in the general government is
made the ostensible objection to the measure ; but the jealousy of the
growing importance of the western country, and an unwillingness to add a vote
to the southern interest, are the real causes of opposition, and I am inclined to
believe that they will exist to a certain degree even under the new govem-
nunt to which the application is referred by Congress. The question
which the district will now have to determine upon will be : Whether
or not it will be more ' expedient to continue the connection with the

172 The Spanish Consjiiracy.
read. The independent state to which alone the privilege
would be granted must be a state out of the Union. This

State of Virginia, or to declare their independenc-e and proceed, to fram-e a
constitutirm of government? 'Tis generally expected that the latter will be.
the determination, as you have proceeded too far to think of relinquish
ing the measure, and the interest of the distriet will render it altogether inex
pedient to continue in your present situation until an application for ad
mission into the union can be made in a constitutional mode, to the
new government.
" This step will, in my opinion, tend to preserve unanimity, and will
enable you to adopt with effect such meastxres as may be necessary to promote tlie
interest of the di.'itrict. In private conferences u'hich I have had with Mr. Gar
doqui, the Spanish minister, at this place, I have been assured hy him in tlie
most e.rplicit terms, that if Kentucky will declare her independence
AND E.MPOWEE some PROPER PERSON TO NEGOTIATE WITH HIM, that he has
authority, and will engage lo open the naingation of tlie Mississippi, for the
exportation of their produce, on terms of mutual advantage. But
THAT THIS PRIVILEGE CAN NEVER BB E.VTENDED TO THEM WHILE PART
OF THE United States, by reason of commercial treaties existing be
tween that court and other powers of Europe. As there is no reason to
doubt the sincerity of this declaration, I have thought proper to com
municate it to a few confidential friends in the district, trith his permis
sion, not doubting but that they will make a prudent use of the infor
mation which is in part confirmed by dispatches yesterday received by
Congress from Mr. Carmichael, our minister at that court, the contents
of which I am not at liberty to disclose.
" Congress is now engaged in framing an ordinance for putting the
new government into motion ; it is not yet complete, but as it now
stands the elections are to be made in December, and the new Congress
to meet in February ; but it may undergo alterations. Ten states have
ratified — this state is now in session — what the result of their delibera
tions wiU be, is as yet doubtful ; two-thirds of the members are opposed,
but 'tis probable they may be influenced by motives of expediency.
" North Carolhia will adopt; time alone can determine how far the
new government wUI answer the expectations of its friends ; my hopes
are sanguine, the change was necessary.
" I fear, should not the present treaty at Muskingum prove success
ful, that we shall have an Indian war on all our borders. I do not ex
pect that the present Congress will in that case be able to take any
effectual measures for our defence.
"There is not a doUar in the federal treasury which can be appropri
ated to that purpose. I shall leave this place shortly, and expect to be
at the September term.
" I have enjoyed my usual good state of health, and have spent my
time here agreeably.
" I am, with great esteem, vour humble servant, J. Brown,"

The Spanish Conspiracy. 173
Kentucky would have been had Mr. Brown's advice been
heeded or had his wishes prevailed. For there is no one
so simple as to beUeve that the man who thus communi
cated the proposals of Spain, with the permission of her
minister, did so only to those whom he supposed would
reject the offers ; nor can it be credited that the man who
thus urged others to take the first step necessary in the
programme, in order that Kentucky might be in a posi
tion to " adopt such measures as may be necessary to pro
mote the interest of the district," by securing the privilege
of navigating the Mississippi, was not himself in favor of
aU the other measures necessary to promote that interest
and to secure the tempting prize extended in the Span
iard's seducing hand.
Muter did not receive this letter until the fall of the
year in which it was written. Its nature and the peculiar
circumstances of the public situation rendered it inexpe
dient to give it general publicity. In his perplexity and
anxiety, however, he exhibited it to Colonel Thomas Mar
shall, whose neighbor he had become on removing from
Danville to what was then Payette, and is now Woodford
county. At the time he exhibited it to no one else, but spoke
of its contents to such men as Colonel Crockett, Colonel
John Allen, and Colonel Edwards. * When the letter

* James Markham Marshall having publisUed an extract from Brown's
letter to Muter, which he had obtained from the latter for publication,
Muter addressed to the Lexington Gazette a letter in which he explained
the circumstances under which he had consented to the publication.
This letter was published in the Gazette on the 4th of September, 1 790.
It was republished in the Western World, in the Palladium and in the
Oazatte, in September, 1806. After briefly stating the publication which
had been made by James M. Marshall, and his own unwillingness to be
understood as having been actuated by a desire to injure John Brown
in consenting to the publication. Muter wrote, viz :
" It has always been a fixed principle with me that a private or con
fidential letter ought not to be communicated to any person whatever ;
but, this extends not to cases where, I think, the public interest and safety
may be concerned ; in such cases my duty as a citizen with me supercedes
every other consideration.
Mr. Brown's letter to me came to hand in the fall of 1788, and I knew that
letters from him, simUar to that to me had been received much earlier,

174 The Spanish Conspiracy.
was received by Muter, James Markham, the third son of
Colonel Thomas Marshall, had not come into the district.

even previous to the sitting of the convention in the month of July of
that year ; and that a letter or a part of a letter from him was read in
convention. When a total separation was in contemplation, I was of opinion
that Mr, Brown's letter had iveight in the convention in inducing people to think
such a mrastire was right. That, however, was a measure I was warmly
opposed to ; and therefore I considered it my indispensable duty to do
every thing in my power to prevent it from taking place ; and for that
purpose, OS I knew Colonel Miirshall thought as I did with respect to it, I showed
the letter to him, and consulted with him as to the steps it was neces-
sarv to take to effect the purpose both of us had in view, and withal to
bring it ahout."
[In republishing an extract from this letter of Muter, Littell, in his
defense of Brown and Innes, in 1806, omitted the foregoing, which
made disclosures it was desired to conceal. But what follows was pub
lished in LitteU's " Narrative," viz :]
" A.s a letter from ilr. Brown had been read in the convention (that
of July, 17SS,), (though, as I was not a member, I did not know certainly,
whether the whole or a part only had been read, or whether it had, as
is eu.stomary, lain on the table for the inspection and consideration of
the members, j I conceived it to be no breach of confidence to show his
(Brown's I letter to me, to Colonel Marshall, or to speak of it when it
became the subject of conversation, even if the principle mentioned
above, had been entirely out of the question. Soon after Mr. James Mar
shall's arritial in the district, he told me he had been informed I had re
ceived a letter from Mr. Brown, containing matters of public concern,
mentioned a, part of the contents and expressed a wish to see it. I did
show it to him, because I thought it better that he should form his
opinion of its contents from what he read himself, than that he should
judge of them from what was repeated to him from memory, where
possibly there might be some mistake that might mislead him. After
this, when I supposed the Itit.-siness of a total separation to be quite at an end,
I never showed the letter to any person whatever ; and I even avoided
as much as possible, making it the subject of conversation."
The letter then went on to tell the circumstances of the duel between
Brown and ?ilarsliall which had been on the tapis. "When I was in
Jlereer in July last, I was told by two gentlemen at different times, that
Mr. jMarshall, when questioned by Jlr. James Brown, with respect to his
having spoken to the injury of his brother's character, he said that he
partly formed his opinion of his brother's conduct from what was con
tained in the letter above alluded to. . . I had not, however, be
fore I received the information above mentioned, ever heard that Mr.
MarshaU had reflected on Mr. Brown's conduct, from the time he be
came a candidate. A few days before I set off for Fayette August
Court, 3Ir. MarshaU came to my house, and requested that I would fur
nish him with Mr. Brown's letter to me, or that I would carry it to

I'he Spanish Conspiracy. 175
But soon after he did come into it he spoke of the letter
to Muter, manifested his knowledge of a part of its con-
Lexington. I told him I would carry it with me, and accordingly did so.
When I got to Lexington I found it to be the common talk of the town,
that a duel was to be fought, between j\lr. MarshaU and Mr. (James)
Brown. On Wednesday forenoon Mr. Marshall applied to me for the
letter. I refused to give it to him, but told him I would attend at any
time and place to produce it, if necessary. He answered that, tliat
probably would not do, because when he wanted to make use of the
letter, there might be neither time nor opportunity to send for me ; 1
told him then that I would give him an extract from the letter, which I
should accompany with my reasons for giving the extract, and for ever
showing the letter at all. I was anxious to prevent a duel from taking
place ; and particularly so to do every thing in my power for that pur
pose, without publicly appearing in the business ; and from circum
stances I was led to believe, that, an accommodation, might probably
take place and that the production of the letter or an extract from it
might lead to it. I, therefore, furnished Mr. Marshall with an extract
from the letter, accompanied with a statement of my reasons for doing
so, and restricted him to show it to Mr, Brown only, or to one or two
more gentlemen, with his approbation. I left town on Tuesday. On
the Friday evening following, Mr. Marshall came to my house, and re
quested that, I would consent to the publication of the extract in his
possession. I told him I was averse to doing so, because I did not wish to
injure Mr. (John) Brown, nor even to appear in the business at all. He
urged, that he had been accused of telling a falsity, and that he had no
other way, as matters stood, of vindicating his character from a charge
so injurious to it. I told him then that I would give him an answer in
the morning. In the morning I told him, I wished and hoped the busi
ness could be done without the publication he requested, and that I was
willing to come forward when properly called upon and disclose every
thing in my power ; but on his urging that, as the matter was now be
come public, nothing but the publication could vindicate his character,
with respect to his having told a falsehood concerning the letter, I con
sented that in case of absolute necessity, he might publish the piece
I had furnished him with, in which the extract was contained ; but that
he must publish the whole if he published at all."
As this explanation of Muter was pubUshed in 1790, before the estab
lishment of Kentucky as a state, and while the matter of a separation
from Virginia was still pending, the reader will perceive that the ex
pression : •' After this, when I supposed the business of a total separation, to
be quite at an end " could only have referred to the business of a separatitjn
from tlie Union as well as from Virginia. It exhibits, beyond question,
Muter's construction of Brown's letter, and of the business to which it
related, and which he.had, with Colonel Marshall, been a main factor
in defeating. His solicitude for Brown's reputation is apparent in his

176 The Spanish Conspiracy.
tents, and requested to see the letter itself. Deeming it
better that the younger Marshall might form his opinion
from a personal inspection rather than from hearsay,
Muter complied with his request. In 1790, James Mark-/
ham Alarshall, then a young man of twenty-six, became a
candidate for Congress against John Brown, the incum4
bent, and during the canvass he charged Brown, (who\
was at the time in '^evf York), Wilkinson and others, with 1
having conspired to illegally separate Kentucky from Vir
ginia and the Union, and theu, as an independent state, to
form an alliance -with Spain. Violent exception to this
was taken by James Bro-wn, the younger, bolder, more
talented, and far raore amiable and lovable brother of his
antagonist. In reply to the demands of the latter for the
grounds of this accusation, James Markham Marshall re
ferred to John Brown's letter to Aluterasthe circumstance
on which lie had mainly forraed his opinion and based his
charge; and he then described its contents. By fiercely
denouncing and vehemently denying Marshall's statement,
that his brother had written such a letter, James Brown,
liy plain implication, conceded that if Marshall's premises
were correct his conclusion was sound. But the issue of
veracity made by Brown gave rise to a bitter controversy
-vvhich culminated in an arrangement for a duel — which
was never fought. Marshall's persistent deraands that the
letter should be raade public as the only means then left
of establishing the truth of what he had said, which had
been impeached by James Brown, finally secured the con
sent of Aluter to the publication of an extract therefrom,
which was made in the Lexington Gazettem August, 1790.
Its contents gave to the younger Marshall the public and
triumphant vindication that he desired.
It is noteworthy that no demand for the publication of
the letter itself, to show that its contents were not as rep-

guarded and mild expressions, but the truth appears under all the
gloss. The context of the card indicates that his cons^t to the publication
of the extract from Brown's letter was obtained after the duel had been
" declared off."

The Spanish Conspiracy. . 177
1
"^ resented, was made by James Brown. A century later a
grandson of John Brown, while denouncing Muter as
"incurring the contempt of violated confidence" in giv
ing the letter "to Marshall as material for a political cam
paign," (which is not correct) concealed from the public
the circumstances that made the publication at once justi
fiable and necessary.* When, in the controversy which
broke out in 1806, the letter was desired for publication
by those who had revived the charges made by James M.
Marshall, the issues of the Lexington Gazette for the whole
period covering the publication of the letter, the contro
versy between James Brown and James M. Marshall, and
the pending duel between them, in 1790, were found to
Ihe conveniently missing from the files of the paper.f
The only copy of the Gazette containing the letter
then known to be in existence was in the possession of
Alexander Scott Bullitt. However, the Western World
worried and hectored poor Muter, until he republished it in
the Palladium, in 1806, together with a letter he had pub
lished in 1790, which explained the circumstances of his
having exhibited Brown's letter to Colonel Marshall and
his furnishing the extract to James M. Marshall, and ac
companied both with another letter amplifying that expla
nation. Yet John Brown deemed it inexpedient to admit
his letter to Muter into the pamphlet he had induced and
paid Littell to write in his defense. The Muter letter was
excluded from that pamphlet, which nowhere admits, but
evades, and tries to cover up, the fact that the overture of
Gardoqui to Brown distinctly contemplated the with
drawal of Kentucky from the Union ; and disingenuously
and deceitfully endeavors to produce the. impression, that
aletter of Colonel Marshall to Washington, which repre
sented the letter of Brown to Muter as stating the separa
tion of Kentucky from the Union to be a condition
required by Spain as the price of her own promised
* Political Beginnings, page 175.
t The only known file, the one kept by Bradford, who published the
Gazette, is in the Lexington library, to which the curious reader is re
ferred for corroboration of the above.
12

178 The Spanish Conspiracy.
concession, was " as unfavorable as possible," and the
creation of prejudice and jealous3^
The editor of the Western World possessed a glimmering
of the truth, but was -wanting in accurate knowledge of
details. In one of his earlier editorials, he published an
erroneous statement concerning the letter of Brown to
Colonel McDowell. This drew from the latter a card, in
1806, in -which he corrected the error, and gave from mem
ory the ipsissima verba of the " sliding letter " he had re
ceived from Brown. From it the statement in Brown's
letter to Muter, which made known and emphasized the
condition of separation frora the Union required by Spain,
had been carefully oraitted by the facile Brown. The let
ter to AIcDowell was the play of Hamlet, wnth the part of
the noble Dane left out. So the adroit Mr. Brown pub
lished in the Littell pamphlet McDowell's account of the
"sliding letter" Brown had written to him, and thus
vouched for its accuracy ; then, suppressing the letter he had
actually written to Muter, and, protesting that Colonel
Alarshall had given a prejudiced account of that letter, he
complacently assured the generous and confiding public
that the letter to Muter " contained the same account of the
conference with Gardoqui that the letter of Colonel McDowell
did.." Exultingly snapping his fingers in the face of his
adversary, and glorying in this highly intellectual achieve
ment, he then and thus disraissed the Muter letter and the
whole subject of the conference with Gardoqui ; " of this
conference I trust enough has been said.''
Had the letter to Muter really been the sa.me as the let
ter to McDowell, it would have been published in the
pamphlet. Because it was not the same, but expUcitly
stated that the privileges of navigating the Mississippi
would never be granted to Kentucky whilst a part of the
Union, the trick was resorted to of suppressing it, pub
lishing the " sliding letter " to McDowell which did not
contain that statement, and of falsely pretending that the
accounts of the conference with Gardoqui given in the
two letters were identical. As Hary Innes published in
that pamphlet a pretended copy of his letter to Randolph

2"Ae Spanish Conspiracy. 179
from which he omitted the inconvenient words " Revolt
from the Union," which were in the original; — so John
Brown published therein the card of McDowell, which
did not contain the words, " But that this privilege can
never be extended to them while part of the United States,"
which was in the Muter letter, and asserted that the ac
counts given in the two* letters were the same. These
suppressions were not accidental; probably suggested by
Bro-wn, they were concerted between the friends, and had
a common object. The grandson of Brown discovered the
manipulations, understood their nature, evidently admired,
and certainly imitated them. If this incident has no other
historic value, it is most significant as illustrating the
methods employed by the " first Senator from Kentucky "
to conceal himself from an inconvenient scrutiny.

180 The Spanish Conspiracy.

CHAPTER XII.
The Jt-ly Convention — The " Sliding Letter " of Brown to McDo-vvell
Shown to Innes, but to no One Else— Innes Connects it with Wil
kinson's Engagement with Miro, and Heartily Approves — Com
municates its Contents to the Faithful — A Ersolution to Vio
lently Separate from Virgini.v without an Act for the Purpose
is Proposed by Either Wilkinson or AVallace, and is Advocated
by Both, as well as by Innes and Sebastian — The Evasion Prac
ticed BY Wallace in Regard Thereto — Wilkinson's Account of
the Convention and the Objects of the Resolution — The Mis
statements OP Colonel John JNIason Brown.
Before, but on the eve of the assembling of the con
vention, at DanviUe, on the 28th of July, 1788, Colonel
Samuel McDowell, the stated president of all these several
conventions, received the official notification of the action
of Congress on the application of the district, which had
been forwarded by that body. At the same time, and
most probably by the same messenger, he received the
letter of John Brown, which ascribed that action to un
worthy and hostile motives; inclosed in which was the
" sliding letter," written on a detached piece of paper and
marked " confidential," which only partially stated the
proposition of Gardoqui. ISTo quorum, having assembled
on the first day, the official paper was not communicated
to the convention until the 29th. The non-confidential
letter of Brown to Colonel McDowell was then also read.
But the "confidential" " sliding letter " concerning the
conference with Gardoqui was not read in the convention,
nor was it exhibited by McDowell to any one but Innes,*
* In the case of Innes v. Marshall, Colonel McDowell's deposition was
taken in behalf of Innes, who propounded this interrogatory to the wit
ness: " bth Q. Was not that part of his (Brown's) letter to you relative to
his conversation with the Spanish minister, Gardoqui, generally known
to the members of the convention who voted their thanks to Mr. Brown
at the time such vote was taken ?"

The Spanish Conspiracy. 181
nor spoken of by him during the convention to any other
human being. Innes had been previously informed by
Wilkinson of his arrangement with Miro for the separa
tion of Kentucky from the Union, and had entered heart
ily into the scheme, as stated in the letter already quoted
from Wilkinson to Miro. He thus understood at once
the full and true nature of the Gardoqui overture, which
was but imperfectly disclosed in the " sliding letter " to
McDowell, and naturally associated it with the scheme of
Wilkinson. Delighted, he exclaimed to McDowell : "It
-will do, it will do," and forthwith proceeded to impart the
contents of the confidential " sliding letter " to those whom
he supposed could be trusted.*
That a feeling of keen disappointment pervaded the
entire convention was but natural. That this should be
greatly aggravated by John Brown's letter, ascribing the
To this IMcDowell replied :
"Answer: I never showed it to any other person than the plaintiff
during the sitting of that convention, that I recollect, or spoke of it to
any other person during that convention ; and my reason was, it was
headed ' confidential.' "
The answer was a sore disappointment to Innes, as it made it clear
that, if any other member than himself had any information of the
" sliding letter," it was given by him, in his efforts to secure immediate
action cutting off from Virginia, and placing Kentucky out of the
Union. Colonel John Mason Brown found it convenient and advisable
to exclude this question and answer from the " Political Beginnings.''
* In the examination of McDowell, the defendant put the following
question to him .
" Question : About the time of the convention (of July) aforesaid
sitting in Danville, were you present with the plaintiff, Innes, when the
subject of erecting Kentucky into an independent state, and placing
her on the footing with Vermont ; — and did the plaintiff approve of the
measure, saying : — it will do, it will do : or words to that effect ?"
"Answer: About the time alluded to, upon showing the plaintiff,
Innes, the paper enclosed in Mr. Brown's letter, he said : it will do, it
will do— and an allusion was made to Vermont, which would be the
one with respect to Kentucky — if erected into a-n independent state."
This testimony shows the idea entertained by McDowell. But John
Brown knew from Gardoqui that the proposition was to separate Ken
tucky absolutely from the Union, and form an alliance with Spain ; and
while ft was not declared in the " sliding letter," and that to Muter had
not then been received, Innes knew from Wilkinson what the real pur
pose was.

182 The Spanish Conspiracy.
action of Congress to hostile motives, was exactly -^diat
he had calculated and the object for which he had writ
ten. In the convention of 1786-7, when the news of th"e^,
new act of separation was received, in spite of efforts to
infiame which were made by some, " the momentary vexa
tion yielded to a sense of duty and a love of peace." But
in this of July, 1788, in which Wilkinson was ceaselessly
active in the discharge of his engagement -^vith Miro, and
John Bro-wn, though absent in person, was present in tEe^
effect of his letters misrepresenting the motives of Con- 1
gress, " there were," according to Marshall, " observable
the most deep-felt vexation, a share of ill temper border
ing on disaffection to the legal course of things, and some
strong symptoms of assuming independent .government."
This was a very moderate and conservative expression of
the situation, and of the efforts then made to precipitate
the first step in the plan arranged by Wilkinson -«'ith
Miro, and which John Brown had promised Gardoqui to
return home and " aid." The navigation ofthe Missis
sippi -u-as pressed into the argument " in favor of complet
ing the constitution and organizing government without
delay." And all the time Wilkinson was there, dropping
obscure hints that the commerce which Congress could
not secure was awaiting Kentucky if she would only
stretch forth her hand to take it; and, as it is certain that
the contents of the " sliding letter " were also known at
least to the faithful, one can readily conceive the activity
of Innes. It was clearly understood by all, that every legal
power of the convention to frame a constitution or to or
ganize government had terminated by the failure of the
conditions expressed in the law itself. And that this was
fuUy comprehended by those who most zealously favored
a resort to revolution could not be more plainly demon
strated than it was on the face of this resolution, which
was proposed :
" A resolution, declaring that the powers of this convention so far as
depends on the acts of the legislature of Virginia were annulled by the
Resolutions of Congress, and resolving that it was the duty of this con
vention as the representatives of the people to proceed to frame a con
stitution of government for this district, and to submit the same to theh

The Spanish Conspiracy. 183
consideration with such advice relative thereto as emergency suggests,
was read.
Ordered that the said resolution be committed to a committee of the
whole convention."
The official report of the proceedings of the convention,
by Thomas Todd does not give the name of the author of
this resolution. But during the controversies of 1806, it
was attributed by some to Caleb Wallace, while others al
leged that it was offered by WUkinson and seconded by
Wallace. The testimony of Governor Greenup in the case
of Innes v. Marshall is confirmatory of those who attrib
uted it to Wallace. * It -was moved by one and seconded
-* In that case the foUowing questions were propounded to and an
swers given by Greenup, who was a witness for Innes, viz :
" 6th : Did you in July, 1788, hear a motion made and advocated by
either James Wilkinson, Caleb WaUace, Benjamin Sebastian, or the
plaintiff, to separate the district of Kentucky from the State of Virginia
and the United States, and form a connexion with the Spanish govern
ment? " Answer: I did not hear such a motion from any person.
"7th: Did you in the convention of November, 1788, hear such a
proposition as stated in the preceding interrogatory made and advocated ,
by either of the above named persons or John Brown, who was then
also a member ?
" Answer : I did not. I think Mr. WaUace submitted a resolution for"
proceeding to frame a constitution and submitting it to Congress, with
out applying again to the State of Virginia, observing that she had al
ready given her assent to the measure and it would save time, but it
was overruled."
The question related to a resolution embracing, in direct terms, three
propositions: violent separation from Virginia; withdrawal from the
Union ; and a connection with Spain . Humphrey Marshall certainly had
never stated that a resolution in those terms had ever been presented by
the men named or anyone else. While Greenup denied, and truthfully
denied, that a resolution in those terms had been offered, he was honest
enough to admit that one had been presented for separating from Virginia
and assuming sovereignty, contrary to the act of the assembly and without
another appUcation to Virginia, and he was possibly correct in naming
Wallace as its author. He was mistaken, however, as to the time when
the resolution was offered by Wilkinson or Wallace, who was a member
of the July convention, when it was presented, and was not a member
of that of November. His recollection was also at fault concerning the
terms of the resolution, which contained no suggestion to " submit the con-
sliiutioTi to Congress." And he was probably equally at fault in regard to
the remarks made by WaUace in that connection.

184 The Spanish Conspiracy.
by the other and was advocated by both. It was a propo
sition to violently separate from Virginia, and to assume
independence and sovereignty, as had been urged by Wil
kinson in 1786. Its adoption, had it possessed validity,
and could it have been carried into effect, would have
separated Kentucky from Virginia and from the Confed
eration, without connecting her with the new Union,
would have left her free to form alliances where she chose,
and would alraost necessarily have placed her in antago
nism with Virginia and the Union. Sebastian and Innes,
to whom his arrangement with Miro had been communi
cated by Wilkinson, and Wilkinson himself, acted in con
cert with Wallace in endeavoring to procure the passage
of this resolution ;* — a fact which indicates what it was
hoped the passage of the resolution would accomplish.
That the construction placed upon the resolution at the
time by its opponents was, that it was intended to separate
Kentuckj' not only from Virginia, but also from the
United States ; and that it was combatted on that ground,
is conclusively proved by the oath of Judge John Alien,
of Bourbon, who was one of the purest men and ablest
lawyers of that day in the district, f The testimony of
Judge Allen -^vas corroborated by that of James French, a
delegate from Madison, who, -svhile he could not recollect
" that any member directly advocated a separation from
the United States," [it was not good policy to do that],
yet did recall that "the tenor of argument on one side
-svas for patience under the privation of the trade of the
* Judge John Allen, of Bourbon, testified, in the case of Innes v.
Marshall, that he was a member of the convention of July, 1788; that,
" There was a party in the convention of that date who were in favor of
creating Kentucky into an independent government, and of organizing
the same wUhout an act of the Virginia assembly or of Congress for that
purpose, and Colonel Hary Innes was of that party; " and that "Gen
eral James AVilkinson and Mr. Benjamin Sebastian were members of
said convention and were both in favor of the separation," as just
stated. t On cross-examination Judge Innes asked Judge Allen the foUowing
questions and received the following answers, viz :
" l,st : In answer to the second interrogatory of the defendant, you
state that there wa,s a party in the convention of, July, 1788, who were

The Spanish Conspiracy. 185
Mississippi, and adherence to the United States ; on the
other, " that it was the design of the United States to re
strict the western country, and to discourage its growth
and population, by an interested and partial policy."
¦ — Mr. French stated that "Mr. Innes was a speaker, and
among those who were declaring against the hostile policy
of the United States to the western country ;" * that the
course of Innes' " argument was that it was the design of
the United States, more to curb than to protect the power
of the western country," and he remembered that at the
conclusion of one of Innes' speeches he said : " Mr. Presi
dent, when I reflect on the treatment of the United States
to this country, I feel, I can not tell how, — I feel, sir, like
shedding blood." He was equally explicit as to the utter-
in favor of erecting Kentucky into a separate and independent govern
ment without obtaining an act from Virginia or from Congress, and that
the plaintiff was one who composed that party ; name them and state
whether they or either of them introduced any resolution in convention
to that eff'ect ?
"Answer: General James Wilkinson, Benjamin Sebastian, Harry
Innes, the plaintiff, Caleb WaUace, a member from Madison by the
name of Adams, and I believe some others, who are not at this time
recollected. General Wilkinson was the leader of this party. I can
not recollect whether any resolution to the effect was offered, but it is
strongly impressed on my mind that there was. The convention had
been in session some days before I arrived there.
" Question by the same : To what intent did the proposition for a
separation go, i. e., was it a separation from the United States absolutely,
or a separation from Virginia only, and then to become a member of the
Federal Union ?
"Answer: I understood the proposition then made, (and it has ever
since been impressed on my mind,) that the separation proposed was to
erect a government independent of the State of Virginia and of the
United States."
This^ deponent thought the proposition, the effect, though not the
terms, of which was as he stated, was brought forward by General Wil
kinson, but stated circumstances tending to show he might have been
mistaken as to that.
¦*- Question by the plaintiff: Did the plaintiff take an active part in
the measure alluded to in the preceding answer ; i. e., did he advocate
the measure in the convention ?
Answer : I did consider the plaintiff as one of the principal men who
advocated the measure, to the best of my recollection ; he did speak on
the subject.

186 The Spanish Conspiracy.
ances of Caleb Wallace and Sebastian, as to their indul
gence in the fiercest denunciations of the conduct of the
United States to the west, as to the leadership of Wilkin
son, as to the open declarations of George Adams, his
colleague from Madison, in conversation, in favor of a
separation from the United States, and that " the proposed
object of those who were so much displeased with the
conduct ofthe United States towards this country, as well
as he could recollect, was to obtain the trade of the Missis
sippi — which they alleged was withheld from them by the
United States; or, at least, that the United States had
been grossly and intentionally negligent in procuring the
trade of that river, considered by them as indispensably
necessary to the welfare of this country." *
In point of character these men were the equals of any
other in the convention, and it has never been charged
that they -u'ere the political rivals or personal enemies of
any ofthe men -whom their testimony condemns. If they
are worthy of credit it can scarcely be said that the ac
count given by Humphrey Marshall of the spirit and pur
pose by which Wilkinson, Sebastian, Innes and their fol
lowers were actuated, or of their personal utterances, was
colored by prejudice and malignity.
But there are not wanting proofs from contemporary
records that one of the issues raised in this convention
was that of a separation from the Union. In a communi
cation published over the signature " Cornplanter," (Dr.
Ebenezer Brooks), iu the Lexington Gazette, of September
13, 1788, the proposition is thus distinctly stated: " 2nd.
Whether a separation from Virginia and unconnected with
Congress would be advisable." ..." Fourthly, it is urged
that a separation would speedily procwre us the free naviga
tion of the Mississippi." ..." When I set down to this
business I intended to have, said a few things on the sub
ject of assuming a separation independent of Congress," etc.
A communication, which is attributed to James Morrison
-* James French was an educated man, of strong sense, and the father
of Judge Richard French, afterwards one of the most astute of the Dem
ocratic politicians.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 187
iu the marginal notes on the file of the same paper, pub
lished September 20, 1788, refers to the " ill judged and in
temperate proposition of two or three men in the late convention,"
and of the " crude recommendations of that convention," by
which the proposition of Wilkinson and Wallace, and its
advocates, were intended. It is seen to be undoubtedly
true, as stated iu Marshall's History and reaffirmed by
Butler, who wrote in opposition to Marshall, that the idea
of disunion " was combatted in the public prints of the
time," and must have been proposed. ISTor is testimony
wanting from the leader of this party in the July conven
tion as to the purposes for which the resolution of Wil
kinson and Wallace was proposed and urged. Under
date of February 12, 1789, General Wilkinson wrote to
Miro to inform the Intendant of his efforts and their fail
ure. Referring to the action of Congress upon the appli
cation of the district, he said :
" From this proceeding of Congress it resulted that the convention
was of opinion, that our proposed independence and separation from
Virginia not being ratified, its mission and powers were at an end, and
we found ourselves in the alternative, either of proceeding to declare
our independ^ence or of waiting according to the recommendation of
Congress. This was the state of affairs when the Honorable Caleb
Wallace, one of our Supreme Judges, the Attorney General Innes, and
Benjamin Sebastian proposed a prompt separation from the American
Union, and advocated with intrepidity the necessity of the measure.
The artifice of Congress was exposed, its proceedings reprobated, the
consequences of depending on a body whose interests were opposed to ours
were depicted in the most vivid colors, and the strongest motives were set
forth to justify the separation." [Gayarre, page 226.]
These " strongest motives " were the inducements held out
by Spain ! — the navigation of the Mississippi, which could
be had only through disunion ! But more convincing
evidence still of the intended effect of this resolution thus
introduced, advocated by Wallace, and urged by Wilkin
son and Sebastian and their friend Innes; and, had 2* been
adopted, of the measure it proposed : is the exceeding
great care taken to exclude it from the Littell pamphlet.
Other portions of the proceedings of the convention were
pubUshed in that paper ; but this resolution was carefully
omitted. * N'or is there the most distant admission in it.

* The resolution which was flnally adopted by the convention was

188 The Spanish Conspiracy.
that such a resolution was ever, at any time, offered. The
¦editor of the Western World blundered in stating that it had
been ottered by Wilkinson and seconded by WaUace, in
the November convention. His mistake was greedily
seized upon. The proceedings of the November convention
were obtained from Thomas Todd and -\vere published in
the Appendix to Littell ; but that portion of the proceed
ings of the July convention which contained this resolu
tion -(vas suppressed. Great parade was made in the
" Narrative " of the fact, that the official proceedings of
the November convention showed that the resolution had
not been offered at that meeting, * and over the further
fact that Wallace was not even a member of the November

published at the time in the Lexington Gazette, but this resolution of
Wilkinson and Wallace was kept out of sight.
-^¦The " Narrative of the Politicctl Transactions," contains the following,
referring to the statement that this resolution had been offered at the
November convention of 17S8:
" Here it was (in the November convention) that General Wilkinson
read his treasonable memorial — here it was that ]Mr, Brown reported
his treasonable conference — and here it was (as they say in their first
number,) that General Wilkinson made a treasonable motion triiat they should
pjroceed to form a sepmrate constilidton independent of tlie approbation of I'ir-
ginia. The reader will see from the Journal, that WUkinson made no
such motion, and that the motion which he did make, so far from tend
ing to so rapid a progress was of a retrograde tendency. Its object was
not to proceed to do any thing, except to impart to the people at large
the information which had been received by that body, and to await
their future instructions. They say further, that this motion was
seconded by Judge Wallace, now of the Court of Appeals. It is pre
sumed that the falsehood of this assertion is sufficiently proved by
showing that the motion was never made. But it could be proved by a
thousand witnesses that Judge WaUace never seconded any motion
whatever, which was made in that convention, for this plain reason,
HE NEVER WAS A MEMBER OF IT. And as if these men were not
satisfied with being contradicted by all kinds of testimony, oral and
written, living and dead, they have themselves in their twelfth number,
proved by Dr. Brooke, one of their own witnesses, that Judge AVaUace
had no seat in that convention. They say further, that this motion was
warmly supported by all those members who were supposed to be en
gaged in the negotiation with Gardoqui. I shall leave the reader to de
termine whether a motion which never was made could be warmly sup
ported, and to settle in his own mind what measure of confidence is due
to men convicted of three palpable falsehoods in a single sentence."

The Spanish Conspiracy. . 189
convention ; while the fact that the resolution had been
offered by Wallace, and advocated by Wilkinson, in the July
convention, was concealed. And thus the mistake of the
editor as to the time, and, possibly, as to the person who
offered it, was branded as a malicious and baseless lie ; —
when, as the reader will see, the only lie that was written in
this connection was that which suppressed the official pro
ceedings which showed that the resolution had been
offered in July, concealed the fact that it was then pre
sented by Wallace, and asserted that the " motion never was
made." Whether this resolution was offered or seconded by hira,
it was all the same, the bantling of Caleb Wallace, who
was one of the men who paid for the writing and publica
tion of Littell's " ISTarrative." * It interferred with the line
of defense adopted by Brown and Innes (who also paid
for the writing and publication) and Wallace in that pro
duction. And it naturally, and for the same reasons,
shared the fate of Brown's letter to Muter and of Innes'
" Revolt from the Union," in his letter to Randolph ; — itMas
suppressed. In the deposition which Judge Wallace gave in behalf
of his friend Innes, in the litigation with Humphrey Mar
shall, he replied to a misleading question propounded by
the plaintiff", that neither he, nor Innes, nor Sebastian, nor
Wilkinson, nor any one else had, in the July convention,
offered or advocated a proposition to " separate Kentucky
from Virginia and from the Union, and to form a con
nection with Spain ; " which it was not alleged had been
done in terms. But he found it prudent to omit to men
tion, that he had himself offered or seconded and advocated
a resolution to assume independence and sovereignty, to
form a constitution and establish an independent govern
ment, and to violently separate from Virginia, the effect of
which would have placed Kentucky outside ofthe Union ;
that in one breath he had denounced Congress, and in the
next urged his own and Wilkinson's measure as a means
by which the navigation of the Mississippi could be ob
tained ; — all of which he had done if the evidence of good

190 The Spanish Conspiracy.
and true men, whose own conduct did not need to be con
cealed, is to be believed. He deemed it fitting to say that,
-n-hen the information of the action of Congress was re
ceived, " it was conceived by the members of the conven
tion to be unnecessary and improper to -proceed to accom
plish the business for which they had been elected,'' —
which was to form a constitution and organize govern
ment ; — leaving it to be inferred that this had been his
own position, and concealing the fact that he had himself
vehemently urged the convention to this " unnecessary
and improper " proceeding. He had a splendid memory
for tilings that nobody did; but in regard to what had ac
tually been done by AVilkinson, Sebastian, Innes and him
self, bis mind was apparently a painful blank.
But while he could not remember this resolution, nor
his own and other speeches in its favor; and -n'hile he
could not, as he swore, even recollect whether Colonel
Thomas Marshall was or was not a member of the July
convention ; — yet his memory, so singularly treacherous
in ©ther respects, was as singularly convenient in recalling,
that, as he aUeged, " about that time, or shortly before,
this deponent heard Colonel Marshall express great dis
satisfaction with Congress for having declined to decide
on the application of the people of Kentucky to be erected
into a separate state ; and declar^ that he was clear for
proceeding to form a constitutkm of government and es
tablishing the district of Kentucky an independent state,
and then apply for admission into the Union, not doubt
ing but it would be received without further delay."
So that, if one could receive without examination this re
markable statement of Jud^a, WaUace, as to his wonderful
recollection, which differed from that of any other human
being as to Colonel Marshall's position and utterances, —
he, who had offered or seconded and had urged the resolu
tion, was in reality opposed to it as an " unnecessary and
improper " proceeding ; while Colonel Thomas MarshaU,
who, according to the concurrent testimony of all other
contemporary witnesses, was, in public, one of the earhest
and most pronounced of the opponents of this and all

The Spanish Conspiracy. 191
similar revolutionary measures, was, in his private conver
sations, one of its staunchest advocates ! Had this most
convenient and swift of w-itnesses "remembered" that
Colonel Marshall was a member of the convention, and, as
such, had sanctioned this movement, his statement could
and would have been easily contradicted by those who were
present, which Judge Wallace knew. But the p^eculiar
advantage of remembering a private conversation with a
man whose tongue had been silenced by death was one of
which Judge Wallace was not unmindful. The dead man
whom he wronged could not challenge his injurious state
ment; and, though the alleged recollection was inconsist
ent with all that Colonel Marshall did or said in public,
and utterly irreconcilable with the recollections of all oth
ers of his utterances to them, yet no living witness could
disprove this ingenious recollection of Judge Wallace as
to what Colonel Marshall had privately said to him.
Colonel John Mason Brown wished to have it appear,
not simply that Colonel Marshall was inconsistent, but
that he had a motive for his inconsistency ; that, with a
full knowledge of Gardoqui's proposition, he had, as a
member of the July convention, voted for the resolution
of Wilkinson and Wallace ; that afterwards, and before
the November convention, he had himself received and
favorably entertained a proposition from Dr. Connolly, to
withdraw Kentucky from the Union and place her under
a British protectorate ; and that his opposition to the pol
icy of John Brown during the canvass preceding the No
vember convention, as well as his opposition in that con
vention, was influenced by Connolly and prompted by his
desire to aid the latter. That for this object he opposed
and defeated the patriotic efforts of Brown to secure an
other immediate application by Kentucky for admission
into the Union !
To this line of argument, and to Colonel Brown's wish
to shelter his grandfather behind the skirts of Colonel
Marshall, the public is indebted, that the resolution con
cocted between Wilkinson and Wallace, which was sup
pressed by the Littell pamphlet, appeared in the " PoUtical

192 The Spanish Conspiracy.
Beginnings." For that reason the motion -\vhich Wallace
completely ignored in his deposition, and which the " Nar
rative " solemnly asserted " was never made," is reproduced
by ColonelBrown ; and Wallace's statement of his alleged
recollection ofwhat Colonel Marshall had said twenty-five
years before is put by the side of the resolutiou ; — then.
Colonel Brown informs his readers, that * " It is worth
noticing at this point that even Thomas Marshall, after-
-ft-ards so strenuous in his denunciation of every one who
approved the immediate formation of a constitution and an
immediate application to Congress, -was then in perfect accord
with Wallace as to the legality, propriety, and expediency
of immediate action." That Wallace himself did not re
gard the action which he and Wilkinson proposed as legal,
is proved by the language of the resolution, which de
clares " that the powers of this convention, so far as depends
on the acts of the Legislature of Virginia, were annulled
by the resolutions of Congress." The power which he
proposed to exert was the same revolutionary power which
Wilkinson had contended, in 1786, resided in the people
of the district, and which was above law. The resolution
itself also shows that it did not embrace (as it is certain
neither its author nor its advocates contemplated) the idea
of an " immediate application to Congress," nor of any ap
plication to Congress. Neither WaUace, nor Wilkinson,
Sebastian, nor Innes was so illogical as to have expected
that the Congress which had, for the most cogent reasons,
just declined to act upon the application which had been
made under all the forms of law and with the expressed
sanction of Virginia, would grant another appUcation
made in an irregular manner and without the concurrence
of the state from which the resolution proposed violently
to separate the district.
In the sarae train of reasoning. Colonel Brown aUeges
that " the general sentiment of prominent men in the con
vention was, as Wallace deposed, that uttered by Colonel
Marshall " in favor of immediate action as above stated.

¦ Political Beginnings, page 17

The Spanish Conspiracy. 193
But Wallace did not thus depose. He did not say that
Colonel Marshall was a member of the. convention, but,
on the contrary, could not remember whether he was or
was uot a member. He did not intimate that any one in
the convention held the opinion stated by Colonel Brown.
He even concealed the fact, that such a resolution as that
which Wilkinson and he offered and seconded was never
offered in the con-mention, as well as the further fact that
it had received his own approval. What he did say was,
that the opinion he ascribed to Colonel Marshall " was be
lieved to be the sentiment of several respectable citizens of
the district, and of some who resided in other parts of the
State of Virginia ;" and further, that " it was conceived by
the mem-bers of the convention to be unnecessary and im
proper to proceed to form a constitution and organize gov
ernment." * Colonel Brown had read and understood
the deposition to which he referred.
One of the amusing features in all this mass of error is
the contradictions between the positions taken in the de
fense of John Brown and Innes, in 1806, and those as
sumed by their latest and most deliberate and also most
utterly reckless champion, in 1890. .In the Littell pam
phlet no pretense was made that Colonel Marshall was a
member of the July convention, nor that he favored the
resolution of Wilkinson and Wallace. On the contrary,
it was denied that the resolution was ever offered. It was
uot pretended then that he had ever given countenance to
such a scheme, either publicly or in his private conversa
tions. On the contrary, it was asserted in the communi
cations of " Franklin," written by one of the intimates
and confidants of Brown, Innes, Sebastian, Wilkinson,
and Wallace, that Colonel Marshall had, from the begin
ning, and all along, opposed any separation from Virginia,
even with the consent ofthe General Assembly; and that
he had been equally hostile to every effort to obtain the
na-vigation of the Mississippi, in any manner. He was
held up as an enemy to the interests, growth and advance-

-* Wallace's deposition, Innes v. Marshall, September 15, 1813.
13

194 The Spanish Conspiracy.
ment of the district, and to the desire of its people for
local self government. This was the slander which his
family were then called on to repel. And the motive at
tributed to him for this hostility was that he feared to lose
his office of surveyor if Kentucky was separated from
Virg-inia and erected into a state of the Union. It maf-
tered not to his malicious calumniator that, the year be
fore, in 1787, Colonel Marshall had resigned his surveyorship
in order to render himself eligible to a seat in the Virginia
Assembly, to which he was elected and in which he served
his constituents. The charge that he had opposed a
legal separation from Virginia was effectually disposed
of by Colonel Joseph Crockett, one of the heroes of Mon
mouth and of Yorktown.*
Colonel J. M. Brown quotes largely from the deposition
of Christopher Greenup in the case of Innes v. Marshall.
He discovered that Greenup was in error as to the resolu-

-* The subjoined is a copy of Colonel Crockett's letter to A. K. Mar
shall in refutation of the statement of " Franklin " referred to. It was
appended to A. K. Marshall's letter, which is cited by Colonel Brown,
and could not have been overlooked by him, viz :
Jessamine County, October 3, 1806.
Dear Sir : — In answer to your note of to-day, I can clearly state that
I was long and intimately acquainted with Colonel MarshaU, and the
offices of civility were freely exchanged between us. In the commence
ment of the plan for separating from Virginia, I was myself opposed to
the measure, as probably premature, and the arguments of Colonel
Marshall convinced me that a separation was a proper measure — he
pointed out various reasons, and many arguments in favor of a legal and
constitutional separation. 1 was in the convention of November, 1788,
with Colonel MarshaU, and knew he was opposed to a violent separa
tion from the United States and took on that subject most decided
grounds, but he was warmly in favor of a legal and constitutional sepa
ration. The charges of Franklin are not true.
1 am, dear sir, respectfully, Joseph Crockett.
Alex. Marshall.
Colonel Crockett intended to be understood that Colonel Marshall was
in favor of a " legal and constitutional separation" from Virginia. There
could have been no such thing as a " legal and constitutional separa
tion" from the United States. And that he was opposed to a "violent
separation " from Virginia, which would also have "violently separated "
Kentucky from the United States.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 195
tion having been offered by Wallace in the November con
vention, but accepted as correct the recollection that Wal
lace w^as its author. He knew that the defense made of
his grandfather, Innes, Sebastian, Wilkinson and WaUace,
in the Littell pamphlet, suppressed the resolution, and as
serted that such a "motion was never made." He de
tected the deceit. Whether his emotions -w^ere pleasant or
otherwise at that detection, must have depended on
whether he admired the cunning which he has imitated or
felt contempt for the fraud disclosed to his view. While
quoting Greenup as to the presentation and authorship of
the resolution, he excludes from his book Greenup's state
ment, made in the same deposition, of his distinct recol
lection that he had heard Colonel Marshall express his
opposition to the resolution he alleged to have been offered
by Wallace, though this was not done as a member of the
convention.* In his letter to Miro, of February 12, 1789, Wilkinson
tells of the opposition made by Colonel Marshall and
* Humphrey Marshall propounded to Greenup the following questions
and received the following answers, viz :•
" Question 1st : Was there a party in Kentucky in 1788, who was for
a separation of Kentucky from Virginia without an act of Virginia for
that purpose, and were General Wilkinson, John Brown, Benjamin Se
bastian, the plaintiff, Caleb Wallace and others of that party?
"Ans-ner: lhave stated in answer to the 7th interrogatory of the
plaintiff, of a resolution or motion being stated to the convention to
form a constitution without again applying to Virginia, and for the
reason therein mentioned, but I know nothing of a party being formed
for that purpose.
" 2nd Q. : Were the late Colonel Thomas MarshaU, the late Judge
Muter, Colonel Joseph Crockett, Colonel John Edwards, and others in
the convention of November, 1788, opposed to the party aforesaid, and
in favor of a regular and legal separation ?
" Answer : I can not say at this length of time whether all the gentle
men in the preceding interrogatory were present in November, 1788, but
think they were. I knew of no party they opposed except it be the
resolution or motion before mentioned. That resolution J am certain
they were opposed to, and were in favor of again applying to the State of
Virginia : this opinion I have heard most of the gentlemen express, as
well as others who were also present."
Greenup was the witness of Innes, and was personally hostile to H.
MarshaU.

196 The Spanish Conspiracy.
Muter, before the assembling of the July convention, to
his plans, the first necessary step in which -s\'as to adopt
this resolution of Wallace. * In the "' Outline History," pub
lished in Collins, McClung says of Colonel Marshall, that
"his opposition to independence, contrary to law, -u'as
early, decided and uncompromising." In Littell no pre
tense -«'as made, that Colonel Alarshall had ever for a
moment countenanced such a proposition, though the men
who procured that publication were anxious to slur and to
convict him of inconsistency. Flatly contradicted by
Greenup, opposed by the statement of his own friend and
leader, Wilkinson, refuted by Muter, repelled b)' Crockett,
disputed by the recollections of every other contemporary
witness, and utterly inconsistent and irreconcilable as the
statement of Wallace is with every public act and utter
ance of Colonel Alarshall, the accuracy of his alleged
" recollection " of the private conversation of a dead man,
-* In his letter to iliro, July 12, 1789, [Gayarre, page 225], Wilkinson
asserted, that, when he sought to " prepare the ground for the seed to
be deposited in it," by giving " an equivocal shape to his designs," he
" found all the men belonging to the first class of society in the district,
v:iih the exception of Colonel MarshaU, our surveyor, and Colonel Muter,
one of our judges,, decidedly in favor of separation from the United
States and of an alliance with Spain." While this gross exaggeration
did much injustice to many excellent and patriotic citizens, there can he
no sort of question that very many of the prominent men in the state did
favor that movement. And without detracting from the merit, influence
or importance of any of the men who stood by and abreast of them in their
efforts to defeat it, it is sufficient to say that not one of them was more
active or zealous than either Muter or MarshaU. In his rage against
" those two men " Wilkinson pretended to Miro, that "at first," they
" expressed the same opinion with warmth," and had changed "from
private motives of interest and personal pique ; " that he "foresaw they
would avail themselves of the opposition of some literary demagogues,
who were under the infiuence of fear and prejudice." " Xevertheless,"
he wrote, " I determined to lay the question before the convention, and
I took the necessary measures accordingly. I was thus engaged until the
2Sth of July, on which day our convention met at Danville." The explicit
statement that the hostUity of Marshall and Muter commenced before
ilie July convention was true. The statement that they had at first coun
tenanced his views, and had turned against them from personal motives,
was but the expression of spleen which the baffled conspirator always
vents upon the men who thwart him, and to cover his own mortification
at the disappointment of the hopes he had aroused in Miro, by repre
senting the unanimity of the leading men in the plot.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 197
twenty-four years after he asserted it to have taken place,
may safely be challenged.
The resolution of Wilkinson and WaUace was defeated.
A proposition was then made, that each militia captain
should take the sense of his company upon the course to
be pursued, aud that the public action should be controlled
by their decision. This also was defeated by tho argu
ments of those who were opposed to an illegal separation,
among the ablest and most conspicuous of -n^hom were
Colonel John Edwards and Judge John Allen. In a
measure, overawed by this determined opposition, the Wil
kinson party finally succeeded in passing through the con
vention, which had no legal power whatever, a recommen
dation that the people should elect members to another
con-vention to be held at Danville in the following Novem
ber, and to continue in power until January 1, 1790 ; and
that the people should delegate to their representatives in
this convention "full powers to take such measures for the
admission of the district, as a separate and independent
member of the United States of America ; and the naviga
tion of the Mississippi, as may appear most conducive to
those purposes ; and also to form a constitution of govern
ment for the district and organize the same, when they shall
DEEM NECESSARY ; Or to do and accomplish whatsoever, on a
consideration of the state of the district, may, in their
judgment, promote its interests." The powers the people
were invited to commit to the convention were, indeed, as
stated by Butler, all those ever wielded by a dictator —
powers inconsistent with constitutional and organized gov
ernments. The resolution of recommendation embraced a variety
of topics. One was an application for adraission into the
Union. But those who framed the resolution knew that
Kentucky coming in this way, without the consent of
Virginia previously obtained, could not, without an in
fraction of the Articles of the Confederation and of the
constitution, be received either into that Confederation or
into the new Union ; and it is thus evident that the
question of applying for admission into the Union was

198 The Spanish Conspiracy.
combined with the others solely because without it the
others could not be carried. Another was the navigation
of the Mississippi. But the authors and contrivers of the
resolution kne-iv that Spain alone controlled that question,
and they knew also the price demanded by Spain for her
favors. They -n-ere a-ware that Congress had not been able
to obtain, and could not theu obtain that navigation for
the people of the district, while those people could not
obtain it for themselves in an}- other way than by separa
tion from the Union. Finally, the recommendation in
cluded any thing and every thing -which the reiiresenta-
tives elected to the coming convention might deem calcu
lated to " promote the iittercsts of the di.strict," the first and
greatest of which infere-^fs these men had declared to be
the navigation of the ^Mississippi, which the authors and
advocates of the resolution were apprized could be ob
tained from Spain on certain conditions, which had been
agreed upon between Wilkinson and !Miro.
The debate which ensued upon this recommendation
elicited expressions from, and developed views on the part
of its advocates, which excited a just alarm among those
to -n'hora the intrigues -with the Spaniard had not been re
vealed save by the vague inueudoes of Wilkinson. The
publication of the resolutions passed by the convention
did not allay or dissipate the well grounded apprehension
of those who heard the debate, but increased it and spread
it among law-abiding people. The public declarations
for an aUiance with Spain had not been explicit. But
enough had been let fall by covert hints and insinuations,
-when associated with actions in this convention, to explain
to some the mystery of Wilkinson's transactions at New
Orleans and the consideration for which he enjoyed ex
clusive commercial privileges. Unable to defeat the
recommendatory resolution in the convention, its oppo
nents determined upon a vigorous opposition to the meas
ures it foreshadowed, to be made through the press and
upon the rostrum.
Among the resolutiqus passed by the July convention
was one directing its president, upon the return of John

The Spanish Conspiracy. 199
Brown to the district, to wait upon him, " and, in the
most respectful terms express to him the obligations which
this convention and their constituents are under to him
for his faithful attention to their interests in Congress."
This formal and courteous expression of thanks had been
well earned by John Brown's services in Congress, which
had really been at once attentive and faithful. It had no
reference to his conduct with Gardoqui, which was not known
to any member of the convention except as only partially
declared in the " sliding letter," the contents of which
were known only to McDowell, whose testimony shows
that he misunderstood the character of the proposition ;
and to Innes, who, by the aid of the light cast upon it by
his previous knowledge of Wilkinson's arrangement with
Miro, understood it correctly ; and to others to whom its
contents were communicated by Innes. For this resolu
tion of thanks which he had earned, the men who had,
when they were informed thereof and understood its
nature, the most severe and just appreciation of the tur
pitude in-volved in John Brown's conduct with Gardoqui,
might have voted in good faith, without inconsistency,
'svithout rendering themselves justly amenable td the in
sinuation that when the vote was given they approved of
that conduct, and were stultified by their subsequent con
demnation thereof. The weakness of a bad cause was
never more conspicuously manifested than.by the attempts
made in the Littell pamphlet, in the libel suit of Innes v.
Marshall, and.- in the " PoUtical Beginnings," to smirch
thbse who knew of John Brown's " sliding letter," (which
only partially recorded the Gardoqui overture) and yet
voted an empty resolution of thanks to him for faithful
services which had no relation to that overture, as if by
that vote they Jiad participated in Brown's offense, and
were estopped from its condemnation. But were this ar
gument as forcible as it is fiimsy, still no shelter for
Brown can be had in the alleged inconsistency of others.
It has been seen that McDowell effectually exploded that
weak defense ; if the " sliding letter " w^as known to any
one in the convention besides Innes aud himself, it was

200 The Spanish Conspiracy.
communicated to them by Innes, who had a motive for
making known what McDowell treated as " confidential."
As the same sophistry is introduced by Colonel Brown
even less regard is shown for the facts. He says : " The
letter from Brown to Muter was known to Marshall and
Edwards," when this resolution of thanks was passed ;
and he alleges, that " McDowell had its dupUcate," —
which the reader knows McDowell did not have. Colonel
Brown continues : * " The estimate of those who knew of
that letter [it does not certainly appear whether Colonel
Brown referred to the Aluter or to the McDowell letter,
but, as he says that one was " duplicate " of the other,
it does not matter], and its contents, and of the interview
with Gardoqui was expressed in a resolution [the resolu
tion of thanks to Bro-wn] for which Muter and Marshall
voted along with the other delegates." The official report
of the proceedings does not state who voted for the reso
lutions; nor does it show who were the members of the
convention ; it gives the names of the president, McDow
ell, of the secretary, Todd, and of the chairman of the
committee of the whole, Isaac Shelby, only. Its state
ment that the resolutions were " unanimously " carried
does not indicate that every man in the convention voted
for them, but only that no negative vote was cast or re
corded. Colonel Brown had no authority whatever that
either Muter or Marshall voted for that resolution. In
his letter published in the Lezington Gazette in 1790, which
was republished in 1806, and an extract from which, in
cluding this stateraent, was copied into the "Narrative "
bj- Littell, Muter asserted that he loas not a member of the
-•' Here Colonel Brown imitated the exploit of his grandfather. When
the latter wished to conceal the real nature of the proposition of Gar
doqui, and the character of the letter he wrote to Muter, he suppressed
that letter, published McDowell's account of the " sUding letter," and
pretended that the " letter to Muter gave the same account that the
letter of ilcDowell did. The grandson, wishing to make as bad a case
as possible for aU who knew of the " sliding letter," and yet voted to
thank John Brown for his services in Congress, publishes the letter to
Muter, in a mutilated form, suppresses the McDowell letter, and says
that the latter was the " duplicate " of the former.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 201
July convention of 1788. In his letter of August 20,
1806, which accompanied the reproduction of the one just
mentioned, and which was published in the Western
World and in the Lexington Gazette, he reasserted : " I was
a member of the convention of November, 1788, though
not of July, 1788." This is fully confirmed by Humphrey
Marshall in his History. If the list of the members of
that convention published by Collins was relied upon by
Colonel Brown, it also proved to him that Muter was not
a member. The writings of Colonel Brown exhibit his
familiarity with all the records and publications which
give emphatic and explicit contradiction to his own state
ments. He had no ground for rejecting their statements, nor
any authority whatever for his own. And Muter asserted
just as positively, that " Mr. Brown's letter to me came to hand
in the fall of 1788." The address of Muter to the people,
which shortly followed the receipt of that letter, was
dated October 16, 1788. Muter not having been a mem
ber of the July convention could not possibly have voted
for the resolution. And a letter which was not received
until the fall of 1788 could not have been known to Muter,
Edw^ards or Marshall in the preceding July. The neces
sity for constituting Muter a member of the convention,
and of placing in his hands a letter in July which he did
not receive until more than a month later, was in order to
give color to Colonel Brown's statement, that when, as he
alleges. Colonel Marshall voted to thank Brown for his
services in Congress, he knew of Brown's letter to Muter.
It adds another example to many others, of Colonel
Brown's extraordinary fecundity of inaccuracy.
It must have seemed very doubtful, to say the least, to
Colonel Brown himself, whether his statement that Colonel
Marshall was a member of that convention was any more
true than was his assertion that Muter was a member,
which is contradicted by all the records with which he was
familiar. It is true that Colonel Marshall's name is given
as a member in the inaccurate list published by Collins. But
as that Ust showed him the untruth of his own statement
that Muter was a member, the error of Collins will scarcely

202 The Spanish Conspiracy.
serve as a screen for Colonel Brown. Collins also gave
the name of John Brown, -who was in Congress in New
York, in the li?t of the members from Mercer. He did
not obtain his statement from the official report of the
convention, for the name of Marshall nowhere appears
thereon. He -^vas not raisled 'hj the deposition of Wallace,
for he could not reraeraber whether Colonel Marshall was
or was not a member of the July convention. And he
knew that Humphrey Marshall, who had personal knowl
edge and accurate recollection of the fact, had stated, in
his History, that neither Muter nor Alarshall were mem
bers of that convention. [Vol. I, page 298, edition of
ls24.] The fact is that Colonel Marshall -n^as no more a
member of that convention than was Muter. There were
but five members from Faj-ette, and those were James
Wilkinson, Caleb Wallace, John Allen, and WiUiam
Ward, whose names are given by Collins correctly, and
Dr. Ebenezer Brooks, who was one of the " literary dema
gogues,'' whom AVilkinson complained of Colonel Alarshall
for having employed to defeat his project. It was Dr.
Brooks who wrote over the signature of " Cornplanter."
The fact that he was a member distinctly appears in the
controversies of 1788 and of 1806. All the scenes pict
ured by Colonel Brown of Alarshall and Aluter as mem
bers of the July convention, and voting as such for meas-
sures which within a fcAv weeks they publicly opposed
and denounced, is merely an average specimen of Colonel
Bro-wn's wonderfully inventive genius.
Of a like nature with his statement in regard to their
alleged vote for the empty resolution of thanks, is Colonel
Brown's assertion that Aluter, Alarshall and Edwards were
among the members acquiescing in the vote by which the
recommendatory resolution -\vas passed. It is not true
that Colonel Alarshall or Aluter were members of the con
vention. And if the patriotic Colonel John Edwards sat
sUent whUe a resolution was passed which he had already
resisted and was then powerless to defeat, it would no
more indi.cate that he had acquiesced therein, or that he
concurred in its policy, than that John Brown's " holding

The Spanish Conspiracy. 203
his peace" when Dane's substitute was passed by Con
gress proved that he acquiesced therein or concurred in
the postponement of the application he had presented.
Not only is this entire line of argument utterly flimsy and
fallacious, but the allegations made to sustain it are shown
to be invariably untrue. Its sole importance is as an
illustration of the methods employed in John Brown's
defense.*

¦* Col. Marshall, though not a member, was a spectator of the July
Convention. Humphrey Marshall had been elected a member of the
Assembly of 1788, as well as a member of the Virginia Convention of
the same year which adopted the Constitution ; — which was a sufficient
reason why the elder Marshall was not at the same time a candidate for
the July Convention. He was represented in the latter, however, by
Dr. Brooks, who was the tutor of his children.

204 The Spanish Conspiracy.

CHAPTER XIII.
The Canvass Preceding the November Election of 1788 — Tone of the
Press — Misrepresentations op the Motive of Congress — Efforts
TO Inflame the People — Muter Receives John Brown's Letter —
Exhibits it to Colonel Thomas Marshall — Advice of the Latter
— Muter's Address — Muter, Crockett, Allen, Marshall and
Wilkinson Elected — Colonel Brown's Misstatements Concerning
Muter and Marshall — Wallace in and after the Canvass — Let
ters OP Ebenezer Brooks — Wilkinson Describes Brown to Miro —
Brown Discloses Gardoqui's Overture to Wilkinson and Greenup.
Immediately upon the publication of the action of the
July convention, in the Lexington Gazette, the alarm
which was created found an utterance through the col
umns of that paper, sufficiently articulate to indicate the
nature and depth of the apprehensions felt fey the more
reflecting. Before that convention, as stated by Wilkin
son in his letter to Miro, of February 12, 1789, " the ques
tion of separation from the United States, although dis
cussed with vehemence among the most distinguished inhabit
ants of this section of the country, had never been mentioned,
in a formal manner, to the people at large." It has been
seen that an effort was made in that convention to sepa
rate from Virginia, and to assume independence and sov
ereignty without an act for the purpose, and without the
assent of Congress, which, to the extent it could have
been made effective, would have separated Kentucky from
the United States. Wilkinson correctly represented the
real and intended effect, though not the precise terms, of
what was proposed and urged in that convention when he
wrote to Miro, in the same letter to which reference has
been made, that the "Honorable Caleb Wallace, one of
our Supreme Judges, the Attorney General Innes, and
Benjamin Sebastian proposed a prompt separation from the
Union, and advocated with intrepidity the necessity of the

The Spanish Conspiracy. 205
movement." That the purpose of the proposition was that
of disunion, as was directly charged upon the leaders of
the Wilkinson party from the rostrum, this and other
letters of the leader of that party, clearly establish. The
plan was not; however, distinctly developed and avowed
in their communication to the people, by these projectors
of the scheme of disunion and a negotiation with Spain,
who feared the people might not yet be ready for its adop
tion. The question of a separation from the Union, and a,
Spanish alliance was still kept in the background. But a
rejection of the advice of Congress, a violent separation
from Virginia, (by which is intended a revolutionary sep
aration), the framing of a constitution, the organization
of government, the assumption of independence and sov
ereignty, without again applying to the General Assembly
for its sanction, and without the assent of Congress, was
the purpose openly declared and boldly advocated. The
annunciation of this purpose was accompanied by such
denunciations of Congress as the oppressor of western in
terests, by such heated charges that Congress was insincere
in its cordial expressions of a desire that Kentucky should
become a state of the Union, and by such angry insistence
that the opposition to her admission as such would be con
tinued under the new government, as precluded the idea,
that the men who made these arguments and uttered these
denunciations contemplated an irregular separation from
Virginia and the assumption of statehood only as a means
of hastening the admission of Kentucky into the Union
by a Congress which they declared was hostile to that ad
mission. Their embarrassment proceeded from their un
certainty of the people. The recommendatory resolution
passed by the July convention, and under which that of
November was called, urged the people, by virtue of some
kind of inherent sovereign power residing in themselves,
and not derived from Assemblies or Congresses, to dele
gate to the representatives whom they might elect to the
coming convention, the most plenary and all embracing
power " to do and accomplish whatsoever, on a consideration of
the state ofthe district, may in their opinion promote its interests."

206 The Spanish Conspiracy.
There can be no question that the power the people were
thus asked to delegate, included, and was designed to in
clude, that of separation from the United States. If the
people could only be persuaded to take this step with suffi
cient unanimity, the election of delegates to the convention
would impliedly carry with it the delegation of the power
requested. In shaping its action, the Noveraber conven
tion would then be governed by circumstances. If the
.public pulse indicated that it could be done safely, their
formal declaration of sovereignty would be accompanied
bj' an equally formal and explicit withdrawal from the
Union, and that would be followed by the appointment of
a " proper person to negotiate with Spain for the exporta
tion oftheir produce on the Mississippi;" — this would de
pend on the success of the inflammatory denunciations of
the " sinister purposes " of Congress, in working up the
people to a white heat. But, if the patient, conservative,
law- abiding and liberty loving people insisted on yet an
other application to Congress, then, if the way was clear,
they would, by previously wrenching the district violently
apart from Virginia, so complicate that application that
the Congress of the confederation, which had already ex
plicitly and unanswerably stated its want of power in the
premises, could not grant the application without a more
gross violation of faith and duty. In the meantime the
constitution would be framed, the government would be
organized, the separation from Virginia would be con
summated, Kentucky would be declared independent and
sovereign, regardless of A'irginia's laws, of the Constitu
tion of the United States, which had then been adopted,
of allegiance to the State of Virginia, or to the Union.
In this condition of insurrection, the anticipated and cer
tain rejection of the application by the Congress of the
new government would find her people. This fresh refusal
by Congress to receive the new state thus constituted into
the Union, together with the failure by that body to pro
cure for her people the freedom of the navigation of the
Mississippi below the boundaries of the United States,
which was not within the control of Congress, and every

The Spanish Conspiracy. 207
murder by an Indian, as -well as every honest effort by
Congress to secure peace by protecting the Indian lands
against seizure by the whites, would be used to exasperate
the hitherto patient, but -\varlike Kentuckians, until, as
the conspirators hoped, they would be ready to take the
plunge into the -wide open arms of the Spaniard ! For
this fatal leap, the embarrassments surrounding the organ
ization of the new government, the want of an army, of
money and of credit, combined to make all things seem
propitious. If it be said that this is a prejudiced or a par
tisan picture, it must still be admitted to be an accurate
reproduction of that distinctly limned upon the canvas,
in ineffaceable aud damning colors, in his letters to Miro,
by the master hand of Wilkinson, the leader of the move
ment, around whom, as if in deference to his more fertile
resources, to his superior talents, and greater courage, the
others revolved as humble and admiring satellites. And
Butler, who wrote for the conspirators an apology, which,
however feeble it may have been, was still the best that
could be offered, could draw no other conclusion from the
letter of John Brown to Muter, than that " Mr. Brown,
and in all probability many other of the ancient statesmen
of Kentucky, did incline to discuss, if not to adopt, a con
nection with Spain, independent of the feeble and dis
graced Union which then existed." Without detracting
in the least from thehistoric value and frankness of this
admission, their obseqtiious apologist might well have,
added, that these same " ancient statesmen " had done
much to " disgrace " that Union, which they nevertheless
preferred, because of its feebleness, to the stronger and
" more perfect Union " which had then been established, and
to which they were hostile because of its anticipated
[strength. The removal of Judge Muter from Danville had relieved
him for the time being from the evil influence which John
Brown, Innes and others had exerted, and under which he
had signed the circular of March 29, 1787. He had in the
meantime gone back to constitutional ground. Locating
in what is now Woodford, but was then Fayette county.

208 The Spanish Conspiracy.
he had become a neighbor of Colonel Thomas Marshall,
with whom he had maintained a friendship of long stand
ing, which had been formed in Virginia before the Revo
lution ; which had been continued during that struggle, in
which Aluter had been for a time a Colonel of Infantry in
the State Line, and afterwards commissioner of the Vir
ginia war office ; and -which -was renewed after both had
removed to Kentucky, where Alarshall was surveyor of
Fayette county, and Aluter had become Chief Justice of
the District Court. Aluter being a bachelor, was fre
quently the guest of his friend, almost an inmate of his
family. As stated by himself in the letter published in 1790, Muter
knew that at least a part ofthe letter -written by John Brown
to AlcDowell had been read in the Danville convention of
July, 1788, though the part read was not the " sliding let
ter " referring to the Gardoqui proposition. As also stated
by hira, he knew that John Brown had written other let
ters to other persons in the district, which were received
before and after the July convention, and which were
sirailar to the one he himself afterwards received ; — which
urged Kentucky to assume independence and sovereignty,
and as a motive for that precipitate step revealed the over
ture which Gardoqui had artfully made. When he re
ceived the letter from John Brown addressed to himself,
which it appears from his own letter referred to, was not
until the fall of 1788, and thus had the scheme placed cir
cumstantially and plainly before his very eyes ; — the ami
able Muter could not but associate the statements made
and advice given and the Spanish overture revealed
by John Brown, with the covert inueudoes which had
been so frequently let fall by Wilkinson ; with the actions
of the latter and of his coterie in the July convention ;
with their agitations among the people for an immediate
separation from Virginia and the prompt organization of
an independent state, wathout a law for that purpose ; and
with the exclusive privUege of trade which had been
granted by the Spaniard to AVilkinson. Whatever had
seemed mysterious and equivocal in all these circum-

The Spanish Conspiracy. 209
stances, actions aud hints, were explained by the letter of
John Brown on which the pained eyes of Muter now rested.
The old Scotchman had an abundance of mere physical
courage ; but he had always lacked, and continued to lack,
firmness ; he was wanting in self assertion, unstable and
irresolute. He seems to have been at bottom honest, true
hearted and averse to intrigue ; — yet he had always been a
man easily seduced by the stronger natures around him,
and in later years permitted his love of ease, his fear of
losing a position necessary to his support, and his reluct
ance to wound even by adhering to the truth, to induce
him to stultify himself by equivocation and by going
squarely back on his own previous honest declarations.
The first sentiment of this kindly, well disposed and at
heart patriotic man, on reading John Brown's letter, was
one of revulsion and reprehension. It may well be con
ceived that his next was one of mortification and self con
demnation, that in his past association with Brown and
Innes there had been aught to make Brown suppose he
could be made an accessory in a business like that indi
cated by Brown's letter. Then came a patriotic and manly
resolve, of which the most amiable and the weakest natures
that are naturally honest are frequently capable, to do the
part of a true man in counteracting the scheme which
had been disclosed to his view. He knew, as he himself
stated, as every one else knew, — as Caleb Wallace especi
ally very well knew, — that Colonel Marshall had been
immovably opposed to an illegal separation from Virginia,
to a withdrawal from the Union, and to all the plans de
veloped in the July convention. Led by a desire to thwart
the scheme of disunion revealed in Brown's letter, and in
stinctively recognizing in his neighbor a more steadfast,
a bolder, a stronger and more aggressive nature than his
own, united to a clear judgment and prompt decision, — a
man on whose unyielding courage he could rely and in
whose tried patriotism he could confide, he exhibited the
letter of Brown to Colonel Marshall.
To the healthy mind of the latter. Brown, in disclosing
such a matter to Muter, could not place it under the seal
14

210 The Spanish Conspiracy.
of confidence. Besides, Brown, who had written to
Muter and to others, " with the permission of the Spanish
minister," " not doubting but that they would make a
prudent use of the information," had, by this distinct in
timation conveyed to Muter his wish that the latter, whom
he supposed would be favorable to the project, would com
municate it to those whom he found to be equally favorable.
The mistake Brown had made as to Muter was his mis
fortune and no fault of Aluter, who, in the view of Mar
shall, had as much right to use, and was in duty bound to
use to defeat and thwart, the information Brown had com
municated as a means of forwarding, the project. As the
most effectual means of baffling the objects of the writer
of that letter. Colonel Marshall, therefore, urged its im
mediate publication, -wdth comments explanatory of its
character, for the purpose of enabling the people to pene
trate the meaning of the clamor in the late convention
for the immediate framing of a constitution and the as
sumption of independence, which the letter of Brown
also contemplated and urged, as the first step necessary to
the consuraraation of the arrangements " he had discussed
with " Gardoqui. With a different view of his obliga
tions, to say nothing of his reluctance to engage in con
troversy, the amiable and cautious Muter would not assent
to the publication ; but he did cheerfully and promptly
consent to unite with Colonel Marshall in a determined
effort to counteract and defeat the clandestine designs
they both now plainly discerned. Neither had been a
member of the July convention,* but both determined to
become candidates for seats in that called for November,
" and both took much pains to inform the people of the
danger and unconstitutionality of the course to which they
had been advised by the late convention." Associated with
them on the ticket and equally decided and energetic
were John Allen (afterwards of Bourbon,) and Ebenezer
Brooks, both of whom had been members of the July con
vention, and had helped to thwart the plan then urg«d by
-* Marshall, Vol. I, page 298, edition of 1824.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 211
Wilkinson, WaUace, Innes and Sebastian. They brought
to their aid the influence and popularity of Joseph Crock
ett, w^ho was the fifth on their ticket ; — a man who had
borne the brunt in the very " fore front " of battle in the
revolution, and who was not now found wanting - when
domestic treason had to be confronted. The four soldiers
aud the pedagogue * announced themselves for another
application to Virginia, for separation, but only by legal
and temperate measures. Wilkinson and Wallace advo
cated the same rash and precipitate course which they had
urged in the July convention. The pubUc debates were
most animated. While Muter would not pubUsh Brown's
letter, he spoke of it to others besides Colonel Marshall,
and among others with whom it -was discussed were un
doubtedly Edwards, Crockett, Allen and Brooks. And
under date of October 15, 1788, there was published in
the Lexington Gazette, the following address, which was
signed by Muter, and which had previously received the
approval of Coloilel Marshall, with whom it had been
concerted, and to whom it was attributed by contempo
rary opinion, viz :
" Forming a constitution of government, and organizing the same, be
fore the consent of the legislature of Virginia for that purpose first ob
tained, will be directly contrary to the letter and spirit of the act of
assembly, entitled ' an act for punishing certain offenses ; and vesting
the governor with certain powers ; ' which declares that every person or
persons who shall erect or establish government separate from, or inde
pendent of the State of Virginia within the limits thereof, unless by act
of the legislature for that purpose first obtained ; or shall exercise any
oflSoe under such usurped government, shall be guilty of high treason.
The third section of the fourth article of the federal constitution ex
pressly declares : ' that no new state shall be formed, or erected within
the jurisdiction of any other state ; nor any state be formed out of the
junction of two, or more states without the consent of the legislature of
the states concerned, as well as of the Congress.' Therefore the con
sent of Virginia to the separation must first be obtained agreeably to
the above-cited section, to afford to Kentucky any prospect of being ad
mitted a member of the Federal Union.
In the tenth section of the flrst article of the federal constitution it
is declared : ' that no state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or con-
*Ebenezer Brooks was the private tutor of Colonel MarshaU's younger
children.

212 The Spanish Conspiracy.
federation;' Of course it must follow that no part of a state can enter
into any treaty, alliance, or confederation.
The resolution of the late convention if adopted by the people, might
fairly be construed, to give authority to the next to treat with .Spain, to
obtain the navigation of the IMississippi if they should think such a
measure conducive to their interest when it might plainly appear by
the before-recited section, that any other application than to the as
sembly of -\'irginia, and to the Congress of the United States, must be
contrary to the federal constitution.
It is therefore submitted to the consideration of the inhabitants of
Fayette, whether it may not be necessary in their instructions to their
delegates, to direct them not to agree to forming a constitution and form
of government and organizing the same, till the consent of the legisla
ture of Vh-ginia, for that purpose, is first obtained, not to agree to make
any application whatever to obtain the navigation of the Mississippi,
other than to the legislature of Virginia, and the Congress of the
United States, to draw up and forward to the assembly of Virginia, a
memorial requesting them to alter their acts for the separation of this
district from Mrginia, that the same be brought before the Congress of
the United States, in the manner directed by the federal constitution,
and to request them to authorize the convention by law, to form a con
stitution of government, and to organize the same ; or direct a new con
vention to be chosen, to continue in office a reasonable time, and to be
vested with those powers.
To forward to the assembly of Virginia, and the Congress of the
United States (if they judge proper and necessary) a decent and manly
memorial requesting that such measures may be pursued by Congress,
or that Virginia, will use her influence with Congress to take such
measures as shall be most likely to procure for the people of the western
country, the navigation of the Mississippi. George Muter."
This statement of law and facts was not honored with a
place in the " PoUtical Beginnings," but, instead, was dis
missed by the talented author as " the quarter sessions law
argument." But, while not deigning to place it before
his readers, that they might form their own estimate of its
value. Colonel Brown did not deem it beneath the dignity
of his pages to embrace the occasion afforded by its con
temptuous mention to repeat his misstatement of facts in
order to convict Aluter and Marshall of inconsistency.
Thus : " It does not appear what caused this change of
opinion, and induced such strong opposition to the identi
cal measures that had comraanded their [Aluter and Mar
shall's] support and vote in the convention of the preceding

The Spanish Conspiracy. 213
July ;" * — which the letters of Muter himself, as well as
every other record, show to be absolutely untrue as ap
plied to him, not only as to his having given the vote
stated, but as to his having been a member of the conven
tion at all. And which is shown by the sworn testimony
of Greenup, which Colonel Browni read and which he
suppressed, as well as by the written statement of Crockett,
to be equally untrue as to Marshall having given the vote
in question ; and by the stateraent of Humphrey Marshall,
as well as by the fact that Wilkinson, Wallace, Ward,
Allen and Brooks were the five members of the July con
vention from Fayette, to be as absolutely untrue as to
Marshall having been a member of that convention. The
pages of the Littell pamphlet, the entire record of the
controversy which raged in 1806, yvWl be searched in vain
for an authority for this misstatement, which originated
with, and all the honor and glory of which belongs exclu
sively to, the author of" The Political Beginnings."
Having thus misstated the facts concerning the votes
of Muter and Marshall in a convention of -ivhich neither
was a member, it is rather a matter of surprise that Col
onel Brown hesitated to charge openly what he insinuates,
that in their subsequent opposition, in the canvass preced
ing the November convention, to the plans of Wilkinson,
Wallace, Innes, and Brown, they were both infiuenced by
a proposition which the author alleges they had received
from Connolly, a British agent, before Muter's address was
issued. Says Colonel Brown :
" It seems passing strange that the quarter sessions law argument
made by Muter in the letter he published ahout the time of Connolly's
visit to himself and Marshall, and which went forth to affect the con
vention of November, could have induced the convention to defer a
step so critically important. And it is equally strange that Muter and
Marshall, fully informed as they professed to be of the danger from
Spanish influence, and themselves hamng conferred with the British agent,
should have put forth so technical an objection to the immediate fram
ing of a constitution and application for admission to the Union. [Po-
litical Beginnings, page 191.]
It would be superfluous to dwell upon the misleading
* Political Beginnings, page 193.

214 The Spanish Conspiracy.
character of the construction here given to the actions of
Wilkinson and Wallace and their followers in the July
convention, or to point out that there was no honest pur
pose in their advocacy of an " immediate framing of a con
stitution," and by a separation from A'irginia and the as
suraption of sovereignty, without a law to that end, to ob
tain the " admission of Kentucky to the L'nion." The real
design of all this is seen in the letters of Wilkinson to
Aliro, in the dispatch of Gardoqui, and in the letter of
Brown. It must be admitted, however, that, if the aUega-
tions of Colonel Brown concerning the conduct of Aluter
and Alarshall in that convention, of their sudden change
after an interview with and a proposition made to them
by Connolly, were true, then their course would have been
" passing strange," indeed. In fact, it would have been so
very, very strange, that the reader would find it difficult,
if not impossible, to reconcile that conduct with any as
sumption that Aluter and Alarshall were either honest or
patriotic men ; and that was precisely the view of their
alleged conduct which Colonel Brown sought to convey.
But when it is ascertained that neither Aluter nor Alar
shall voted as alleged, nor was a member of that conven
tion ; that the letter of Brown to Aluter was not received
until the fall; that neither ever saw Connolly until after
the November convention; and that all this distinctly ap
pears in the e-vidence which Colonel Brown garbles and
suppresses; — the reader will cease to -wonder at the
" strangeness " of the alleged inconsistencies of Aluter and
Alarshall, and lose himself in admiration for the wonder
ful creative and constructive genius and amazing hardi
hood of Colonel Brown !
The people to whom it was addressed appear to have
taken a view of the " quarter sessions law- argument" of
the then Chief Justice of the district widely difi'erent from
that expressed by Colonel Brown. Under the direct influ
ence of similar arguments the militia officers of Fayette
effected a meeting, at which moderate resolutions were
adopted to tranquillize the public excitement. General
Wilkinson had been forced to dissemble ; but notwith-

The Spanish Conspiracy. - 215
standing the deceits resorted to, he and his four associates
on the ticket with him, Caleb Wallace, William Ward,
Eobert Johnson and Scott, were, on the fourth day of the
election in the latter days of October, left far behind.
Winding himself and all his ticket about to be beaten,
Vilkinson then disclaimed all disorganizing designs, and
jfave public assurances that he would be guided by the
pishes and instructions of the people ; — though all the time
le held firmly to his purpose and engagement with the
Spaniard. Personally popular as he was, these pledges
mabled him to secure his own election, by a small vote,
Dver Ebenezer Brooks ; while his four associates were de
feated, and Colonel Marshall, Colonel Crockett, Judge
Muter and the staunch John Allen, of the opposing ticket,
were elected.* Unfortunately for his own reputation, the
necessities of Muter, his helplessness if thrown out of
office and his consequent cringing efforts to conciliate men
who held his future aud means of livelihood in their hands,
drove him in later years to equivocation and self stultifi
cation, when a strict regard for truth and public justice
demanded from him plain and manly speech. But the
danger to his country had then apparently passed away,
and only the reputatioil of those whom he sought to shield
were at stake. And, besides, from under all the rubbish
of his tergiversation enough of truth appeared to prevent
any one from being deceived. To his praise it must always
be remembered, that when real danger threatened his
country he acted a manly and an unselfish part, and that
to the result of the election referred to, his address and
fllctive personal exertions greatly contributed. That a man
-* After his defeat, Caleb Wallace continued to insist that the policy
advocated by Wilkinson and himself in the July convention and during
the canvass, of an immediate separation from Virginia and assumption
of independence was right. A letter written by Ebenezer Brooks on the
25th of October, 1788, and published in the Western World in 1806, says :
" Judge Wallace, it is said, declares that seven years hence the people
will be convinced ihat he and Wilkinson have been in the right." Yet the
able jurist had forgotten all about this when he testified as to his re
markable recollection of an alleged conversation a quarter of a century
before.

216 The Spanish Conspiracy.
so amiable, so cautious, so reluctant to wound, so averse
to controversy of any kind, -svas driven by his sense of
public danger to take a position so decided and aggressive,
manifests the depth and seriousness of his apprehensions,
and exhibits the nature he ascribed to the schemes of John
_Brown, as revealed in Brown's letter.
In other portions of the district there was less agitation
than there was in Fayette ; the same members who sat in
the July convention were generally chosen to that of No
vember.
;— It has been seen, that when John Brown " discussed
with " Gardoqui the overture of the latter, he " expected "
the convention of July " would resolve upon the erection
of an independent state," as one of the results of his let
ters, and that this initiatory step w-ould be taken during
jliis absence; and in anticipation thereof, he told the Span-
liard, that upon his return home he would " inform " his
jcoustituents of the Spanish offer, and " aid " in securing
nts acceptance. He announced the same purpose to Oliver
T'oUock. But, when he returned to the district in Septem
ber, he -was disappointed to find Wallace's resolution de-
neated in the convention, Kentucky still apart of Virginia
land in the Union, and was confronted by the formidable
opposition to the whole scheme of an illegal separation,
and to all the sequela thereto, which had been boldly and
energetically made by Muter, Marshall, Allen and Crock
ett in Fayette, by Edwards in Bourbon, by Anderson in
Jefferson, and by good and true men in other portions of
-tli£ district. Essentially a man of suppressions, conceal
ments and evasions, deliberate, cold blooded and self-seek
ing, who kept an eye always on the hands of the public
clock, — to have thrown himself courageously into the
breach and, in the face of such determined opposition, to
have risked all upon the open advocacy of the scheme he
had privately plotted with Gardoqui and promised to
" aid " would have been to change his own nature. That
he w-rote other letters than those addressed to McDowell
and Aluter is established by Aluter's statement of his per
sonal knowledge of such other letters. That during the

The Spanish Conspiracy. 217
canvass preceding the November convention, he did all in
his power to incense the people against Congress, by im
peaching the sincerity and good faith of, and attributing
unfriendly motives to the action of, that body, as he
had done in those letters, is apparent from the letter of
Ebenezer Brooks already quoted. * To Christopher
Greenup he communicated the overture of Gardoqui
which he had promised to " aid." Greenup being opposed
to the entire scheme, from its initial point of an illegal
separation from A^irginia to its intended culmination in an
alliance with Spain, the prudent Brown forbore to advo
cate its acceptance to him. f With his intimate and
jleader. General Wilkinson, he was less reserved, as ap-
Ipears from a letter of that conspirator to Miro, under date
* Brooks wrote : " Our member of Congress seems much outof humor
that he has been so little attended to in the controversy. They seem to
think Congress sincere notwithstanding all he has written to the con
trary." [Letter of Arthur Campbell, dated October 25, 1788 ; published
in the " Western World " in 1806.]
t Greenup, who was then governor, had been understood to say that
when Brown communicated to him the overture of Gardoqui, he com
menced to advocate it in a feeble sort of way, but, on finding Greenup
hostile, desisted. There was more than one person who so understood
Greenup, who did not expect to be reported, and who denied the state
ment as published in the Western World. From his letter, however, it
appears that Brown did make to him the stated communication, as he
almost certainly did to all to whom he believed it safe to do so.
Greenup's letter is as follows, viz :
To tlie Editors of the Western World :
From the conversation I had with you on the evening of the day on
which the first number of your paper appeared, I did expect, from your
positive promise, that you would have corrected the erroneous state
ment you had inserted in that paper, -respecting a conversation (which
you were not authorized to publish) that passed between you and my
self, concerning Mr. Brown and others. Understanding that you are
not likely to do so, I think proper to declare, that I did not in that con
versation say that Mr. Brown " in a guarded manner approved " of Gar
doqui's proposition, or any words like it. Mr. Brown merely related
Gardoqui's conversation with him — neither approving nor disapproving
the same. That I did not say General Wilkinson's memorial contained
""about eighty pages. But I did say, and do now say that I knew nothing
of the individuals who were to fill the several places of honor under the
Spanish government in Kentucky, but by the information of the late
Colonel Marshall. At the time Mr. Wood spoke to me on the above

218 The Spanish Conspiracy.
of February 14, 1789.* To hira he (Brown) made
"Snown the proposition of Gardoqui iu all its deform
ity, as w^ell as his own adherence to the scheme and
desire that it should be successful ; and Wilkinson dis
covered his knowledge of the man in ascribing Brown's
refusal to openly advocate a scheme to -which he was pri
vately devoted, to his timidity, and to an apprehension
that a public disclosure of the proposition would defeat
rather than further its acceptance. The letter of Wil
kinson also makes it clear, that in the mutual confidences
between Brown and himself he disclosed to the Congress
man the arrangement he had effected with Aliro ; and the
subsequent actions of the two friends in the approaching
convention cau best be understood by looking at them
under the light of those official explanations of the bold
man whose superior nerve made him the leader. It is in
the highest degree improbable that John Brown did not
communicate it to others besides Greenup and Wilkinson; —

subject I had not seen the statement of the propositions alleged to have
been made hy Gardoqui to Mr. Brown, and, therefore, could not say
that his conversation with me corresponded with them. ,1 now say it
did not. Christ. Greenup.
___JjjJy 11, 1806.
* " Don Diego Gardoqui, about the month of March last, received
from his court ample powers to make with the people of this district
the arrangements he might think proper, in order to estrange tliem from
the United States and induce them to form an alliance with Spain. I received
this information, in the first place, from Mr. Brown, the member of Con
gress for this district, who, since the taking into consideration of our
application to be admitted into the Union has been suspended, entered
into some free communications on this matter with Don Diego Gardoqui.
He returned here in September last, and, finding that there had been some
opposition to our project, he sdmost aha-ndoned the cause in despair, and
positively refused to advocate in public tlie propositions of Don Diego Gardo-
qui, as he deemed tliem fatal to our cause. [The writer meant that the pub-
l lie advocacy of those propositions would be fatal to the cause.] Brmm
I is one of our deputies or agents ; he is a young man of respectable talents,
[but timid, without political experience, and with very little knowledge of
Vthe world. Nevertheless, as he firmly persevered in his adherence to our in-
Yrests, we have sent him to the new Congress, apparently as our repre
sentative, but in reality as a spy on ihe aciio'ns of thai body." [Extract
f\om AVUkinson's letter to Miro, February 14, 1789. Gayarre, page 241.]

The Spanish Conspiracy. 219
in fact, that he did not acquaint all whom he felt free to
approach on the subject. But the certainty that he did
inform these two, one of whom was then the confidential
agent of Spain in this nefarious design, is the most abun
dant evidence that Colonel John Mason Brown's assertions
that " two persons only in Kentucky were informed," *
(McDowell and Muter), and that " under the cautious ad
vice of Madison the communication of Gardoqui was thus
kept from the knowledge of all persons in Kentucky save
^^Dow-ell and Muter," are untrue. And, if John Brown
indeed acted under the " cautious advice of Madison," in
his alleged mysterious reticence concerning the proposition
of the Spanish minister,' it will occur to the reader as a
most singular circumstance, that one of the persons to
whom he confided it was the man to whom Spain had
granted valuable privileges of trade which she refused to
concede to the United States, as a consideration by which
he was to be in part compensated for his services in the
fulfillment of the engagement he had entered into with
the Intendant at New Orleans, to further the same schemes
of disunion which John Brown had promised Gardoqui to

-* Political Beginnings, page 153.

220 The Spanish Conspiracy.

CHAPTER XIV.
3rown Elected to November Convention — Offici.4.l Report of its
Proceedings — The Efforts op Wilkinson, Brown and Others to
Separate Immediately from Virginia — That Separation Really
A Separation from the Union — The Motive to Accept Propositions
OP Miro and Gardoqui — Wilkinson's Speech — .Tohn Brown's State
ment at the Conventon — Colonel Marshall's Account — John
Brown's Own Account — Wilkinson's Memorial — John Brown's
Resolution — Its Purpose — Wilkinson's Explanation to JIiho —
The Purpose of the Suppressed Address to the People as Stated
3Y' Littell.
John Brown arrived in Kentucky in time to participate
n the canvass, to become a candidate for, and to secure his
wn election to, a seat in the November convention. The
[leager official report of the proceedings of that body, as
[lade by Thomas Todd, conveys no adequate conception of
he issues which were presented, of the sentiments and pur-
loses by which the opposing parties were animated, nor
f the heated discussions which ensued. It states that on
he first day, Monday, Noveraber 3, 1788, there was no
uorum. On Tuesday, Samuel McDowell was again chosen
0 preside, and Thomas Todd to officiate as secretary. It
7&B then determined that on the next day the convention
^'ould itself go into a committee of the whole, to consider
he state of the district. To this committee were referred
tie resolutions of Congress upon the appUcation of the dis-
rict, which those resolutions had referred to the new^ gov-
rnment, that had been estabUshed by the ratification of
ae constitution by ten states. On the third day, those
3solutions and other papers referring to the same subject
•ere referred to the committee of the whole, of which*
V"Ukinson was elected chairman. After the committee
ad deliberated for some time it rose, but with leave to sit
gain during the day. The convention then referred to

The Spanish Conspiracy. 221
y the committee the resolutions of the July convention, rec
ommending the election of, and giving powers to, this con
vention ;" after which the convention again went into the
committee of the whole, which occupied further time in
I deliberation, and then rose, to sit again from day to day.
Petitions were then presented from the counties of Mercer
and of Madison respectively, praying the convention " that
a spirited and manly address should be sent to Congress, to
obtain the navigation of the Mississippi," which was also
referred to the committee. The resolution for preparing
an address to the Assembly of Virginia was then taken
up, read, amended and agreed to, as follows, viz :
" That a committee be appointed to draw up a decent and respectful
address to the assembly of Virginia, for obtaining the independence of
Kentucky, agreeable to the late resolution and recommendation of Con
gress, and that they prepare and report the same to the convention to
morrow." The committee appointed consisted of Edwards, Mar
shall, Aluter, Jouitt, Allen and Wilkinson, the first of
whom had offered, and the second of whom had seconded,
the resolution.
On the fourth day, the resolution reported from the
committee of the -\vhole upon the petitions from Madison
and Mercer was recommitted to the committee of the
whole, into which the convention then resolved itself, and
of which Innes warelec^d"^airmanr™"AfteF the subject
had been discussed for some time, the committee reported
to the convention that the petitions were reasonable, and
the convention ordered that a decent and respectful ad
dress to Congress be prepared accordingly. The special
committee appointed for the purpose consisted of Innes,
WUkinson, Marshall, Muter, Brown, Sebastian and Mor
rison. Mr. Edwards, from the committee appointed to draw
up an address to the assembly of Virginia for obtaining
the independence of Kentucky, " agreeable to the advice
of Congress," reported and read the address, and delivered
it to the clerk, who again read it, when an amendment
was proposed, and the address and amendment were placed

222 The Spanish Conspiracy.
upon the table. It was then that John Brown, according
to the official account, offered this resolution :
" Resolved, That it is the wish and interest of the people of this district
to separate from the State of Virginia, and that the same be erected into
an independent member of the Federal Union."
And it was ordered that the resolution " do lie on the
table." Thus far the official report of Todd, which makes
no mention of the speech made by Wilkinson, nor in this
connection of the memorial he read at this time, nor of
the call upon John Brown for information as to the over
ture of Gardoqui, nor of any discussion between the par
ties, and conveys not even an intimation that the question
of the navigation of the Mississippi was before the con
vention, except so far as the petitions from Madison and
Mercer, and the resolution that an address should be sent
to Congress to obtain it for the district, brought it before
them ; — which, in fact, conceals nearly all the reader is in
terested in knowing.
The iraportant truth, which that report conceals, is, |
that on the third day, after the convention had resolved
itself into the coramittee of the whole, with the resolu-l
tions of Congress and the question whether the advice of
that body should be followed as the only subjects before
the committee for consideration ; — there at once ensued a
discussion as to what powers were possessed by the conven
tion, and ivhence those powers were derived. By Muter,
Alarshall, Edwards, AUen and Crockett it was contended,
that the only power the convention had was the right of
petition, to apply to the assembly of Virginia for an act
authorizing the district to form a constitution, and con
senting to its independence. By Wilkinson, Brown,
Innes and Sebastian it was argued, that the convention had
all the sovereign powers which the recommendatory reso
lutions of the July convention had advised the people to
bestow upon their representatives ; and that those powers
embraced the forming of a constitution, the declaration of
independence, the assumption of sovereignty, without an
appUcation to Virginia, the navigation of the Mississippi,
and all those sweeping and unUmited powers of doing

The Spanish Conspiracy. 223
1 any thing and every thing which they might deem con
ducive to the interests of the district. It was during this
Idebate it was discovered, that the resolutions of the July
iconventiou had not been referred to the committee. A
motion was therefore made, that the committee rise, in
order that the reference might be made by the convention
to the people. To this opposition was made by Muter
and Marshall and their associates, who held that the
question of applying to Virginia (which was the sole thing
the convention had power to do, as they contended,) was
fully before the committee, and should be considered sepa
rately from the others. But the Wilkinson coterie were
jdetermined, that this question should be complicated with
ithat of the navigation of the great river. They succeeded
lin having the committee rise, and then in securing the
reference by the convention of the resolutions of the July
;on vention to the committee of the whole. It was certainly
it some time during the third or fourth day, and most
Drobably during the debate on the question of reference, as
Alarshall, McClung and Butler concur in stating, that the
most memorable utterances of Wilkinson and Brown were
delivered, glancing at the idea of an illegal separation, as
a step towards obtaining the navigation of the Mississippi,
and yet doing it in a manner evincing their doubts of the
sentiments of their auditors, and their apprehensions of
xhe consequences of open avowals of their purposes.
By the master spirit of the intriguants, by Wilkinson,
who had made with Miro the arrangements disclosed in
their letters, it was said in the convention, that :
" Spain had objections to granting the navigation in question to the
United States ; it was not to be presumed that Congress would obtain
it for Kentucky, or even the western country — her treaties must be gen
eral. There was one way, and but one, that he knew of obviating
these difficulties, and that was so fortified by consiituiions, and guarded
by laws, that it was dangerous of access, and hopeless of attainment
under present circumstances. It was the certain but prescribed course
which had been indicated in the former convention, which he would
not now repeat ; but which every gentleman present would connect
with the formation of a constitution, a declaration of independence and
the organization of a new state ; which, he added, might safely be left

224 The Spanish Conspiracy.
to find its way into the Union on terms advantageous to its interests and
prosperity. ¦-
Wilkinson continued to dwell upon the value and im
portance of the navigation, upon the inability of Congress
to obtain the privilege of that navigation, and renewed his
insinuation that Kentucky could obtain it for herself by
taking the indicated step; — making exactly the speech
which a man would naturally make who had formed with
Miro an engagement to separate Kentucky from the
Union, and yet who was warned by the expressions of
those who listened that the ground on -which he trod was
dangerous. In conclusion he stated, that important infor
mation on the subject -was -within the power of the con
vention, and he doubted not it would be agreeable to th
gentleman who possessed it to communicate that informa'
tion. AU eyes were flirected upon John Brown, who wai
-well understood to be the person to whom Wilkinson ha^
referred; and " a member of the convention then desired
Mr. Brown to communicate what he knew, f In reply tO'
which invitation Mr. Brown, according to the statement
of Colonel Thomas Marshall, an eye and ear witness,
given in a letter to General Washington, dated February
12, 1789, only three months subsequent to the occurrence,
said: " He told us that he did not think himself at liberty to mention what
had passed in private conversation between himself and Don Gardoqui
respecting us; but this much he would venture to inform us, that pro
vided we were united in our councils every thing we could wish for was
within our reach."

-* Marshall, page 318. Butler, copying this from :Marshall's History,
adds his supposition that it was taken from " the notes of Colonel
Thomas Marshall, whose accuracy in another part of this debate was
vouched for by Judge Thomas Todd, when summoned before a legisla
tive committee in 1806." Whether or not this supposition is correct, it
is certain that Humphrey Marshall had ample opportunity for ascertain
ing the facts accurately, not only from Colonel Thomas MarshaU, hut
from Muter, Edwards, Allen, Crockett, Anderson and others. That
Wilkinson made a speech in reference to this subject, and hinting at the
terms on which it might be obtained, is certain. That much appears In
LitteU's "Narrative."
t Butler, page 177.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 225
Upon this reply made by John Brown to the request,
that he would communicate to the convention what he
knew as to the terms upon which the freedom of the nav
igation of the Mississippi might be obtained by the people
¦lof Kentucky, Colonel Marshall, who had read Brown's
letter to Muter, and clearly understood the full meaning
)f Brown's hesitating and cautious words, made this natu
ral comment : " Meaning, as it fully appeared to me, that
if we would assume government and declare separate from
the Union, Spain would give us every indulgence we could
isk for."
Having thus admitted his own private conferences with
Di-ardoqui, confirmed what Wilkinson had said in regard
o the information he possessed, and given the convention
listinctly to understand, that they had only to act with
manimity to obtain from Spain all they desired, the cir-
3umspect Mr. Brown plumped himself down into his seat,
md at this time not another word did he utter. If Wilk
inson, Sebastian, Innes, and Wallace (who was a spectator,
though not a member of the convention), hoped that he
would openly advocate in that presence the scheme con
cerning which he had proraised Gardoqui to " inform "
his constituents and to " aid " in its accomplishment ; or
even that he would impart explicit information which
might be useful in its details, they were, as their looks and
manner indicated, sorely disappointed. When about to
take the leap the horse had balked. Whether the oppo
sition, that had already been made in the preceding can
vass, had made him fear the consequences upon his own
future of a more explicit declaration had daunted him,
and had caused him to predetermine this laconic and
oracular response ; or whether, when he rose to raake the
statement his confederates evidently expected from him,
he was disconcerted by the expression of reprehension
and of keen scrutiny he detected on the countenances of
many of his auditors, it is needless, to inquire. It is only
important for the present purpose the reader shall note,
that this was the plea which John Brown made for unani
mity, and that this was " the unaniraity which John Brown
15

226 The Spanish Conspiracy.
invoked in the convention of November." * It was uot,
as his grandson most strangely represents, to adopt a con
stitution in order that an immediate application might be
made to Congress to admit Kentucky into the Union ; — for,
equally in his secret letters and in his commingling with
the people, be had represented that Congress to be insin
cere, treacherous and hostile. But it was, that they should
be unanimous in separating from Virginia and from the
United States, in order to profit by the overture of Gar
doqui, the benefits of which, he had himself written, could
only be obtained by a withdrawal from the United States.[
The man so correctly described by his friend Wilkinson|
to Miro, could not, unless by a sudden transformation of
his own essential nature, when confronted by so many^
looks of scorn and of anger, have made a more explicit
statement, that if the convention would only erect itself.
into an independent state and separate from the Union, i
Spain was ready to grant to the ne-w state, thus independ- [
ent and separate, every privilege of navigation and com- |
merce her people could desire ; — which privilege, he had )¦
written to Muter, could never be granted so long as they-
remained a part of the United States.
The dead silence that followed was broken by Wilkin
son, who sought to revive the spirits of his adherents by
reading to the convention the memorial to the Intendant
of Louisiana, which he had concocted with Navarro and
Miro at New Orleans. It has been seen that the original
of this memorial had been forwarded to Madrid, where, to
gether with the representations of Navarro and Miro, it
had produced the instructions to Gardoqui, acting under
which the overture to John Brown was made. The sub
stance of that memorial, as read in the convention, vi^as
stated by Colonel Marshall in his letter to Washington
(of February 12, 1789), the accuracy of which statement
was vouched for under oath by Judge Todd, the secretary
of the convention, and relative and protege of Innes. In]
plain and unequivocal terms, the memorial stated, that'
* Political Begumings, page 191.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 227
" the western people were ou the point of separating them
selves from the Union forever," because of intelligence
that Congress was about to cede to Spain the navigation
of the Mississippi for twenty-five or thirty years. It
threatened Spain, that, in case she refused the use of the
Mississippi to the western people (thus separated) Great
Britain stood with arms extended ready to receive them.
It quoted a conversation the author of the memorial had
held with a member of the British Parliament to that
\ effect. As this memorial was read, the sheets were handed
\to Sebastian, who held possession of them for the author;
Ithey were not placed on the clerk's table, as was custom-
jary with public papers.
To counteract the eff'ect of these proceedings, the peti
tions which had been obtained from citizens of Mercer
and Madison, praying that an address might be sent to
Congress to obtain the navigation of the Mississippi, were
delivered to Innes, with the request that he would pre-
senf them; which he did, knowing that the object prayed
for was not within the power of Congress, and if the con
vention voted the address, the certain failure of Congress
to comply would add to the discontent. These petitions,
contemplating a constitutional course, met with no oppo
sition from the moderate party, and were referred to a
special committee, who soon reported a preamble and res
olution, which was ordered to lie on the table. It was at
this juncture that the resolution which had been offered
by Edwards and seconded by Marshall " for appointing a
committee to draw up a decent and respectful address
to the people of Virginia, for obtaining the independence
of the district of Kentucky, agreeable to the late resolu
tions and recommendations of Congress," was. called up
and agreed to. This was the decisive action of the con
vention, which marked the spirit of loyalty and honor
which -w-as predominant in the convention, and gave
warning to the men whose leaders had conspired with
Miro aud " discussed " treason with Gardoqui. The reso
lution for the preparation of this address was adopted in
the moment of honest revulsion from the utterances of

228 The Spariish Conspiracy.
Wilkinson and Brown. Wilkinson was the only man
of his party on the committee intrusted with its prepara
tion, and, though he endeavored by indirect means to de
feat the address, he was too astute a politician to propose
a different one, after having received an intimation so sat
isfactory to his ready perception ofthe loyal feeUng ofthe
convention. On the next day the petitions from Mercer and Madison
were taken up and the special committee was appointed to .
prepare the address to Congress. Mr. Edwards then re
ported the address to the Assembly of Virginia; but an
amendment was offered for the purpose of delaying, and,
if possible, of defeating it, and it was postponed for future
consideration. The object was to make one more effort
to bring the convention to immediately form a constitu
tion, to organize governnient, to declare the independence
of the district, and to assume sovereignty, without an act
of Virginia, which was the first step necessary, in the
schemes of Wilkinson and Brown. The convention was
immediately asked to come to the resolution introduced
for this purpose by John Brown. That this was its pur
pose was avowed in the Littell pamphlet and is conceded
in the "Political Beginnings." The resolution was char- i
acteristically tortuous and misleading.* The first part of
it, which embraced a separation from Virginia, and which
-was to have been immediate and without a law forthe pur
pose, was the real object which was sought to be accom-
plished by the resolution ; and it was in consonance with
Brown's letter to Muter, with his promise to Gardoqui,
with his laconic statement to the con-v'ention, when called
on for information as to the means by which the naviga
tion of the Mississippi could be obtained, and with the
-*The following is the text of the official report, viz.:
" A motion was made by Mr. Brown for the convention to come to the
following resolution, viz.:
" Resolved, That it is the wish and interest of the good people of the
district to separate from the State of Virginia, and that the same be
erected into an independent member of the Federal Union.
"Ordered, that the said resolution do lie on the table."

The Spanish Conspiracy. 229
hints that had been given by Wilkinson as to the one
thing necessary to be done in order to obtain that naviga
tion. The second part, mentioning the " erection of the
district into an independent member of the Federal
Union " was out of the power of the convention itself to
accomplish ; — while not only was the step suggested by the
first part prohibited by the laws of Virginia, but the Arti
cles of Confederation and the Constitution, which had been
adopted, equally prohibited Congress from receiving a
State which had been "erected" in that manner. From
its very nature this " erection into a member of the Fed
eral Union " was to have been future, remote and contin
gent, while the a«tion proposed was calculated, as it was
designed, to defeat that object. It was incorporated in
the resolution by Mr. Brown, to bridge over its first part
with those who would have halted if a proposition to ille
gally separate from Virginia had been accohipanied by an
open declaration of a separation from the Union. Wil
kinson, whose engagement with Miro has been seen, was
actuated hj the same policy when he intimated, that the
independent State to which Spain would grant the navi
gation of the Mississippi " might safely be left to find its
way into the Union," at some unknown and indefinite
timfe in the future ; though he and Brown both knew, that
the condition annexed to the proposed favors of Spain was
a final separation from the Union.
When the statement of Littell's pamphlet, as to the ob
ject which John Brown sought to attain by his resolution,
is logically connected with Brown's letter to Muter, with
his promise to Gardoqui, with his mutual confidences
with Wilkinson, and with the engagement of the latter with
Miro, which he had made known to Brown, there remains
no room for doubt, that the above statement of the pur
pose of Brown's resolution is just. In Chapter VI of that
pamphlet it is stated, that when the address to the Assem
bly of Virginia was reported by John Edwards, " an
amendment was proposed, and both that and the address
were ordered to lie on the table. The reason of this was,
that some objections had been made to the substance of

230 The Spanish Conspiracy.
the address, and several members disapproved of the proceed
ings in toto." Those " several members " were James Wil
kinson, John Brown, Benjamin Sebastian, and Hary Innes,
and their followers ; and the " proceedings " of which
" they disapproved in toto," was the proposition to apply
to the Assembly of Virginia for a law to authorize the j
separation, to consent to the erection of the district into
a state, and to its reception into the Union, as provided in
such cases by the Constitution. The action of Congress
in referring the appUcation of Kentucky to the new gov
ernment the pamphlet then ascribes " to the malign influ
ence of an Eastern politician, whose talents for intrigue
have become famous throughout the. civilized world."
The pamphlet also states, that "A considerable time must
elapse before the new Federal Governnient could come
into operation, and experience had furnished them with
no cause to believe that the protection of Kentucky would
engross its earliest care. On the other hand there was
much reason to fear that bartering away the navigation of the
Mi.-isi.ssippi would be one of its first acts." There was, then,
no expectation or purpose to make an " immediate applica
tion" for admission to the Union, as stated in the "Politi
cal Beginnings." Still, under the impression, as the pam
phlet alleges, that the bartering away of the navigation
of the Mississippi would be one of the_^rsit acts ofthe new
government, it was the opinion of Wilkinson, who had
conspired with Aliro to separate Kentucky from the Union
and to subject her people to Spain; of John Brown, who
had promised Gardoqui to return home and "aid" in pro
moting that separation in order to negotiate with Spain,
and who knew Wilkinson's plans ; of Sebastian, who had
now become one of Wilkiflson's lieutenants, and -who was
afterwards proved to have been a pensioner of Spain ; and
of Hary Innes, who had written to the governor of Vir
ginia that this "Western country -wiU, in a few years.
Revolt from the Union and erect itself into an independ
ent government," who was one of the first two men in
Kentucky to whom Wilkinson had fully confided, who
had read Brown's letter to AlcDowell, and to whom Brown

The Spanish Conspiracy. 231
had, beyond peradventure, communicated the details of
his conference with Gardoqui ; — it was the opinion of this
patriotic quadrilateral, according to their owm statement
in LitteU, "that it was the duty of the convention, under
the powers delegated to them " by the recommendatory
resolution of the July convention, " to proceed to form a
constitution ; that measures should be taken to organize
the district under it ; and as soon as the affairs of the gen
eral government would permit, Kentucky should present
herself in that organized form (as an independent state)
for admission into the Union, on the conditions contained
in the compact with Virginia !" According to this state
ment, then, the object of the resolution was to immediately
separate Kentucky from Virginia, and to erect the district
at once into a state. This state would necessarily have
been outside of the Union. One of the first acts of that
Union", the pamphlet states, it was apprehended, would be
to barter away the navigation of the Mississippi. There
was no purpose, therefore, to apply at once for admission
to a Union from which this action was feared. But at
some future time, to be determined thereafter (and very
distant that time would have been had Kentucky taken
the fatal leap to which she was urged, and had her desti
nies been controlled by the men who had made such en
gagements with the Spaniard), that application might be
made. In the meantime, however, Kentucky would have
been out of the Union and free to form alliances where
she pleased.
For these reasons, and under these impressions, Littell
alleges the resolution of John Brown was offered. And
after stating other arguments advanced why this resolution
should be adopted, the author continues :
"As a further inducement to adopt this resolution, it was stated that
there was a prospect of obtaining from Spain permission to export ihe produce
of the country by the way of the Mississippi ; and in consequence of some infor
mation which General Wilkinson had given some friends on that subject, the-
general was requested from the chair to state to the convention his
opinion on this matter.''
Then Littell gives the version of Wilkinson's speech,
which it was supposed was best calculated to conceal the

232 The Spanish Conspiracy.
purposes which the reader knows Wilkinson had. His
information w-as derived from Brown and Innes, and, of
course, the intimation given by Wilkinson of the only
way in which Kentucky could obtain for herself what
Congress could not secure, was carefully suppressed ; — just
as Innes suppressed in the same publication the words
" Revolt frora the Union " in his letter to Governor Ran
dolph, as Brown suppressed his letter to Muter, as the
resolution of Wallace in the July convention was sup
pressed, and just as these three men had combined to sup
press the fact that they had signed the letter which in
duced the censure of Clark. The fact is mentioned by
Littell that Wilkinson read his memorial to the Intendant
of Louisiana, and compliraents are passed upon its ability
and style. And then coraes this reraarkable passage :
" This communication (the memorial,) brought to recollection infor
mation received by the president of the convention on the same subject
in a letter written by John Brown, while in Congress, after the applica
tion of Kentucky to that body had been defeated as hereinbefore men
tioned. A motion was then made that the president request Mr. Brown,
(who was then a member of the convention) to make such communica
tion on the subject, as he should think proper. Mr. Brown then stated in a
concise iruinner ihe substance of what he had written to Colonel McDowell. But
in doing this he merely made a naked statement of the conversation,
without recommending the adoption of any measure in consequence of
it, or suggesting a single sentiment of approbation."
It has been seen, however, that the " prospect of obtain
ing from Spain permission to export the produce of the
country by way of the Mississippi" was "a further in
ducement to adopt " Air. Brown's resolution, which was
understood to be, and was designed by its author as, a
step for the reaUzation of that prospect. The reader will
note the peculiarity of the assertion in the above extract,
that " Mr. Brown then stated in a concise manner the sub
stance of what he had written to Colonel McDowell;" — which
omitted the fact that Spain's condition, on which alone she
would grant that navigation to Kentucky, was that the
district must first withdraw from the Union. Then, observ
ing the pretense in the authorized statement made by Lit
tell, that the realization of the " prospect " held out by
Spain for obtaining that navigation was consistent with a

The Spanish Conspiracy. 233
future application for admission to the Union, he will be
able to fully appreciate the motive John Brown and Hary
Innes had for suppressing the letter w-ritten to Muter, and
for falsely stating that it gave the same account of the
proposition of Gardoqui as that given in the letter to Mc
Dowell; and in arriving at this appreciation of the de
fense thus offered, he will comprehend the characters of
the men and the nature of their cause.
If John Brown had in truth detailed to the convention
the proposition of Gardoqui as he had stated it to Mc
Dowell, leaving the convention to suppose that Spain had
[offered to grant the navigation to Kentucky as a member
]pf the Federal Union, it would have been but an additional
levidence of his duplicity and of his perfidy.
' In Chapter X of Littell appears this passage : " But in
the convention of November, 1788, Mr. Brown made a
pubUc communication of his conference with Gardoqui,
in the presence of honest simplicity, wary jealousy and
suspicious duplicity. In the hearing of confidential
friends and insinuating hypocrites, of open rivals and se
cret enemies." Aud a little further on in the same chapter
the statement is again repeated that Brown reported to
the convention his conference vfith Gardoqui. The reader
w-ill see from the letter to Muter and from Gardoqui's
official dispatch, that, in that conference, Gardoqui made a
distinct proposition to Brown to grant Kentucky the navi
gation of the Mississippi on the fundamental condition
precedent that Kentucky would erect itself into an inde
pendent state and separate from the Union; and that
Brown thanked Gardoqui for making that proposition,
promised to " aid " in promoting its acceptance, and urged
in the convention that the initial of measures necessary to
secure that navigation under that proposition should be
taken. There is no, one so simple as to believe that the men
who favored a separation from the Union in order to Obtain
that concession from Spain, contemplated the abandon
ment of the advantage it would have conferred by a sub
sequent application for admission back into the Union !
If Brown's own statement through Littell is to be be-

234 The Spanish Conspiraa/.
lieved, he stated to the convention the overture which
Gardoqui had made ; though in that presence he did not
dare to advocate it. He did not claim that he had lisped
one word in opposition to the proposition of treason which
he alleffed he had then communicated. While men were
still living who were present and had heard all that was
said, even he was ashamed to deny that the subject was
mentioned in the convention, or that he had spoken in ref
erence thereto. It seemed to him, that it would have been
less discreditable to have revealed the whole proposition
than to have resorted to the vague, equivocal and timid
course imputed to him in the letter of Colonel Marshall.
He therefore asserted that he had made a full disclosure to
the convention ; and the argument was raade for him that,
if his conduct was reprehensible, the people knew it, and
by twice thereafter electing him to Congress, had partici
pated in his guilt; and, as the people were known to have
been loyal, his election by them, established bis own loy
alty ! No claim was then made that he had communicated
the overture to Aladison, and by his advice kept it secret
from all but Muter and McDowell. From the beginning
tu the end of that pamphlet there is not an intimation
that he had made a confidant of Madison, nor that he
maintained secrecy. AU that was an afterthought. On the
contrary the misrepresentation then resorted to was that
he had made the details of the matter public, that it was
generally known, and that the people who elected him
knowing the facts had shared his guilt, and, therefore, he
was innocent !
As will be seen, the convention had already directed an
address to the Assembly of Virginia, requesting the pas
sage of a law for a legal separation agreeable ta the rec
ommendation of Congress, and had defeated the resolution
of John Brown designed for precipitate and illegal action.
But, as a last, despairing effort, on Saturday, the 8th of
the month. General Wilkinson^ in order to suspend this
address and prevent its adoption, offered a preamble recit
ing the discordant opinions which divided the people, and
a resolution that a " committee be appointed to draft an

The Spanish Conspiracy. 235
¦address to the good people of the district," " solemnly
calling on them to furnish the convention, at their next
eession, with instructions in what manner to proceed, on
the important subject to them submitted," which was that
of " independent government." The motion carried, and
WUkinson, Innes, Jouitt, Muter," Sebastian, Allen and
Caldwell were appointed as the committee.
Crockett became so alarmed at the speeches of Brown
and WUkinson, at the memorial of the latter to the In
tendant of Louisiana, and at this resolution calling upon
the people for instructions, that he left his seat in the con
vention, hurried to Lexington, obtained the signatures of
several hundred leading citizens of Fayette, remonstrating
against any separation without the previous consent of
Virginia, and with this returned to Danville by Monday,
when he presented it to the convention, in which it was
read. Wilkinson, who had pledged himself to obey in
structions, yielded to the inevitable with the best grace he
could summon to his aid. On the same day, accordingly,
he reported and read an address to Congress* praying
* WUkinson sent Miro a copy of the Lexington Gazette containing the
official report of the proceedings of the convention. In his letter to the
Intendant dated February 14, 1789, he gave the following correct ac
count of the motives for this address to Congress on the subject of the
Mississippi, over which Congress had no control, viz :
" You will observe that the memorial to Congress was presented by
me, and perhaps your first impression will be that of surprise at such a
document having issued from the pen of a good Spaniard. But, on fur
ther reflection, you wUl discover that my policy is to justify in the eye
of the world our meditated separation from the rest of the Union, and
quiet the apprehensions of some friends in the Atlantic States, the bet
ter to divide them, because, knowing how impossible it is for the United
States to obtain what we aspire to, not only did I gratify my sentiments
and inclinations, hut I also framed my memorial in such a style as was best
caleidated to excite ihe passions of our people ; and convince them that Con
gress has neither the power nor the will to enforce their claims and
pretensions. Then, having energetically and publicly represented our
rights and lucidly established our pretensions, if Congress does not sup
port them with efficiency (which you know it can not do, even if it had the
inclination), not only will all the people of Kentucky, but also the
whole world, approve of our seeldng ¦protection from another quarter.'' [Gay
arre, page 246.]

236 The Spanish Conspiracy.
that body to obtain the navigation of the Mississippi for
the district; which was adopted. He then read an ad
dress to the people,* which was referred to the committee
of the whole and was never heard of again. It was sup
pressed. The committee of the whole reported to the convention
the address of the Virginia assembly, which had been
moved by Edwards and seconded by Alarshall on the third
day of the convention, had been reported by Edwards on
the fourth day, an amendment to which was then offered
in order to postpone its consideration, and which was on
Alonday, the seventh day, finally taken up, amended and
adopted. The victory was won. The friends of Wilkin
son then offered a resolution thanking him for his memo
rial to the Intendant of Louisiana, which, as it was an
empty compliment and could affect nothing practically in
jurious, was permitted to pass, by men who were too well
content with their escape from real dangers to be severely
critical as to non-essentials. And then the convention

-* The object of the resolution asking instructions from the people
which was passed on Saturday, and added to Crockett's alarm, is thus
explained in the Littell pamphlet, viz :
" Here it was (in the ^'ovember convention) that General Wilkinson
read his treasonable memorial — and here it was that^Ir. Brown reported
his treasonable conference — and here it was (as they say in their first
number,) that General AVilkinson made a treasonable motion that they
should proceed to form a separate constitution, independent of the ac
tion of Virginia. The reader will see from the journal that Wilkinson
made no such motion, and that the motion he did make, so far from
tending to so rapid a progress, was of a retrograde tendency. The ob
ject was not to proceed to do any thing, except to impart ia the people ai
large the information ivhich had been rer-eit.vd by thot lioily, and to await
their future instructimis."
What was the information which had been received by the conven
tion, to impart which to the people at large was the object of Wilkinson's
resolutions, and upon which the future instructions of the people were dc;
sired ? It was the information given by Wilkinson and by John Brown
as to the terms upon which Spain was ready to gi-ant the navigation of
the Mississippi ! To make an incendiary appeal to the people, based
upon this information, with the hope that they would instruct to make
the plunge. The address which was drawn up by WUkinson and read,
and was then suppressed, was to that purport and was designed to that
end.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 237
adjourned to meet again in August, 1789. The peril was
over before it was fully comprehended. The turning
point was the adoption of the resolution moved by Ed
wards and seconded by Marshall, that a decent and respect
ful address should be sent to the Virginia assembly for an
act of separation agreeable to the recommendations of
Congress.* * Captain John Jouitt was the man who gave the Virginia Assembly
timely notice of the approach of Tarleton, and thus saved it from cap
ture at Charlottesville. A handsome sword was voted to him in 1781
for this service ; but the order of the Assembly not having been prop
erly carried out, the Assembly of 1786, of which Jouitt was a member,
agaia voted the sword, which was then delivered. He was the father
of Captain John Jouitt, U. S. A., and of Matthew Jouitt, Kentucky's
most gifted artist.

238 The Spanish Conspiracy.

CHAPTER XV.
The November Convention — A Call on John Brown — First Informa
tion Given to Washington — First Publication in Reference to
John Brown's Conduct ]Made at the Request op Washington-
Colonel Marshall's Letter to Washington — Crockett, Muter
and Sebastian Confirm ^Marshall — Colonel Brown Admits the
Conduct Imputed to Brown was Treasonable — Denies that Beowm
Spoke as Represented by Humphrey Marshall — Contradicts not
ONLY Colonel ^Marshall, jMuter, Crockett, and Sebastian, but
Contradicts also John Brown Himself — Colonel Brown's Sup
pressions, Perversions, and Inaccuracies.
In Deceraber, 1788, a call was made upon John Brown,
in the columns of the Lexington Gazette, to communicate
to the people the information which he had Avritten in his
various letters, which were far from having been kept as
secret as his grandson would have one believe. The call
evidently came from Wilkinson, or from some member of
his coterie, and was designed to have the same effect as
was intended by Wilkinson's address to the people, which
had been suppressed. But the lesson taught the prudent
Brown in the convention had rendered him even more
circumspect than he was in that body.
Some of the members -w^ho were sent to the Virginia
House of Delegates from Kentucky (to the session of
1788-9) were anxious that Washington should be informed
of the movements in the district. Their wishes and ap
prehensions were communicated by them to Dr. David
Stuart, one of the delegates from Fairfax county. * From
Dr. Stuart, General Washington received his first infor-
* Dr. Stuart had married the -widow of .John Parke Custis — daughter
of Benedict Calvert and a lineal descendant of the Lords Baltimore.
Her first husband was Washington's step-son, and two of their children,
George Washington Parke Custis (father of the wife of General R. E.
Lee) and Nellie Custis who married Lawrence Lewis, were adopted by

The Spanish Conspiracy. 239
mation * concerning the Spanish movements in Kentucky ;
and at his request Dr. Stuart published in the Alexandria
Gazette, of January 22, 1789, an article from which the
following is an extract, viz :
" By information received from Kentucky, we learn, that many of the
principal people of that district are warmly in favor of a separation
from the Union, and contend that it is injurious to the interest of that
country, to be connected with the Atlantic States. This idea, pregnant
with so much mischief to America, is said to be much cherished by in
telligence carried there hy Mr. Brown, member of Congress, to this effect:
That he had the strongest assurance from ihe Spanish Ambassador, that on .such
a declaration, Spain would cede to them the navigation of the Mississippi and
give them every support."
The article proceeded to urge that measures should be
taken to check this movement.f

the general. Those relations, and his own high character, made Dr.
Stuart an intimate and highly valued friend of Washington, as appears
in their correspondence. Washington testified this regard in his wiU.
* In Washington's reply to the letter of Colonel Thomas Marshall, of
February 2, 1789, — the letter of Washington bearing date of March 27,
1789 — he stated : " If I was greatly alarmed at the nature of the trans
actions mentioned in it, I was not less obliged to you for communicating
so clear an account of them. It is true, I had previously received some
verbal and written information on tlie subject of a similar tenor, but none
which placed the aflair in such an alarming point of view, as that in
which I now behold it.'' This referred to the statement made to him
hy Dr. Stuart.
tTo a friend in Shelby county, Ky., Dr. Stuart wrote, under date of
Fairfax county, September 30, 1806, a letter from which an extract was
published in the Lexington Gazette, of December 1, 1806, as follows, viz:
"T believe, however, I gave General Washington the first informa
tion of the fears entertained by many in Kentucky of attempts carry
ing on to separate tha.t country from this. I received my information
from the delegates'in the last assembly in which I served. At this dis
tance of time it is not in my power to name them particularly. I re-
coUect well Colonel Edwards, who has since, I think, been in Congress,
was one of my informants. It was the wish of all that I should com
municate their apprehensions to the general, in hopes, that on his elec
tion to the Presidency, he would adopt some measures to defeat those
attempts. This was a little previous to the first election. He expressed
much regret, and immediately, I have no doubt, addressed himself to
Colonel Marshall, for more particular information. [There is no evi
dence that this was the case.— T. M. G.] At his request, I inserted a short
paragraph in the Alexandria papers, containing the information I had
communicated. I have no copy of this paragraph, nor can it be pro-

240 The Spanish Conspiracy.
Three months after the scenes narrated in the preceding
chapter, and in which he was an active and infiuential
participant, bad occurred; and while the details were stiU ^
fresh in his memory,— on tbe 12tli February, 1789, ,
Colonel Thoraas Alarshall wrote to General AVashington
an account of John Brown's letter to Muter; of what
Brown had said in the convention in response to the caU
on hira for information ; of his own conclusions from that
letter and from the language used by John Brown in the
convention; of General Wilkinsons trading privilege
with New Orleans, and of the memorial which General
Wilkinson had read in the convention ; and of the visit
of Dr. John Connolly to himself and Aluter and of all the
details of their conversation. It is true, as stated by
Colonel John Mason Brown (who, for a purpose which
will hereafter appear, carefully suppressed what Colonel
MarshaU had written"), that the accuracy of Colonel Mar
shall's recoUection was not subjected to the test of a cross-
examination ; but it was much more apt to have been cor
rect concerning events which had so recently transpired,
than were the recollections given twenty-four years after
by the witnesses who were subjected to that test in the
suit of Innes v. Marshall. And it is a notable circum
stance, that not one of the witnesses whose testimony
Colonel Brown cites in the slightest particular contra
dicted the statements made in the letter of Colonel Mar
shall to Washington. The statement made in the LitteU
pamphlet, that the account given in that letter of Wil
kinson's raeraorial " was as unfavorable to Wilkinson as
the truth ofthe case would permit," is itself an admission that
the account was true; while in his testimony in 1806, be
fore the legislative committee charged with the investiga
tion of .the accusation that Benjamin Sebastian was a
Spanish pensioner. Judge Thoraas Todd, one of the men
cured. It was, however, but short, merely expressive of the fears en
tertained, without, I believe, designating any characters ; at farthest
but few. I recollect at different times, during the first term of his Pres
idency, to have heard him express great uneasiness respecting the
opinions too generally entertained in that country."

The Spanish Conspiracy. 241
who paid for the writing and printing of that pamphlet,
vouched for its accuracy under oath.* Of the account
given in that letter ofthe contents of John Brown's letter
to 'Muter, the Littell pamphlet simply says that Colonel
Marshall's account was as " unfavorable as possible," and
then impliedly contradicts it by representing the Muter
letter to have been the same as the letter to McDowell,
which was not true. The reader will compare the pass
age in John Brown's letter to Muter relating to the pro
position of Gardoqui, with the description of its contents by
Colonel Marshall ; and will see that the latter's description
is not an exaggeration of those contents, and that a different
representation could not have been made without a sacri
fice of the truth. The Littell pamphlet makes no allusion
'whatever to Colonel Marshall's statement of what John
Brown said in the convention, in response to the call
on him for information in regard to the proposition made
to him by Gardoqui ; but, to repel the argument made in
I the Western World that the secrecy he maintained in re-
-*In that investigation Judge Todd was asked the following questions
and gave the following replies, viz.:
" Question : Was you not clerk of the Kentucky convention in the
year 1788 ?
Answer : I was.
Question: Did not General Wilkinson produce a lengthy memorial
and read the same in that convention, and then state that he had be
fore that time presented to the Governor or Intendant at New Orleans
a copy thereof?
Answer : He did.
Question : Was that paper deposited and left with you as clerk, as
other papers produced in like manner generally are?
Answer : It was not. . . .
Question : Do you recollect the substance or object of the memorial
read by General Wilkinson ?
Answer : I do not ; but upon reading the letters published in the
newspapers, as having passed between Colonel Marshall and General
Washington, it appears to me to be tolerably accurately stated in
Colonel Marshall's letter."
Colonel Brown, in quoting this matter from Todd's deposition, sup
presses all but the last question and answer, so as to conceal from his
readers, so far as possible, that the memorial was read in ihe convention of
November, 1788.
16

242 The Spanish Conspiracy.
gard to the overture of Gardoqui was an evidence of con
scious guilt, John Brown asserted through Littell that he
had disclosed that overture in the convention. The ques
tion, then, is, whether John Brown in that convention sim
ply informed his auditors that, while he did not feel at
liberty to mention what had occurred in the private con- ;
ferences between Don Gardoqui and himself, yet he could i
assure them that, provided they acted with unanimity, ¦
every thing they desired was within their reach, as stated i
by Colonel Alarshall ? or, whether he told them plainly \
what Don Gardoqui had proposed, as asserted by John
Brown himself in Littell?
One of those statements must be true and the other
false. If Colonel Alarshall's statement was not true, then
he was a deliberate falsifier; for, if John Brown had made!
a disclosure of the conference between Gardoqui and him
self to the convention. Colonel Marshall could not possibly ,
have understood him as he reported him. And it would
have been a falsification without a motive for the decep
tion ; — ^because John Brown's own statement makes a worse
case against him than does that of Colonel Alarshall. But,
if the statement of John Brown that he had made the dis
closure publicly to the Danville convention had been true,
what then must be thought of the conduct of James
Brown, who, in that case, was unquestionably aware of
the fact and of the nature of the overture made by Gar
doqui, in positively denying that any such proposition had
ever been made to his brother, and in vilUfying James M.
Alarshall for mentioning and describing the contents of
the letter of John Brown to Muter ? In that case, James
Brown stands convicted of vehemently denying that his
brother had written in a letter what he knew he had
uttered in a public speech in the presence of witnesses!
On the other hand, if Colonel Marshall's statement in
the letter to Washington was true, then that of John
Brown in the Littell pamphlet was deliberately false.
The reader has seen what other suppressions and falsifica
tions John Brown was guilty of in that pamphlet. He
has also seen that the other, statements of Colonel Mar-

The Spanish Conspiracy. 243
fihall's letter were fully corroborated. As to this, Benja
min Sebastian, in his deposition in the suit of Innes v.
Marshall, was asked : " Do you recollect that, in the Ken
tucky convention of 1788, John Brown, then a member of
Congress, was called on to give information of what had
been communicated from Gardoqui, the Spanish minister,
to him on the subject of the Mississippi, aud if you recol
lect the information then given by John Brown, detail it?"
To which Sebastian answered : " This deponent recollects
that John Brown was called on to give information to the
convention respecting some communication made to him
by Gardoqui ; but as far as my memory serves me, the in
formation was made in such ambiguous terms that nothing
could certainly be collected from it. Great advantages, it
was said, would result to Kentucky by the adoption of
some plan ; but whether it was a commercial one or of
some other nature, this deponent does not now recollect."
A very convenient memory, to be sure, but, as far as it
goes, this confirms Colonel Marshall as to the ambiguity
of Brown's answer, and contradicts Brown as to its direct
ness. Colonel Joseph Crockfittj in his deposition in the
same case, said that " John Brown made a short speech in
said convention, which was about this : ' That he had it
from the highest authority, that if we would separate from
Virginia, every thing we could wish for was within our
power to reach !' " On being asked what authority John
Brown alluded to, or what authority he understood him to
illude to, Crockett responded : " I do not recollect that he
lamed any particular authority, but my impression was, and
s, that it was Spanish authority that he alluded to in said com-
nunication." To the interrogatory of Innes, whether or not
John Brown was " requested to give the convention infor
mation which he possessed relative to the navigation of
the Mississippi before he made the speech hereinbefore
stated by you,'' * Colonel Crockett answered affirmatively.
* It wUl be observed that the request was made at the suggestion of
Wilkinson, and was a part of the plan which had been prearranged.
Wilkinson did not need the information, but desired Brown to confirm
the hint he had himself given out, which Brown did, though ambigu
ously.

244 The Spanish Conspiracy.
To the further question: "Did he say any thing more than
merely to state the fact as detailed by you in your an
swer to the third interrogatory of the defendant?" The
witness responded: " I answer, that, what I stated in my
answer to the third interrogatory of the defendant was
the substance of and all thext was said by John Broicn in the
convention — perhaps he might have used more words."
The very interrogatories of the plaintiff, Innes, imply an
admission of the substantial accuracy- of the recollection
of the witness. The questions and the answers equally
and fully confirm the statement of Colonel Alarshall, and
contradict that of John Brown as made by Littell. This
deposition, given on the 29th of January, 1813, twenty-
four years after the occurrence described, clearly shows
that, notwithstanding the ambiguity of Brown's state
ment, he was understood by the witness, as he was equally
-well understood by others who heard him, to intimate to
the convention that he knew from Gardoqui's own Ups,
that the Spaniard was ready to grant to Kentucky the
navigation of the Alississippi, on condition that the dis
trict would declare its independence and assume sover
eignty ; and that this meant a separation from the Union
as well as from Virginia is shown by the letters of Wil
kinson to Aliro, and by that of John Brown to Muter.*
-* In the change of front made by many good and true men during the
administration of John Adams, Colonel Crockett was one of those who
left the Federal and united with the Republican party under JefFereon.
He was appointed United States Marshal in place of Samuel McDowell,
Jr., who attributed his removal to the misrepresentations and influence
of "the Browns," who had become intensely hostile to all the Mc
Dowell family, as they were also to ^Muter. Colonel Crockett was
friendly with Innes, who was judge of the court of which Crockett was
marshal, and also with John Brown. He shielded them all he could,
and in his testimony went to the utmost limit in their behalf to which
he could go without sacrificing truth. He stated that John Brown did
not within his hearing, either in the convention or in conversation out
side of it, advocate or urge a dismemberment of the Union, which was
true, as, according to his own statement, all that Brown said was the
ambiguous answer Crockett had already attributed to him. The mem
ory of Crockett was somewhat at fault in several particulars. He evi
dently did not, when he testified, perceive the drift of Brown's resolu
tion, which he attributed to Colonel MarshaU. He also attributed the

The Spanish Conspiracy. 245
But there is not wanting other evidence to sustain this
sworn testimony. In the letter of Judge Muter, by which
|he accompanied the publication of the letter of John
Brown to him, dated August 20, 1806, and published in
jthe Western World, he stated : "As to the information or
issurance given by Mr. Brown, [in the November conven-
¦ ion — T. Al. G.], I can not at this distance of time recollect
)articularly ; my impressions are, that he assured the con
tention that all they asked with respect to the navigation of the
ilississippi was in their power to obtain." * The reader can

address to the Assembly of Virginia to Wilkinson and Brown. The for
mer was on the committee, the latter was not. They were both opposed
to it in toto, but, after Crockett had obtained the remonstrance from
Fayette, they amended it by lugging in the question of the navigation
of the Mississippi, and, in that form, assented to it in the committee of
the whole, after having done all in their power to defeat it. What
Colonel Crockett thought of their proceedings at the time is seen from
the energy and expedition with which he obtained signatures to the re
monstrance against those proceedings. The nature and tone of the
discussions in the November convention is also plainly discerned in the
statement of Colonel Crockett in his letter to A. K. MarshaU, in 1806 :
"I was in the convention of 1788 with Colonel Marshall, and knew he
was opposed to a violent separation from the United States, and took on that
subject most decided grounds," AVhy should Colonel Marshall have taken
most decided grounds in the convention in opposition to a separation
from the United States, if nothing was said or done in that convention
to warrant the conviction that there was in that convention a party
which was endeavoring to accomplish that separation?
The friendship which existed between this gallant man and Colonel
Marshall was ended by the death of the latter in 1803, but it was con
tinued between Colonel Crockett and Colonel Marshall's descendants.
Among those who have a just satisfaction that this heroic soldier and
true patriot was their ancestor are General S. W Price ; Prof. James
Taylor, of Bloomington, IU.; Colonel Joseph C. MitcheU, of Chariton,
Iowa; George Shanklin, of Lexington, Ky.; Melancthon Young and
Mrs. Chas. Mann, of Nicholasville ; Dr. John McCalla, Washington, D.
C; Mrs. Anna Letcher, Nicholasville ; Hon. Wm. Woodson, Lexington,
Mo.; and Colonel Bennett H. Young, of LouisvUle.
*In the midst of all the reprehension which the character and con
duct of Muter subsequent to 1788 unavoidably excite, one who remem
bers his real patriotism in time of need can not help feeling for him
much commiseration. He had been a Colonel of Infantry in the State
Line (not the commander of a ship, as stated in Collins), but was not
at aU distinguished. For a time he was commissioner of the Virginia
war office, but an investigation of its affairs and of his management by

246 The Spanish Conspiracy.
form his own estimate, as to how far the testimony of Se
bastian and Crockett and the statement of Muter confirm

a legislative committee induced a report from its chairman, John Page,
that it was in miserable condition, that JMuter was not qualified for the
position, and recommending his immediate dismissal. This was about
to be done, when Muter resigned, March 21, 1781. [Virginia State Pa
pers, Vol. I, page 587]. He came to Kentucky in 1783, and in 1785 was
elected judge of the district court. Part of his career in Kentucky has
been already stated in these pages. The letter he published in 1790
accompanying that of John Brown was dictated by his desire to show,
that he had consented to the publication of the extract from Brown's
letter, not by a becoming sense of what was due to truth, which had
been falsified, but by a desire to prevent a duel. He continued friendly
with Colonel Marshall. But when the district became a state in 1792,
Innes, who was already judge of the federal court, was appointed chief
justice of the court of appeals ; while jMuter, who had been chief jus
tice of the district court, was reduced to be judge only of Oyer and Ter
miner, with a salary which remained unfixed. It was generally under
stood that this was the penalty for having published John Brown's letter.
Innes preferred the federal office, and then Muter was appointed to fill
the vacancy. The implied contract under which this appointment was
given and accepted, may be presumed from the fact that, after that day.
Muter never crossed Colonel Marshall's threshold. In later years, he
united with Sebastian in a decision, in the case in which Kenton and Mc-
Connell were the parties, which would have vitiated nine-tenths of all
the land titles in the state. Both branches of the legislature passed
resolutions declaring the decision to have been corrupt, and to remove
the two judges ; but the movement failed for a want of a two-thirds
majority in both branches, and the judges clung to their places. Shrink
ing under the popular indignation and fearing that in the next Assem
bly the requisite majority would be obtained, winter then turned around
and united with Wallace in a reversal of his own decision. There was
great anxiety to be rid of him, but he clung to his office until he man
aged to negotiate a bargain with the legislature for a pension of 1300 per
annum conditioned upon his resignation. In the next Assembly an
effort was made to repeal the law granting the pension, but it was
vetoed by the governor. The succeeding legislature, however, abolished
it. He then became a pensioner on the bounty of Judge Thomas Todd,
who was his successor. It was in the midst of these troubles, feeling
that his means of subsistence were dependent on the will of those men,
that Muter equivocated by publishing a letter referring to WUkinson's
memorial as of a commercial nature, and protesting that " there was
nothing in John Brown's letters, information or assurance which im
pressed me with a belief that Mr. Brown intended to unite this country
with Spain, or that his communications related to any thing other than
of a commercial nature." How the poor old man had been really im
pressed by John Brown's letter may be read in his address of October

The Spanish Conspiracy. 247
Colonel Marshall's account of what John Brown said in
the convention, and justify the conclusion he drew there
from. They certainly disprove the statement made by
John Brown through Littell, as to the nature of his utter
ances. When the depositions in the suit of Innes v. Marshall
were taken, twenty-four years had passed, the times were
changed, no public danger threatened, men who had for
merly clashed had been reconciled, there was a general
disposition to throw the mantle of oblivion over the past,
men were reluctant to give testimony which, refiected
upon others high in official station, and it was most diffi
cult to elicit the facts. If any way was opened for an
evasion they generally availed themselves thereof. Sam
uel McDowell was asked : " Have you any knowledge of
a proposition being made at any time by any member of
the convention to separate absolutely and unconditionally
from the United States, and to form a connection with
any other government ?" As no proposition in these terms
had been made, McDowell, of course, replied, that he had
" no knowledge or recollection of such a proposition ever
having been made by any one." In reply to another ques
tion, he said that he had never heard Brown nor Innes
" express a wish to sever the Union, or to have any con
nection with Spain except to trade to ITew Orleans." They
had, then, expressed a wish for such a connection with
Spain as would enable them to trade to New Orleans, and
both knew that the privilege of that trade could only be
had by a separation from the Union, though, it would
seem, John Brown had concealed that fact from McDowell,
and led him to believe that it could be obtained by Ken-
/ tucky as a member ofthe Union.
Caleb WaUace was also asked : " In that meeting held
in July, 1788, by the said members, was there any motion
or proposition made by any member of that body to sepa-

15, 1788. It may be further seen in his letter published in 1790, in
which he refers to his apprehensions and sense of duty when the
"business of a total separation was up for consideration," which could
only have meant a separation from the Union as weU as from Virginia.

248 The Spanish Conspiracy.
rate the district of Kentucky from the United States of
America, establish an independent government, and form
a connection with the government of Spain or any other
power?" And WaUace, who had himself advocated the
immediate framing of a constitution, the organization of
the district into an independent and sovereign state, and a
separation from Virginia without the sanction of law, the
effect of which would have been to have detached Ken
tucky from the United States, and the object of which is
explained by Wilkinson's engagement with and letters to
Miro, and by the overture of Gardoqui to John Brown,
of both of which Wallace had then been informed ; — Wal
lace, who, in this same deposition, concealed the fact that
he had himself either offered or seconded, and had advo
cated a resolution to immediately frame a constitution
and had urged an immediate separation from Virginia,
and who paid for, published and circulated Littell's state
ment that such a " motion -was never made ; " — the ingenu
ous and candid Wallace — this " Israelite, indeed, in whom
there was no guile;" — Wallace replied that he did not
recollect that such a proposition as that indicated in the
interrogatory had been made by any one in the July con
vention ! Asked the same question of the ISTovember con
vention, of the proceedings of -n^hich he was a spectator,
he made substantially the same answer thereto. ISTo reso
lution or motion in those terms having been offered in
either convention, the answer can not be said to have been
untrue. Greenup was asked: "Did you in July, 1788, hear a
motion made and advocated by either James Wilkinson,
Caleb WaUace, Benjamin Sebastian, or the plaintiff
(Innes) to separate the then district of Kentucky from the
State of Virginia and the United States, and form a con
nection with the Spanish government ? " And, of course,
he answered that he had not heard such a proposition
from any person ; for, in fact, no motion in those terms
had been made. Asked substantially the same question
concerning the November convention, Greenup made the
same reply ; qualifying it, however, by a reference to the

The Spanish Conspiracy. 249
resolution of Wallace, or AVUkinson, which he made the
mistake of saying had been offered at the November con
vention. To substantially the same question Isaac Shelby re
sponded : " In no convention of which I was a member,
did I ever hear a motion or proposition made by any mem
ber, to separate Kentucky from the United States, and
form a connection with Spain," and that " he never did hear,
nor was he ever informed that any member of any con
vention had made or advocated a proposition to separate
Kentucky from the Union, to establish it into a separate
government, and form a connection with any foreign power ; "
and that he had never heard John Brown " express a sen
tence to him that he understood as having any desire to
attach this country to Spain."
The identity of the questions and of the answers in
these several examinations reveals the objects of the in
terrogatories, which was to mislead. The answers tell
what was not done; they are silent as to what did take place.
It has not been charged that a motion or proposition em
bracing the terms indicated in the interrogatories had been
made or advocated by any one in any convention. The
charge was, that the movement to separate Kentucky from
Virginia illegally, and to frame a constitution, and organize
government, and declare independence without a law for
the purpose, was designed by the leaders who advocated
it as the first step in the programme which had in view
the separation of Kentucky from the Union and an alli
ance with Spain, as had been distinctly agreed upon be
tween Wilkinson and Miro, and as was as distinctly out
lined in Brown's conference with Gardoqui and in his
letter to Muter. The questions were framed so that the
replies might not meet the issue that was presented. Not
one of those witnesses, nor any other, was asked a question
or gave an answer which directly or by implication im
peached the accuracy of Colonel Marshall's statement
concerning what. Brown had said in the convention, or
was inconsistent therewith. So far as their testimony
bears upon the subject at all, it contradicts that of Brown

250 The Spanish Conspiracy.
as made by Littell, and leaves that of Marshall undis
puted. *
* The following is the full text of the letter of Colonel Marshall to
which reference has been made : Fayette County, 12ih February, 1789.
Dear Gener.4.l :
The nature of the subject upon which I do myself the honor to ad
dress you, will I hope be admitted as an excuse for the trouble you will
have in reading this letter. The political situation of this western
country appears to me to be some thing critical, and therefore I have
undertaken, though reluctantly, to give you a state of facts preceding
our present situation, so far as they have fallen within my knowledge.
In the spring, 1787, General Wilkinson went to New Orleans with a
cargo of tobacco, etc., and was requested by the governor of that place
to give his sentiments freely, in writing, respecting the political interest
of Spain and the Americans of the United States inhabiting the western
waters. This he did in an essay, as he calls it, contained in about 15 or
20 sheets of paper. I saw the governor's letter to him acknowledging
the receipt of it, and informing him that he would lay it before the king
of Spain ; a copy of this essay he produced and read in our late conven
tion held for the district ; and as well as my memory (which I acknowl
edge is not very accurate) serves me, the substance of it is as follows:
He urges our natural right of following the current of the rivers flowing
through our country into the sea. He states the extent of our country,
the richness of our soil, abounding in choice productions proper for for
eign markets, to which we have no means of conveying them, should the
Mississippi be shut up against us. He states the advantages Spain might
derive from allowing us the free use of that river. He goes on to show
the rapid population of this country, and the eagerness with which
every individual looks forward to that navigation. He states the gen
eral abhorrence with which the people of the western waters received
the intelligence that Congress was about to sacrifice their dearest interest
by ceding to Spain the navigation of the Mississippi for twenty or thirty
years, and represents it as a fact that they are on the point of separating
themselves totally from the Union on that account.
He addresses himself to their fears by a pompous display of our
force, and urges that should Spain be so blind to her true interest as to
refuse us an amicable participation in the navigation of that river, and
thereby force us into violent measures, " Great Britain stands with her
arms expanded ready to receive us," and assist our efforts for the ac
complishment of that object, and quotes a conversation he had a few
years ago with a member of the British Parliament to that effect. He
states the facility with which their province of Louisiana might be in
vaded by the united forces of the British and Americans, by means of
the river lUinois, and the practicabUity of proceeding from thence to
their province of New Mexico, it not being more than twenty days.

I'he Spanish Conspiracy. 251
The statement of Brown's answer in the convention to

Britain, he says, will in that caSe aim at the possession of Louisiana and
New Orleans for herself, and leave the freedom of the navigation to
America ; and urges pretty forcibly the great danger the Spanish inter
est in North America would be in from the British power, should that
nation possess herself of the mouth of the Mississippi, and thereby hold
the two grand portals of North America, — that river 'and the St. Law
rence ; and concludes with an apology for the freedom with which he
has treated the subject, and adds, that it has at their own particular re
quest been drawn from a man " whose head may err, but whose heart
can not deceive."
I This essay has, I am told, been laid before the Court of Madrid ;
and as a violent separation from the United States seems to be laid
down as the ground work upon which every other consequence de
pends, I think it probably has- produced instructions from that Court to
the Spanish resident at Congress, that if the Western country should
declare itself separate from the Union, to avail himself of that event.
I found this conjecture upon Mr. Brown's confidential letters from Con
fess to his friends in this district; some of those letters I have seen.
He mentions that in a private conversation, which he had with Don
jardoqui, he was informed that so long as this country remained a part
of the Union, .we had nothing to expect from Spain, but were we to
I leclare ourselves separate from, and independent of, the United States,
. le was authorized to treat with us respecting commerce and the naviga-
ion of the Mississippi.
Mr. Brown, having returned from Congress, was called upon in Con-
- ention in November last, to give such information respecting our
ffairs in Congress as might be proper for us to know. He told us that
le did not think himself at liberty to mention what passed in private
;onversation between himself and Don Gardoqui respecting us; but
diis much he would venture to inform us, that provided we were united
n our councils, every thing we could wish for Was within our reach ;—
eaning, as it appeared fully to me, that if we would assume govern-
ent and declare separate from the Union, Spain would give us every
ndulgence we could ask for.
About this time arrived from Canada the famous Doctor (now Col-
inel) ConoUy ; his ostensible business was to inquire after, and re-pos
sess himself of, some lands he formerly held at the Falls of Ohio ; but I
believe his real business was to sound the disposition of the leading
men of this district respecting this Spanish business. He knew that
both Colonel Muter and myself had given it all the opposition in con
vention we were able to do, and before he left the district, paid us a
visit, though neither of us had the honor of the least acquaintance with
him. He was introduced by Colonel John Campbell, formerly a prisoner
taken by the Indians, and confined in Canada, who previously informed
us of the proposition he was about to make. He (Conolly) presently

252 The Spanish Conspiracy.
the call made on him for information, made by Colonel
Marshall to Washington is here repeated :
" He told us that he did not think himself at liberty to mention what
passed in private conversation between himself and Don Gardoqui
respecting us ; but this much he would venture to inform us, that, pro
vided we were united in our councils, every thing we could wish for
was within our reach."
In the first edition of his History of Kentucky, pub
lished in 1812, and in the second edition pubUshed in 1824,
entered upon his subject, urged the great importance the navigation of
the Mississippi must be of to the inhabitants of the Western waters,
shewed the absolute necessity of our possessing it, and concluded with
assurances that were we disposed to assert our right respecting that
navigation, Lord Dorchester was cordially disposed to give us powerful
assistance, that his Lordship had (I think he said) four thousand British
troops in Canada beside t-n o regiments at Detroit, and could furnish us
with arms, ammunition, clothing and money ; that, with this assistance,
we might possess ourselves of New Orleans, fortify the Balize at the
mouth of the river, and keep possession in spite of the utmost efforts of
Spain to the contrary. He made very confident professions of Lord
Dorchester's wishes to cultivate the most friendly intercourse with the
people of this country, and of his own desire to become serviceable to
us, and with so much seeming sincerity, that had I not before been ac
quainted with his character as a man of intrigue and artful address, I
should in all probability have given him my confidence.
I told him that the minds of the people of this country were so
strongly prejudiced against the British, not only from circumstances
attending the late war, but from a persuasion that the Indians were at
this time stimulated by them against us, and that so long as those sav
ages continued to commit such horrid cruelties on our defenseless fron
tiers, and were received as friends and allies by the British at Detroit,
it would be impossible for them to be convinced of the sincerity of Lord
Dorchester's offers, let his professions be ever so strong ; and that, if his
Lordship would have us believe him really disposed to be our friend, he
must begin by shewing his disapprobation of the ravages of the Indians.
He admitted of the justice of my observation, and said he had urged
the same to his Lordship before he left Canada. He denied that the
Indians are stimulated against us by the British, and says Lord Dor
chester observed that the Indians are free and independent nations, and
have a right to make peace or war as they think fit, and that he could
not with propriety interfere. He promised, however, on his return to
Canada to repeat his arguments to his Lordship on the subject, and
hopes, he says, to succeed. At taking his leave he begged very politely
the favor of our correspondence ; we both promised him, provided he
would begin it, and devise a means of carrying it on. He did not teU
me that he was authorized by Lord Dorchester to make us these offers
in his name, nor did I ask him ; but General Scott informs me that he

The Spanish Conspiracy. 253
I Humphrey Marshall, in giving an account of John Brown's
performance in the convention, published, with quotation
marks, the following version, viz :
" That he did not think himself at liberty to disclose what had passed
in private conferences between the Spanish minister, Mr. Gardoqui, and
Ihimself ; but this much in general he would venture to inform the Con-
Ition — that provided we are unanimous every thing we could wish for is
Voithin our reach."
Humphrey Marshall did not think it necessary to name
his authority for this quotation, because the letter of Col
onel Thomas Marshall had recently been published and
widely commented upon, and nearly every well informed
reader at the time knew that he repeated the account
given by Colonel Marshall, which had remained unchal
lenged. Butler, in quoting from Humphrey Marshall's
History, knew that he had obtained it from Colonel Thomas
Marshall, and he accepted it as the true account, while he
rejected that given by John Brown himself in Littell as
false. The versions of the two Marshalls are identical in
sense, and are almost identical in words ; the one using
the word " mention " where the other says " disclose ; "
the one using the word " conversation," while the other
employs that of "conference; " the one saying " united in
council," and the other " unanimous ; " — in every case the
words employed meaning precisely the same thing, with
out the difference of a shade in their signification. It is
evident that if injustice was done to John Brown, it was
by Colonel Marshall, and not by the historian, who simply
repeated what he had a right to believe, and what he had
obtained from the published statement of one who had

told him that his Lordship had authorized him to use his name in this
business. It appears plain to me that the offers of Lord Dorchester, as well as
those of Spain, are founded on a supposition that it is a fact that we are
about to separate from the Union ; else, why are those offers not made
to Congress ? We shaU, I fear, never be safe from the machinations of
our enemies, as well internal as external, untU we have a separate state,
and are admitted into the Union as a federal member. I have the honor
to be, with the most respectful esteem and regard, your most obedient
and very humble servant, „ ,,
T. Marshall.
T. Marshall to General Washington.

254 The Spanish Conspiracy.
been present, a man of inteUigence and vigorous mind,
whose veracity had never been assailed.
Colonel John Mason Brown casually alludes to the pri
vate letter of Colonel MarshaU, of the 12th of February,
1789, addressed to General Washington, apparently for
the sole purpose of saying that it was published after his
death, " when it was too late to test the accuracy of the
words used or try his judgment ofthe facts by cross-ex
amination." In that connection he states that nothing
warranting the "alleged quotation" used by Huraphrey
Marshall, was ever published by Colonel MarshaU or upon
his authority. Characteristically Colonel Brown omitted
to state, that the private letter published after Colonel
Marshall's death was identical in sense and nearly identical
in words with what he terms an " alleged quotation," and
was the historian's ample authority ; then, as characterist
ically, he suppressed what Colonel Marshall had written.
His statement that not a few of the delegates to the con
vention of November, 1788, were called to the witness
stand and " under the sanction of their oaths, repelled the
charge which the ' quotation ' insinuated," is so far from
being true, that Sebastian and Crockett, the only witnesses
who were asked a question or testified one word concern
ing what Brown had said in answer to the call on him for
information, confirmed that charge, which was not " insin
uated," but was broadly and boldly stated in connection
with that " quotation."
Colonel Brown gives a list of men who were not called,
in that suit, to verify the charge that Brown had used the
language imputed to him. As Brown was not a party to
that suit, and as the truth of Marshall's charges against
Innes was alone involved therein, it is unimportant that
these men were not made witnesses concerning Brown's
utterances. What is significant, however, is, that Colonel
Brown not only fails to give a single question asked by Innes
discrediting the " quotation " made to the disparagement of
his friend, but does not give a single answer which even tends
to dispute the accuracy of that " quotation." Alleging that,
out of all the depositions taken in that suit, not one " sus-

The Spanish Conspiracy. 255
tains the alleged quotation, or warrants any inference like
it," and mentioning that of Sebastian, he suppresses what
Sebastian said. And he not only carefully suppresses the
statement of Crockett, which fully sustains that written
by Colonel Marshall and " quoted " by the historian, but
suppresses also the question propounded by Innes, which
impliedly admitted the accuracy of Crockett's recollec
tion. He suppresses the fact that the " alleged quota
tion " was but a reproduction of what Colonel Marshall
had communicated to Washington. " The PoUtical Be
ginnings" details at length what Shelby, Wallace and
others did not recollect to have heard. But, while naming
John Allen, of Bourbon, as one of the witnesses in that
case, and boldly asserting that not one of those witnesses
had uttered a word to warrant the charge made by Hum
phrey Marshall against J ohn Brown, the talented author
of the book in question was extremely careful to omit
what John Allen had said. It might have disarranged
his argument somewhat, if he had informed his readers,
that Judge Allen had deposed, that, in the November con
vention of 1788, there was " a strong party in favor of
declaring Kentucky independent, and of organizing a gov
ernment, without applying to the Legislature of Virginia
or to Congress for their previous consent. Mr. John Brown
was a member of that convention and advocated that .
measure. Colonel Hary Innes was also an advocate of
that measure." The author of the " Beginnings " felt that,
after having thus mentioned Allen as one of the witnesses,
and having assured the confiding public, that no witness
had uttered a word to sustain Humphrey Marshall's
charges, he could scarcely afford to let them know, that
Allen had sworn, that, in the November convention, " there
were two distinct parties ; the object of one was to en
deavor to get a law passed from the State of Virginia per
mitting Kentucky to be separated from her, to become a
new State, to form her own constitution, and to be ad
mitted into the General Government, and be upon an
equal footing with the other States of the Union. The
other party was for separating from Virginia, and to form

256 The Spanish Conspiracy.
a government independent of her and of the General Govern
ment, and to form connections ivhere they should find it most
beneficial to her interest." Innes, Judge Allen testified, was
an active member, and he considered him as advocating
the course of the latter party as he had stated. The other
leaders of the party, which was in favor of separating from
A'irginia without a law for the purpose, he said, were
" General James AVilkinson, who was considered as among
the first. Air. John Brown, Mr. Caleb Wallace, Benjamin
Sebastian and some others not recollected." He did not
remember whether Adams, of Madison, was in the July
or in the Noveraber convention, but he did know that he
was an advocate of the measure. Nor did he remember
whether Caleb AVaUace was in the July or November con
vention, or in both. The evidence of Allen was that of
a man -who was never asserted to have been animated by
personal hostiUty to Bro-wn, nor by jealousy of him or of
any of his associates.* Nevertheless, it -was necessary to
suppress his evidence.
Colonel John Alason Brown had read the letter of Col
onel Thomas Alarshall to AVashington. He knew that the
" alleged quotation " published in Humphrey Marshall's
History was but a repetition of what Colonel Marshall had
written. He knew also that this account of what John
Brown had said in the convention was corroborated by
both Sebastian and Crockett. He suppressed the fact that
this account had been thus written by Colonel Marshall,
-"Jolin Allen was bom in James City County, Va., in 1749. Enteriug
the patriot army at the beginning of the Revolution, he rose to the rank
of Major. He was well educated and a well trained lawyer. Marrying
!Miss Jane Tandy, of a respectable family in Albemarle, he came to
Kentucky some years prior to 1788, and located in Fayette. Upon the
organization of Bourbon, he settled in Paris. He was the first judge of
the district court of Bourbon, and afterwards of the circuit court. In
point of personal worth and integrity of character. Judge Allen was not
inferior to any man in Kentucky of his time, and to but few in point of
intelligence and ability. His descendants, many of whom live in Bour
bon, Nicholas and Bath, have just cause for pride in such an ancestor.
Among them were the late Sandford Allen, of Sharpsburg, and the late
Wm. C. AUen, of Owings-nlle. The present Frank Allen, of Augusta,
is his grandson.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 257
an eye and ear witness ; that it had been thus corroborated
by Sebastian and Crockett, and had never been challenged
by a single question, nor disputed by a solitary witness.
He then asserted that " Muter never said, wrote, or printed,
that Brown spoke at all in the convention, much less that
he spoke treasonably. No memoranda of his have ever been
discovered or mentioned corroborative of any insinuation
against Brown's acts or opinions in the convention." The
extraordinary pains taken by Colonel Brown to suppress
the statements made by Colonel Marshall, by Sebastian,
and by Crockett, relating to John Brown's speech in the
convention, and his repeated claim that the " alleged quo
tation" originated with Humphrey Marshall, discloses his
own sense of the nature of that speech, and his own judg
ment of the conduct of John Brown, if he had made the
speech attributed to him. But the terms in which the
above denial as to Muter are made convey a distinct ad
mission, that the speech attributed to John Brown -w-as
^f treasonable," and that if the premise was true the con
clusion drawn from it was just. It appears also, that Col
onel Brown had searched for some word, or writing, or
publication by Muter, which stated that John Brown had
spoken in the convention, and had been unable to find any
intimation that John Brown " had spoken at all in the con
vention, much less that he spoke treasonably." Notwith
standing this bold and confident assertion by Colonel
Brown, it is certain that Muter not only wrote, but printed,
and published in the Western World (a paper with whose
columns Colonel Brown was familiar) a letter, August 20,
1806, in which he distinctly stated, that John Brown had
spoken in that convention, and had " assured the convention
that all they asked for with respect to the navigation of the
Mississippi was in their power to obtain;" — which assurance
was given by John Brown in reply to the call on him to
inform the convention concerning the communication of
Gardoqui ; and which statement by Muter is the substance
of what Colonel Marshall wrote and Humphrey Marshall
"quoted!" Colonel Brown, it will be remembered, had
17

258 The Spanish Conspiracy.
previously alleged, that Aluter had voted for sundry reso
lutions in the July convention; of which Muter's own let
ter, published in Littell's " Narrative " (with which Colonel
Brown was familiar), showed that he was not a member;
and that Muter had then received, and had communicated
to Colon.el Alarshall, John Brown's letter, which Muter's
own letter, published in the Western World, showed that
Aluter did not receive until the fall of 1788 ; and that
Aluter, when he had issued his address of October 15th,
1788, had already conferred with Connolly, whom, as all
the evidence shows. Muter had never seen until after the
adjournment of the November convention. And now
Colonel Brown, with habitual infelicity, adds to the inac
curacies which had preceded it, this denial that Muter had
ever said, written, or printed tbat John Brown "spoke
at all at the convention, much less that he spoke treason
ably ! "
While thus admitting, that, if John Brown had spoken
in the Danville convention as represented, he had " spoken
treasonably," and that, in that case, the charge against
him was merited ; Colonel Brown labors through limping
pages of his "Political Beginnings" to make it appear
that this representation was maliciously fabricated by Hum
phrey Alarshall. Knowing thoroughly well the scheme
concocted between Wilkinson and Miro ; familiar with the
writings of Wilkinson to Miro, in -v\^hich Brown, Innes,
Wallace, and Sebastian are mentioned as his associates
and abettors in the conspiracy ; having before his own
eyes the proof that Gardoqui had made a similar proposi
tion to his grandfather, and that the latter had promised
Gardoqui to " aid " in securing its acceptance ; confronted
by his grandfather's letter to Muter, iu which he distinctly
urged that the necessary step should be taken to place
Kentucky in a position to avail herself of Gardoqui's offer,
and by the evidence of such men as Allen, Crockett,
Thomas Marshall, and others, as to his grandfather's co
operation with Wilkinson and Sebastian in the effort to
induce Kentucky to take that step ;— in the face of all this,
Colonel Brown is bold enough to assert that the " so-caUed

The Spanish Conspiracy. 259
' Spanish conspiracy,' gloomily imagined as concocted with
Gardoqui, was but a figment of an incensed political ad
versary's brain ; a suspicion unsupported by a particle of
testimony, unvouched by document, unestablished by dep
osition, and refuted by every proof."
After perusing that, the reader will not be in the least
surprised, that Colonel Brown, with full knowledge that
his grandfather had certainly informed both Greenup and
Wilkinson of Gardoqui's proposition ; that his " sliding
|\letter" to McDowell was shown at once to Innes, and was
known to others in the July convention of 1788 ; knowing
that, in the Littell pamphlet, his grandfather had stated,
that he had made a public disclosure of Gardoqui's propo
sition in the convention of November, 1788 ; — the reader
will not be surprised, that Colonel Brown, knowing all
these facts, and scrupulously and characteristically sup
pressing th&m, has the hardihood to affirm, that "underthe
cautious advice of Madison, information of Gardoqui's
communication was thus kept from the knowledge of all
persons in Kentucky save McDowell and Muter;" nor
will they be in the least astonished at the remarkable cool-
i ness with which the grandson, iu direct contradiction of
\his own grandfather, and with the most contemptuous as
sumption of the utter ignorance of his readers, asserts,
that "Brown recognized the public danger that might come from
divulging Gardoqui's plan," and that "Brown judged it highly
inexpedient to narrate even to the sovereignty convention of
November what Gardoqui had said, for he feared lest rash men
might make trouble by advocating what Gardoqui proposed ! "
These suppressions and conflicting statements between
grandfather and grandson, in the language ofthe talented
author of the " Beginnings," " give rise to unpleasant sug
gestions :" Either Colonel Brown believed, or he did not
believe, the statement made by his grandfather through
Littell, that, in answer to the call on him for information,
John Brown had disclosed to the November convention
the proposition of Gardoqui. If he believed that state
ment to be false, it is unimportant what else he must nec
essarily have believed of the man who had thus authorized

260 The Spanish Conspiracy.
and circulated a deliberately false statement in his own
behalf. Innocence neither needs nor resorts to falsehood
for its vindication. But, if Colonel Brown, on the other
hand, really discredited the statement of Colonel Marshall
that John Brown had said that, provided the convention
was united in their councils, all they could wish for was
within their reach ; and, if he believed that, on the con
trary, John Brown had communicated the overture of
Gardoqui to the convention, as John Brown himself
claimed to have done ; and, believing this, and suppress
ing the statement of his grandfather, and attributing that
of Colonel Marshall to Humphrey Marshall, asserted that
John Brown deemed it inexpedient to communicate to the
convention what Gardoqui had said, " lest rash men might
make mischief by advocating what Gardoqui proposed ;" —
then, the facts have been very feebly stated if intelligent
readers are not able to arrive at their own conclusions, as
just as they are inevitable, concerning the " Political Be
ginnings,"- without suggestions from the writer. There
can be no logical escape, however, from the alternatives
presented. And whether Colonel Brown believed the
statement written by Colonel Marshall to Washington, or
that of John Brown, published in Littell, his own state
ment is without any authority whatever, and is contra
dicted by all the evidence from every source.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 261

CHAPTER XVI.
The Convention of November, 1788, Continued — The Question op the
Navigation op the Mississippi Brought up by Wilkinson's Memo
rial AND the Overture op Gardoqui — The Prospect op Obtaining
that Navigation, on the Terms op Wilkinson's Engagement with
Miro and the Overture op Gardoqui to John Brown, the Motive
op the Wilkinson and Brown Party for their Hostility to the
Address to the Virginia Assembly, and por their Support op
John Brown's Resolution por an Immediate Framing of a Consti
tution AND Separation prom Virginia Without a Law for the
Purpose — Their Own Statement in Littell to that Eppect — Moke
op Colonel Brown's Suppressions — Colonel Brown Convicted op a
Want op Candor by his Own Standard — Colonel Marshall's
Letter op September 11, 1790, Shows He Made Neither Eetraction
NOR Qualification of his Charges — Further Misrepresentation
by John Brown — It is Repeated by Colonel Brown — John Brown's
Failure to Depend Himself — He Shrinks from Testifying — His
Alleged Memoranda of his Testimony Before the Legislative
Committee Contradicted by his Own Deposition.
To the reader who derives his information solely from
the perusal of " The Political Beginnings," it would ap
pear, that the subject of the navigation of the Mississippi
came before the convention of November, 1788, solely
during the discussion of the petitions from Madison and
Mercer, (that an address to Congress to obtain that naviga
tion should be drawn), upon the resolution that the address
should be prepared, and upon that address itself. * Yet
it distinctly appears from Littell, whose authorized state
ment had been carefully studied by Colonel Brown, that
the question of that navigation was brought before the
convention by General Wilkinson, and by John Brown,
under circumstances having no connection with those pe
titions, having no relation to that resolution nor to that
address ; but which circumstances did refer exclusively to

' Political Beginnings,'' pages 198-99.

262 Tht Spanish Conspiracy.
Wilkinson's conference with Miro, and to the overture
made by Gardoqui to John Brown ; — which conferences
and overture (that Spain would grant the navigation to
Kentucky, as a matter of treaty, if Kentucky would first
withdraw from the Union), were authoritatively stated by
Littell as the motive for the opposition made by Wilkin
son, Brown, Innes, Sebastian, and their party, to Edwards'
address to the assembly for an act of separation agreeable
to the advice of Congress, and for their urging the resolu
tion of John Brown, which looked to an immediate and
illegal separation, to an immediate declaration of inde
pendence and assumption of sovereignty, in order to avail
themselves of the " prospect " held out by that confer
ence and overture. The address to Congress to obtain the
navigation of the Mississippi, as the reader has seen, was
not adopted until the last day of the convention, after all
the schemes of Wilkinson and Brown had failed, and
Wilkinson had been driven to postpone them under pres
sure of the remonstrance presented by Crockett. Colonel
Brown makes no mention of the memorial to the Intend
ant of Louisiana, which Wilkinson had concerted with
Navarro and Miro, which he had read in the convention,
which had been forwarded to Madrid, and the effect of
which was the direction to Gardoqui that induced his
overture to John Brown. He quotes from depositions of
members of the Danville convention, but suppresses every
statement in those very depositions that the memorial was
read in the convention. He does, however, mention the
address to Congress which was finally adopted, and was
prepared and read by Wilkinson, and states that, " after a
vote of thanks to Wilkinson, for his paper on the Missis
sippi," the convention adjourned, leavin_g the otherwise
uninformed reader to suppose, that the " paper on the Mis
sissippi " for which Wilkinson was thanked was the ad
dress to Congress on that subject;— when the depositions,
the official report, the statement of LitteU, all of which he
had read, and every other statement ever published, ex
pUcitly informed him, that the paper in question, for
which Wilkinson was thanked, was the " address presented

The Spanish Conspiracy. 263
by General James Wilkinson to the Governor Intendant
of Louisiana." The failure of Colonel Brown to mention
this memorial, or to state that it was read in the conven
tion, his suppression of the fact that the question of the
navigation of the Mississippi was brought before the con
vention by that memorial * and by John Brown's state-

*- While Wilkinson, after doing what was in his power to defeat the
address to the General Assembly, yielded to the desire that an appeal
should be made to Congress to obtain the navigation of the Mississippi,
which he knew Congress could not do, he explained to Miro that the
failure of Congress to accomplish the impossible could be used to still
further exasperate the people and to aid the designs of Spain. At the
same time he advised Miro that Spain should stand firm, refuse to ac
cede to the applications of Congress in behalf of the just rights of the
western people, and close more completely than ever that navigation
against all but himself and his associates. Every relaxation of rigor, he
argued, would tend to postpone and defeat the Spanish designs ; while
the greater the hardships which the people could be forced to feel would
the more rapidly and certainly promote those designs. But let Wilkin
son speak for himself, viz :
" In order to aid the favorable dispositions of Providence, to foment
the suspicions and feelings of distrust already existing here, and inflame the ani
mosity between the eastern and ihe western states, Spain must resort to every
artifice and other means which may be in her power. I have stated
that the navigation of the Mississippi, and its admission as an independ
ent state and a member of the Union, are rightly claimed by the people
of this part of the country, and constituting one of the principal condi
tions under which its connection with the Atlantic States is to continue.
Hence it follows, that every manifestation of ihe power of Spain and of the
debility of the United States, every evidence of the resolution of ihe former to
retain exclusively for herself the right of navigation on the Mississippi, and
every proof of the incapacity of the latter, will facilitate our views.
Every circumstance also that will tend to impede our admission as an
independent state will lessen the attachment of many individuals, in
crease the discontent of the people, and favor the execution of our plan !
" Until I devoted myself exclusively to the afiair fn which we are en
gaged, I confess that I could not discover the aim of the flrst treaty pro
posed by Gardoqui to Congress, but it seems to me now that I can pene
trate its policy. ' I consider it as profoundly judicious, and I am of
opinion that it ought to be renewed and vigorously carried on, until its
objects be attained, cost what it may, because, besides that the proposed
relinquishment of the right of navigation of the Mississippi would im
mediately disrupt the Union, and separate forever the West from the
East, the sanction of the treaty by Congress would make our situation so
truly desperate that Great Britain would not venture to intervene in our
favor and all our hopes would rest on the liberality of Spain.

264 The Spanish Conspiracy.
ment, that all that could be wished for concerning that
navigation could be obtained, on the terms communicated
to him by Gardoqui, was not accidental. And the course
of Colonel Brown in reference thereto reveals his own
sense of the damaging character of the facts he suppressed
to the cause he had undertaken.
Colonel Brown, in his " Political Beginnings," states,
that the official proceedings of the convention * note the
resolution of John Brown as having been offered on the
fourth day of the convention, immediately after the com
mittee of the whole reported that the petitions from Mer
cer and Madison were reasonable, and that a decent and
manly address to Congress should be drawn accordingly ;
and that this resolution was offered " before the committees
were ready with their reports." But the very official
manuscript to which he refers, and which is reproduced in
the appendix of his most elaborate literary effort, shows
The grant of this boon ought to be looked upon as the price of our attach
ment and gratitude, and I beg leave to be permitted to repeat, that there
must he known no instance of its being extended to any other than those who ren
der aid and promote the interests of Spain in this pari of the country.
" 1 entreat you, sir, to believe, that this question of navigation is the
main one on which depends the ' Union of the West and East, and
that, if Congress can obtain the free use of the Mississippi, and if Spain
should cede it luithout conditions, it would strengthen the Union, and
would deprive Spain of all its infiuence on this district." [Wilkinson's
letter to Miro, February 12, 1789, Gayarre, pages 230, 231, 232.]
* On the 199th page of the " Political Beginnings," after publishing
the resolution of the convention that the petition from Madison and
Mercer were reasonable, and that an address to Congress be drawn
accordingly, and stating the names of the committee charged with
preparing the address, Colonel Brown says:
"At this point, and hefore the committees were ready with their reports,
the manuscript journal notes the following resolution, which it is cer
tainly strange that Marshall should not allude to while rehearsing the
conduct of his enemy."
Colonel Brown then publishes the resolution of John Brown, which
has been already quoted, and which John Brown explained in Littell,
was offered to defeat the address to the Assembly, and as a motive for
adopting which the " prospect," of obtaining the navigation of the Mis
sissippi [in what manner the reader knows] was hinted at.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 265
that this statement is not true.* On the contrary. Col
onel Brown's own book contains the proof,t in that official
statement, that the special committee, consisting of John
Edwards, Thomas Marshall, Muter, Jouitt, Allen and
Wilkinson, which had been appointed the day before to
prepare " a decent and respectful address to the Assembly
of Virginia for obtaining the independence of the district
of Kentucky agreeable to the late resolution and recom
mendation of Congress," had, through its chairman, Ed
wards, made its report, which was read, immediately after
the committee of the whole had reported the resolution
for addressing Congress in accordance with the petitions
from Madison and Mercer, and before the resolution of
John Brown was called up by him. Colonel Brown was
made aware by Littell, that an amendment to that address
thus reported by the committee was ofiered in order to
delay it ; that its consideration was postponed ; and that
the resolution of his grandfather was then called up, for
the purpose, as stated distinctly in Littell's pamphlet, of
* After giving the resolution to prepare the address to Congress con
cerning the Mississippi, the official report, which Colonel Brown had
before him when he made the statement above referred to, proceeds as
follows, viz :
" Ordered, That a committee be appointed to prepare the said ad
dress; and a committee was appointed of Mr. Innes, Mr. Wilkinson,
Mr. Marshall, Mr. Muter, Mr. Brown, Mr. Sebastian and Mr. Morrison.
Mr. Edwards, from the committee appointed to draw up an address to
the Assembly of Virginia for obtaining the independence of the district
of Kentucky, reported that the committee had taken the matter into
consideration and prepared an address which he read in his place, and
then delivered the same in at the table, where it was again read, and an
amendment thereto proposed. Ordered, That the said address, together
with the amendment, do lie on the table.
A motion was made by Mr. Brown for the convention to come to the
following resolution, viz."
Then follows the resolution of John Brown, which has already been
quoted. The above is copied precisely as it appears in the Appendix of
the "Political Beginnings," and contradicts the statement of the author
of that book, in which it is difficult to determine whether Colonel
Brown's contempt for the facts or his contempt for his readers is made
the more conspicuous.
t The Appendix of " The Political Beginnings " was prepared after
the death of its author, by a gentleman unacquainted with the subject.

266 The Spanish Conspiracy.
defeating that address, and to give an opportunity for
urging an immediate formation of a constitution, the or
ganization of government and the declaration of independ
ence, without a law from the Assembly for the purpose.
And while Colonel Brown affirms, that " whatever mark
Brown made in the convention is to be found " in that
resolution, which he asserts to have been Brown's " reaZ
avowal of political principle and plan," he carefully avoids
giving the explanation of that " principle and plan"
afforded by John Brown himself in Littell. This plan
was, that, " as a further inducement to adopt this resolu
tion it was stated that there was a prospect of obtaining from
Spain permission to export the produce of the country by way
of the Mississippi," and that, then, to show what the ^ros-
pect was. General Wilkinson made his speech and read his
memorial, and John Brown disclosed the overture of Gar
doqui ! Wilkinson, Brown, Sebastian and Innes, all knew
that the " prospect of obtaining from Spain the permission "
in question was made contingent upon the separation of
Kentucky from the United States, which Wilkinson had
engaged with Miro to promote, and John Brown had
proraised Gardoqui to "aid." The first step to be taken
in the accoraplishment of that separation from the Union
was to separate from Virginia without a law for the pur
pose, to frame a constitution, organize government, de
clare independence, and assume sovereignty, — to all of
which John Brown's resolution was intended as a prelimi
nary, and the effect of which would have been to place
Kentucky outside of the Union. The resolution was, in
fact, a redemption of Brown's promise to the Spanish
minister. And, as an inducement for its adoption, the
prospect of obtaining the navigation of the Mississippi
from Spain was stated ; — which John Brown knew, could
be realized only by a separation from the Union. The
statement in Littell is, in fact, when analyzed, a confession
by John Brown himself of all the charges made against
him. This was, indeed, his " plan," and this his " polit
ical principle." The pretense that, after realizing that
prospect in the way pointed out by Gardoqui, it was the

The Spanish Conspiracy. 267
purpose of these men to apply for admission to the Union,
which would have forfeited the privilege thus obtained, is
too transparently absurd to require argument for its refu
tation. This absurdity was apparent to John Brown him
self; he, therefore, suppressed the Muter letter, which
would have made the absurdity plain to all, conceded the
condition annexed by Gardoqui, and pretended that the
privilege could be had by Kentucky as an independent
state of the Union.
The reader of the "Beginnings" will not fail to note
that, while mention is made of the appointment of a
special committee to prepare an address to the Assembly
of Virginia, of which committee Edwards was the chair
man, yet it nowhere appears that Edwards ever reported
or read the address in the convention. On the contrary,
the statement of this fact, which is made in the official
report, is eliminated from the account given in the " Be
ginnings," in which it is stated, that the resolution of John
Brown was called up " at this point," when in fact the state
ment is made in the official report, that at " that point " Ed
wards read the address to the Assembly. Why Edwards was
thus ignored is explained by the statement which appears on
page 201 of the " Beginnings," in reciting the proceedings
ofthe last day of the convention, that "the address to the
Legislature of Virginia was next reported by Mr. Innes, and
* agreed to nemine contradicente.' Its tone was loyal and
its expressions respectful and judicious." In a note at the
bottom of this same page appears this statement : " This
address to the Legislature of Virginia, is given by Mar
shaU (Vol. I, p. 379, edition of 1812), but he uncandidly
omits to mention that his enemy, Innes, was its mover.
The manuscript journal of the convention explicitly re
cites that Innes, as chairman of the committee, reported the
address, " which he read in his place and delivered in to
the clerk's table, where it was again twice read and
amended and agreed to nemine contradicente." There is no
intimation given in this connection, that this proceeding
was in the committee ofthe whole, and the reader would nat
urally infer that Innes had made this report to the con-

268 The Spanish Conspiracy.
vention as chairman of the special committee charged with pre
paring the address. On page 205 this charge of unfairness
and want of candor on the part of the historian is repeated :
" No less unfair is Marshall's total failure to mention In
nes as the reporter ofthe address to the Legislature of Vir
ginia. That address is replete with sentences that de
clare the ardent desire of the people of the district to be
received into the Union as an independent state upon the
consent and recommendation of Congress. Mention of
Innes as its mover and advocate would have vindicated his
patriotism, his loyalty, and his moderation, and would
have disproved all the suspicions that Marshall cherished.
And the further fact, apparent from the journal,. that the
address prepared and reported by Innes, was ' agreed to
nemine contradicente,' would have suggested to a more can
did historian, that he who introduced and advocated that
paper did not deserve the denunciation leveled against
him as a disloyal conspirator, especially as his views were
supported by the unanimous vote of the convention. It
might, perhaps, be suggested iu excuse for such omissions
that Alarshall, wdiile preparing his history, had not access
to the original journals of the convention, nor accurate
information of what was said and done. But he published
his book in 1812, and certainly knew, after 1806, the exact
text of the journals through LitteU's publications made
that year, and avowed to be an appeal to documentary
evidence." But, if the statements of Colonel Brown are true, the
historian did worse than this. His " History " shows that
he had a copy of the official journal before him as he
wrote. Yet he not only omitted to state that Innes was
the mover, advocate, author and reporter ofthe address to
the assembly, but he did state that it had been moved by
John Edwards and seconded by Thomas Marshall, on the
third day of the convention, and that Edwards had re
ported and read it to the convention on the fourth day,
when it was amended, in order to defeat its passage. If
Innes had, indeed, moved, prepared, reported and advocated
this address, the fact would have demonstrated, that, in-

The Spanish Conspiracy. 269
stead of having been a coadjutor and a conspirator with
Wilkinson, Sebastian and Brown, he had been the leader
of the opposition to their schemes ; and would, iu truth,
have vindicated his patriotism and loyalty against attacks
from any source. And had that been true, the course of
the historian in omitting to give him the credit that was
his due, and assigning it to Edwards and Thomas Mar
shall, would not simply have been unfair and uncandid, but
would have spread its taint of deliberate falsehood to
every statement in his book, and have stamped his owm
character as dishonorable and infamous.
But, in thus boldly assailing the fairness and " historic
veracity " of the historian. Colonel Brown should at least
have been careful that his own statements conformed to
the facts established by the very official report which he
cited, and the contents of which he unquestionably knew
and understood. That report proves, that Innes was not,
in fact, the mover of the resolution, nor its advocate, and
that he neither prepared nor reported the address. It
shows that the resolution to prepare the address was
moved by John Edwards, and was seconded by Thomas
Marshall,* on the third day of the convention. The same
*The following is the official report of the proceedings relating to this
resolution on Wednesday, November 5th, the third day of the conven
tion, viz.:
"Ordered, That the resolution for preparing an address to the Assem
bly of Virginia be now read, . . then the same was read, amended
and agreed to as follows, viz.:
"Resolved, That a committee be appointed to draw up a decent and re
spectful address to the Assembly of Virginia for obtaining an independ
ence of the district of Kentucky, agreeble to the late resolution and re
commendation of Congress, and that they prepare and report the same
to the convention to-morrow. And a committee was appointed of Mr.
Edwards, Mr. MarshaU, Mr. Muter, Mr. Jouitt, Mr. Allen, and Mr.
Wilkinson." The naming of Edwards first on the committee, constituting him
chairman thereof, shows that he offered the motion ; and the place of
MarshaU as second on the committee that he seconded it. Innes was
not even on the committee, and had nothing to do with the resolution,
except to try to defeat it. AU the historians afllrm the resolution to
have been offered bv Edwards and seconded by MarshaU. The state-

270 The Spanish Conspiracy.
official report proves that the address itself was prepared
by this committee, of which Innes was not -a member, and
was reported and read by its chairman, John Edwards, on
the fourth day. So far from Innes having moved, pre
pared, reported, or ad-C'ocated it, he was not only not a
member of the committee that had the address in charge,
but -n^as one of those described by Littell as being " op
posed to it in toto." An araendraent to the address was
offered in order to prevent action upon it, and then John
Brown's resolution, of which Innes was an advocate, was
introduced, as explained by Littell, to defeat it alto
gether.* All this time Innes was an advocate and sup
porter of every measure designed to defeat the address
to the assembly and the whole policy of applying to Vir
ginia. He was, in fact, one of those who were, as de
scribed by Littell on his own authority, opposed to the
policy of that measure " in toto." On Saturday, the
sixth day of the convention, after Brown's resolution had
been defeated, the address to the assembly was referred
to the committee of the whole, that it might there be
still killed or crippled. It was not until the last day of
the convention, when the conspirators knew they had
failed ; that their efforts to corrupt the loyal heart of Ken
tucky had been futile; and when their Spanish-bought
leader, Wilkinson, had been awed by the remonstrance
which had been obtained and presented by Crockett; — it
was not until then, that the address to the assembly, -ndiich
had been moved, drawn and reported and read by Ed
wards, was amended and adopted in the committee of the

ment of Colonel Brown is without any authority, and originated in
what he deemed the necessities of his case.
-*In this false claim that Innes had moved, advocated, prepared and read
that address to the assembly, the reader will detect the motive of
Colonel Brown in eliminating from his account the statement of the
official journal that the address was reported from the committee and
was read by Edwards on the fourth day of the convention ; and for his
assertion that, "At this point "—immediately after the address to Con
gress was ordered to be prepared,^" and before the committees were
ready with iheir reports," the manuscript journal notes, the resolution was
called up by John Brown."

The Spanish Conspiracy. 271
whole, of which Innes was chairman for the tirae heing.
His purely perfunctory report, as chairman of that com
mittee of the whole, of the action of that committee in
amending and adopting the address, which, as already
stated, had been moved, prepared, reported, read and ad
vocated by Edwards, and resisted to the last by Innes,
Wilkinson, Sebastian, Brown and all their followers, was all
that Innes had to do with that address. Had Humphrey
Marshall taken from the able and patriotic Edwards the
credit that belonged to him, in order to confer it upon
Innes, who had, in the July as well as in the November con
vention, vehemently resisted the whole policy which finally
triumphed in the adoption of that address, it -w^ould have
proved him as wholly unmindful of the claims of " his
toric veracity," as Colonel Brown has shown himself to
have been. It is unnecessary that the reader shall pro
ceed to pass judgraent upon Colonel Brown by the stand
ard he applied to Humphrey Marshall in his own mis
representation of the facts and of the record. His own
judgment of his own performance may be read in his
own unjust accusations against the fairness and candor
of the historian. And if Innes can only be vindicated
by so gross a misrepresentation of all the facts, his case
is, indeed, as desperate as Colonel Brown evidently re
garded it when he resorted to this line of defense.
During the controversy of 1806, the villification to which
the friends of Brown, Innes, AVilkinson, and Sebastian re
sorted, in default of facts and argument, drew from his
family the publication of Colonel Marshall's letter to
Washington. After that publication, John Brown, Innes,
and Wallace made a weak attempt to break the force of
the account given in that letter of the memorial of their
piend Wilkinson, of John Brown's letter to Muter, and of
his ambiguous allusion in the convention to his conference
Iwith Gardoqui, by alleging that Colonel Marshall's judg-
Iment at the time was warped by prejudice against them
las the rivals and enemies of his famUy. They also claimed
that he soon became convinced of the injustice of his sus
picions, and in a second letter to Washington had retracted

272 The Spanish Conspiracy.
what he ,had written in the first. In the ninth chapter ot
Littell it was alleged as the " true state of those transac
tions," that
" Colonel Marshall considered General Wilkinson and Mr. Brown as
the popular rivals and personal enemies of his family. He became sus
picious, and communicated his suspicions to the Executive of the United
States. Upon better consideration and strict observation of the conduct
of these gentlemen, he became convinced that his suspicions were not
well founded, and that whatever ill-will they might have against him
and his connections, they had none against the United States ; and with
a magnanimity which all parties must approbate, informed the Execu
tive that the suspicions he once had against them no longer existed."
In other places in that pamphlet substantially the same
statement is repeated. There never was any political or
other rivalry between either Wilkinson or Brown and
Colonel Marshall, nor any political collision between them
except in his successful efforts to counteract their schemes
before the people, and to defeat their plots in the conven
tion. So, far from cherishing any personal animosity
against Wilkinson on account of the debate between the
latter and Humphrey Marshall, in 1786, the nature of
which has been stated. Colonel Marshall, a few months
after, recommended him, in conjunction with Isaac Shelby
and Colonel R. C. Anderson, as suitable persons to treat
with the Indians, for which duty all three were well quali
fied. There had been, however, a personal altercation be
tween Wilkinson and Colonel Marshall, growing, as stated
by a son of the latter, out of " persistent attempts of Wil
kinson to translate Colonel Marshall's property to him
self," and the latter's refusal to have any business transac
tion wdth a man who damaged every one who trusted him.
But no one who wUl read Wilkinson's letters to Miro wUl
contend for a moment that the statement affecting him or
his memorial made by Colonel Marshall was in the least
degree colored by prejudice.
There had been a violent difference between Hary Innes
and some of his connections and Humphrey Marshall, in
1788, in which neither Colonel Marshall nor any other mem
ber of his famUy had any share or participation. Besides, the
name of Innes was not even so much as mentioned, nor is

The Spanish Conspiracy. 273
there the most distant allusion to him, in Colonel Marshall's
letter. There had been no political or other rivalry be
tween Brown and Colonel Marshall, or Humphrey Mar
shall, or any other member of that family. The fact is,
that when those events were transpiring. Colonel Marshall
had but two sons in Kentucky : Alexander Keith, who
was but eighteen, and Louis, who was but fifteen years
old when that letter was written. It appears from the
letter of Muter, published in 1790, that James M. Marshall
was not in the district when the letter of John Brown -w^as
received, and even if he had settled in Kentucky when
the letter to Washington was written, he had not been
here long enough to have had any political rivalry with
any one. The race he made against John Brown for Con
gress did not take place until the summer of 1790, eighteen
months after the date of the letter, which these men al
leged to have been the emanation of jealousy and per
sonal spleen. With these facts, the men who induced Lit
tell to pubUsh the untruth, who paid him for writing the
untruth, and who gave it circulation, were well acquainted.
The facts were stated in Colonel Marshall's letter as they
existed and without coloring. The conclusions drawn
from the facts related were irresistible. The letter ought
to have been written. The time of writing it was oppor
tune. It was seemly and right that the duty was per
formed by the man who accepted the responsibility. It
was not written as a matter of gossip, but to make known
the situation to one who had been chosen as the Chief
Executive. And the names of the two men whose direct
dealings with the Spaniards, and whose engagements to
further the Spanish designs, were made apparent by their
own -vyritings and utterances, were alone mentioned.
The claim that Colonel Marshall had, in his letter of
September 11, 1790, retracted what he had written on the
12th of February, 1789, was founded on a passage in
Washington's reply, which read as follows :
" Philadelphia, 6 February, 1791.
Sir: — In acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 11th of Septem
ber, I must beg you to accept my thanks for the pleasing communication it
18

274 ' The Spanish Conspiracy.
contains of the good disposition of the people of Kentucky towards the
government of the United States.
I never doubted that the operations of this government, if not per
verted by prejudice or evil designs, would inspire the citizens of America
with such confidence in it, as efiectually to do away those apprehen
sions, which, under the former confederation, our best men entertained
of divisions among ourselves, or allurements from other nations. I am
therefore happy to find, that such a disposition prevails in your part of
the country, as to remove any idea of that evil, which a few years ago
you so much dreaded." [Sparks Life and Writings of Washington, Vol.
X, page 137.]
General Washington's mention of the " pleasing commu
nication" contained in Colonel Marshall's letter of Septem
ber 11, 1790, " of the good disposition of the people of Ken
tucky," was deceitfully construed by Brown, Innes, and
AVaUace as evidence that Colonel Marshall had, in the let
ter to which Washington's was a reply, either retracted
his statement of facts in regard to the memorial of Wil
kinson and the letter and speech of Brown, and admitted
himself to have been a falsifier ; or else that he had stulti
fied hiraself by writing that the irresistible conclusions he
had expressed were unwarranted by those facts ; — for the
claim that he had retracted meant nothing if it did not
mean one or the other. But that Colonel Marshall's state
ment of the good disposition of the people of Kentucky, in
1790, did not warrant the inference that he had retracted
what he had written concerning the memorial, letters,
speeches and actions of Brown and Wilkinson, in 1788, is
too patent for argument. That it was altogether a false
and absurd inference was well known by the men who
used it as a screen.
Brown, Innes, and Wallace all knew that this let- j
ter of Colonel Alarshall of the 11th of September, 1790, ;
which they claimed to have been a retraction, -was written j
immediately after the election in which John Brown and I
Colonel Alarshall's son, James M. Marshall, were the op-|
posing candidates for Congress ; that James Al. Alarshall,/
whose judgment was naturally infiuenced by the opinion ofl
one of his father's strong mind and character, had in thai
canvass openly charged that John Brown and Wilkinsoil
had been engaged in a treasonable conspiracy to separate!

The Spanish Conspiracy. 275
(Kentucky from the Union and to form an alliance with
Spain; and that he had been on the point of fighting a
duel with James Brown, because, when he stated the con
tents of John Brown's letter to Muter as the basis of the
charge, James Brown had denied that such a letter had
been written and had imputed to him a disregard of truth.
They knew that the one thing in the world more im-
robable than that James M. Marshall had made those
iharges after his honored father had changed his opinion
nd confessed his error, was, that, immediately after such
charge had been made by his son in public, under the
iifluence of his own boldly expressed opinions. Colonel
arshall should have written a private letter' to Washing-
:on retracting his own previous statements and acknowl-
|edging himself to have been mistaken ! The absurdity of
(the claim must have diverted the men in whose behalf.it
[was made. For they knew that at the time Colonel Mar-
Ishall wrote the letter of February 12, 1789, which they
[claimed was dictated by a spirit of animosity towards
j Brown and Wilkinson as the political rivals of his family,
1 there had never been such a rivalry. They knew, too, that
Ithe letter, which they asserted was one of retraction and
[admission of previous injustice, was written within a fe-w
weeks after that rivalry had commenced. These men
knew from the contempt which Colonel Alarshall took no
pains to conceal, aud from his bearing toward them during
all the remainder of his life, that the opinions he had
\ avowed to their faces much more explicitly than they were
Istated in his guarded letter to Washington, had undergone
meither change nor modification ; and every fact demon-
itrates their positive knowledge, that in all they caused to
)e written and pubUshed on the subject there was not one
-word of truth.
FoUowing closely in the footprints of his grandfather,
as they appear in LitteU, Colonel John Mason Brown as
serts in the " Political Beginnings" that :
" It was but a short time before Thomas MarshaU very clearly saw
how unjust were his suspicions, and he very honorably repaired what
ever injury his letter of 12th of February might have done. He soon

276 The Spanish Conspiracy.
became convinced that he had wronged both Brown and Innes, and on
the 11th of September, 1790, wrote to Washington assuring him of the
entire absence of sedition or appearance of it, and of the ' good disposi
tion of the people of Kentucky toward the government of the United
States.'" ¦*
Here is a distinct statement by Colonel Brown that
Colonel Alarshall in a short time saw the injustice he had
done to John Brown and Hary Innes in his letter to
Washington, of February 12, 1789 (in which he knew per
fectly well that there was not the slightest allusion to
Innes) ; and that in his letter of 11th of September, 1790,
he had repaired the injustice — of course by a withdrawal.
In a note at the bottom of the page on which this was
written in the " Political Beginnings " (page 211) Colonel
Brown cites his readers to page 520 of the Appendix to
Butler's History of Kentucky, edition of 1836, for Col
onel Marshall's letter of February 12, 1789; and on page
208 he quotes the conclusion of that letter which is
printed on page 522 of the same book, to which he refers.
On the very next page, (523) of that book, of that edition,
and in the same leaf which contained the part of the first
letter quoted by Colonel Brown, appeared Colonel Alar
shall's second letter to Washington — the letter of Septem
ber 11, 1790— the letter which Colonel Brovt^n's grand
father and Colonel Brown himself affirm was a letter of
retraction, — a letter in which they allege he very honor
ably repaired the previous injustice he had done by accu
rately describing the contents of Brown's letter to Aluter
and relating Brown's ambiguous and shirking words in
the convention ! This letter was printed in the very book
used by Colonel Brown. Whether he had read and knew
its contents, andweU comprehended their purport, when he
coolly and deliberately wrote the description of it which
appears in the "PoUtical Beginnings," the reader can con
clude for himself. His grandfather and Hary Innes did
not have the letter itself before them, but disingenuously
drew from Washington's reply what they knew to be a
false implication and a forced and absurd inference. But

-* Political Beginnings, page 211.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 277
in the very book which Colonel Brown used and studied,
and on the next page to the page, and on the same leaf, that
contained the extract which he quoted from the letter of
February 12, 1789, is also published the alleged letter of
retraction of September 11, 1790. Colonel Brown did not
refer his readers to Butler for the second letter. He did
not let them know that it had been obtained from Dr.
Jared Sparks and had been published by Butler on page
523 of that edirion of his History (1836). That ftict, as
well as the letter itself, he suppressed. Was or was not
the reason he did this because that letter on its own face
shows that all that his grandfather, and Innes and Wal
lace procured to be written and published concerning
that letter, and all that he himself wrote in regard to it,
was untrue. The letter is reproduced exactly as it appears
in Butler, exactly as Colonel Brown, if he was not the
most careless reader in the -world, and unless all appear
ances deceive, — read, knew and understood its contents,
viz : AVooDPORD County, September 11, 1790.
Sir: — I have taken the liberty to inclose you a Kentucky paper
wherein is published an extract from one of Mr. Brown's letters re
specting the Spanish business. My reason for doing this is, that you
may judge how far it confirms a representation I formerly had the
honor to make you on that subject. The part I then publicly took in
this affair has entirely excluded me from any knowledge of his subse
quent communications to his confidential friends.
You will discover by the paper I send you to what lengths matters
have been carried. Every thing relative to this matter on the part of
Mr. Brown, has, by his friends and coadjutors, been denied or con
cealed, which has produced a necessity for the inclosed publication. I
shall only take the liberty of adding that a great majority of the people
of this district appear to be well disposed to the government of the
United States, though they have, through the influence and industry of
his confldential friends, again elected Mr. Brown to Congress ; and that
our official and influential characters having taken the oath to support
the general government, together with the position the Continental
troops have taken, in my opinion, leaves us little to fear at present from
the machinations of any Spanish party.
That God may bless and preserve you, and that the United States
may long continue to enjoy the happiness of your government and pro
tection, is the most fervent prayer of one who has the honor to be,

278 The Spanish Conspiracy.
with the most respectful esteem and sincerity, your most obedient and
very humble servant, T. .Marshall.
T. Marshall to General V.'ashington.
The reader, at a glance, will see that, in this letter. Col
onel AlarshaU inclosed to AVashington the extract from
John Brown's letter to Muter, -svhich James AI. Marshall
had obtained and published a few days before in the Lex
ington Gazette, — as a proof of the correctness -^vith which
he had described its contents in the letter of February 12,
1789. That to him "a great majority of the people" of
Kentucky appeared to be " well disposed " to-ward the
government, — notwithstanding they had just elected a man
concerning whose conduct his opinions had undergone no
change ; but who had, by denials, concealments, eva
sions, and subterfuges, paltry and pitiful equivocation
to slj' treachery, incurred his unutterable contempt; a
contempt, it may be reraarked, which was openly ex
pressed by those who had opposed John Brown's schemes,
and which was scarcely concealed by the indifferent, while
that secretly entertained by his coadjutors was communi
cated by Wilkinson to Miro, and its record placed among
the Spanish archives; — a contempt, it must be added,
which no one ever feels for the man who, however wrong
ful his cause may be, boldly avows it in the face of the
world, and, putting fortune and life to the hazard, and
throwing himself, sword in hand, into the iraminent
breach, courageously stands by it to the bitter end. The
letter which is claimed to be a retraction is a reiteration
of the first.
Colonel Brown might also have read in the same Appen
dix to Butler a third letter from Colonel Marshall to
Washington, in which he indicated that, in 1792, he was
as far from making a retraction as he had been in 1790.
The letter is as follows, viz : September 7th, 1792.
Sir :— I take the liberty of writing by Captain O'Bannon, and in a few
words mean to give you the names and rank of the gentlemen who are
most likely to influence government and give a tone to the politics of
this State. Isaac Shelby, Esq., Governor; Harry Innes, Esq. (present
Judge of the Federal Court), first Judge of the High Court of Appeals;

TTie Spanish Conspiracy. 279
John Brown, Esq., Senator to Congress ; James Brown, Esq., Secretary ;
George Nicholas, Esq., Attorney General for the State ; and almost every
post of power or profit in the State is filled by their friends and adher
ents. From this you may judge of my situation, who have formerly
offended some of them, and can never make concessions without vio
lating my own conscience. It is true, I want nothing which they haye
to bestow ; yet they can by misrepresentation vex me, by rendering me
obnoxious to the people.
Colonel IMuter, who can never be forgiven for suffering the publica
tion of Mr. Brown's letter, has pretty severely felt the rod of power.
He has been, by the choice of the Assembly of Virginia, for seven years
past first Judge of the Supreme Court of the District of Kentucky, with
a salary of £300 per annum, and is, without any fault alleged against
him, turned down to the Court of Oyer and Terminer, where the salary,
it is thought, will be very trifling, — for the salary of the judges is not
yet fixed.
I have received a letter from Colonel Richard C. Anderson, request
ing my recommendation of him to fill the office of Commissioner of
Loans, if such an office should be necessary in this State. To recom
mend a gentleman to fill any office is a liberty I have never yet taken,
nor do I think myself by any means authorized to do so ; but as I have
had a long acquaintance with Colonel Anderson, both in the Army and
since it was discharged, and have the highest opinion of his merit as an
officer and a gentleman, I hope you will pardon me for being the means
of his wishes having come to your knowledge.
I have the honor to be, with the most cordial wishes for a long con
tinuance of your health and prosperity. Sir, your most obedient humble
servant, T. Marshall.
T. Marshall to General Washington.
He never did make the slightest concession to any of
them, aud, on their part, they never ceased to hate and to
viUify the man whose actions proved that he understood
them, and who had the courage to speak and write the in
convenient truth, as w^ell as the patriotism to do his duty.
After having discharged that duty he indulged in no bick
erings with the men he had, with Aluter, and the aid of,
Anderson, Allen, Crockett and Edwards, so signally and
completely thwarted.
The most charitable reader will agree that this defiec-
tion by Colonel Brown would be most remarkable in any
other author and if occurring in any other book. He
must admit, however, that it is but typical of the charac
teristics which distinguish the "Political Beginnings"
from every other alleged historical narrative than ever

280 The Spanish Conspiracy.
was written. Every reader must supply his o-wn comment.
The writer deems the incident of importance only so far
as the devices resorted to by John Brown himself, as well
as by his grandson, to suppress what Colonel Marshall had
-written and to make it appear that whatever he had so
written he had himself retracted, exhibit the value they
set upon his testimony as that of a witness who was
known to be as careful as he was observant and shrewd,
of a clear and strong mind, and of integrity as unim
peached as it was unimpeachable.
A man of respectable talents and better educated thani
most of his contemporaries, John Brown was amply com-;
petent to defend his own reputation in any matter that'
was defensible. That he did not think the charges made
against him unworthy of notice is apparent from his pay
ing Littell to write in his defense, and from the various '
subterfuges, evasions, suppressions and fiagrant misstate
ments which every-where appear iu the pamphlet for
which he was morally responsible. That his faraily and
kindred had reason to regard the imputations upou his
honor and patriotism as raost serious and damaging, is ex
hibited by the resurrection of those old controversies more
than three quarters of a century after they were waged./
Every reader will deem it of strange significance, that,!
while he was thus assailed and denounced, publicly, from
the rostrum and in the press, with specification and proof
adduced to support charges broadly and fiercely made, in
the very community in which he lived, John Brown, thus/
competent, and thus smarting under the lash, never pub
licly uttered one word, nor wrote a line over his own sig
nature, in his own vindication. His grandson was pain
fully impressed wnth the terrible force of the conclusion!
which will naturally be dra-wn from this silence — most/
strange and unaccountable on any presumption of his con
sciousness of his own innocence. Ignoring this pregnant
fact, but feeling its overwhelming weight, to neutraUze its
logical eff'ect. Colonel Brown tries to make it appear, that
his grandfather did, before the committee charged with the.
investigation of Sebastian, repel the .charges against him-

The Spanish Conspiracy. 281
self under the sanctity of his oath. He says that : " It
was not till 1806 that Brown had opportunity before the
legislature (?) of Kentucky, when Sebastian was under im
peachment (?) to testify under oath and repel the charge
and explain his actions and his motives. From his MS.
memoranda of his testimony so delivered his version can
be briefiy stated." * On another page, still referring to
Brown's testimony before that committee he says: "And
the explanation of Brown and his asseverations of the
correctness of his motive and his action were given under
the sanction of his oath." Colonel Brown gives the fol
lowing as his grandfather's alleged manuscript memoranda
of his testimony before the committee :
" The fact is," said Brown, " tbat from 1785, when the first convention
met at Danville, on the subject of a separation from the State of Vir
ginia, till 1792, when Kentucky was admitted into the Union as a sepa
rate state, no motion was at any time made, either in convention or to
the people, to separate from the Union and form an aUiance with Spain ;
nor was any measure to that effect discussed or advocated by any man.
The proposition of Mr. Gardoqui originated with himself, and was sug
gested by him in conversation on the subject of his negotiation with Mr.
Jay, and was communicated by me to Colonel Muter and Colonel Mc
Dowell, Judges of the Supreme Court, in reply to letters from them re
questing whatever information I might obtain relative to that negotia
tion. At the date of my letter to Muter I intended to write letters to
the same purport to other friends who corresponded with me, but, upon
reflection, and more especially after an interesting conversation with a
highly distinguished statesman of Virginia relative to Gardoqui's project,
I deemed it inexpedient to make any further communication on the
subject, the public mind of Kentucky being in a high state of excite
ment in consequence of the rejection of the application to be admitted
into the Union as an independent state."
Waiving all discussion as to whether this "repels" any
charge made against him ; waiving also the question of its
consistency with the terms of his letter to Muter, and of
his own account, as given in the Littell pamphlet, of his
course in the DanviUe convention of November, 1788; the
fact remains that the official report of his testimony be
fore that committee, to which he himself signed his name
with his own hand, shows that he gave no such testimony
-* " Political Beginnings," page 158. Ibid, page 164.

282 The Spanish Conspiracy.
before that committee, and fully establishes the inaccu
racy and utter disingenuousness of his alleged manuscript
memoranda of that testimony; even if, indeed, it be true
that he left any manuscript purporting to be such memo
randa. Were the natural inquiry made, why Colonel
Brow^n published the alleged memoranda instead of the
testimony itself, which was iu his possession, the easy an
swer is, that it was because the latter did uot suit his pur
pose, the testimony not containing one -word of the pre
tended memoranda thereof, and relating entirely to matters
which occurred seven years subsequent to the events
treated in the memoranda. One reading both and com-
jiaring thera with each other will see, that, while the tes
timony relates exclusively to Johu Brown's knowledge of
the " business upou which, it was said. Air. Sebastian went
to New. Orleans in the years 1795-6, or relative to his hav
ing received a pension from the Government of Spain,"
as to the date when Brown first became acquainted with
the fact that Sebastian was a Spanish pensioner, etc., —
the meraoranda, on the other hand, makes no reference to
any of these matters, but refers to John Bro-wn's own con
ference with Gardoqui in 1788, his letters to Muter and
McDowell in the same year, and his motives for not making
a public revelation of the overture of Gardoqui ; — which
overture he himself induced Littell to publish that he had
actually disclosed in the November convention.* Leav-

*-The following is the entire evidence of John Brown before the com
mittee referred to, as given in the official report of that committee, and
published by J. M. Street & Co., 1806:
" John Brown deposeth and saith, that he has no personal knowledge i
of the business upon which it is said Mr. Sebastian went to New Or- j
leans in the years 1795-6, or relative to his having at any time received |
a pension from the Government of Spain; that Mr. Sebastian never)
made to him any communication whatever, on those subjects; nor did I
he ever receive any information respecting them from any quarterJ
untu he read certain publications which appeared in the Western Work
since the 4th of July last ; that in, or about, the month of August last
Mr. Innes did make a communication to this deponent relative to th- :
business in which he said Mr. Sebastian had gone to New Orleans ; an( .
also stated some information which he said had been given to him b; ¦
Charles WUkins relative to said pension ; but as the communications

The Spanish Conspiracy. 283
ing the question w^hether John Brown left memoranda in
which he gave a pretended account of his testimony before
that committee, which his own signature to his deposition
proves he never did give, to be adjusted between the
grandfather and the grandson ; and turning from this spec
tacle and all the painful reflections to which it gives rise,
the reader -s\nll be seriously impressed by the fact, that
John Brown so utterly failed to defend himself in any
public speech or writing. In his testimony before the
legislative committee which investigated the charges
against Sebastian, his deposition shows that he made no
reference to the charges brought against himself, which
charges related to the transactions of 1788. For reasons
which were deemed sufficient, he was not made a witness
in the suit of Innes against Street. In the suit of Innes y.
Marshall his loyalty aud integrity were impugned by the
questions of the defendant, and seriously impeached by
the replies of witnesses ; the most damaging assaults made
upon Innes were the proofs of his intimacy with the
writer of the letter to Muter ; — with the man who had the
conference with Gardoqui, and made in the November
then made to this deponent are, as he believes, substantially contained
in the testimony delivered by Mr. Innes to this committee, he deems it
unnecessary to state them ; that he heard Mr. Sebastian had been in
Philadelphia on his return from New Orleans in 1796; but he did not
call on this deponent, then attending Congress in that city ; and he has
heen informed that he did not call on any of the then members of the
Kentucky delegation at that place ; that some time after Mr. Genet ar
rived at Philadelphia, and during the continuance of the war between
France and Spain, he informed this deponent that he had it in contem
plation to raise an army to consist of recruits from Kentucky, Tennes
see, the Creek and other Indian tribes, for the conquest of Louisiana in
behalf of France.
Shortly after he understood from one of the heads of departments
that he was apprised of the project of Genet; that he was absent from
Kentucky from the autumn of 1792, till about August, 1795 ; and, there
fore, has no personal knowledge of the progress of any agent of Genet
in issuing commissions or enlisting men ; but during that time he re
ceived letters from Kentucky containing information on that subject,
and without delay gave extracts from them to the then Secretary of
State, for the information of the President of the United States.
December 1, 1806. J- Brown."

284 The Spanish Conspiracy.
convention the equivocal response to the request for in
formation. Every consideration which could appeal to
one's pride, to one's self respect, to regard for one's own
reputation with future generations, and to the sincerity of
his friendship for Innes, demanded that he should go
upon the witness stand, and there defend his friend by
vindicating himself, if he were innocent, from the charges
published by 'Marshall in the newspapers, recorded by
him on the " during marble of history," and which were
spread by the man whom he hated, even as he feared
hira, upon the records of the courts. Yet he was never
sumraoned, he did not volunteer, and not one public w^ord
did he utter. This silence, which would have been inex
plicable in a man who was conscious of his own innocence,
that the charges against him were calumnious and could
be so shown to be by making known the truth, is suscep
tible of but one logical explanation ; — that to have been
subjected to a cross-examination would have reduced him
to an election between two alternatives, — one of which
was a confession ; and from the other, what he had of con
science made him shrink.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 285

CHAPTER XVII.
The Archives of Spain, France and England all Testify to the
Existence op the Spanish Conspiracy — Evidence of General
St. Clair — Views of Washington — Wilkinson and Brown alone
Named by Colonel Marshall, who did not Mention Innes in
his Letter op February 12, 1789 — Fallacies Eesorted to by
Brown, Innes and Wallace in their Own Defense — Wilkin
son's Interpretation of the Appointment of Innes — Opinions op
Washington and Hamilton op Wilkinson — Out of the Army
He was Dangerous — Policy Dictated that it should be made
His Interest to be Loyal.
The movement to separate Kentucky from the United
States and either to subject her people to, or place them
under, the protection of Spain, was made known to the
French minister to the United States, and was by him
1 communicated to his court. Similar intelligence was con
veyed to Lord Dorchester, then the governor of Canada,
who promptly forwarded it to the Court of St. James.
The details are even now among the Spanish archives in
Madrid. It is unnecessary to recapitulate the evidence
from various sources which unerringly demonstrates, that
the construction placed upon the memorial and utterances
of Wilkinson, upon the letters and speech of John Brown,
as well as upon the actions of their associates, by Colonel
Marshall, which was also placed upon them by Allen,
French, Muter, Crockett and others, at the time, was not
the result of prejudice, but was eminently just. What
ever may have been the detestation felt by Humphrey
.Marshall for these men on personal grounds, the interpre
tation he placed upon their conduct in his History, in
after years, was fully sustained by the pro'of ; was but the
repetition of official dispatches to three European powers,
and of the views expressed in regard to them by well in
formed and unbiased men at the time those events occurred.
Out of the abundance of proof which establishes that the

286 The Spanish Conspiracy.
opinions of important contemporaries confirmed those
afterwards expressed by the historian, the testimony ob
tained from the letters of the gallant General St. Clair is
produced. Under date of December 5, 1788, St. Clair,
w^ho was then governor of the North-AVestern Territory,
wrote to Alajor Isaac Dunn, — Wilkinson's partner and
confederate :
" Dear Dunn :— I am much grieved to hear that there are strong dis
positions on the part of the people of Kentucky to break off their con
nection with the United States, and that our friend WUkinson is at the
head of this affair. Such a consummation would involve the United
States in the greatest difficulties, and would completely ruin this coun
try. Should there be any foundation for these reports, for God's sake,
make use of your influence to detach Wilkinson from that party." -*
This letter was sent by Dunn to Wilkinson, and a copy
thereof was forwarded by Wilkinson to Aliro, as "the
proof that the part which I play in our great enterprise,
and the dangers to -which I ara exposed for the service of
his Catholic Alajesty, are known." On the 13th of De
cember, 1788, St. Clair w^rote to John Jay, that, " it is
certain that, in the last convention, a proposal was made
that the district of Kentucky should set up for itself, not
only independent of Virginia, but of the United States
also, and was rejected by a small majority only." This
was the construction given at the time to the intended
effect of the resolution of John Brown. Had the reso
lution and address offered by Edwards been defeated, and
had that of John Brown and the policy to which its
author was committed by his assurances to Gardoqui pre
vailed, then the result would have followed from which,
according to St. Clair, so narrow an escape was made.
The most forcible arguraent used in the Littell pam
phlet, and which is dutifully repeated by Colonel Brown,
is founded on the aUeged confidence reposed in these men
by the illustrious Washington; — from which, they con-'
tend, it results that the Sage of Mt. Vernon discovered no
criminality in the memorials, letters, speeches, acts and
movements which were communicated to him by Colonel
Alarshall ; — and, conceding he credited Colonel Marshall's
-* Gayarre, page 240.

\ The Spanish Conspiracy. 287
statement of facts, that he altogether rejected Colonel
Marshall's couclusions, or that any unfavorable impression
he may for a time have had was speedily removed by
Colonel Alarshall's own retraction. That General Wash
ington was " greatly alarmed at the nature of the trausac-
tions mentioned " in Colonel Marshall's letter of Febru
ary 12, 1789, is clear from his own response. But, say the
champions of the conspirators, in the face of that letter,
General Washington in a few months thereafter appointed
Hary Innes, Judge of the District Court for Kentucky.
It happened, howfever, that Colonel Marshall had made no
charge against Innes, nor so much as mentioned his name
in the letter referred to ; — a fact of which Judge Innes,
himself. Brown, and Wallace were fully aware when
they caused this disingenuous defense to be made ; for the
letter itself had been pubUshed before the Littell pamphlet
was written. The moderation and circumspection with
which that letter dealt with Wilkinson and Brown (whom
alone it designated), concisely stating the facts of their
dealings with the Spaniards as they appeared from their
own writings and declarations, and very briefiy giving his
owm just conclusions therefrom, can not fail to attract the
attention of the reader. Whatever he may have thought
of Innes as their friend and confederate. Colonel Mar
shall's opinions concerning him were not stated in that nor
in any other letter he ever wrote to AVashington. * As
the superintendent of mines during the revolution, in
which capacity his services had been valuable, Innes had
been known, by reputation at least, to Washington. His
elder brother. Dr. Robert Innes, a surgeon in the revolu
tion and a man of high character, had married the daugh
ter of Washington's intimate friend and near kinsman,
the elder Warner Lewis, of Warner Hall. His younger
brother, James Innes, whose talents were as brilliant as

-*The letter of September 7, 1792, mentions Innes among the ap
pointees of Shelby, " some of whom " he had " formerly offended." It
does not specify Innes as one of those he had offended, nor make any
charge against him. That letter was written three years after Innes
was appointed by Washington.

288 The Spanish Conspiracy.
his body was immense, had been the brave colonel of a
Virginia regiment, and had but recently rendered invalu
able service in the Virginia convention by advocating the
ratification of the constitution, which gave scope for and
an incentive to an eloquence, which in its magnificance
was scarcely surpassed by that of the gifted Henry. The
family was in the highest degree reputable. Hary Innes
himself was a man of good private morals and of respect
able legal attainments, and had for years been identified
with and prominent in the affairs of the district. With
out information from Colonel Alarshall, or, so far as
known, from any one else, of his implication with Wilkin
son, there were but few- men in the district, to whom Wash
ington would more naturally have looked as a suitable
person for the position than the one he appointed ; and
the others did not desire the place. *
Aluch stress has also been placed upon the circumstance,
that, in 1791, Washington appointed Innes and Brown, in
conjunction with Isaac Shelby, General Charles Scott and
Benjamin Logan, comraissioners to organize the militia of
the district for an off"ensive movement against the Indians
-* The construction placed by Wilkinson upon Washington's motive
in making this appointment appears ih his letter to Miro, of January 26,
1790. As it is amusing as well as instructive, the passage is here quoted
from Gayarre, page 278, viz :
" On my arrival here, I discovered a great change in those who had
been so far our warmest friends. Many, who loudly repudiated all con
nection with the Union, now remain silent. I attribute this, either to
the hope of promotion or to the fear of punishment. According to my
prognostic, AVashington has begun to operate on the chief heads of this
district. Innes has been appointed a federal judge with an annual sal
ary of one thousand dollars ; George Nicholas, district attorney ; Samuel
IMcDowell, son of the president of the convention, and jMarshall, have
been appointed to offices somewhat resembling that of Alguazil Jlayor;
and Payton Short, the brother of our charge d'affaires at Versailles, is
made a custom-house officer. But he has resigned, and probably will
visit you in the spring. I do not place much reliance on George Nicho
las and Samuel ilcDowell. Bui I knovj that Harry Innes is friendly to
Spain and hostile to (.'ongress, and I am at-ithorlzed to say that he would much
prefer receiving a pension from New Orleans ihan from New York. Should
the king approve our design on this point, it wUl have to be broached,
with much delicacy, caution and judgment," etc.

' The Spanish Conspiracy, 289
of the North-west. But, at this time, he had been in-
:brmed by the letter of Marshall of the " good disposition
of the great majority of the people of Kentucky " towards
the general government, and that little was then to be ap- -
prehended from the " machinations of the Spanish party."
Brown was the Congressman from the district ; he had
been active in urgiug the measure ; and he was capable of
being useful in the organization of the expedition. The
eminently wise and practical Washington was anxiously
laboring to conciliate all the factions and make it their
interest to support the new government ; and, safely sand
wiched between Scott, Shelby and old Ben. Logan, there
was not a particle of danger that Brown or any one else
could turn over to the Spaniards the force raised for ser
vice against the red men, even had he desired to do so
never so earnestly. It will be seen there were abundant
reasons for giving Brown the place he sought without at
tributing it to the slightest confidence reposed in him by
Washington. Theu Wilkinson was appointed to a Lieutenant Col
onelcy by Washington in the fall of 1791, and by success
ive promotions reached the head of the army; and it is
stoutly asserted that he could never have received this
appointment had a vestige of the suspicion engendered by
Colonel MarshaU's letter remained upon the mind of the
President. That Wilkinson was as guilty and as base as
Colonel Marshall believed him to have been, as unscrupu
lous a traitor and as false and corrupt a scoundrel as
Humphrey Marshall, or Clark, or Power, or Adair, or
Randolph ever charged him with having been, no one
who reads his letters to Miro and Gardoqui can for one
moment doubt. But that does not affect the question of
what Washington thought of him at the time. However,
from the correspondence between Alexander Hamilton
aud Washington a few years later, on tbe subject of Wil
kinson's promotion, may be gathered their appreciative
knowledge of his character, their suspicions of his treach
ery in this very Spanish business, and the principles upon
which Washington sometimes felt compelled to act in
19

290 The Spanish Conspiracy.
dealiuff with raen like Brown and AVilkinson. Unwcl-
corae as the revelation may be to those who fail to realize
the embarrassments under which the clear sighted, pure
and patriotic sometimes thought it prudent to seem to
trust the deceitful and treacherous, it nevertheless effectu
ally disposes of all this flimsy superstructure built upon a
quicksand :
The insolence and continued outrages of the French
Revolutionary government, compelled President John
Adams, in 1799, to prepare for war. Congress authorized
the enlistment often thousand men as a provisional army.
General AVashington was appointed Commander-in-Chief
and Alexander Hamilton, Inspector General, to be second
in command to Washington. These two able men were
busily occupied in the details of recruiting and organizing
the new army. While those labors were in progress,
Hamilton, under date of June 15, 1799, wrote to Wash
ington a letter from which the foUowing is an extract, viz :
" I have just received a letter from General Wilkinson, dated the llith
of April, in which he assures me that he will set out in the ensuing
month for the seat of government. The interview with him will be
useful. It strikes me forcibly, that it will be both right and expedient
to advance this gentleman to the grade of a Alajor General. He has
been long steadily in service, and long a Brigadier. This, in so consid
erable an extension of the military establishment, gives him a preten
sion to promotion. I am aware thai some doubts have been entertained of
him, and ihat his character, on certain sides, gives room for doubts. Yet he ia
at present in the service ; is a man of more than ordinary talent, cour
age and enterprise ; has discovered upon various occasions a good zeal ;
has embraced military pjursuits as a profession, and will naturally find his in
terest as an ambitious man, in, deserving tlie favor of the government, while
lie will be apt to he become disgusted if neglected, and through disgust may
be rendered really what he is now only suspected to be. Under such cir
cumstances it seems to me good policy to avoid all just ground of dis
content, and to make it the interest of ihe individual to practice his duty. If
you should be also of this opinion, I submit to your consideration
whether it would not be advisable to express it in a private letter to the
Secretary of War."
From Washington's answer to this letter the foUowing
extract is taken :
"I think, with you, that policy dictates the expediency of promoting Brigadier
Wilkinson to the rank of Major General, and will suggest ihe measure to the
Secretary of War in a private communication. It would feed his ambition,

The Spanish Conspiracy. 291
mothe his vanity, and, by arresting discontent, produce the good eff'ect you con
template." *
It is mortifying to reflect that the same views of policy
have, in this and in all other countries, in all ages, fre
quently influenced the greatest and best men who have
been charged with the conduct of public affairs. But,
whatever may be thought of the wisdom of thus promot
ing a man known to be untrustworthy and treacherous, in
order to buy his fldelity, there can be no question that, in
point of fact, Washington had no confidence in the integ
rity of Wilkinson, and that his appointment by Washing
ton to a command in the army did not prove either that the
latter discredited the statements of facts or the conclusions
of Colonel Marshall, or that he did not esteem the con
duct of Wilkinson and Brown as highly culpable. Wilk
inson hiraself was aware that he was distrusted by Wash
ington, and was closely watched by the able, gallant and
loyal Wayne.
* Sparks, Vol. XI, page 438-40.

292 The Spanish Conspiracy.

CHAPTER XVIII.
British Intrigues in Kentucky — Madison's Letter to Jefferson
Shows British Partisans to Have Been at Work Prior to Its
Date in the Spring of 1787 — Their Approach to Wilkinson
Proved by His Memorial and His Letter to Gardoqui — Thk
Spanish Minister has Information of British Intrigues Prior to
July, 1788' — The Editor of the Western World has Information
of Wilkinson's Intrigue with the British and Mentions Wu^
kinson's Report — Dorchester's Dispatch — It Eepers Unmistak
ably TO THE Spanish Conspirators as Ready to Unite with
Britain — The "Desultory Reflexions of a Gentleman of Ken
tucky" Really the "Report" of Wilkinson Mentioned by the
Western World — Similarity of its Language to that of Wilkin
son's Letters to Miro — The Visit of Connolly to Colonel Mar
shall — He Meets with a Cool Reception — More op Colonel
Brown's Suppressions — More of His Inventions — Transfers tub
" Reflexions" prom a Known Traitor to a Tried Patriot — Vindi
cates the Law of Heredity — Misrepresents A. K. Marshall's
Communication — That Ccmmunication Reputes his Statement —
The Pyramid He Erected and the Foundation He Laid — Credit
Given Him for One Correct Statement.
All circumstances combine to prove, that, from" a time
commencing soon after the close of the Revolution, there
were in Kentucky, in Tennessee, and in other sections of
the West, emissaries of Great Britain, who used exertions
to disatfect the people towards the Congress and the East,
to the end that there might be brought about a separa
tion of the AVest frora the United States. The letter of
Thomas Green to the Governor of Georgia, and the cir
cular distributed throughout the West, in December,
1786, and which stated that, " Great Britain stands ready
with open arms to receive and support us. They have al
ready offered to open their resources for our suppUes:"
are links in the chain of evidence by which the fact is es
tablished. In corroboration of the statement in this cir
cular, Mr. Madison wrote to Jefferson, on the 19th of
March, 1787: "It is hinted to me that British partisans

The Spanish Conspiracy: 293
are already feeling the pulse of some of the western set
tlements ;" and the " measures for uniting their consulta
tions" in the West, of which Mr. Madison had informa
tion, and some of the developments of which may be read
in the circular letter from Western Pennsylvania, and in
the call of March 19, 1787, seem much like a movement
in the direction of what Mr. Madison anticipated as the
ultimate result of those measures. Wilkinson also, in
his memorial to the Intendant of Louisiana, asserted that,
if Spain was so blind to her own interest as to reject
the proposition made to her by a people whom he de
scribed as on the point of separating from the Union
forever, " Great Britain stands ready, with her arms ex
panded, willing to receive and co-operate with them in
their desire to open the navigation of the Mississippi;"
and, to enforce what he had written, repeated a conver
sation he had had with a British member of Parliament
on the subject. ' To Gardoqui, in a letter dated January
1, 1789, he wrote that, in case his intended propositions to
Spain had been rejected by Navarro aind Miro, it had been
his purpose " to open negotiations with Great Britain, which
had been already active in the matter."* This shows
that, prior to his visit to New Orleans, in June, 1787, he
had already been in consultation and correspondence with
British authorities in reference to the separation of Ken
tucky from the United States and an alliance with Great
Britain, and was one of the persons who had been ap
proached by British partisans, as had been hinted to Mad
ison. Gardoqui's dispatch mentions those British in
trigues. In one of the articles published in the Western World,
and which was reproduced in the Lexington Gazette, of
July 12, 1806, it w^as stated that Wilkinson had been ap
proached by these " British partisans " and had made a
written report encouraging their hopes; that the Courts of
both Madrid and Paris were looking to a separation of
Kentucky from the Union, and were eager to use her an-

*Gayarre, page 249.

294 The Spanish Conspiracy.
ticipated action for their own advancement. Said the
article : "While Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Canada,
¦was impressed with a similar view by the ministry of Great
Britain; a copy of Wilkinson's report was transm.itted to
Lord Dorchester, which is probably yet iri that nobleman's
possession; but another manuscript is preserved in the pri
vate library of the Earl of Bute, at his family seat of
Mount Stuart in Scotland." From the connection in
which this statement was made in the Western World, the
present writer infers that the editor intended to be under
stood, that this report was made by Wilkinson prior to his
trip to New Orleans and engagement with Miro. How
ever that may be, the statement was positively made, and
beyond question was not manufactured, but was based
upon information. That Wilkinson had conferred with
British emissaries before his trip to New Orleans, and was
then as ready to negotiate with them as he did with Miro
during that trip, is established by his own writings.
The attention of the reader is now requested to the fol
lowing dispatch from Dorchester to Lord Sydney, viz.:
Quebec, 11th April, 1789.
My Lord: — I am informed the Spanish Government at New Orleans
has, for some time past, observed a very friendly conduct towards tfie
inhabitants of Kentucky.
Special permits have been put into the hands of some of the leading
characters of those settlements for sending down the Mississippi deter
minate quantities of tobacco, which are purchased at New Orleans on
account of the Government, and ten thousand dollars have been issued
from the public treasury there for the purpose of purchasing merchan
dise in Kentucky, which sum has been consigned to gentlemen of that
country, and is actually arrived at the Falls of the Ohio.
The Spanish territories upon the ^Mississippi, between the thirty-first
and thirty-third degrees of north latitude, are erected into a Lieuten
ancy, dependent on New Orleans, a governor has been appointed, and
aU Americans are invited to settle there under flattering offers.
A Monsieur d'Arges, a Knight of the Order of St. Louis, who has been
a resident of Kentucky for near a year, and in the employ of the Span
ish Government, is said to have advised this measure at the Court of
Madrid, where he has had several audiences since he left Kentucky.
On the west side of the Mississippi, opposite the mouth of the Ohio,
another Spanish settlement is intended with similar views, under the
agency of a Mr. Morgan, formerly a merchant at Philadelphia, who is
now upon the Ohio.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 295
Notwithstanding the favorable answer given by Congress to the de
mand of Kentucky to be admitted a sovereign State in the Union, the
people of that country have lately discovered a strong inclination to an
entire separation, and some of their leading men have entered into cor
respondence with the Spanish Government at New Orleans.
Their apprehension that Congress will consent to give up the naviga
tion of the Mississippi for twenty-five years is one of the reasons which
induces them to listen to the overtures of Spain.
In a late convention, held at Danville, it has been proposed by those
who are gained over to the Spanish views to throw themselves under
the protection of that power.
But the general result of more private councils among them is said to
be to declare independence of the Federal Union, take possession of
New Orleans and look to Great Britain for such assistance as might
enable them to accomplish these designs.
A committee of private correspondence has been appointed by them to
infiueQce all the inhabitants west of the mountains in the same measure.
I inclose some of their political reflexions on the state of affairs in the
western country.
A new American settlement is now forming at the mouth of the Great
Miami, on the north side of the Ohio, conducted by a Mr. Symmes, a
late member of Congress, and covered by a garrison of one hundred
and fifty Continental troops.
I am, with much respect and esteem, your Lordship's most obedient
and most humble servant, Dorchester.
The Right Hon'ble Lord Sydney.*
The reader will observe from the entire tenor of this
dispatch, that Dorchester's expectations and hopes rested
entirely upon those who were dissatisfied with the Union,
who had but recently made an effort to withdraw from
it, and who were balancing, as he supposed, between
an alliance with Spain to obtain from her the navigation
of the Mississippi; and one with Great Britain, and, with
the aid of the latter power, to drive out the Spanish and
take possession of New Orleans. In the November con
vention, he says, " it has been proposed by those who are
gained over to the Spanish views to throw themselves
under the protection of that power. But the general vq-
svXt of more private councils di'enoi-^g them, is said to be to
declare independence of the Federal Union, take, posses
sion of New Orleans, and look to Britain," etc. The an-

*-The above dispatch is copied frora the Canadian archives, published
in 1890.

296 The Spanish Conspiracy.
tecedent to which the pronoun " them " in the last sentence
refers is manifestly the pronoun " those" in the iraraedi
ately preceding sentence. " Those who are gained, over to
the views of Spain " had taken position accordingly in the
convention ; but afterwards, the " result of more private
councils ctmong them" (or " those who are gained, over to
the views of Spain ") is represented to be to look to Great
Britain instead of to Spain. The language of Dorchester is
fairly susceptible of no other construction than the mean
ing plainly conveyed by its context. It could have had
no reference to the men whose attachment to the Union
in resisting Spanish designs in the Noveraber convention
had been so recently and so bravely raanifested. It re
ferred to Wilkinson and his coterie. The following are
" their political reflexions on the state of affairs in the
western country," referred to by Dorchester, and -v\'hich
he inclosed to Lord Sydney, viz :
Desultory Reflexions by a Gentleman of Kentucky.
1. The River Mississippi being the channel by which the Western
settlements of America must export their products, we may form a just
estimate of the importance of this channel by casting our eyes over a
map comprehending that vast and luxuriant Country watered by its
branches. 2. As the balance inclines the beam, the Atlantic States of America
must sink as the Western settlements rise. Nature has interposed ob
stacles and established barriers between these regions which forbid their
connexion on principles of reciprocal interests, and the flimsy texture
of republican government is insufficient to hold in the same political
bonds a people detached and scattered over such an expanse of territory,
whose views and interests are discordant.
3. Thus local causes, irresistible in their nature, must produce a se
cession of the Western settlements from the Atlantic States, and the
period is not very distant. But these people must for ages continue ag
ricultural ; of consequence foreign protection will be expedient to their
happiness, and this protection must necessarily comprehend the right of
navigating the Mississippi, with a marine to protect its commerce. That
power which commands the navigation of the Mississippi as completely
commands the whole country traversed by its waters as the key does
the lock, the citadel the out-works.
4. The Politics of the Western Country are verging fast to a crisis,
and must speedily eventuate in an appeal to the patronage of- Spain or
Britain. No interruption can be apprehended from Congress ; the sedi
tious temper and jarring interests of the Atlantic States forbid general

The Spanish Conspiracy. 297
arrangements for the public good, and must involve a degree of imbecil
ity, distraction, and capricious policy which a high-toned monarchy can
alone remedy ; but the revolutions and changes necessary to reconcile
the people to such a government must involve much delay. Great
Britain ought to prepare for the occasion, and she should employ the
interval in forming confidential connexions with men of enterprize,
capacity, and popular influence resident on the Western Waters.
' [Indorsed : In Lord Dorchester's to Lord Sydney, No. 107, of the 11th
AprU, 1789.] »
The pronouns "those," "them" and "their," eraployed
by Dorchester in four co^isecutive sentences of the dis
patch which refer to the above paper, all used in the
same immediate connection, unmistakably relate to the
same party. There was no other party than the one
which had " lately discovered a strong inclination to an-entire
separation, and some of whose leading men have entered into
correspondence with the Spanish government at New Orleans " —
the party led by Wilkinson, Brown, Sebastian and Innes,
— mentioned in the dispatch, nor any other to whom Dor
chester's words could possibly have had reference. To the
writer the paper appears, on its face, to have been written
before the engagement of AVilkinson with Miro and prior
to the overture of Gardoqui which John Brown proraised
to " aid ; " — because it speaks of " an appeal to the patron
age of Spain or Britain " as something in the future —
that " must speedily eveutuate." This impression is
strengthened by the fact, that, although the dispatch of
Dorchester in which it was inclosed is dated in April,
1789, yet both this dispatch and the " reflexions " are
published in the Archives in pages which precede dis
patches of a later date which inclosed papers that were
unquestionably written in 1787. But, whether or not the
writer is correct in this — whether the " reflexions " were
written in 1787, or after the November convention of 1788
— the letter of Dorchester and the " reflexions " themselves
alike show, that they emanated from some one ofthe men
who had disclosed their purpose in the November conven
tion to separate Kentucky from the Union. It is perfectly

* This paper is copied as it is published in " The Political Beginnings:"

298 The Spanish Conspiracy.
clear that it is, in fact, the very " copy of Wilkinson's re
port " which the editor of the Western World had informa
tion had been "transmitted to Dorchester."
There is not an idea advanced, and scarcely an expres
sion us6d, in these " Reflexions of a Gentleraan of Ken
tucky " of which the reader can not find the counterpart,
or one closely resembling it, in Wilkinson's letters to
Miro to be found in Gayarre, and republished frora that
author in Smith's History of Kentucky. The arguments
used in the letters of Wilkinson to the Spaniard are pre
cisely identical with those employed by the " Gentleman
of Kentucky " to operate upon the Briton. But two in
stances of this identity of argument, of thought, and even
of language aud illustration will suffice : In the " Reflex
ions " occurs this sentence : "As the balance inclines the
beam, the Atlantic States of America must sink as the
western settlements rise." In Wilkinson's letter to Miro,
of February 12, 1789, the same idea is presented thus :
*' It is not to be presumed that the eastern states, which at
present have the balance of power in their favor in the
American governraent, will consent to strip themselves of
this advantage, and increase the weight of the southern states
by acknowledging tbe independence of this distriet and
admitting it to be a member of the Federal Union." In
the "Reflexions" the gentleman of Kentucky says:
" That power which commands the navigation of the Missis
sippi as completely commnnds the whole country traversed by its
waters as the key does the lock, the citadel the outworks."
And WUkinson, in his letter to Miro, thus paraphrases
the idea, which undoubtedly was his own : " For, whatever
power shall command that navigation will control allthe coun
try which is watered by that river and by those streams that
fall into it. This control will be as effective and complete as
that of the key upon the lock, or that of the citadel over
the exterior works which it commands." The intelligent
reader -will come to the conclusion that, as Dorchester's
dispatch clearly points to some member of the party
which, as he stated, had proposed in the November con
vention to throw themselves under the protection of Spain,

The Spanish Conspiracy. 299
and had afterwards, as the " result of more private councils,"
concluded to look to Great Britain instead, as having fav
ored him with these " Reflexions," — so the identity of the
sentiments, words and illustrations in those " Reflexions "
with those of Wilkinson's letter to Aliro, prove that arch
traitor to have been the author of both.
The reader will not need to be reminded, that in the
name of John Connolly the patent to a large body of land
covering a great portion of the site of the present city of
Louisville, had been issued in 1773, and that it was confis
cated as the property of a Tory. Professing to have discov
ered some legal flaw in the proceedings which had stripped
him of his possessions, and to have come for the purpose
of having those proceedings set aside and his lands re
stored to him. Dr. Connolly visited Kentucky in the fall
of 1788. While the motives assigned may not have been
entirely deceitful, it seems certain that the most impor
tant, if not the only real, business he had in Kentucky
was to watch the course of the Spanish intrigue, which
was known to have been in progress, and, if practicable,
to create a diversion in favor of King George. He came
from Detroit to the Big Miami, followed that stream to
its mouth, and thence proceeded to Louisville, -where his
friend aud former partner in the ownership of the land
at the Falls, Colonel John CarapbeU, lived. From the let
ter of General Wilkinson to Miro, of February 12, 1789,
it is ascertained that Connolly " arrived in Louisville in
the beginning of October," * 1788, and with this state
ment information derived from other sources fully corre
sponds. There, if WUkinson's account be true, he reraained
during the canvass preceding the election of delegates to
the November convention of that year, and during the
sitting of that convention, securing full inforraation of all
that transpired, and having ample opportunity of consult
ing and communicating with many of the prominent and
influential men of the district. Wilkinson received "im
mediate information " from Dunn of Connolly's presence

* Gayarre, page 235.

300 The Spanish Conspiracy.
at Louisville, " and of the intention which Connolly had
to visit him" (me), for the purpose of detaching him from
the interest of Spain, and of bribing him to enter into the
designs ofthe British ; and Wilkinson invited Connolly to
visit him in Lexington. " Consequently," says WUkinson,
" he came to my house on the Sth of November," 1788. As
tbe letter is printed in Gayarre, the Sth of November is
stated by Wilkinson as the date of Connolly's arrival at
his house; but this is clearly a misprint or else a slip of
Wilkinson's pen for the ISth of Noveraber ; because the
official report of the Noveraber convention shows tbat on
the Sth of November Wilkinson was in Danville, and was
not at his horae in Lexington. He did not leave DanvUle
until after the adjournment of the convention late on the
lOth- of November. That the 18th was intended is the
more certain from Wilkinson's further statement in the
same letter, that, after having "pumped" Connolly, he
succeeded in terrifying hira liy employing a hunter to
make a pretended atterapt upon his life, -which alarmed
ConnoUy"so much, that he begged me to give him an
escort to conduct him out of our territory, -wdiich I readUy
consented to, and on the 2()th of Noveraber, he recrossed
the Ohio on his way back to Detroit." The context of
Wilkinson's letter represents that Connolly's departure
very closely followed his arrival, probably on the very
next morning, which, if it was the 19tb, would have given
time for hira to have reached Maysville, the place where
he crossed the Ohio on his return to Detroit, by the 20th
of the month.*

-* It should be stated in this connection that a copy of a pass said to
have been given by Connolly to a messenger whom he dispatched to
Canada, which was alleged to have been dated at Lexington, December
2, 1788, and was forwarded by Isaac Dunn to General St. Clair, conflicts
with the statement of AVilkinson as to the time when Connolly left Lex
ington. St. Clair's letters later stUl in December show that he supposed
Connolly was yet in Lexington when those letters were written. This
would confirm the statement made in the Western World in 1806, that
ConnoUj' remained in Lexington about three weeks. It is altogether
probable that Wilkinson lied to Miro as to the expedition with which he
got rid of Connolly, and if he lied about that, it could only have been

The Spanish Conspiracy. 30il
It is known that Connolly paid a call at the residence of
Colonel Thomas Marshall before visiting Wilkinson, and
that he went from the house of the former to that of the
latter. After describing the contents of Brown's letter to Muter
and of Wilkinson's Memorial, and relating the conduct of
both in the November convention, in his letter to Wash
ington, Colonel Marshall wrote that "about this time" arrived
from Canada the famous Dr. Connolly ; " his ostensible
business was to inquire after and repossess himself of,
some lands he formerly held at the Falls of the Ohio ; but
I believe his real business was to sound the disposition of
the leading men of this district respecting this Spanish '
business. He knew that both Colonel Muter and myself had
given it all the opposition in convention we were able to do, and
before he left the district, paid us a visit, though neither of us
had the honor of the least acquaintance with him." It is
made certain by this statement of Colonel Marshall that
the visit of Connolly to Muter and himself was after the
convention, in which Connolly " knew " that these two men
had given the " Spanish business" " all the opposition they
were able to do ; " and that it was raade after Connolly had
been in Kentucky for some time and was about to leave
the district. The letter of AVilkinson to Miro, and that
of Colonel Marshall to Washington, were written on the
same day, give the same account of the conduct of Wil
kinson, Brown and their party, and agree as to the titne
when Connolly's visit was made to them. Connolly was
accompanied to Colonel Marshall's by his former partner.
Colonel John Campbell, who introduced hira, and stated
the object of his visit, and who, if not actually favorable
to Connolly's designs, had certainly been communicated
\with and was cognizant thereof. As stated to Colonel
\Marshall by Connolly, the schemes were that, if the Ken
tuckians were disposed to assert their rights to tbe naviga

te disguise the fact that while committed to Spain he was intriguing
with Britain. That he was the " Kentucky Gentleraan " who wrot« the
" Reflexions " is unquestionable.

302 The Spanish Conspiracy.
tion of the Mississippi, Great Britain would furnish them
with arms, ammunition, clothing and money and aid them
with four thousand troops from Canada, besides the two
reo-iments then in Detroit; — with which assistance it was
calculated that the Kentuckians could seize upon New
Orleans, fortify the Balize, and maintain themselves
against Spain. It appears that no condition was annexed
by Connolly, that this aid would be made contingent upon
a separation from the Union by Kentucky; but it -was
plain to Colonel Alarshall that this was implied. "It ap
pears plain to me," he wrote to Washington, "that the
(jfiers of Lord Dorchester, as well as those of Spain, are
founded on the supposition that it is a fact that we are
about to separate from the Union ; else, why are those
oflers not made to Congress ? "
The professions of Connolly, a desire to serve the
district, were so earnest, that, as he wrote to Washington,
Colonel Marshall might have confided to him his appre
hensions from the machinations of Spain ; but from this
he was withheld by his knowledge of the Tory's character
as a perfidious intriguer. He responded to Connolly's
protestations of the friendliness of Lord Dorchester to the
Kentuckians by sarcastically reminding hira of the con
duct of Great Britain during the revolution; indicating
the opinion that, at that very tirae, the Indians were being
stimulated in their attacks upon Kentuckians by the
British ; aud that so long as the savages who perpetrated
"such horrid cruelties upon our defenseless frontiers"
"were received as friends and allies by tbe British at De
troit, it would be impossible" for Kentuckians to " be con
vinced of the sincerity of Lord Dorchester's offers, let his
professions be ever so strong." He concluded by telling
Connolly that those professions of friendship would come
with better grace after Lord Dorchester had " shown his
disapprobation of the ravages of the Indians." Connolly
disclaimed aU responsibility on the part of the British for
those outrages ; but proraised that on his return he would
repeat to Dorchester arguraents he had already made as to
the necessity of interfering to prevent them, and in this

The Spanish Conspiracy. 303
he hoped to succeed. On taking his leave after this dis
couraging conversation, he poUtely requested that Muter
and Marshall would correspond with him, and this t'hey
both consented to do if he would commence the corres
pondence and provide a means of carrying it on. There
was not one word which fell from the lips of Muter or
Marshall to encourage a hope on the part of Connolly that
either could ever be made an accessory to any scheme for
separating Kentucky from the Union, or to one for assail
ing the provinces of Spain while the United States were
at peace with that nation. All his professions of friend
ship and jjroff'ers of assistance were treated by thera as
insincere and deceitful. The reception he met with was so
repellant, that neither ever saw or heard from him after
wards. The correspondence was never commenced.
Colonel John Mason Brown had already placed Muter
and Marshall in the July convention, of -wdiich neither was
a member, in order to have them vote for Ca,leb Wal
lace's and the recommendatory resolutions, wdiich votes
they never gave, and to which resolutions their entire
course proved that both were hostile. To raake it appear
that they gave those alleged votes, vvhich they never cast,
while both were fully aware of the overture of Gardoqui
and of what Brown expected to accomplish, and Caleb
Wallace and Wilkinson tried to effect, by an illegal sepa-
__ration from Virginia and an assumption of independence
and sovereignty. Colonel Brown raade Muter receive
Brown's letter and communicate its contents to Marshall
and Edwards, before or during the July convention ; while
Aiuter, in a published letter, had stated that it was not
received until the foUowing fall. Then, to give color to
his insinuation that they were infiuenced by Connolly to
change their position, and to oppose the efforts of John
Brown, (which he pretended to be for the immediate ad
mission of Kentucky into the Union), in order to favor
the designs of the British agent, he represented the visit
-of ConnoUy to have been made to Colonel Marshall in Octo
ber, 1788, before Muter's address ofthe 15th of that month
had been issued. But Colonel Brown, when he made this

304 The Spanish Conspiracy.
statement, had read, and could scarcely have forgotten,
the letter of Wilkinson to Miro, as well as that of Mar
shall to Washington, both -written on the same day,
while the time of the visit and the conversations were
fresh in the minds of both. He knew from those letters
that the visits of Connolly to Colonel Marshall and to
Wilkinson were made in November, 1788, after the con
vention of that month ; and that prior to those visits he
had passed some time in LouisvUle. The historian, Mar
shall, (page 346), Butler, (page 183), and every other per
son who ever wrote upon the subject, inforraed him that
the visit was made in November.*
Yet, while stating that " Colonel John Connolly made
his way from Detroit to Kentucky, where he arrived in
the beginning of October,"! Qolonel Brown purposely
omitted to mention his visit to and sojourn in Louisville.
He then suppressed what Wilkinson and Alarshall both
wrote of the time at which Connolly's visits were made
to them, which shows that it was in November, and after
the convention ; and says, that " Wilkinson imagined that
the purpose of the visit (to Kentucky) w^as to win over
himself, and met Connolly with a show of friendliness that
drew from him an avowal ofthe British plan;" — thus
striving to produce the impression, that the meeting be
tween Connolly and Wilkinson was upon the " arrival " of
the former in Kentucky, " in the beginning of October"
though all the evidence informed him that it did not take
place until -weeks later. Suppressing that part of Colo
nel Marshall's letter which incontestably establishes that
the visit of Connolly to hira was made after the adjourn
ment of the Danville convention in November, Colonel
Brown asserts, that " it was in February, 1789, that Colonel
Thomas Marshall, in the same letter which intimated his
suspicion that Brown favored separation from the Union

-*Butler not onlj' refers to Connolly's sojourn in Louisville, prior to
going to Fayette, but alludes to the fact that he was threatened by mob
law while in Louisville, quoting Captain Hughes as authority. See
note at bottom of page 184.
tPolitical Beginnings, page 182.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 305
and alliance with Spain, admitted to Washington his own
interview {in October, 1788) with Connolly and the dis
cussion between them, Aluter participating, of an estab
lishment of commercial and military alliance with Eng
land."* Characteristically Colonel Brown then prints
Colonel Marshall's account of the offers made by Con
nolly ; and, of course, omits Colonel Marshall's contemptu
ous rejection of those deceitful protestations of friendship
on the part of Britain.
In a note at the bottom of page 184 of " The Political
Beginnings " its distinguished author says : " The former
acquaintance of Connolly and Thonias Marshall, and the
circumstances of the visit of the former to Marshall's
home in (what is now) Woodford County, are detailed by
A. K. Marshall (son of Thomas) in the Western World
newspaper for 25th of October, 1806, in one of the innu
merable articles filled with charge and countercharge that
were then so fashionable in political controversy. From
this statement it is clear that Connolly made to Thomas
Marshall, in October, 1788, direct overtures for a severance
from the Union and a state organization under British
protection." Colonel Brown had, with the purpose for
which his book was written, the strongest possible motive
for not quoting the communication from A. K. Alarshall to-
which his note referred. That motive is explained by the
fact, that neither the communication in question, nor any
other from A. K. Marshall, nor any from any other mem
ber of that family, contains a solitary word from which the
wUdest imagination could find the slightest foundation for
Colonel Brown's statement, either that a former acquaint
ance had existed between Marshall and Connolly, or that
the visit of the latter was made in October, 1788.f On
*Political Beginnings, page 185.
t The communication referred to was originaUy published in the Lex
ington Gazette, and was republished from that paper in the Western World,
October 25, 1806. There is but one file of the latter paper in existence,
-Which is owned by George D. Todd, of Louisville, which was examined
t)y Colonel Brown, and from that very copy of the paper of that issue
Which Colonel Brown read, the foUowing copy of that portion of the
eaid communication which refers to the visit of Connolly to Colonel
20

306 The Spanish Conspiracy.
the contrary, it distinctly appears from that communica
tion that the visit of Connolly was not made until after
Marshall, was copied by the writer, and is now laid before the reader,
-viz: " But that I see it, I should scarcely believe this fact would be urged
as a stigma on my father. It is true that Colonel Connolly did call at
Buck Pond ; it is also true he made overtures, tending to the separation
of Kentucky from the United States, and used many arguments to in
duce my father to think the measure, and the possession of the Missis
sippi through British influence, would redound to the advantage of the
District ; it is equally true that these overtures were repelled and that
my father immediately communicated with General Washington on the
subject ; and it is also true that the copy of this communication, and
General Washington's answer, are not so far from Frankfort as the city
of Richmond, and if any of the papers on this subject are in the hands
of the Chief Justice, he acquired them with the other papers of Gen
eral Washington, and for a purpose too well known to need remark.
These papers were never kept secret, they were shown to many, but as
the interest in them had been lost, they were deposited with other old
letters, and perhaps would never again have been noticed, but for the
publications which have called them into view. They shall now be
given to the world, and except those letters which will be extorted from
me by Franklin, the editors of the Western World never did derive
any information from me, (for I possessed none) or from my father's
bureau, or as I believe from any member of my family. Yet the
above declaration is not to be understood as extending to occasional re
marks published in that paper, for I believe several pieces have flowed
from the pen of some of my family, who are willing to avow them.
£This qualification had reference to communications over the signature
of " Observer,'' which were known to have been written by Humphrey
Marshall, but which were not written until the latter had himself been
vituperated by the friends of Brown and Sebastian and the connections
of Innes. There followed the above, allusions to Colonel Marshall's
revolutionary services, and to his satisfaction at the adoption of the
Federal Constitution. The communication then continued :]
" In the midst of sensations like these, the best and most virtuous of
the human soul, the project of dismemberment rose like a cloud, to
blot the felicities of his declining days. He opposed the project, and,
aided by a majority of the citizens of Kentucky, lie opposed it with success.
While the irritations of tlmt contest were still fresh in his mind, and tlie lacer
ations of opposition v-ere scarcely healed, Connolly called, and opened to his
viev rttv scenes of turbulence and disqtiiet,
" How far the arts of Colonel Connolly might influence the discon
tented and inflammatory spirits then in Kentucky it was not for my
father to decide ; but devoted to the independence of America in aU its
parts, and abhorring the idea of again becoming subject to a domination
in opposition to which he wasted the mellow autumn of his years, he

The Spanish Conspiracy. 307
Colonel Marshall had successfully opposed the project of dis
memberment, which wa-a disclosed and was so successfully op
posed in the November convention ; and that the visit was
made while the irritation of that contest was still fresh in
Colonel Marshall's mind. As A. K. Marshall, in this very
communication, promised to give to the public the letter
of his father, aud did accompany the communication by a
copy of that letter, which made the same statement, there
was nothing therein from which the inference stated by
Colonel Brown could possibly have been drawn.
And so far from " detailing the former acquaintance of
Connolly and Thomas Marshall," the communication
made.no mention of such an acquaintance ; for there was
none ; and the fact that there was none was stated by
Colonel Marshall himself in the very letter which was fur
nished to the public -with that communication ; and which
statement Colonel Brown suppressed. In a later communi
cation, pubUshed December 4, 1806, A. K. Marshall stated,
as one of the proofs that the family of Colonel Marshall
had not given to the Western World the information upon
which its editorials were based, the fact, that, in one of those
editorials published in the previous June or July, a previous
acquaintance between Connolly and Colonel Marshall had
been asserted, which the family all knew to be untrue
from Colonel Marshall's own letter. * The inevitable in-

informed the head of the government he adored, of the machinations
of her foes — not ... to abuse the presidential ear, by inspiring unworthy
suspicions of any man — not as a smiling pick thank, or a base news
monger, but as a man whose services entitled his representations to re
spect, and whose personal intimacy commanded the executive confi
dence.'' No one can read the above and draw from it any other inference than
that the visit of Connolly was made after Colonel Marshall had success
fully opposed the project of dismemberment, which was in ihe November con
vention. The fact that but a single copy of the paper referred to by him
as containing this communication is in existence, made Colonel Brown
suppose himself secure from detection.
-¦The foUowing is the statement of A. K. MarshaU referred to, viz:
" The letters which were promised have been furnished, and the time
when, and the reasons why they were furnished was explained in one
of my last. If we had shown those letters, as the man supposes, before

308 The Spanish Conspiracy.
felicity which marks aU of Colonel Brown's performances
in the " Political Beginnings" is in nothing made more
conspicuous than in his attempt, by this gross misstate
ment of Alexander K. Alarshall's communication, to slur
the dead father by misrepresenting the testimony of the
dead son. It is wonderful to see what a superstructure
the talented author reared upon the foundation he laid in
his unfounded stateraent that, as members of the July con
vention. Muter and Marshall had voted for the Wallace
and the recommendatory resolutions. Like the Arabian
impostor, he seems to have determined to storm the un
derstandings of his readers by the boldness of his leading
fictions ; so that -when once the gates of suspicion against
Marshall were forced open, entrance for all future fallacies
and raisstatements would be made secure.
That Colonel Brown understood the statements of Col
onel MarshaU and Wilkinson as to the tirae when Con
nolly's visit was raade, and that he comprehended how
completely they refuted his own, is made plain by their
careful exclusion from his " Political Beginnings." Col
onel Brown says, that " it is not to be asserted that Mar
shall agreed " to the alleged overtures of Connolly, and
that " every presumption is to the contrary." But had he
not taken such extraordinary pains to conceal from his
readers what Colonel Marshall had actually said to Con-
noUy, as detailed in the letter to Washington, he would
have saved himself the trouble of this misleading ad
mission ; that Marshall did not " agree " would not have
been left to a mere " presumption ; " but his readers would
have been furnished with conclusive evidence that Mar
shall treated the professions of friendship to Kentucky
and the profiers made by Connolly with the contempt they
merited. The candid reader has not failed to mark the systematic
the establishment of the paper, would the editors have stated they were
in Richmond, or would they have stated an acquaintance between my
father and Colonel ConnoUy, when the letter expressly denies such an ac
quaintance ? "

The Spanish Conspiracy. 309
plan which appears in all Colonel Brown's suppressions,
nor the deliberate purpose which is apparent in all his in
accuracies ; and he has detected the motive of the talented
author for concealing the proof that Connolly's visit was
made in November, and for incorrectly asserting that it
was made in October and before Muter's address was
issued ; — that it was to lay the basis of his insinuation that
the resistance offered by Marshall and Muter to the
schemes of Wilkinson and Brown was prompted by Con
nolly. His attention is now drawn to an additional object
of all this suppression of facts, of these misstatements of
the evidence, and of these painfully manufactured inac
curacies. On page 202 of his peculiar book. Colonel
Brown reveals himself and his purpose still more clearly.
Alluding to the adjournment of the November convention,
. he_ there says :
" The parting of its members was not the kindly one of the preceding
July. Angry taunts of inconsistency had been made against Judge
Muter 'and Colonel Marshall. In turn they branded those who differed
from them as traitors. The visit of Connolly to Marshall was suggested to he
a British intrigue, and with equal heat the conversation of Brown with Gardo
qui was declared to he a Spanish conspiracy. Colonel Marsliall went so far as
I to write to Washington (12th February, 1789), detailing what had occurred in
\the convention, and giving his version of what Brown had there said."
I'hat is, that Colonel Marshall's charges against Wilkin
son and Brown .were simply recriminatory, in retort for
accusations they had preferred against him ; and that it
was under the infiuence of the irritation of the crimina
tion of himself that Colonel Marshall wrote his letter tp
Washington ! It was to prepare the way for this manu
factured scene' — for these pretended " taunts of inconsis
tency " — for this grand climax — that Colonel Brown made
Muter and Alarshall members of the July convention, of
which he was informed by two letters of Muter that he
was not a member, and by Humphrey Marshall that neither
Muter nor Marshall -was a member; and that he forced
them to vote for the resolution of Wilkinson and WaUace,
in spite not only of this proof that neither was a member
of that convention, but of Greenup's deposition, which he
had read, that he had heard both declare their hostiUty to

310 The Spanish Conspiracy.
that resolution. It was to lay the foundation for his state
ment that Colonel Alarshall's charges against Wilkinson,
Brown and their faction, at the adjournment of the No
vember convention, was simply in retaliation for the " sug
gestion that the visit of Connolly " to himself " was a
British intrigue," that the talented author of the " Politi
cal Beginnings" resorted to the bold devices of affirming
that visit to have been in October, and of giving the com
munication of A. K. Alarshall, as published in a paper of
which there is but one copy in the world, as his authority
for that statement ; — when he knew positively, that it ap
peared as distinctly from the coramunication of the latter,
that the visit was not made until after the adjournment of
the November convention, as the same fact appeared in
the letters of both Wilkinson and Marshall, which he sup
presses, and in all the written histories referring to the
subject. The scene described by Colonel Brown never
occurred. It is purely a creation by the talented author.
Neither Muter nor Marshall had ever seen Connolly until
a few days after the adjournment, and no suggestion could
possibly have been made at that time, that a visit which
had not been made was a British intrigue. Not one of
these men ever made such a suggestion to Colonel Mar
shall as that ascribed to them by Colonel Brown. It is
true, however, that " alienations there .took place, for
which time offered no change, nor refiection any relaxa-.
tion." Colonel Marshall made to the faces of these menf
in plain terms the charges which he but guardedly con-j
veyed to General Washington. He was at no pains tc
hide the indignation which fiashed from his eye nor the
bitter scorn which curled his Up; that they hated him]
because they knew he understood them, is true, and that
Brown, at least, transmitted his rancor is evident from the
vindictive aspersions heaped upon AlarshaU in the "Begin
nings." Colonel Brown is at special pains to impress upon his
readers the fact, that Colonel Alarshall did not -ivrite to
Washington the details of Connolly's visit until the 12th
of February, 1789, and cleariy implies that the delay was

The Spanish Conspiracy. 311
with an object. He deemed it unnecessary to suggest,
that there were no mail facilities, and that no chance oppor
tunity of forwarding a communication might have earlier
presented itself. Nor does it seem to have occurred to the
ingenuous author, that the letter was written immediately
after the popular elections were held which called Wash
ington to the Presidency, three weeks before the Electoral
Colleges had voted, and two months before his inauguration;
— until which event there was no practical object to be ac
complished by placing Washington in possession of the
information, as, prior to his induction into the Presidency, ,
he was charged with no duty and possessed no power in
relation to the subject of the communication. Colonel
Brown thinks it a matter of importance that Hary Innes
wrote to Washington of Connolly's visit to Kentucky as
early as the 18th of December, 1788 ; and contrasts his
promptitude with the delay of Colonel MarshaU ; and, on
page 211, he intimates that in that letter Innes charged
Colonel Marshall with being impUcated in an intrigue
with Connolly.
The reader who has the interest to turn to Sparks, Vol.
IX., page 474, will see that no reference whatever to Colo
nel Marshall was made by Innes in that letter, which did
not apply to Marshall any more than it did to Innes'
friend. General Charles Scott, who was also visited and
conferred with by Connolly.
But there was a marked contrast between the conduct
of Marshall and Innes, which Colonel Brown must have
noted, but upon which he did not deem it expedient to
dwell : While Marshall stated to Washington not only the
machinations of the Spaniards, as evidenced by the memo
rial of Wilkinson, the letters of Brown, and the speeches
and conduct of both, but also and as fully the details of
Connolly's remarks to Muter and himself, as equally show
ing the critical condition of affairs in the district, when
both Spaniard and Briton assumed, as a foregone conclu
sion, that Kentucky was on the point of separating from
the Union ; — Innes, who, since the previous February, had
known from Wilkinson all about his engagement with

312 2'he Spanish Conspiracy.
Miro, who was informed of Gardoqui's proposition to
John Brown, who had heard Wilkinson's memorial read
and listened to John Brown's speech in the November
convention, and wdio had, in the July, as well as in the
November convention, co-operated with them in their ef
forts to precipitate the district into the initial step of the
programme ; — Innes wrote to Washington of the " abhor-
ence and detestation " he had " for a British connexion,"
and that the conduct of Connolly had " alarmed his fears,"
but did not write one word of the Spanish machinations
with his friends, AVilkinson and Brown ! To the unbiased
reader, however, this marked contrast in the conduct of
the two men, one of whora had nothing, and the other
much, to conceal, will appear vastly more significant than
that one wrote in December, 1788, and the other in Feb
ruary, 1789.
It suited the purpose of Colonel Brown to ignore all the
abundant evidence, that for years there had been British
emissaries in Kentucky, and that a disposition had existed
on the part of some to seek a British alliance ; to refer to
the effect of Connolly's visit exclusively as turning " a few
minds to the contemplation of an English protectorate ;"
and then to endeavor to make it appear, that one of those
minds was that of Colonel MarshaU, and, as the reader
has seen, to covertly attribute to that influence the resist
ance made by Colonel Marshall to the schemes of Wilkin
son and Brown. Pursuing this line of insinuation the tal
ented author flshes from the Canadian archives the dis
patch of Dorchester and the " Reflexions of a Gentleman
from Kentucky," which appear on a previous page, and
parading the latter as if it were a bran new discovery, in
stead of being the "report of Wilkinson," the existence of
which was known to, and was, with the name of its au
thor, stated by, the editor of the Western World in 1806,
enters into a labored argument to show that it had
emanated from Colonel Marshall. True, Colonel Brown
had, on page 184, stated that "it is not to be asserted that
Marshall 'agreed' to Connolly's proposition; every pre
sumption is to the contrary. Nothing in his history war-

The Spanish Conspiracy. 313
rants a suspicion ofhis devotion to American nationaUty."
But, to so remarkable an author, neither his own state
ment, nor the unquestionable fact that was thus affirmed,
interposed the slightest obstacle to the insinuation and
argument he proceeds to make on page 188, that, not
only had Colonel Marshall " agreed " with Connolly, but
that he had actuall}^ written a solicitation to the British
Government to extend her protection over Kentucky, and
to " form confldential connexions with men of enterprise,
capacity and popular influence resident on the western
waters ;" — (that is, in plain terms, to bribe him, as Miro
bribed John Brown's friends, Wilkinson and Sebastian,
and, perhaps, others of the conspirators) ; — which is unlike
any thing which ever proceeded from the pen or mouth of
Colonel Marshall, but finds its counterpart in the boasts, in
the hints and in the importunities which Wilkinson wrote
to the Intendant.* It is immaterial whether, by a critical
examination of Dorchester's language. Colonel Brown had
discerned that the men to whose "more private councils"
Dorchester referred, were " those " who had in the late con
vention proposed " to throw themselves under the protec
tion " of Spain, and that the paper he sets such store by
was " their Reflexions," and not those of any of the devoted
friends of the Union. Nor is it important whether, by a
comparison of the language and ideas of the " Reflex
ions " with those of Wilkinson's letters to Miro, he had
detected the author of both in his grandfather's friend and
leader. It is of some consequence, however, that his own
conviction that Colonel Marshall was not one of the men
included in those " more private councils," nor the author
of the base paper he attributes to him, is plainly demon
strated by the remarkable care Colonel Brown took to

*In his letter to Miro, of July 14, 1789, Wilkinson wrote, complaining
of the indulgence shown by Gardoqui in his efiorts to promote emi
gration to, and settlement in, Louisiana, viz.: " He gives passports to
everybody, and instead of forming connections with men of influence in this
district, who should he interested in favoring his designs, he negotiates with
individuals who live in the Atlantic States, who, therefore, have no
knowledge of this section of the country, and have no interest in it."

314 The .Spanish Conspiracy.
strike out from the middle of the passage he quoted from
Colonel Marshall's letter to Washington, Alarshall's state
ment of the decisive and contemptuous manner with which
he treated the Tory's communications.
FoUo-^ving the line of misrepresentation which he had
systematized. Colonel Brown says : " It is well established
that Connolly conferred with no more than four men of
importance in Kentucky, General Jaraes Wilkinson, Gen
eral Charles Scott, Colonel Thomas Alarshall and Judge
George Muter. The mind naturally turns to one of them
as the author " of the paper which no one who was not
thoroughly and infamously a traitor at heart could or
would have written. Scott is then dismissed from consid
eration because of his literary incapacity. His grand
father's friend, Wilkinson, is then eliminated, as if an
algebraic zero, on the ground of the dissimilarity between
his style and that of the " Reflexions," — of the sufficiency of
which the reader, who has noted the identity between the
ideas and expressions in the " Reflexions " and those used
by Wilkinson, can judge. And for the further reason that
Wilkinson was already committed to Spain; — the force
of which the reader, who knows how Wilkinson, when
the commander-in-chief of the United States army, in
trigued with Burr to invade Mexico, and at the same time
demanded money from Spain as the price of thwarting
Burr, — W'Caring the uniform of an American major-gen
eral, and at the sarae time receiving a pension from Spain
for his services in attempting to dismember the Union, —
can estiraate at its proper value. Having thus disposed of
Scott and Wilkinson, the talented author continues :
" There is left the unpleasant suggestion that Thomas Alar
shaU or George Aluter -w^as its author." Afterwards, poor
old Muter is dropped as weak and unstable, and the paper
is assumed to have been written, and either delivered or
forwarded to Connolly, by Colonel Alarshall; — who, to
have become the author of the paper thus wantonly and
maliciously attributed to him, would have found it neces
sary to have suddenly transformed his own nature from
that of the loyal, patriotic soldier, and the bold, frank

The Spanish Conspiracy. 315
man he had been for nearly three score years, to that of a
sly knave and a sneaking traitor, whose heart was false and
whose pen dripped lies. For there can be no question but
that, if the same man who wrote the letter addressed by
Colonel Marshall to Washingtou also wrote that paper,
then that man added the meanness of a base liar to the
guilt of a secret conspirator.
If it be charitably assumed that Colonel Brown was
really ignorant that the "Reflexions" were written by
Wilkinson, as all the evidence combines to prove — never
theless it is true, that if he had published the statement of
that conspirator, that Connolly had arrived in Louisville
in the beginning of October, had remained there for six
weeks before going to Fayette, and thus had ample oppor
tunity for conferring with raany of the prominent men of
the district, and that his visit to Wilkinson was made in
November, — it would have disproved his own statement,
that it is clearly established that Connolly conferred with
only the four men whom he named, and would have over
thrown the entire structure which he erected out of mate
rials of his own manufacture. The statement of Colonel
Marshall, which he suppressed, that Connolly was intro
duced to Muter and himself by Colonel John Campbell,
who privately stated the purpose of his visit, and that
Connolly knew the part which Muter and himself had
taken in the convention of November in defeating the " Span
ish business," would have confirmed Wilkinson and have
added to his own discomfiture. It was for that reason
they were suppressed and the communication of A. K.
Marshall vvas misrepresented and falsified. That Colonel
Brown's imputation upon Colonel Marshall is made hypo-
thetically renders it the more unworthy. His very ad
mission that there is no "positive proof" that either Muter
or MarshaU wrote the treasonable paper distinctly impUes
that there is proof, though not positive, that one or the
other was its author. To make this injustice appear to be
true, he garbled, suppressed, and perverted the evidence,
and misrepresented and misstated all the facts, in a man
ner to which no man who beUeved his own cause to be

316 The Spanish Conspiracy.
just could ever resort. A man ignorant that Wilkinson
was the author, and yet who had an honest purpose to
make known the truth, would have deemed it a simple
duty to declare, that there is no shadow of evidence that
either Muter or Marshall had degraded himself by con
duct as infamous as that which they had both recently de
nounced and thwarted in Wilkinson and Brown.
If the writer has wearied the patience of the reader by
dwelling on this subject, it is because it seemed necessary
to complete the exposure of the methods employed in the
" Political Beginnings." The reputation of Colonel Mar
shall needs no vindication against the attempt of Colonel
Brown to shift upon him this treasonable bantling of his
ancestor's bosom friend. The letter to Washington speaks
for itself. If there were no proof that the traitor Wilkin
son was the author of the " Reflexions," the record of
Colonel Marshall's private and public life, his every utter
ance, his patriotic services, as valuable as they are well
known, unite in loudly proclaiming and ineffaceably
branding for what it is this gratuitous and characteristic
aspersion upon his loyalty and truth.
As the enraptured eye of the wearied traveler in the
Sahara rests with delight upon the distant palm trees
which shade the sparkling spring of sweet and living
water, that gushes out from amidst the sands of the desert ;
— so will the reader who has wandered through this be
wildering maze of suppression, evasion and invented inac
curacy which appear in the "Political Beginnings," be
charmed to find in all its pages a solitary truth. The
plaintive statement, that while " Thomas Marshall did hint
suspicions of Brown," yet " Brown never aUowed himself
to question the patriotism of Thomas Marshall," is exactly
correct. And the reader wiU conclude that each had an
equally sufficient reason for his course. Thomas Marshall
hinted suspicions of Brown because he knew from Brown's
own letters and words that those suspicions were well
founded. And Brown did not permit himself to question
the patriotism of Thomas Marshall, not simply because he
knew that it would have been unjust, but because he was

The Spanish Conspiracy. 317
conscious that every one else would have known that it
was false.*

* Thomas MarshaU, the oldest son of John MarshaU and EUzabeth
Markham, was born iu Westmoreland county, Va., April 2, 1730. His
first mUitary service was as a "trooper" from Prince William, in the
Braddock campaign. From 1759 to the breaking out of hostUities with
Great Britain, he frequently represented Fauquier in the House of Bur
gesses, and was three times appointed, with Washington, Fielding,
Lewis, WUliam Green, and others, to settle the claims of soldiers in the
French and Indian war. He was a member of the Virginia Convention
of 1775, but left his seat to assist in organizing the " Culpepper Minute
Men," of which regiment he was major, and won distinction at the battle
of the Great Bridge. He was also a member of the Convention of 1776,
and was on the committee which drew up the ordinance for organizing
the military forces of the state ; but he left his seat in that body also to
take the place of major of the Third Virginia Infantry, Continental
Line. He was soon placed in command of the regiment, which per
formed severe duty in the year 1776. The next year he won particular
distinction at Germantown and at Brandywine, where more than one-half
of his officers and one-third of his men were killed and wounded. He
was transferred to the colonelcy of the First Artillery, Virginia State
Line, in 1778, and commanded that regiment until the expiration of its
term of service, in 1781. Three of his sons — all who were old enough —
were officers in the Revolution — John at 19, Thomas at 16, and James M.
at 15 years of age. His kindred and his wife's kindred, in every direc
tion, were in the patriot army — Marshalls, Markhams, Odens, Durretts,
McClanahans, Keiths, Keys, Fords, Flemings, Randolphs, Lees, and
Blands.

318 The Spanish Conspiracy.

CHAPTER XIX.
Kentucky Finally Becomes a State, and is Admitted Into the Union
— Wilkinson, Bkown, Sebastian, Innes and Dunn Apply to
Spain foe a Grant op Land — Wilkinson Explains that it is
Desired for a Place op Refuge in Case Kentucky gets too Hot
FOR THEM — Colonel Brown Conceals the Fact that the Others
WERE John Brown's Associates in the Proposed Enterprise —
Miro Promises Wilkinson that He Shall be Rewarded — Wil
kinson the Spanish Agent and Retained in Her Service — Miro,
in 1790, Recommends that He be Pensioned — The Pension Prob
ably Granted then — The Various Sums Received by Wilkinson
After His Appointment to the Army not on Account of Tobacco
Sales — The Murder of Henry Owen — Murderers Hurried Away
by Wilkinson and Innes — Efforts of Colonel Brown to Avoid
Marshall's Inference — He Misrepresents Thruston's Deposition,
which Flatly Contradicts His Statement — The Murder Com
mitted Within American Territory and Jurisdiction — Affida
vits OF Langlois and Bouligny.
In compliance with the request preferred in the Address
finally adopted by the November convention, the Virginia
Assembly manifested the hearty good -will of the mother
state and her sincere desire to further the wishes and pro
mote the welfare of her children in the distant district, by
passing a new act of separation. But, Uke those which
preceded it, this act provided that the separation should
not take place unless Congress should previously concur
and provide for the admission of Kentucky as a state into
the Union simultaneously therewith. The elections for
members of another convention were held in April, 1789,
and were unmarked by disturbance; for Wilkinson and
Brown were not candidates. Aluter and Marshall were
again chosen from Fayette. On the 20th of July of the
same year the convention assembled. It was ascertained
that the conditions specified by the new act were materially
different from those which had formerly been agreed to,
and that the change would be seriously detrimental to the
interests of the proposed Commonwealth. The most ob-

I'he Spanish Conspiracy. 319
jectionable feature in the new proposition was that which
reserved to claimants holding Virgiuia land warrants an
unlimited time for location and survey. Therefore, instead
of proceeding thereunder, the convention addressed the
assembly in a respectful request to rescind the objection
able conditions and that others be adopted conforming to
those to which mutual agreement had already been given.
This also was immediately done by the assembly; but stiU
another convention was required, and further postpone
ment was unavoidable. The elections for the convention
thus ordered were held in May, 1790 ; the convention was
convened at Danville on the 26th of July, 1790, and George
Muter was chosen president thereof; the terms of the last
act of separation were formally accepted ; the address to
the assembly announcing this acceptance was prepared
and reported by the able and popular Alexander S. Bullitt ;
and a memorial to the President and Congress, presented
to the convention by James Markham Marshall,* -^vas

* James Markham, third son of Colonel Thomas MarshaU, was born in
1764, and, until he was fifteen years old, was educated at his father's
home by Scotch tutors. He then entered the First Virginia Artillery,
State Line, commanded by his father, as a cadet, and remained in it
until its term of service had expired, when he had reached the rank of
Captain. The statement of Mr. Paxton that he served to the close of
the war as a Lieutenant in the regiment of Alexander Hamilton is an
error; and if, as is not probable, he "led the forlorn hope at the siege
of Yorktown, in an attack upon the fort," it was as a volunteer, for he
was never a member of any other regiment than the Artillery. He did
not remain long in Kentucky. In 1793, he was a resident of Philadel
phia. In that city he married, in 1795, Hester, the daughter of Robert
Morris, the patriotic financier of the Revolution, and weht with her to
Europe as the agent of the merchants of Charleston, Baltimore and New
York. The statement of Mr. Paxton that he negotiated the release of
Lafayette from his imprisonment at Olmutz is also a mistake. The
credit of that negotiation is due chiefly, if not altogether, to the distin
guished Gouverneur Morris. It is true, however, that Marshall was ap
pointed by Washington on a special and secret mission to the King of
Prussia to secure the release of Lafayette from imprisonment at Ber
lin. But before he reached that city, the gallant Frenchman had been
released by the King; so that he had no participation in the matter.
While in England, he purchased from the heirs of Lord Fairfax, in his
own name, and in those, of his elder brother, John MarshaU, of Raleigh
Colston, his brother-in-law, and of Light Horse Harry Lee, his kinsman,

320 The Spanish Conspiracy.
adopted. It expressed " attachment to the present happy
establishment of the Federal Constitution and Government,
stated the causes and motives for separating from Alrginia,
the ability of Kentucky to sustain a separate state govern
ment, and the time to which its organization was limited,
and praying Congress and the President to sanction the

their entire inheritance in the "Northern Neck;" which gave them,
after compromise with Virginia, 180,000 in the Leed's Parish. James M.
Marshall bought General Lee's interest, and thus became the owner of
half of the purchase. He was one of the " Midnight Judges " appointed
by Adams, and had the reputation of abilities equal to those of the
Chief Justice.
The oldest son of James M. AlarshaU — Thomas — married Catharine
Thornton, a granddaughter of Judge Innes. His other sons were the
late Robert ^Morris Marshall, of Happy Creek ; Lieutenant John Mar-
¦shall, of the Navy; the present Dr. Henry Marshall ; and the eminent
lawyer, the late James Marshall, of Winchester. The last named was a
Union member of the Virginia convention of 1861. The only daughter
of James ]M. Marshall, Susan, is the widow of the late Dr. Cary Ambler,
of Fauquier. " Keith," a correspondent of the Commercial Gazette, of
Cincinnati, after mentioning the records of numerous descendants of
James M. Marshall, as soldiers in the Confederate army, wrote :
•' But braver far than any of these, more heroic than any paladin who
ever led in headlong charge, or grimly brought up the rear guard in
stubborn retreat, was that other grandson, the modest and gentle Dr.
James Markham Marshall Ambler, who, upon the frozen banks of the
Lena, in far away Siberia, laid down a young life marked by every high
quality that could grace a gentleman. Graduating in medicine at the
University of Marjdand in 1869, he entered the Navy as a surgeon in
1874. Though engaged to be married, the request telegraphed by the
Department, that he would volunteer for duty on the ill-fated Jeannette,
was one a soul like his could not decline. It is known that he might
have saved his own life by leaving his comrades in the venture, but pre
ferred to die with them— a true soldier of duty, at his post. On a tablet
in the Leeds Church, which commemorates his virtues, his feUow-sur-
geons of the Navy recorded, that 'his sense of duty was stronger than
his love of life ;' and on a similar tablet, his former friends and class
mates at the AVashington and Lee University, bore testimony that 'he
declined the last chance of life that he might help his comrades. His
last written words were the confident expression of his Christian faith.
To him duty was the noblest word in the English language.' 'Greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.'
A nobler fame, a braver end, than any that could be won or had in pri
vate brawl or on duelling ground ! Yes, verily ! He lived purely. In
death he reflected honor upon his lineage, upon his country, and upon
mankind."

The Spanish Conspiracy. 321
•\frhole proceedings, by passing an act of admission for the
' State of Kentucky ' into the Union, agreeable to the time
prescribed by Virginia in her act for that purpose." Pro-
-vision was made for the election of a ninth convention, to
assemble in April, 1792, to form a State Constitution. In
December, 1790, the admission of Kentucky into the Union
was strongly recommended by Washington in a message
to Congress, and the necessary act for that purpose was
accordingly passed on the 4th of February, 1791. The
ninth and last convention was chosen and assembled at
the designated times, the first constitution was formed,
which the people ratified in May, when officers were
elected, and the new Commonwealth, after so many trials
in which the patriotism of the masses of the people had
been tested and proven, was at length fairly launched.
In the meantime, a few weeks after the November con
vention, of 1788, a petition was forwarded to Gardoqui by
leaders of the Spanish party in Kentucky, soliciting the
grant of a large body of land in the Louisiana territory,
on the Yazoo aud Mississippi rivers, which Wilkinson de
scribed as " the most advantageous site to form a settle
ment above Natchez."* This petition was forwarded to
Gardoqui by Alajor Isaac Dunn, the confidential agent and
partner of Wilkinson, who wrote to Miro : " That peti
tion is signed by Innes, Sebastian, Dunn, Brown, and my
self," — par nobile fratrum. This petition of the associates
was accompanied by the letter from Wilkinson to Gardo
qui, which has been already quoted.f In it he explained,.
that the proposition suggested was in the interest of the
plans which had been arranged with Miro, and for de
tails it referred him to Dunn. In his letter to Miro, of
February 12, 1789, Wilkinson informed the Intendant of
his application to the minister, and explained that " The
motive for this application is to procure a place of refuge for
myself and adherents, in case it should become necessary
for us to retire from this country, in order to avoid the
*Gayarre, page 243.
tlbid, pages 247 to 251.
21

322 The Spanish Conspiracy.
resentment of Congress."* The whole scope and every
line of the correspondence attests that the entire purpose
of this and all other projects for colonizing Louisiana by
emigration from Kentucky and the West and South, were
in distinct compliance wdth the advice of Navarro, thus
to build up a bulwark against the growing povrer of the
United States ; and, however ill digested, delusive and fu
tile they may now seem, were parts of the general scheme
for separating Kentucky from the Union.
That in this and in all other similar projects, of which
there were many at the time, Wilkinson acted in the in
terest and as the agent of Spain, is shown by the reply of
Miro to Wilkinson's letter communicating his petition to
Gardoqui. The service to be rendered to the king by-
promoting the immigration to Louisiana of persons who
needed only lands and not money, was favorably men
tioned. " It is proper," Miro continued, " that yon
should remain in that district, in order to insist on an al
liance with Spain until it be effected,or given up ; because,
according to the answer received from, the Court, you are now
our agent, and I am instructed to give you to hope that the king
will reward your services as I have already intimated to you."
And in his dispatch to the Court of Madrid, Miro recom
mended that |5,000, which Wilkinson claimed to have ex
pended in the interest of Spain, should be refunded to
him, and that he should be further entrusted with $2,500,
which he had asked for, to corrupt Muter and Marshall.f
In a note at the bottom of page 172, of the " Beginnings,"
reference is made to a conversation alleged to have taken
place between Gardoqui and John Brown in June, 1789,
relating to this very petition of which he wrote to Miro
and which John Brown had, conjointly with his friends,
Wilkinson, Sebastian, Dunn, and Innes, previously con
veyed to Gardoqui, as though it had been a proposition
then for the first time made by Brown alone, and as if its
sole object was to secure the navigation ofthe Mississippi

*Gayarre, page 234.
tlbid, pages 255-6.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 323,
for Kentucky. Thus : " StiU bent upon pushing every
practical expedient for securing the navigation of the Mis
sissippi, Brown opened the subject by adverting to Mor
gan's New Madrid colony, established the year before, and
offered to find the capital for estabhshing, at the mouth of
the Big Black river, one hundred American famiUes
within eighteen months." . . . The letters of Miro
and WUkinson, published in Gayarre, with which Colonel
Brown was famiUar, throw a vastly different light upon
this project from that sought to be cast by the " Begin
nings;" 'they disclose the real object of the scheme; and
they were, on that account, discreetly skipped over by
Colonel Brown, while the names of his grandfather's asso
ciates in the enterprise, which of themselves suggest much
as to its nature, were, for the same reason, most prudently
suppressed. The reader is informed of the affidavit made by Daniel
Clark, jr., which was submitted to Congress in 1808 ; and
of the methods used by Wilkinson to discredit the testi
mony of Clark and Power, given before the court-martial
which was then ordered for the trial of Wilkinson, who
had then attained the highest position in the army. He
is also informed of the manner in which that discredited
evidence was afterwards confirmed by the publication of
the conspirator's own letters, obtained from the Spanish
archives. Clark affirmed that, about the year 1789,* he
had seen " a list of names of citizens of the western coun
try, which was in the hand-writing of the General, who
were recommended for pensions, and the sums proper to
he paid to each were stated ; and^I then distinctly under
stood that he and others were then actually pensioners of
the Spanish Government. I had no personal knowledge
of money being paid to Wilkinson, or to any agent for
him, on account of his pension, previous to the year 1793
or 1794." He then detailed sums of money which he
knew had been paid to Wilkinson on account of his pen-

*Daniel Clark, jr., was the father of Mrs. Myra, widow of General
Edward Pendleton Gaines.

324 The Spanish Conspiracy.
sion, at various times and through different persons,
amounting in the aggregate to nearly $30,000. The re
ceipt of some of these remittances were denied by Wil
kinson in the subsequent miUtary inquiry, and those
which -were proven so that they could not be denied he
asserted had been paid for damaged tobacco, which had
been condemned, but was afterwards received and paid
for by the Spanish Government. As it was certain that
he had made sales of tobacco to that government, his sub
ordinates in the army, with whom he was popular, were
only too glad to avail themselves of the "presumption"
thus created, to acquit hira.
In his Centennial Address, Colonel Brown, wdio was la
boring to show that the corruption of Wilkinson had
commenced long after he had abdicated the leadership
which John Brown and Innes recognized, accepted the
version given by Wilkinson' ofthe receipt of these various
sums. He may never have read the interesting volume
published by Dan. Clark in 1809, in which the false pre
tenses of Wilkinson were completely exploded. In that
book it was shown that, in 1787, Wilkinson and Isaac B.
Dunn were partners, and that Daniel Clark, Senior, the
uncle of the witness, acted as their agent for the sales of
their shipment of that year, which amounted in the aggre
gate to $10,805. Of this sum, $3,000 were due to Clark,
being for money he had advanced to Wilkinson, on the
recommendation of the Spanish officials, before he left
New Orleans. Several of Wilkinson's bills or drafts in
favor of different parties were accepted and paid ; $3,389
was paid in cash to Dunn in July, 1788 ; and on the 8th
of August, 1788, all the balance due was paid, and the
account was receipted in full by Dunn and was closed.*
On that same day, August 8, 1788, a new partnership was
formed between Wilkinson and Daniel Clark, Senior, and
the sales of tobacco to the Spanish government were there
after made by the latter. Their gross amount up to May
•Si "Proofs of ihe Corruption of General James Wilkinson, and of his Con
nexion with Aaron Burr," by Daniel Clark, of the City of New Orleans,
Appendix, pages 55-6.

The Spayiish Conspiracy. 325
1, 1789, when the partnership terminated, was $16,441.
As before, a large part of this had been anticipated by
Wilkinson. On May 1, 1789, a balance of $6,251 due WU
kinson was paid upon his order to Captain Abner Dunn,
(brother of Isaac B. Dunn,) who examined the account,
certified to its correctness, and receipted for the money ;
and thus also that account was settled and closed.* This
account did not include $6,000 which Balliuger, one of
Wilkinson'.s friends and agents, carried up and delivered
to him in Frankfort, that same year ; and it results that
that sum ivas not paid to him on account of any commercial
transactions with the Spanish g:)vernment, from which Bal
liuger received it. There was another transaction, how
ever, during the same year, prior to the dissolution of the
partnership. Clark had sent up the river on the joint
account, a boat called the Speedwell, -with a cargo amount
ing to about $8,000, wdiich was not included in this settle
ment. Wilkinson agreed to invest the proceeds of the
cargo in good tobacco and ship it to New Orleans, and
when this was done, the partnership was to cease. This
shipment was to have been made in December, 1789, but
was not made until June, 1790 ; and in the meantime,
since the preceding May, no other shipment had been
made. The accounts of the sales of the Speedwell's cargo,
as well as of the tobacco, were kept by Philip Nolan,
Wilkinson's protege. The tobacco was sold to the Span
ish government ; the net sum realized was $15,850. This
account was also closed September 21, 1790, the profits
were divided, Wilkinson's portion was paid to and re
ceipted for by Nolan, who applied it to the payment of Wil
kinson's debts, which were as numerous as his creditors
were clamorous. In the settlement an error of $473
against Clark was discovered, which was certified to by
Nolan, but the amount was never paid by Wilkinson.
That none of the money he was proved to have received
from the Spanish government after he went into the army
was due from any of his commercial transactions up to

'* Ibid, page 57.

326 The Spanish Conspiracy.
September 1, 1790, is proved by these accounts. The next
year Wilkinson formed a partnership with Peyton Short,*
which, their ventures being unfortunate, completed the
bankruptcy of Wilkinson's already desperate fortunes,
while Short never recovered from the embarrassment en
tailed by his brief commercial connection with the most
greedy and unscrupulous of adventurers. Neither' the
accounts of Short nor those of Dunn gave any clew to
any debts in New Orleans remaining due to the firms in
which they were associated with Wilkinson, nor to any
tobacco they had in storage there or anywhere else,
whether damaged or sound. With Wilkinson's appoint
ment to the army, in 1791, all his commercial ventures
ceased. His claim, that the various sums paid to him by
the Spanish government after that time, amounting to
many thousands of dollars, were in payment of damaged
tobacco shipped to New Orleans in 1789, and stored in
that city since that time, was proved by the accounts of
his several firms to have been a fraud as transparent and
impudent as his treason was fiagrant. The conclusion is
irresistible, that, in fulfillment of the written promise given
on the faith of the Spanish king, by Miro, in 1790, they
were the re-^vard of treason whieh commenced in 1787;
that, having been already in the employ of Spain as the

-* This gentleman came of an excellent and prominent Virginian fam
ily. He came early to the west, bringing with him a much larger share
of this world's goods than generally belonged to his contemporaries.
He married a daughter of .ludge John Cleves Symmes — her sister was
the wife of General William Henry Harrison. Plis wife's mother was
one of the gifted Livingston family of the east, who in this country
have added honors to a name which ranks high in the annals of Scot
land. A brother of Peyton Short, — William — was for years engaged in
the diplomatic service of the United States. Accumulating a large for
tune, and dying unmarried, he left his estate to his nephews, the late
Judge William Short, of Cincinnati, and the late Dr. Charles W. Short,
of Louisville. Wilkinson went into the army in debt to Peyton Short
and to many others, avaUed himself of his ofiicial position to evade and
delay payment, but was finally forced to a settlement with Short by the
celebrated James Hughes, whom he had attempted to buUy in 1788.
Others were not so fortunate in ever securing their dues. He "trans
lated to himself the property " of all who permitted that operation.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 327
agent of that power in its projects for the division of our
country, the recommendations of Miro that he should be
"retained" in that service on an " annual pension " were
effective, and that the payment of the pension was then
commenced. Needing a trusty agent to go to New Orleans to convey
to him the wages of his infamy, Wilkinson, who was then
in the army and stationed at Fort Washington, in 1794
applied to his friend, Hary Innes, who had removed from
Danville to Frankfort and was the Judge of the Federal
court, to recommend to him ar man adapted for the secret
and perilous service. A neighbor of Innes, one Henry
Owen, was chosen, who thereupon proceeded to New Or
leans, and there received from the Baron de Carondelet
$6,000 to be conveyed to Wilkinson. With this sum in
charge Owen was sent by Carondelet to New Madrid,
with a letter to Portell, the commandant. By Portell he
was embarked on a galliot commanded by Francis Lang
lois, and was conveyed to the mouth of the Ohio, all the
territory on both banks of which river was within the
United States. There he was provided by Langlois with a
boat's crew of six men and was shipped with WUkinson's
money on a pirouge or canoe. While ascending the Ohio,
and when within the territory and jurisdiction of the
United States, he was murdered and robbed by his crew,
on the Ohio river, near its northern shore, and thus within
the jurisdiction of the state and Federal courts of Ken
tucky. Three of the murderers were afterwards arrested
in the neighborhood of Frankfort, and were brought be
fore the Federal Judge, Innes, the friend of their victim,
who refused to try them. In his History, Humphrey Mar
shall states that the ground of this refusal was that the
murderers were " Spanish subjects," .which, as every intel
ligent reader will comprehend, was as insufficient as it was
ridiculous. But he " quietly committed them to the cus
tody of his brother-in-law, Charles Smith, who, with a
little guard hired by the Judge, was directed to deUver
them to General Wilkinson at Fort Washington. Smith
was ordered by Wilkinson to convey them to the Spanish

328 The Spanish Conspiracy.
commandant at New Madrid, and in complying with his
instructions attempted to pass the American Fort Massac
in the night. But the officer commanding at that post
had been directed by General Wayne to -watch the suspi
cious intercourse between Wilkinson and the Spaniards,
and stopped the boat. He did not clearly perceive why
felons who had murdered and robbed an American citi
zen, within American territory, should be thus smuggled
away from the jurisdiction of American courts. Instead
of permitting Smith to pass with the murderers he sent to
Portell at New Madrid for an interpreter to interrogate
them. The Spaniards were most unwilling that, by an
investigation in an American court, the facts of the com
munication between Carondelet and Wilkinson should
be developed, the interpreter did not divulge the confes
sions made by the villains, all evidence as to their guilt was
withheld, and they were finally discharged. Marshall dis
tinctly intimates that the motive of Innes and Wilkinson,
in thus endeavoring to ship those murderers to the Span
ish authorities, was, not only that they might be put to
death summarily, but, chiefly, in order to suppress the ex
posure that might be the result of a public trial by an
American court. Whether or not his inference was just,
the facts he stated are clearly established.
Colonel Brown, alluding to Daniel Clark's deposition in
1808, says, that the statement made by the witness that he
had knowledge that Wilkinson was receiving a Spanish
pension as early as 1793 or 1794 is clearly an error ; that
Clark seems to have regarded the $6,000 sent from New
Orleans in Owen's care, as a pension fund ; but that the
accounts between Wilkinson and Miro show this sum to
have been a remittance due Wilkinson on his tobacco
venture.* The facts already stated disprove this asser
tion. It is worthy of note, too, that the money " sent
from New Orleans in Owen's care " was so sent by the
Baron de Carondelet, direct from the Spanish treasury,
nearly three years after Miro had left New Orleans for
* Centennial Address, note at bottom of pages 16 and 17.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 329
Spain. The reader will observe that Colonel Brown refers
to the sum of which Owen was robbed as if that was the
only amount mentioned by Clark's deposition as received
by Wilkinson in payment of his pension. Of course. Col
onel Brown had read the deposition which he cited. If
this reasonable supposition is correct, he had read in that
deposition Clark's statement of the sum conveyed by
Joseph Collins by the sea to Ne-n^ York, and thence to
Wilkinson at Fort Washington, w-here it was paid to Wil
kinson in the presence of his friend, John Brown, in 1795.
Wilkinson refused to give a receipt for the money, telling
Collins that Brown was a -witness that it had been paid.
He had read in that deposition the statement of the money
conveyed to Wilkinson by Thomas Po-R^er and of various
other sums which Wilkinson received direct from the
Spanish government bet-«^een 1793 and 1797. But to have
mentioned them would, to say the least, have cast doubt
upon his claim that the pension did not commence until
1797, and that the sum of which Owen -^vas robbed was
due to Wilkinson by the estate of Miro, on account of his
tobacco venture. All mention of them was, therefore,
omitted from the reminiscences that enliven the Address.
Whether or not the inference of Humphrey Marshall as
to the motive of Judge Innes and General Wilkinson in
refusing to try and hurrying the murderers of 0-vven out
of the reach of American courts, was just ; — it is certain
that Colonel Browm was of the opinion, that, if the murder
was committed within American jurisdiction, there could
have been no sufficient or honest motive for the course
pursued by the JFederal judge and the Federal general,
those famiUar friends and coadjutors of John Brown in
the times of 1788. In his judgment, evidently, if the facts
stated by Marshall were admitted, there was no escape
from his inference ; — if the premises were conceded, the
conclusion naturally foUowed. Still, the course of Innes
and Wilkinson must be defended. The emergency was,
therefore, surmounted and the difficulty overcome, by the
cool assertion, that the murder was perpetrated within
Spanish territory, and, hence, of course^ neither Innes nor

330 The Spanish Conspiracy.
any other American judge had jurisdiction. True, every
book that had ever referred to the subject had stated that
the murder was perpetrated within American territory.
And Colonel Brown had read in Governor Greenup's depo
sition that he had " heard that this man was murdered on
the Ohio." Yet the necessity of extricating Judge Innes
from that affair seemed to be urgent. And the author,
who afterwards represented the communication of A. K.
MarshaU in the Western World of October 25, 1806, (only
one copy of which paper is in existence) to have detailed
the previous acquaintance between Connolly and Colonel
Marshall, and to have stated that Connolly's visit was made
in October, in order to show that Colonel Marshall had been
infiuenced and won over by the Tory's overture; — this
orator and author was not to be daunted by petty difficul
ties when an old friend needed assistance. So, the reader
of his Address finds at the bottom of page 10, k note in
which this appears, viz :
" The murderers of Owen {he was murdered in Spanish territory) were
brought to Frankfort and kept under guard in the house of Jeremiah
GuUion, which stood where the Methodist Church is now built on
Washington street. There Judge Innes and Buckner Thruston (after
wards Senator) examined them. They were forwarded to the military
commandant (WUkinson) at Fort Washington (or Cincinnati), there
being no treaty of extradition, nor any judicial power to commit, try or
surrender them for a crime committed in a foreign jurisdiction."
In support of this cool assertion Colonel Brown referred
to the deposition of Buckner Thruston in the case of
Innes v. Marshall, the original of which had been taken
away from the Clerk's office at Harrodsburg, and was
safely hidden in a box at the Polytechnic Library in Louis
ville, there being but two copies thereof iu existence, one
of which Colonel Brown had before him as he wrote.
Said Colonel Brown : " The action of Judge Innes and
his explanation of lack of judicial power is detailed by Buck
ner Thruston in his deposition." The reader wUl now be
curious to. ascertain what Thruston said on the subject.
It is here produced, viz :
" That, being at Frankfort in the State of Kentucky, in the month of
December, 1794, (as well as he remembers) during the sitting of the

The Spanish Conspiracy. 331
Legislature, he understood that Governor Shelby had received a letter
from the Spanish commandant at New Madrid, informing him of the
murder of a certain Henry Owen, by some boatmen who were conducting
the said Owen up the Ohio to Fori Washington, with a sum of money for
General Wilkinson, and that the said boatmen had also robbed the said
Owen and fled to Kentucky ; and requesting the governor, Shelby, to
endeavor to have the said murderers apprehended; that some days
afterwards, three men who appeared to be Spani3,rds or Frenchmen,
were brought to Frankfort aforesaid, supposed to be the same murderers
mentioned in the said Spanish commandant's letter."
Judge Thruston continued : " It was generally under
stood (as this deponent verily believes) that the said mur
der had been perpetrated out of the State of Kentucky,
viz : on the north-west side of the Ohio river, and (as this
deponent thinks) it was so stated in the Spanish com
mandant's letter." Colonel Brown assuredly was not
ignorant that the territory on both sides of the Ohio river
was American, and had never been Sjianish-. The evidence
of Thruston does not suggest, that there was the slightest
doubt in his mind, that either the federal or the state
courts of Kentucky had jurisdiction in this case ; — because,
though he said the murder had been " committed out of
the State of Kentucky," he immediately qualified that state
ment by the explanation, that what he meant was that it
had been perpetrated " on the north-west side of the Ohio
RIVER," which he knew, and w^hich Colonel Brown very
well knew, was within the jurisdiction of Kentucky, and of
the federal district court therefor, which jurisdiction ex
tended then, as it does now, to low water mark on that side
of the Ohio river. And, even had the state and federal
courts of Kentucky possessed uo jurisdiction of this of
fense, by reason of its having been perpetrated beyond
that jurisdiction, in that case Judge Thruston knew, and
Colonel Brown was fully aware, that the federal court for
the territory of Illinois or that for Indiana, both of which
were theu in full operation, would have had plenary power
in the premises ;— so that, if Innes had no power to try
them, then the only proper and legal course to pursue was,
to remand them until the proper measures could have
been instituted for handing them over to the custody of

332 The Spanish Conspiracy.
those who had the power and were charged with the duty
of trying and punishing their crime. Instead of which,
the Federal Judge, -wdth an expedition and vigor which sel
dom marked his movements, hurried them off' to his friend
Wilkinson, who, in turn, made an effort to hurry them
out of the reach of all American authorities. It is true,
that Judge Thruston deposed as his beUef, that Innes in
thus acting had " acted as an individual, and not in his
ofiicial character as a judge; in -n^hich latter character, this
deponent does not think the said Innes had competent au
thority to take such steps." But it is manifest to the reader,
that, whether Innes acted as a judge, or as an individual,
his taking possession of the murderers and hurrying them
away, had the same effect to prevent an examination by
an Americau court. It is true, also, that Thruston ex
pressed his belief that Innes was actuated by " virtuous
motives,'" and that he " concurred" in Innes' course "as
the most probable way of bringing thera to justice; which
it was believed they would certainly meet with if they
could be returned into the hands ofthe said Spanish com
mandant." But if the author of " The Political Begin
nings " had himself been satisfied with this reasoning, he
would have published what Thruston really testified, and
-^vould not, in the face of Thruston's deposition, have as
serted that the murder was committed within Spanish
territory, and as proof of that assertion have referred to a
deposition which he supposed would never be examined,
and which flatly contradicted his own statement.
Colonel Brown's address refers to Clark's deposition
taken by order of Congress. He may, however, never
have read Clark's publication in 1809. Let it be assumed
that, in his explorations, he never did. Neverthless, the
affidavits of Langlois* and of Bouligny,* which appear in
* " On this twenty-ninth day of December, in the year one thousand
eight hundred and eight, personaUy appeared before me, the under
signed, one of the justices of the peace for the county of Orieans, Mon
sieur Francis Langlois, a citizen of the United States and resident of
New Orleans, who, being duly sworn on the Holy Bible, did depose and
say, that in the year 1794 he was a lieutenant of mUitia, in the service

'The Spanish Conspiracy. 333
that publication, fully sustain Marshall and Greenup and
Thruston, that the murder was perpetrated within Amer
ican territory, and within the jurisdiction of American
courts, and flatly contradict and disprove Colonel Brown's
of his Catholic Majesty, and commanded the galliot the Flecha, then
on station at New l\Jadrid, having under his orders the gunboat the
Taureau and batteau the Prince of Asturias ; that whilst there a Mr.
Owens arrived from New Orleans with a sum of money, entrusted to
him by the Baron de Carondelet, to be delivered to General Wilkinson
somewhere on the Ohio, and this deponent had direction from the said
Baron de Carondelet to take measures, in concert with Don Thomas
Portell, the commandant at New Madrid, and the aforesaid Owens, to
have the sum entrusted to the charge of this latter conveyed in safety
to its destination — in consequence thereof this deponent, at a council
held at New Madrid, by Portell, Owens and himself, recommended that
resident citizens of that place should be employed to accompany Owens,
hut his opinion was overruled by Portell and Owens, who thought it
would be more economical, and consequently more agreeable to the
Spanish Government, to have a boat's crew furnished from the galliot
of this deponent, which he furnished ; and further he deposes, that the
sum of six thousand dollars, which had been brought by Owens from
New Orleans to New Madrid, and by him delivered to Don Thomas
Portell, the commandant of the fort, was by Portell embarked on board ihe
galliot of this deponent, to be conveyed to ihe mouth of the Ohio, at which place
he furnished Owens with a patron, named Pepello, and six of his oarsmen,
and shipped in his canoe ihe before mentioned sum of six thousand dollars, to be
delivered to General Wilkinson; and he declares that the sum was
packed by himself in three small barrels, but being apprehensive of
some bad design on the part of Owens' crew, he took back the money
hito his galliot, and retained it twenty-four hours in his possession,
when, at Owens' pressing solicitations, he re-delivered it to him, who then
departed with it, and some short time afterwards he learned that Owens
had been murdered by his crew, and the money made away with by
them ; and further he, this deponent, declares that he afterwards ar
rested, and sent to New Orleans for trial, one Vexerano, one of Owens'
crew, who was concerned in the murder of said Owens and the plunder
of the money. He further deposes, that, although it was agreed between
the Spanish Government and Owens, to save appearances, that the money
should appear to belong to said Owens, yet he knows it was sent hy the Ba
ron de Carondelet, for the use of, and to he delivered to. General Wilkinson, and
that knowing the interest which the Spanish Government had in this
transaction, he wrote an official account to the Baron de Carondelet of
the part he had taken in it, and' the advice he had given respecting the
conveyance of the money safely to its destination, and in reply the Ba
ron regretted that his advice had not been foUowed in every particular ,
and the deponent further declares, that Owens had no other money

334 The Spanish Conspiracy.
statement that it was perpetrated in Spanish territory ; —
which is without any authority whatever, and originated
in what he apparently deemed the urgency of his case.
How desperate that case seemed to him ; how inevita
ble the damaging inference of Marshall from the certain
and proven facts appeared to the calm judgment and
alert perception of the author of the Address, is made
patent by the tremendous efforts put forth to avoid what
impressed him as the justice of that conclusion.
No difficulty daunts a man who is conscious of his own
genius. In the "Political Beginnings" Colonel Brown
obliterated space by making John Brown, (who was in
Danville at the time,) " representing Kentucky in the Vir
ginia Senate," procure from that body the passage of the
resolutions of 1786 relating to the Mississippi. In the
same book he annihilated time, by making the same John
than the six thousand dollars above mentioned. In testimony of which
he has signed, F. Langlois."
D. Bouligny, Justice of Peace.
" On the 16th day of the month of January, in the year 1809, per
sonally appeared before me, the undersigned, a justice of peace for
the city of New Orleans, Monsieur Dominique Bouligny, formerly ad
jutant-major of the Regiment of Louisiana, in the service of his Catho
lic Majesty, and now a member of the Legislature of the Territory of
Orleans, who, being duly sworn on the Holy Bible, did depose and say,
that in the year 1795, as well as he can remember, he exercised the func
tions of adjutant-major in the regiment of Louisiana, and was commis
sioned by the Governor, the Baron de Carondelet, to conduct the trial
of one Pepillo, who was accused of having been one of the authors of
the death of Mr. Henry Owens, [who had been assassinated on the Ohio, in
the American territory,) and of the robbery of a sum of money, of which
this Mr. Owens was the bearer to General Wilkinson, and which had
been delivered to him by the Spanish Government. And he has further de
clared, that it was public and well known among the officers under the Spanish
Government tliat General Wilkinson was a pensioner of the Spanish Govern
ment, and that the major part of the people in office believed that there
was no reliance to be placed on the promises which the General made
to the Government, because they could not persuade themselves that
his influence could induce the people of the Western States to separate
from the American Confederation.
('Signed) D. Bouligny.
Sworn to and affirmed before me, F. Dutillet, Justice of the Peace."

The Spanish Conspiracy. 335
Brown first learn in March, 1787, the " news of Jay's pro
ject," of which he had information in the December pre
vious; and made him ignorant until May, 1787, of the
very resolutions the passage of which he alleged John
Brown had procured in the preceding November. But,
before these achievements, hg had, in the Centennial Ad
dress, proved himself far greater than Archimedes. For,
from the amazing fertility of the resources of his own
creative genius he produced the fulcrum, and in a quill
plucked from a goose he found the lever, with which he
moved to the " north-west side " of the placid and beautiful
Ohio, the old Spanish Province of Louisiana, from its se
cure foundations west of the turbid and swift-fiowing
Mississippi ! To a genius so wonderful the vindication of
John Brown and Hary Innes, which others found impos
sible and abandoned in disgust, was but the pleasant pas
time of a summer day.

336 The Spanish Conspiracy.

CHAPTER XX.
Colonel Brown's Statement that'theee was no Communication Be
tween Wilkinson and Sebastian Dispkoved — The Fokjiek Impor
tunes FOE Pay in 1790 — Wilkinson Forwaeds the Letter to Miro,
who Sends it to IMadrid, with a Recommendation that Both
Should be Pensioned — .--^EB.iSTi.AN Detected and Forced to Resign
— Critical State op Affairs in America — The Efforts op Wash
ington TO Secure the Navigation of the ^Mississippi Impeded by
these Intrigues with Spain — Carondelet Renews the Old In-'
TEIGUES — ThOMA.S PoWEE THE AgeNT — ThE PeOPOSITION IMPLYING
Separation feom the United States IMade by Carondelet in 1795
— Sebastian, Caeeying a Lettee from Nicholas, Innes and Mur
ray, Goes to See what it Means — For that, Sebastian Pretends,
He is Pensioned — Carondelet Sends IVIoney to Wilkinson — Pow
er's Visits to Wilkix.son and Receives Details from Him to be
Communicated to Carondelet — The Spaniards Anxious not to
C.iRRY Out the Treaty — Renewed Attempt to Separate the West
FROM the United States — Carondelet's Proposition of 1797 — It
Directly Expresses what was Plainly Implied in that of 1795 —
The Bribes Tjffered — Innes Consults with Nicholas, who Rejects
THE Proposition — Their Mild Answer to Carondelet — Wilkinson
Deems it too Late — Spain had Ruined every thing by Giving the
Navigation of the Mississippi in the Treaty.
In the Centennial Address, page 35, it is asserted, as
shown by the evidence, that " there were not more than
two conspirators — Wilkinson and Sebastian;" and that
" It does not seem that they communicated." The orator,
as he stated, had consulted and liberally used Gayarre in
the preparation of that. Address. In that History, never
theless, is printed Sebastian's own letter to Wilkinson,
under date of January Sth, 1790, in which the former thus
wrote : *
"As my attention to this aflfair takes up the greater portion of my
time, and prevents me from foUowing any other pursuit, I certainly
hope to obtain from the Spanish Government at least some indemniflca-
tion, if not a generous reward for my services. On principle, I am as much
attached to the interests of Louisiana as any one of the subjects of his
-* Gayarre, pages 275-6.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 337
Catholic Majesty. But you know that my circumstances do not permit
me to engage in his service and to abandon every other occupation, without
ihe prospect of remuneration,."
This letter was immediately forwarded by Wilkinson to
Miro, to whom he wrote on the 26th of January, 1790, re
ferring to the convention to meet in June of that year.
" I will pay strict attention to its proceedings, and I will present my
self to that assembly, with the intention of doing all that may be in my
power, to promote the interest of our cause, in which I shall he warmly
assisted hy our good friend, Sebastian, who is now my principal aid, because,
although Harry Innes is also our friend, yet the office he holds renders it
improper for him to work openly." *
Miro forwarded the letters of Wilkinson and of Sebas
tian to Madrid, with the expression of the opinion that
"said brigadier-general ought to be retained in the service
of his majesty, with an annual pension of two thousand dol
lars, which I have already proposed in my confidential
dispatch No. 46," and with the recommendation that a
pension should also be granted to Sebastian, f Colonel
Brown could scarcely have failed to read those letters in
Gayarre. His statement that " it does not seem that they
communicated " is about as true as his assertion that the
evidence shows that they were the only conspirators ; and
neither requires any comment.
When WUkinson's letter of January 26, 1790, was writ
ten, a marked change had taken place in the temper of
the people of the district towards the Federal Govern
ment, owing to the confidence and hope inspired by the
wise and firm administration of Washington. The in
creased strength of the government of the new Union,
under a constitution which gave its legislature the power
to enact, and to its judiciary and executive the means to
enforce laws, made the intriguers draw back, and aroused
in them a sense of personal danger to be incurred in the
pursuit of those projects. Brown, the most timid and
cautious of aU, had, probably, by this time detached him-

* Gayarre, page 279.
t Ibid, page 286.
22

338 The Spanish Conspiracy.
self from the Spanish interest. Wilkinson in this letter
wrote :
" At present all our politicians seem to have fallen asleep. Buoyed
up by the privilege of trade which has been granted to them on the
Mississippi, the people think of nothing else than cultivating their lands
and increasing their plantations. In such circumstances it is impossible
that I should, with any chance of success press upon them the import
ant question which I had proposed to myself on my arrival here.
" I am justified in saying that Congress strongly suspectts my connec
tion with you, and that it spies my movements in this section of the
country. Consequently an avowed intention on my part to induce
these people here to separate from the Union, before the majority of
them show a disposition to support me, would endanger my personal
security, and would deprive me of the opportunity of serving you in
these parts. My situation is mortally painful, because whilst I abhor
all duplicity, I am obliged to dissemble. This makes me extremely de
sirous of resorting to some contrivance that will put me in a position in
which I flatter myself to be able' to profess myself publicly the vassal
of his Catholic Majesty, and therefore to claim his protection, in whaf>
ever public or private measures I may devise to promote the interest of
the Crown."
The " privilege of trade " to which the conspirator re
ferred was one permitting tbe navigation of the Missis
sippi below our boundaries and trade with Louisiana to all,
on payment of an ad valorum. duty of fifteen per cent.
Against this, as well as against every relaxation of the
most rigid occlusion of the Mississippi, to all save himself
and confederates, tbe correspondence shows that Wilkin
son, frora the beginning, vehemently protested, as a sur
rendering ofthe lever by -which alone the Spaniards might
force the separation of the west from the United States.
And, beyond peradventure, the effect of his arguments,
and of the various movements of the men whom he led,
was the most serious embarrassment experienced by Wash
ington in the negotiations he imraediately inaugurated for
securing to the west the rights so invaluable to her people.
Those moveraents, and the hopes engendered by Wilkin
son's arguments, caused the Spaniards to delay for years
their accession to the treaty which was concluded in 1795 ;
and, but for the pressure and harassments entailed by the
revolution in France, would have altogether defeated all
of Washington's exertions in behalf of the people of the

' The Spanish Conspiracy. 339
west, which were unremitting and most active at the
Very time he was most fiercely assailed by demagogues;
some of whom desired an alliance with Spain, while oth
ers sought to involve us in war in behalf of, and to make
America subservient to, the Government of the GuUlotine.
It was in the same letter from which the above is quoted,
that Wilkinson wrote of the appointment of Innes by
Washington, construing it as one intended to secure the
fidelity of his friend, in whose behalf he asserted a prefer
ence for a pension from New Orleans over one from New
York. His own appointment he doubtless attributed to
the same motive ; — the construction would have been the
proper one.
That Sebastian was pensioned by Spain was incontestibly
established. The clear light cast upon the subject by the
archives of that power ; his demand, so early as 1790, for
compensation for his efforts to separate ilsntucky from
the Union ; the recommendation of Miro then made that
this request should be granted and Sebastian be regularly
employed in the service of Spain, — create a presumption
that can not be overcome by the statement of so utterly
false a man to the contrary, that Miro's advice was
heeded, and that the pension commenced when that advice
was given in 1790. His actions then indicated to many
that he was not only a secret agent of Spain, but that he
was the dishonorable stipendiary of that power. As he
was appointed a judge of the court of appeals by Shelby,
in 1792, what was apparent to others could not have been
credited by the rough fighting executive, who had flanked
Cornstalk at Crooked Creek, and laid Ferguson low at
King's Mountain. But, whatever the time when that
pension commenced, and whatever the service for which
it was paid, Sebastian, while a judge of the court of ap
peals, continued to receive it, until the fact was publicly
exposed in 1806, when, pending an investigation by the
legislature which looked to his impeachment, and in order
to stop tlie inquiry, he resigned the office which he had
disgraced. While never entirely abandoned, either from the expec-

340 The Spanish Conspiracy.
tation that he would soon be recalled to Spain, or from a
doubt of their success, the intrigues of Miro to dismember
the Union, manifestly slackened in 1791. The communi
cation with Wilkinson, who was occupied on the part of the
Spaniards in various schemes of colonizing Louisiana, was
steadily maintained. The commercial ventures of the lat
ter had met with their final shipwreck, and in the fall of
the year named, he was appointed to a Lieutenant Colon
elcy in the array of the United States. On the 30th of
December, Miro, after a successful and benign administra
tion, which had won the hearts of the Louisianians, and
completely reconciled them to the Spanish domination,
was succeeded as governor by the Baron de Carondelet.
He immediately sailed for Spain, -where his brilliant mili-
tar}^ career won for him the baton of a Marescal de Campo,
or Lieutenant General. His successor was a native of
Flanders, but by acknowledged abiUty, activity and zeal,
had risen to the rank of a Colonel in the royal army. His
attention was at first occupied with the doraestic compli
cations of his province, arising from the turbulence of
Bowles and others, but he soon resumed the communica
tion with Wilkinson which had been interrupted by the
departure of Miro.
In the meantime the war of factions in the United States,
the hostilities with the Indians, and foreign complications,
rendered the condition of the country so extremely criti
cal, that Jeff'erson and Hamilton, who agreed in nothing
else, -were convinced that the firm hand of Washington
alone could guide the ship of state and save it from wreck.
Not only -were the measures of his administration bitterly
assailed, and his wise efforts to avoid entanglement with
the wars by which Europe was convulsed, denounced as a
manifestation of his purpose to establish a monarchy in
Araerica, but he was personally attacked with the coarsest
vituperation, or, to use his own language, " in such exag
gerated and indecent terms, as could scarcely be applied to
a Nero, to a notorious defaulter or even to a comraon pick
pocket." These assaults were made under the immediate
patronage and auspices of the "Democratic societies"

The Spanish Conspiracy. 341
whieh were organized in different parts of the United
States, and were modeled after the Jacobin Clubs of Paris,
of which Robespierre was at once the type and the idol.
While loudly clamoring against the government because
the executive honestly maintained neutrality in the wars
of Europe, these clubs denounced and every-where encour
aged resistance to the taxes which were indispensable to
provide the means for maintaining public credit and to
carry on the ordinary operations of governraent. The
agents of the revolutionary government of France were
engaged in an effort to separate the people of the United
States from their own government, to incite them to open
revolt against that government, and, in defiance of the
proclamations of the President, to organize an army
within the territory of the United States, to make war
upon the Spanish in Louisiana, and to reduce that prov
ince once more to the French dominion. In all the insult
ing defiance with -which these emissaries treated the au
thority and government of the United States, they were
openly encouraged and sustained by the Democratic so
cieties. Finally an insurrection against the government
broke out in Pennsylvania, to resist the excise tax, in such
formidable dimensions that an army under the command
of General Lee was embodied and sent to quell the armed
force which had organized to overthrow the authority of
law. While there was no outbreak in Kentucky, much
-was done to inflame the people to a similar movement.
" Genet (the French minister) had speculated on the preju
dices of the western people, and had sent, particularly to
Kentucky and Tennessee, active, enthusiastic and intelli
gent agents, who, circulating among the hardy population
and the remotest pioneers of the west, discoursed glibly
on the innumerable advantages -which would accrue to
these people, if they separated from the rest of the United
States, if they helped to enfranchise Louisiana by an inva
sion, and if they formed with her an alliance under the protec
tion of i^rance" [Gayarre.] George R. Clark was com
missioned a General in the army of the French RepubUc
and issued his proclamation calling for volunteers.

342 The Spanish Conspiracy.
Carondelet at once organized the military forces of
Louisiana for defense, fortified New Orleans and the other
strong places on the Mississippi, and in all respects proved
himself a man of sleepless vigilance and an executive of
ability and energy. " Not trusting entirely to these means
of defense, he had recourse to the politic arts of the diplo
matist, and in order to appease the hostility of the West
ern people, he removed some of the restrictions which
cramped their trade, granted again important privileges
to some enterprising and infiuential men among them, and
prepared himself to renew Miro's forraer scheme of win
ning over that restless and energetic population to the
dorainion of Spain. The firm and loyal interference of
Washington prevented the attack which was threatened
from the Ohio districts, checked the intrigues of Genet,
and relieved the apprehensions of the Spanish authorities
in Louisiana." In the meantime, Washington also sent
James Innes to Kentucky to explain to Governor Shelby
that, while the details of his negotiations had not been
publicly divulged, yet the situation of Kentucky had en
gaged his attention from the moment of his inauguration,
his resolute determination never to sacrifice nor abandon
her interests, the constant efforts he had made to secure to
her people the enjoyment of their right to navigate the
Mississippi, and his confident expectation that a treaty
recognizing that right would soon be concluded. The
reader has seen how these movements in the West, and
the hopes Spain builded thereon, was the constant obstacle
that impeded the accomplishment of the President's per
sistent efforts.
As soon as the danger of an invasion had passed away,
Carondelet began again " to throw impediments in the way
of the western trade, which he had temporarily favored,
and again imposed restrictions calculated to facilitate the
operations of those agents whom he had sent to Kentucky
to tempt the people into a separation from the United
States and an aUiance with Spain, by which the much de
sired outlet of the Mississippi could be secured to them."
It has been seen that the times were higUly auspicious for

The Spanish Conspiracy. 343
the intrigues of Spain. The irritation in Kentucky and
Tennessee against the Federal Government because it could
not secure to them the navigation of the Mississippi, which
Wilkinson had urged the Spaniards never to concede ; the
whisky insurrection in Pennsylvania ; the war with the
Indians, all of whom were engaged in open hostilities ;
the embarrassments of the negotiations with Great Britain,
Spain and France ; and then the assaults of the Democratic
societies and their press, exciting the people against their
own government and undermining their confidence in the
illustrious patriot who was at its head, all combined to
render the situation precarious.
The chief emissary chosen by Carondelet was Thomas
Power, an Englishman by birth, but naturalized a Spanish
subject, — a man at once intelligent, bold and cautious. As
stated by Gayarre, he came to Kentucky " under the pre
tense of collecting materials for a natural history of that
section of the country, but really to revive with Wilkinson,
Innes, Sebastian and others, the plots which had been car
ried on under Miro's administration." Reports made by
Power to Carondelet of the disposition to-wards the gen
eral government of a number of leading citizens of Ken
tucky, some of whom the latter knew to have formerly
been engaged in a secret correspondence with Miro, in
duced in the Spanish governor the hope that he might
now successfully renew the intrigues of his predecessor.
Gayoso de Leraos, Governor of Natchez, was chosen for
the delicate mission, and Power w-as dispatched in the fall
of 1795 to make the necessary arrangements with Sebas
tian, Innes, and others. He carried with hirn a letter from
Carondelet to Sebastian, which he deUvered to the latter.
Sebastian undertook to confer with Innes, WUUam
Murray and George Nicholas, to ^vhom he was requested
by Carondelet to comrauiUcate the contents of his letter,
and Power proceeded to Cincinnati to deliver to General
Wilkinson a letter from Sebastian. This letter apprised
Wilkinson, who was then Brigadier-General of the Amer
ican army, of the new^ efforts to carry out the old scheme
in which both had been formeriy engaged. According to

344 The Spanish Conspiracy.
the sworn statement of Power, Wilkinson then made
known to bim " the whole plot, which was a separation of
the Western from the Eastern States, such as -n'as developed
in Sebastian's trial." After a number of conferences with
Wilkinson, in which the matter was discussed. Power re
turned to Red Banks, there met Sebastian, who had, in
the meantime, consulted with Innes, Murray, and Nich
olas, and had gone wdth their concurrence to meet Gayoso,
in accordance with the request conveyed in the letter of
Carondelet, and with him went to New Madrid, where
Gayoso awaited them.
Beyond peradventure this was, as stated by the histori
ans, Gayarre and Martin, by Clark and by Po-wer, but a
reopening of the plan of dismemberment which had been
entered upon some years before by Miro and WUkinson,
and had been "discussed" between Gardoqui and John
Brown. The grant of the navigation of the Mississippi
was, as formerly, the inducement offered by Spain, and
the dismemberraent of the United States -was the object
Spain sought to effect. The terms of Carondelet's letter
to Sebastian are kno-wn only so far as the alleged copy
thereof in the handwriting of Sebastian reveal them. The
letter is here published as it appears in the deposition of
Innes before the committee which investigated Sebastian
in 1806, viz : New Orleans, July 16, 1795.
Sir : — The confidence reposed in you by my predecessor. Brigadier-
general Miro, and your former correspondence with him, have induced
me to make a communication to you, highly interesting to the counii-y in
which you lire, and to Louisiana.
His majesty being willing to open the navigation of the Mississippi
to the people of ihe Western country ; and being also desirous to establish
certain regulations, reciprocally beneficial to the commerce of both
countries, has ordered me to proceed on the business and to effect in a
way the most satisfactory to the people of the Western country his benevo
lent design.
I have, therefore, made this communication to you, in expectation
that you will procure agents to be chosen and fully empoivered by the people of
your country to negotiate with Colonel Gayoso on the subject, at New
Madrid, whom I shall send there in October next, properly authorized
for that purpose, with directions to continue at that place, or its vicinity,
until the aiTival of your agents.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 345
I am, by information, weU acquainted with the character of some of
the mpst reputable inhabitants of Kentucky, particularly of Innes,
Nicholas, and Murray, to whom, I wish you to communicate the pur
port of this address, and should you and these gentlemen, think the ob
ject of it as important as I do, you wiU doubtless accede, without hesi
tation, to the proposition I have made, of sending a delegation of your
countrymen, sufficiently authorized to treat on a subject which so deeply
involves the interest of both our countries.
I remain, with every esteem and regard. Sir, your most obedient,
humble servant. The Baron of Carondelet.
The reader will not fail to note that no mention is made
in this missive of the United States, nor is there any refer
ence in it to the people of the western country as a com
ponent part of the Union. It clearly relates to them as a
people of a country distinct and separate from any other
— a people who had the power to negotiate treaties, which
the Spaniard knew, as well as Innes and Sebastian knew
it, that no state of the Union possessed. The letter did
not invite those gentlemen to come to New Madrid to
converse or confer with Gayoso in regard to the terms of
concessions intended to be made to the people of the
United States or of any part thereof; but to send persons
duly authorized and empowered by the people of the western
country, as a distinct country, to negotiate a treaty in which
it was proposed to grant to the people of that country
valuable privileges. A separation from the Union by the
people to whom this grant was to have been made was
plainly implied in every line of the communication. It
was so understood by Carondelet and his agent, by Wil
kinson and Sebastian, according to Power's testimony,
and by the historians who had access to the facts. The
reference by Carondelet to the correspondence that had
" formerly " passed between Miro and Sebastian, and to
the " confidence " the Spanish Intendant had reposed in
the Kentucky judge, will remind thereader of the records
pubUshed by Gayarre. If he was not the most forgetful
of men this reference must have been pregnant with sug
gestion to Innes. The king who had so persistently re
fused to entertain any treaty with the United States which
did not expressly abandon all claim to the right to navi-

346 The Spanish Conspiracy.
gate the Mississippi by any part of their people, was yet
w.iUing to " o^jen that navigation to the people of the
western country !" " Therefore," instead of concluding
a treaty with the United States, which the government
had urged ever since independence had been obtained,
and which Spain had most obstinately refused to consider,
unless the right to that navigation was abandoned ; —
" therefore, I have made this communication to you,"
known to me, by your correspondence with Miro, to have
been engaged with him in a plot to separate Kentucky
from the U^ion, " in expectation that you will procure
agents to be chosen and fully empowered by the people of
your country to negotiute with Colonel Gayoso, at New
Madrid !" To minds of ordinary sagacity it must have
been apparent at once, that this proposition, secretly made
to individuals, that the people of the country in which they
lived should appoint agents to treat and negotiate with a
foreign power, concerning the concession of privileges
which that power had refused to grant to, or even to treat
of with, the government to which they owed allegiance,
must of necessity cover an ulterior, sinister and illicit de
sign, which no citizen, much less state and Federal judges,
could consider without gross impropriety. That Sebastian
well knew what that design was is certain. To Innes,
who, in 1787, had written to Governor Randolph that in a
few years Kentucky would "Revolt from the Union," and
who had struck those words out of the alleged copy of the
letter containing them which he published in Littell; — to
Innes, who knew from Wilkinson the engagements he had
formed wnth Miro, and frora John Brown's letters, if not
from Brown's own Ups, the nature of the proposition of
Gardoqui, which had been frustated in the DanviUe con
vention, and yet made no mention of those engagements,
nor of that proposition, nor of the memorial of Wilkin
son, nor of Brown's speech, in his letter to Washington ;
— to Innes, it is scarcely possible that the letter of Caron
delet to Sebastian did not suggest that its diplomatic
phraseology covered a renewal of the old schemes of dis
union.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 347
In his testimony before the legislative committee, Judge
Innes asserted that, while it was not deeraed prudent to
communicate the subject-matter of Carondelet's letter to
the people, " yet, that it was advisable to know what was
the object of the Spanish Government upon that import
ant subject;" — which, certainly, -was sufficiently obvious,
not only from what had preceded the letter, but from the
very terms of the letter itself. " To accomplish this ob
ject," he said, " it was thought advisable, that as the com
munication was made to Mr. Sebastian, he ought to meet
Colonel Gayoso ; and in consequence of this opinion, Mr.
Sebastian descended the Ohio." Sebastian himself stated,
in his deposition in the case of Innes v. Marshall, that he
carried with him a " written opinion,"* signed by Nicholas,
Innes, Murray and himself, " relative to the situation of
the two countries" — Louisiana and "7'Ae Western coun
try" — " and the advantage that -\vould result to both from
amicable intercourse." Gayoso was disappointed at the
absence of the others, which Sebastian explained : Innes
could not leave his courts, and the absence of Nicholas,
a lawyer in large practice, would excite too much atten
tion; he had come authorized to act for all. According
to his own account, as subsequently given to Governor
Greenup, and as detailed by Innes in his testimony before
the Committee of Investigation, be then proceeded to ar
range with Gayoso the terms of the proposed concession
by the King of Spain to the people of the Western country,
of the right of navigating the Mississippi, which he and
Innes alike represented to have been simply an act of
magnanimous conciliation on the part of his Catholic
Majesty, without the expectation of any return from
them other than might spring from the cultivation of
mutual good will between these people and those of the
Spanish provinces ! But why that good will might not
just as well have been cultivated by making this conces
sion in a treaty with the United States, instead of by
*Sebastian was asked to produce the original of this " written opin
ion," the terms of which would certainly have been interesting ; but,
of course, it was not accessible to the witness, and was never produced.

348 The Spanish Conspiracy.
means of this alleged private arrangement, which, on its
own face, was partial and invidious and exclusive of all
the rest of their countrymen, never was and never can be
satisfactorily explained. On his return, in 1796, Sebas
tian, according to the testimony of Innes, informed him
that Gayoso proposed to reduce the duty required from 14
to 4 per cent; but to this he had objected, insisting that
the concession being a gracious act of conciliation by the
king, the navigation should be made absolutely free. Gay
oso remaining fixed, Sebastian proceeded with him to
New Orleans, to refer the matter to Carondelet, who sup
ported the latter, but could not immediately attend to the
definite arrangement of terms.
In his testiraony before the Committee of Investigation,
Judge Innes presented a paper which he said had been
given to him by Sebastian as containing the concessions
proposed by Gayoso, which was in Sebastian's handwrit
ing. From this paper it appeared that the King of Spain
" had been pleased to cede to the people of the Western
country, during his pleasure," certain privileges; among
which were the use and enjoyment, " for the purpose of
comraerce, of the navigation ofthe river Mississippi; and
all the posts and places thereon, under the Government of
his Catholic Majesty, subject to the same regulations and
restrictions, and no other, by which the commerce of the
subjects of his Catholic Majesty is now governed." The
importation of any articles into the Spanish territory
which " were not the actual production of the said West
ern country, was absolutely prohibited ;" which excluded
all the rest of the United States from the benefit of this
very peculiar treaty. It was never the intention of Spain
to grant these privileges to the " Western country " so
long as it continued to be a part of the United States.
Separation therefrom was necessarily implied in every Une
of the letter of Carondelet aud of the terms of the pro
posed concession. The reader will agree with Butler,
that, even in the light in which these men claimed that it
should be regarded, " this proposal, if it had been consum
mated, would have amounted to superseding the regular

The Spanish Conspiracy. 349
operations of the General Governraent in the Western
commerce ; and would have granted exclusive commercial
favors to the parties in this agreement, inconsistent with
the equal constitutional rights of the citizens of a common
country. It would, moreover, have been the introduction of
a foreign influence, dangerous to the liberty and peace of the
nation." In a day or two, however, news of the treaty of friend
ship, limits and navigation between the United States and
Spain, of the prospect of which Washington had sent in
formation by James lanes in 1794, and which had been
concluded by John Jay on the part of the United States
the preceding August, reached New Orleans ; — which su
perseded this very nice and extremely innocent private
and individual negotiation. Urging that the treaty might
never be carried into eff'ect, Sebastian insisted that Caron
delet should sign the terms of the concessions to the
"people of the Western country." This Carondelet re
fused to do, but informed Sebastian, as the latter claimed,
that he had been instructed to pay to the person who
should come on that business, the sum of $2,000, and that
an annual pension of that amount would be paid to him
thereafter. For making this journey; receiving this vol
untary, gratuitous, maguanimons, and, as they represented
it, most extraordinary and incredible concession from
Spain to a portion of the people of the United States,
which that power had, ever since 1783, haughtily denied
to the whole; and for drawing up the details of this
grant, by which, according to their representations, Spain
gave all and expected to receive nothing, the detected
pensioner alleged, and his friend, the Federal judge, pro
fessed to believe, that- the Court of Madrid, pressed with
debt aud with a commerce devastated by ruinous war, had
paid Sebastian a pension of |2,000 per annum since 1795,
amounting in the aggregate to $22,000 !
Gayoso and Sebastian were accompanied from New
Madrid to New Orleans by Thomas Power, who went for
the purpose of receiving from Carondelet a round sum of
money for Wilkinson, which the latter awaited in impa-

350 The Spanish Con.npiracy.
tieut expectation. But it had already been sent to Vin-
cente Folch for delivery to Portell, the commandant at
New Madrid, who was directed to hold it subject to the
orders of Wilkinson. Power -went with Sebastian by sea
to New York, and thence, after again seeing Wilkinson,
back agiiin to New Madrid, where he had great difficulty
in inducing Portell to deliver to him the raoney designed
for Wilkinson without a written order from the latter.
The reasons why an Araerican general involved in a
treasonable conspiracy, should refuse to give such an order
were made plain to Portell, who finally delivered the money
to Power. The araount was $9,640, which -was packed in
sugar barrels ; — for, as Power said, " to take it openly
would be too scandalous a thing." This was on the 27th
of June, 1796. Proceeding up the river on his way to
Cincinnati, Power was stopped at Louisville. He then
turned the raoney over to Philip Nolan, Wilkinson's pro
tege and confidential agent, by whom it was conveyed to
Frankfort, and thence to WUkinson, less $640, detained
by Power for expenses. Power again visited Wilkinson,
wdio gave him instructions for Gayoso, he referring the latter
in a letter dated September 22, 1796, to the verbal com
munications which would be raade to him by Power.
These instructions Power reduced to writing. They em
braced the details which Wilkinson advised as necessary
to put the plot into successful operation. The mouth of
the Ohio must be fortified so as to delay an army for a
year. Fort St. Fernando must be held and strengthened.
A bank must be established in Kentucky. George Rogers
Clark must be bought. A number of leading men in
Kentucky must be purchased, aud the press raust be sub
sidized. Other details were given to Power in the hand
writing of Philip Nolan.
The treaty which had been concluded with Spain fixed
the southern boundary of the United States at 31° north
latitude, and that the Spanish posts within those limits
should be surrendered within six months ; that the navi
gation of the Mississippi from its source to its mouth
should be free to the people of the United States; and

The Spanish Conspiracy. 351
the use of the port of New Orieans as a place of deposit
and storage was made free from duty to our people. But,
though the restrictions upon the river trade were sus
pended after the ratification of this treaty, Spain never
intended, if it could in any way be avoided, to surrender
any portion of the territory of which she held possession.
The king had yielded a reluctant consent to the treaty
under the compulsion of embarrassments in both Europe
and America. He had been on the point of war with
Great Britain ; an invasion of Upper Louisiana from
Canada was threatened, and it was to oppose the territory
of the United States as a friendly neutral as a barrier
against the apprehended attack that induced him to
give an apparent consent. The moment the exigency had
passed means were sought by which the territory could
be held. In the meantime Carondelet, viewing the treaty
in its proper light, as a mere act of finesse, until pressing
embarrassments should have been surmounted, had been
active in endeavors to charm success to his favorite plan
of separating the West from the United States. The time
had come when the ports must soon be surrendered unless
something could be effected. Power, on his return to the
Spanish dominions, again made a favorable report as to
the disposition of leading men in Kentucky towards these
schemes of disunion. He was, therefore, commissioned to
make to Sebastian, Innes; Nicholas and Murray in 1797,
a proposition in which all that was necessarily implied in
that of 1795, according to the copies of the letters of Ca
rondelet and of the terms submitted in the handwriting of
Sebastian, was unequivocally expressed. The sum of
$100,000 was to be placed at the disposition of these gen
tlemen as a reward for their own services, and with which
to bribe others. An additional $100,000 was to be devoted
to arming and sustaining troops who were to have seized
upon Fort Massac. Assurance was given that the treaty
with the United States would never be executed by Spain.
A communication embodying the details of the proposi
tion was delivered by Power to Sebastian, who insisted
upon the incorporation of a provision stipulating, that, in

352 The Spanish Conspiracy.
case of the failure of the plan, those persons who might
lose their offices by reasons of their efforts to promote it,
should be indemnified by the Spanish king. The pious
Sebastian undertook to make known the proposition to
his friends, Innes and Nicholas ; but Murray had so com
pletely lost his respect by drunkenness and infidelity that
he positively refused to have aught to do with him. He
accordingly saw Innes, who saw Nicholas, who decided
that the dishonorable overture " ought to be rejected."
A paper to this purport was drawn by Nicholas, a copy of
which was signed by Innes and himself, and was delivered
by the former to Sebastian. The following is a copy of
the original amiable document, as it was communicated
by Innes to the legislative committee, in the handwriting
of Nicholas, unsigned and without date, viz :
Sir : — We have seen the communication made by you to Mr. Sebas
tian. In answer thereto we declare unequivocally that we will not be
concerned, either directly or indirectly, in any attempt that may be
made to separate the western country from the United States. That
whatever part we may, at any time, be induced to take in the politics
of our country, that her welfare will be our only inducement, and that
we will never receive any pecuniary or other reward for any personal
exertions made by us to promote that welfare.
The free navigation of the Mississippi must always be the favorite ob
ject of the inhabitants of the western country; they can not be con
tented without it, and will not be deprived of it longer than necessity
shall compel them to submit to its being withheld from them.
We flatter ourselves that every thing respecting this important busi
ness will be set right by the governments of the two nations ; but if
this should not be the case, it appears to us that it must be the policy
of Spain to encourage by every possible means the free intercourse
with the inhabitants of the western country, as this will be the most
efficient means to conciliate their good will, and to obtain, without haz
ard and at reduced prices, those supplies which are indispensably neces
sary to the Spanish government and its subjects.
If Nicholas felt the virtuous indignation at this nefari
ous proposition which was attributed to him by his friends,
it must be conceded that he had an admirable command
of himself; — for there is not a trace thereof in this paper,
The reader will be forced to agree with Butler that,
" These offers were entertained too gravely, and were re
jected with too much lameness for the honor of Kentucky

The Spanish Conspiracy. 353
patriotism." Bat at least one of the signers of that paper
had. been far too deeply implicated in previous schemes to
afford to exhibit, even if he felt, an honest wrath at their
renewal. After delivering the communication to Sebastian, Power
proceeded to Detroit, where he had an interview with
Wilkinson, whom he informed of the proposals of Caron
delet. But the American General knew that he was
watched on every side, and that he was surrounded by
men who were true to their country. He received Power
coldly, exclaiming bitterly : " We are both lost without
being able to derive any advantage from your journey."
He said that the scheme was now "a chimerical project;
that the inhabitants ofthe western states, having obtained
by treaty all they wanted, would not wish to form any
other political or commercial alliances ; and that they had
no motive for separating themselves from the other states
ofthe Union, even if France and Spain should make them
the most advantageous offers ; that the fermentations which
had existed four years back had been appeased." He in
sisted that there was no course now left the Spanish except
to carry out the provisions of the treaty, by which they
had deprived themselves of their power over the western
people. And, finally, that in order to avert suspicion.
Power must permit hiraself to be conducted under guard
to Fort Massac. This was done. At New Madrid, Power
was met by Sebastian, who delivered to him the reply of
Nicholas and Innes. Sebastian did not agree with Wilk
inson, but encouraged Power stiU to hope for ultimate
success. He, however, made an unfavorable report to
.Carondelet, and thus the last overture of Spain carae to
a fruitless end.
According to their own admissions before the committee
of investigation, the fact that Sebastian had, for ten years
at least, received an annual pension from Spain, was weU
known to John Brown and Judge Innes as early as Aug
ust, 1806. They encouraged LitteU to write, and he did
write, numerous articles for the Palladium, in defense of
Sebastian, as weU as of themselves, after they were in
23

354 The Spanish Conspiracy.
possession of this positive knowledge, which they concealed
from their champion. In October, when they had known
the disgraceful truth for months, they solicited LitteU to
write, and paid him for writing,* and Wm. Hunter for
publishing, the " Narrative of PoUtical Transactions,"
which was as much of a defense of Sebastian, whom they
knew to have been a pensioner of Spain for years, and of
Wilkinson, as it was of John Brown, Ilary Innes or Caleb
WaUace; — they were all in the same boat together. Yet
they still kept the fact of which they had knowledge a
secret from both writer and publisher. Their intimacy
¦was maintained with the pensioner, -who was the most
violent of all in his denunciations of the publications in
the Western World as lies. They scrupulously withheld
from their able and zealous advocate all knowledge of the
intrigues with Thomas Power in 1795-7, and of Sebastian's
pension, as Littell swore, " until in the (vening after the
House of Representatives had acceded to the proposition to in
quire into the conduct of Sebastian. He (Innes,) then gave
this deponent information that Sebastian could be proved
to be a Spanish pensioner." Hunter testified to the same
effect. The grief of the reader in learning from the " Political Be
ginnings," that Humphrey Marshall was " violent, irrelig
ious and profane," will be mollified by the assurance given
in the same work that Hary Innes " was a sincerely religious
man." It might with equal truth have been stated that
Caleb Wallace, who had abandoned the Presbyterian pulpit
to go into politics, kept up his church relations, and prac
ticed his devotions with the utmost regularity. Sebastian
also, who had cast off the gown of the Episcopal ministry
in his pursuit of the " fiesh pots of Egypt," continued, it
is believed, the exercise of all religious observances, and,
-' Marshall, Vol. 2, page 399, says that Littell was paid $50 each by
Brown, WaUace and Innes, and cheated of the other $50 by Sebastian.
No mention is made in the depositions read by the writer of the $50
due by Sebastian. But there is a mention of a " residue " of $50 which
was paid by Innes in the name of Thomas Todd. The inference is that
when Sebastian faded to pay, the deficit was made up by Todd.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 355
in the depth of his piety, deemed a treasonable overture
entirely too good to be communicated to an infidel. WhUe
John Brown, who had absorbed faith as he sat under the
very droppings of the sanctuary,* it will be cheerfully con
ceded was the most devout of the four. On the other hand,
John Wood, one of the editors of the Western World, whom
they afterwards bought, was a reprobate ; and young Joseph
M. Street, whom they could neither bribe nor intimidate,
and the attempt to assassinate whom proved a failure, was
a sinner. It is distressing to think that, like Gavin Ham
ilton, the latter " drank, and swore, and played at carts."
It may be that the wickedness of the editors of the West
ern World, and the contemplation of their own saintUness,
justified in the eyes ofthe four Christian jurists and states
men the several little stratagems they devised, and paid
Littell for introducing into his " Narrative," in order to
obtain the advantage of the wicked editors in the argu
ment. The contrast of their characters made innocent
those little mutilations by Innes of his own letter to Ran
dolph ! The same process of reasoning made laudable John
Brown's suppression of his Muter letter, his assertion that
it was identical with the " sliding letter," and his claim
that the acceptance of Gardoqui's proposition would have
been consistent with the alleged purpose to make some
future application for the admission of Kentucky into the
new Union ! While the suppression of the resolution of
Wallace and Wilkinson in the July convention, and the
declaration that such a " m.otion never was made," in order
to prove the unhappy editors to be liars, became as praise
worthy as the spoiling of the Egyptians by the Israelites I
The scene of those four distinguished gentlemen seated
around a table, with a prayer-book in the center, planning
the screen for themselves and the discomfiture of the
editors, would be a subject worthy of the brush of a
Hogarth. And, if the traditions that have come down concerning
*He was the son of Rev. John Brown, a Presbyterian minister of re
spectable abUities and reputable life, who was for nearly fifty years the
pastor of the Timber Ridge Church, in Rockbridge county, Virginia.

356 The Spanish Conspiracy.
him be true, the able William Littell was also a publican.
Perhaps that fact made legitimate the supplying him with
false copies and false information, as well as the conceal
ment from him of the intrigues of 1795-7, and their knowl
edge of Sebastian's pension ! Littell, however, seems to
have taken a different view of his treatment by the men
whom he defended, and to whose, confidence he was cer
tainly entitled. After detailing in his deposition in the
case of Innes v. Marshall, that he had undertaken the de
fense of all the parties in good faith, believing them to be
innocent and persecuted ; and the information that was
furnished him in the Appendix prepared by Innes; in
reply to a question by Marshall as to the name of the
author of an article in the Palladium, in 1807, assailing
Marshall, to which tiiat of Marshall upou which the suit
-was brought was a reply, — Littell answered : That he did
not know what article was referred to, nor who wrote it,
"for as soon as Sebastian was detected, this deponent directed
his attention to other objects. He never afterwards wrote any
thing against Wood, Street, or Marshall, or any other relative
to the Spanish Conspiracy. He knew that the contest was
still carried on with the ' Western World,' but he did not
know or care how or by whom ; he felt no interest in the
contest, read but few of the publications, and had no inter
course with their authors." Which was a decorous way
of expressing his sense of the ill-usage involved in the
deceits practiced upon himself; his disgust at having been
made the instrument for the propagation of, and the palm
ing of fraud upon the pubhc; of his own conviction that
the parties who had thus equivocated and concealed from
him the truth had been equally guilty with Sebastian of
intrigue; and that, feeling himself, miserable sinner as he
was, unfit longer to associate with these — the Lord's saints
— he had then and there washed his hands of the confed
erates and of all their concerns.
Before the meeting of the Legislature in November,
1806, the charge had been published iu the Western World,
by Humphrey Marshall, that Sebastian had been for years
a stipendiary of Spain. He also drew up an address

The Spanish Conspiracy. 357
to the Legislature reciting the fact that Sebastian was a
Spanish pensioner, and praying an inquiry. A number
of copies of this address were printed, some of which
were taken to Woodford, were numerously signed by in
dependent farmers of that county, were taken into the
possession of William Blackburn, the Representative, and
by him the facts were made known to other members.
By the 22d of the month the movement had gathered
such strength that a resolution was offered by Samuel
McKee, the member from Garrard, that a committee be
appointed to institute the desired inquiry. A substitute
therefor was offered by John Pope and was adopted. If
the newspaper statements of the day are to be credited,
' Sebastian protested his innocence and requested that the
investigation be delayed, to give him an opportunity to
procure evidence for its vindication. It is certain, that a
vigorous effort was made to defeat the resolution and pre
vent inquiry, under the pretense of giving the Judge time
tb prepare. But Blackburn presented two addresses and
petitions from his constituents, which made the charges
specified in the resolution, and by his determined ex
pressions the resolution for the investigation Avas car
ried. Witnesses were sent for, and attended. The receipt
of the pension by Sebastian, then Judge of the Court of
Appeals, w^as absolutely proven by the testimony of
Thomas BuUitt, of Charles Wilkins and James T. Martin,
given before the committee on the 27th day of November,
1S06, and by Sebastian's own drafts for the pension and
letter relating thereto, which were produced. In the af
ternoon of that day, and after the facts had been estab
lished by this evidence, and not until then, Sebastian
handed his resignation to Governor Greenup, by -whom it
was accepted.
In his letter of resignation the venal Judge admitted
the receipt of the pension. He claimed, however, that it
was granted and had been paid for the services he had
rendered in 1795, the nature of which has been stated.
There have not been wanting writers -n^ho, accepting Se
bastian's representations as truthful and candid, contend

358 The Spanish Conspiracy.
that his conduct was not even reprehensible. The same
writers compliment him on the alleged manliness with
which he avowed all that he had done. Yet to the un
biased reader, who has read his importunity in 1790, it
will be apparent that Sebastian confessed only the receipt of
the pension, which could no longer be denied ; that his al
legations as to the time that pension commenced and as to
the service for which it was paid, were inventions to excul
pate himself and screen his friends. His corruption and
the turpitude which had resulted in the final exposure of
his disgrace, both had their origin in 1788, in his collusion
iu the nefarious schemes of James Wilkinson and of John
Brown.*

* Benjamin Sebastian was not a native of any of the colonies. He
-w^ educated for, and for a time officiated as, an Episcopal minister.
Then became a lanwer, and early drifted to Kentuckj-. Unlike Wilkin
son, he had never worn the American uniform. Unlike Brown, Innes
and WaUace, in 17.S,S he held no official position, and betrayed no trust
by engaging in the schemes which then commenced. It must be borne
in mind that his communications with the Spaniards at least began
when he was a private citizen. Had it not been for his complicity in
the schemes of Wilkinson and Brown in 1788, he might never have been
corrupted. He was the only one of the conspirators who expiated his
oflense, and thus was the only one entitled to sympathy. He bore his
punishment uncomplainingly, accepted his position as " scapegoat," and
never "peached upon his pals." They, on the other hand, hated him
because of his unwariness.

The Spanish Conspiracy. ,359

CHAPTER XXI.
Innes' Effort to Stop the Investigation of the Charge Against
Sebastian— His Fear that His Friend Had been Indiscreet —
Innes Goes before the Committee — Details the Overture of
1795 — Queer Account op the Manner in which His Name be
came Known to the Spaniards— Says Nothing of the Overture
OF 1797— Comes Back and Tells op That Also— Doubts Whether
He Rejected the Overture when made Known to Him by Se
bastian, OR Reserved His Decision Until Nicholas Had been
Consulted — Allowed to Put His Testimony into the Form op a
Deposition — Variance between the Oral and the Written
Evidence — Reason Assigned by Innes for Not Revealing the
Overture to the Federal Authorities — He Feared John Adams
Might Think He was Courting Favor— And did not Want the
Army Sent to Kentucky — The Report op the Committee.
The effort to defeat the investigation of the charges
against Sebastian, by postponing it on the pretense of
affording him time for his defense, and his resignation
after his guilt had been proven, have been stated. The
next rallying point was the attempt that -^vas made to
prevent the exposure of others, by dissuading the com
mittee from pursuing their investigation and by represent
ing that the sole object of their appointment had been at
tained iu the resignation of Sebastian. The person most
interested in maintaining this view was Judge Innes.*

* Among the members of the legislature constituting the committee
was Henry Davidge, afterwards judge of the circuit court of the Shelby
district. He was made a witness in the suit of Innes v. Marshall, and,
on the 10th of June, 1812, gave his deposition in that case. He testifled,
that on the evening of the first day of the investigation, 27th of Novem
ber, 1806, and after the guUt of Sebastian had been proven as already
stated, he went to dine with Governor Greenup, whom he found in the
public room in conversation with Sebastian. "The judge, upon my en
tering ttie room, rose up apparently in haste, looked about for his hat or
stick, and immediately disappeared." The governer then informed the
witness that Sebastian had resigned. The beU for the committee to
meet again rang, when Davidge proposed to go ; but Greenup told him

360 The Spanish Conspiracy.
Nor did he scruple to exert himself to prevail upon mem
bers of the coramittee to desist frora their inquiry. And
that he had excellent reason for his concern and anxiety
can not be disputed. Whether he went voluntarily before
the coramittee the next day, or was suraraoned, does not
appear frora the record.
His knowledge of the payment of the pension to Sebas
tian, since the preceding August, is ascertained from his
own deposition. The information, he alleged, was then
given to him by Charles Wilkins, who gave him a copy
of a letter from Sebastian to John A. Seitz, deceased, of
Natchez, which disclosed the truth. When Judge .Ennes
thus had the proof laid before him in Sebastian's own
handwriting of the turpitude of the appellate judge, he
" observed," as stated by Wilkins, " that he feared Judge
Sebastian had acted indiscreetly ;" — but whether this indis
cretion consisted in receiving the pension, or in the careless
way with which he had exposed his guiltj' secret, the evi
dence of Wilkins did not indicate. In October, thereafter,
Sebastian admitted the fact to Innes, and made the same
not to go ; that he intended to go up and certify Sebastian's resignation,
and he supposed the committee would proceed no further, but if they
did, he would let Davidge know. Hearing that the committee was in
session, Davidge started to go to their place of meeting, but on his way
was informed that the committee had risen to meet again next morn
ing, and had determined to proceed with the inquiry notwithstanding
the judge had resigned. Upon returning to the governor's house he
found Innes there, who " addressed himself to this deponent and asked
what the committee had done or were about to do." Upon being in
formed of the purpose of the committee, " the plaintiff wished to be
informed what was the object of the committee in proceeding further?
The object of the investigation, he said, was to put the judge out of
office, nothing further ought or could be done with him." Davidge up
held the action of the committee, who, he thought, " ought not to let
the judge get off in that way." "The plaintiff appeared much con
cerned, aud asked the deponent if he would say so as a lawyer ? This
deponent, with some degree of earnestness, replied that he would say
so both as a lawyer and as a man." "And this deponent seeing the
plaintiff so much concerned about the committee being determined to
proceed in the examination, declined to say any thing further. Yet this .
deponent was surprised at the manner of the plaintiff's urging the im
propriety of the committee's determination to proceed with the investi
gation."

The .< Spanish ¦ Conspiracy. 361
claim then in regard to the matter that he subsequently
made in his letter of resignation. After thus testifying,
Innes proceeded to detail the circumstances of the over
ture of 1795, as they have already been stated and attrib
uted to him in the preceding chapter. His testimony was
given orally.
During this examination an incident occurred -which
, furnished amusement to some members of the committee,
but which harassed the judge no little, and -was m,uch
dwelt upon in the depositions subsequently taken in the
litigation with Marshall. He -was asked how his name
came to be known to the Spanish authorities of Louisiana
as one with whom they could communicate upon such a
matter. It was proven by the testimony of Judge George
M. Bibb and Colonel John Alien,* in the case of Innes v.
Marshall, with which the less distinct recollections of
Judge McKee and others corresponded, that Innes replied,
that the way in which his name had becorae known to the
Spanish authorities was, that they had seen his name writ
ten in a copy of Sterne's " Sentimental Journey," which
General Wilkinson had carried with him to New Orleans,
in 1787. The distressed jurist would have had the com
passionate committee to believe, that this constituted the
sole acquaintance with his name and character upon which
Carondelet had proceeded to select him, a Federal Judge,
as one of four men in all the West with whom to secretly
confer upon a subject of this nature ! Ignorant, as the
members of the committee necessarily were, of the cor
respondence between Wilkinson and Miro, there was not
one of them probably so simple as to have given the
slightest credence to a claim so supremely absurd. The
reader, who knows from the contents of that correspond
ence in what manner the name of Hary Innes -was made
famiUar to the Spaniards, and the circumstances under

-* This gentleman must not be confounded with Judge John AUen, of
Bourbon, whose testimony concerning the conventions of 1788 has pre
viously appeared. He was a much younger man, and the two were in
no way related. The Colonel Allen above referred to was killed at the
Raisin.

362 The Spanish Conspiracy.
which it was communicated to Miro by Wilkinson, will
have a just appreciation of the candor which inspired the
answer, as well as a clear understanding of the good rea
sons Carondelet had for his confidence that Innes was
open to approach.
The testimony of the witnesses in the case referred to
at this point varied as to whether Innes, after giving his
version of these transactions of 1795, intimated that he
was in possession of other information which might not
be regarded as relevant to the subject under investigation,
but which he was ready to communicate, and after wait
ing sorae little time, and no question being asked, left
the room; or, whether he left without indicating that he
knew any thing more. The statement of Judge Robert
Trimble being the most direct and positive in behalf of
Innes on this point it is here quoted :
" Mr. Innes then observed that he had detailed to the committee
every thing he knew on the subject of the pension, or which was imme
diately connected with the subject of inquiry before the committee ; but
that he had some knowledge of other transactions or facts not immedi
ately connected therewith. At the time of making the preceding obser
vation, Mr. Innes pulled a small bundle of papers out of his coat pocket
and held them in his hand for some time. No further interrogatory
was then put to him by the committee, and he put the bundle of papers
again into his pocket and withdrew from before the committee, with
out making any disclosure of the overtures made through Sebastian by
Thomas Power.''
With this statement of Trimble, those of Colonel Allen,
Judge Bibb, and others widely differed. Bibb stated that
Innes retired of his own accord without disclosing the
overtures of Power in 1797. Allen, that "Mr. Innes gave
evidence and retired. I thought he was done." Afterwards
he met Innes in the street ; Innes stated " the nature of
his tale as to Power," and asked Allen " whether it was
matter which should be given in evidence in the inquiry
committee." Allen thought it should be detailed, but,
being one of the coramittee, referred him to. Henry Clay,
to whom Innes shortly after mentioned the matter in
Allen's presence. Both then expressed the opinion that
the facts should be detailed. At Innes' request, Allen
suggested to the committee the recall of Innes, and Innes

The Spanish Conspiracy. 363
came back and gave his evidence as to the overture of
Power through Sebastian in 1797. In the meantime, how
ever, Bibb had seen Innes go into the house of John
Brown. Judge McKee testified that "Hary Innes was
examined before the said committee, and this deponent
believes on oath ; and after stating several facts and cir
cumstances to the committee, he retired therefrom with
out stating that he had further testimony to deliver."
Henry Davidge deposed, that when Innes concluded his
testimony concerning the visit of Sebastian to New Or
leans in 1795, he, the witness, "supposed the plaintiff' had
disclosed all the news relative to the subject then before
the committee;" and that nothing. had then been said by
Innes about the proposition of Power at a later date. AU
agree, however, that after other witnesses had, in the
meantime, been examined, but differing as to the length
of time that had elapsed, Innes agaiu came before the
committee, in a greatly disturbed, excited and agitated
condition, and said there was something more connected
with the subject before the committee to be related. See
ing Wood, one of the publishers of the Western World,
present and taking notes, Innes objected and requested
the committee to interfere.* Innes then testified concern
ing the overture of 1797, as appears in preceding pages.
The proposition then made was but a renewal in detail of
the old scheme which had been agreed on between Miro
and Wilkinson, which had been " discussed " between Gar
doqui and John Brown, which the latter had agreed to
" aid," and which these two, with Sebastian, Innes and
Wallace, had tried to accomplish.
The witnesses again differed as to the account Innes
gave in his oral testimony of the response he raade to Se
bastian, when this proposition was submitted to him for
consideration. Judge Trimble was conscious that his re
coUection was not distinct. He remembered that Innes
asserted that " he observed to Sebastian it was a danger
ous project, and added something about the Western peo-

^- Deposition of Hon. Henry Davidge, in case of Innes v. Marshall,

364 The Spanish Conspiracy.
pie " which Trimble did not distinctly understand. In con
sequence of not distinctly " collecting" " the precise expres
sion of Mr. Innesimmediately following the remark that it
was a dangerous project," Trimble " was left in a painful
suspense " " as to how far Mr. Innes had gone in rejecting or
repelling the proposition in the first instance, and which
was not removed until Mr. Innes' written deposition was
read before the coraraittee." The recollection of George
Walker and Williara McMillan was, in substance, in an
swer to leading questions, that Innes stated that he had
remarked to Sebastian that it was a dangerous project and
ought not to be countenanced; and that on Sebastian urg
ing him to see Nicholas, to whom also the communication
of Power was addressed, he agreed to do so, not that his
owm position should be determined by that of Nicholas,
but sirapl}- that a formal written answer should be made.
On the other hand. Judge Bibb deposed that :
"My understanding of said Innes' testimony, as delivered viva voce,.
is clear and distinct, that said Innes did take the paper from Sebastian,
for the purpose of communicating the said propositions to Colonel Nich
olas, telling said Sebastian tltat lie, Innes, would abide hy wliatever determina
tion Colonel Nicholas should make upon the subject of those propositions, a.nd
to show that determination produced a paper which he stated was a
copy of a written reply signed by Colonel Nicholas and himself, the
original whereof had been delivered to said Sebastian."
Judge McKee was equally positive. He said :
" When the proposition of Doctor Power was submitted to Harry In
nes by Benjamin Sebastian, Harry Innes stated before the committee
that he answered Sebastian by stating that he, Innes, would see Colonel
Nicholas in a few days, who was one of the persons to whom the over
ture was made, and submit the papers to Colonel Nicholas, and they
would be governed by his decision. This is the substance of the state
ment made before the committee." " This deponent says, that, accord
ing to his recollection, Hary Innes, before the committee, did not state
any reasons, as having been given to Sebastian, when the proposition
was made to him; but declined any definitive answer untU he ob
tained the opinion of Colonel Nicholas. It is in this respect the writ
ten deposition differs from that delivered before the committee."
It wall be understood, that, after giving in his testimony
orally, Judge Innes was permitted to reduce his statement
to writing, and to submit it in the form of a deposition.
The above testimony was adduced to show in what respect
the written difi'ered from the oral statement. There was

The Spanish Conspiracy. 365
evidence that Innes requested the committee to point out
such difference, if any there were, that it might be cor
rected before he signed his deposition, and that no such
correction was desired. Other witnesses did not remem
ber this, but did remember that the variance was noticed
at the time. The following is the statement made in the
deposition :
"That Mr. Sebastian came to this deponent's house, some short time
after receiving the communication, and shewed it to him, upon which
this deponent observed, that it was a dangerous project, and ought not
to be countenanced, as the western people had now obtained the navigation of
ihe Mississippi, hy lohich all their wishes were gratified. Mr. Sebastian con
curred in sentiment, but observed, that Power wished a written answer,
and requested me to see Colonel Nicholas, saying that whatever we did,
he would concur in. I promised to visit the Colonel in two or three
days. This deponent never had any communication with Mr. Murray
upon the business, nor does he know that Mr. Sebastian ever did in
form Mr. Murray of it."
This version was afterwards supported by Sebastian in
his deposition in the suit of Innes v. MarshaU. Whether
or not Innes at once rejected the infamous proposal when
it was communicated by Sebastian, or deferred a decision
until that of Nicholas had been obtained, the evidence is,
that, after consulting with that able and distinguished
man, Innes united with him in the very mild and studi
ously inoffensive missive which was returned to Power.
It will be remarked, however, that, according to Innes'
own statement, he deemed the proposition " dangerous "
and one that " ought not to be countenanced," because,
("as") " the western people had now obtained the naviga
tion of the Mississippi, by which all their wishes were
gratified," and, therefore, could not be induced to embark
in such a " Revolt from the Union ; "—from which the im-
pUcation naturally arises, that, had not European compli
cations compeUed the Spanish king to disregard the advice
of Wilkinson, by acquiescing temporarily in that naviga
tion, in the treaty he had concluded with the United
States, the answer of Innes would have been different.
Wilkinson, who had urged the king never to make the con
cession to the United States, was " cool" to Power, on pre
cisely the same ground ;— by the treaty the Spaniards had

366 The Spanish Conspiracy.
abandoned their power over the western people. The
witnesses agreed, that, when Innes went before the com
mittee the second time, after consulting with John Brown,
who probably advised him that all must corae out, and he
bad better anticipate the revelations that would be made
by others ; — his agitation was extreme. Before informing
the committee that he had additional communications to
make, he burst into tears. During the progress of the
revelation, he lost the power of speech, gasped for breath,
and seeraed in a fainting condition. The committee drew
away from around hira, and the windows were opened to
give him air. It was, indeed, a most humiliating, sorrow
ful, pitiful scene.*
The impression produced upon the committee by the
disclosure made by the trembling, hysterical, gasping,
fainting, weeping jurist, may be gathered frora the depo
sition of Davidge, that " this deponent was surprised that
these matters did not come out upon the first examination
ofthe plaintiff before the committee. This deponent, on
hearing the proposition of Powder (in 1797) observed to
one of the committee, that this was the cream ofthe joke ;
that the proposition of Power cast light on the whole af
fair, and that the deponent could now see into the whole
mystery; that the commercial arrangements appeared to
be raore like railitary operations or preparations." f
When giving his testimony in the case of Innes v. Mar
shall, Hon. George M. Bibb J was reminded that he had

* Depositions of George M. Bibb, Colonel John Allen, Hon. Henry
M. Davidge and others in re Innes v. Marshall.
t Davidge testified that " no instance has yet occurred to this depo
nent where the feelings of a witness so completely triumphed over his
philosophy." t The deposition of Colonel John Allen is dated " Camp at Wayne's
Battle Ground, near the foot of the rapids of the Miami of the Lake,
January 1.3, 1813." In a letter he stated that his ink was freezing as he
wrote, and that for more than four months his " clothes had not been
ofi', except to change a shirt." A few days later he feU at the Raisin.
His body was never recovered. The "Political Beginnings" having
stated that Allen was one of the objects of MarshaU's rancor, it may be
proper to state, that, in the deposition Colonel AUen spoke of him as

The Spanish Conspiracy. 367
been a judge ofthe court of appeals, and was asked:
"Had a citizen of this state or a foreigner within its ju
risdiction made to you the proposition herein ascribed to
Power, had you been a judge possessing criminal jurisdic
tion of treason or suspicion of treason, what would have
been your duty ? " He replied : " I should have considered
it my duty to have caused the offender to be apprehended ;
brought to trial, and not dismissed by my consent or au
thority, untU he had given security for his good behavior,
in case the law had provided, or the constituted authori
ties had adjudged no greater penalty for such an offense."*
" an uncommonly good neighbor ; " that MarshaU had, on his removing
to Frankfort, manifested a friendly disposition towards him, and that
there had been considerable intercourse between their families, which
had not been interrupted by their political differences. He spoke par
ticularly of the kindness of Mrs. Marshall to his family when they were
in distress, " which had made a lasting impression." The writer has
personal and definite knowledge, that this friendship was always main
tained between the descendants of Humphrey Marshall and those of
Colonel Allen.
-* In the trial of this case this statement of Judge Bibb was probably
severely felt by the plaintiff. This the writer infers from the fact, that,
after the trial, his deposition wks retaken, January 1, 1815, apparently
for the purpose of obtaining some statement which might " let Innes
down " a little more easily. Bibb was then asked if he had not, after
this investigation, continued his habits of intimacy with Innes, and ac-
bepted his invitations to dine. He replied that he " was in the habit of so
cial intercourse with the plaintiff, and accepted most willingly his invi
tations to his house and to his table." He was then asked by Hum
phrey Marshall, whether it-was Innes' " own merits, or that of his cook,
which induced you to attend his dinner parties ? " To this .ludge Bibb
replied: "That he associated with the plaintiff; believing him to be a
man of amiable character, an exemplary man in his domestic govern
ment, of great benevolence. I did not ascribe to him any bad inten
tions in relation to the intrigue and conspiracy of Sebastian with the
Spanish governmeiit. My opinion was, and yet is, that Mr. Innes, from
a natural benevolence and mildness of character, yielded too far to the
temper -of ihe times, and warmth of friendship for and confidence in certain
individuals. If I had thought him criminal I never should have invited
Mr. Innes (the plaintiff) to my house, nor accepted an invitation to his."
This statement by Judge Bibb gives expression to the only paUiation
that can be found for the conduct of Judge Innes ;— justification is im
possible. In a conversation with John Jouitt, in 1815, Humphrey Mar
shall said that he had never regarded Innesas personaUy and privately a
bad man. And the flagitiousness of his political conduct he attributed

368 The Spanish Conspiracy.
Judge Innes gave the following as the reason why he
and Colonel Nicholas did not communicate the proposi
tions that had been made to the Executive of the United
States, viz :
"1st. Thatit was well known that neither of us approved of Mr. Adams's
administration, and that we believed he kept a watchful eye over our
actions, that the communication must depend upon his opinion of our
veracity ; and it would have the appearance of courting his favor. 2d.
That we both had reason, and did believe, that the then administration
were disposed upon the slightest pretext to send an army to this state,
which we considered would be a grievance upon the people, and there
fore declined making any communication upon the subject, as we ap
prehended no danger from the Spanish government.''
Of this statement, Perrin, in his History of Kentucky
(page 300), says, that at the time it was considered " rather
larae," and that the reasons assigned "were not believed
to be the true reasons " for the failure to communicate the
treasonable proposition to the Executive. While the hon
est and impartial Hildreth, discrediting the statement as
flimsy and ridiculous, distinctly expresses his conviction,
that secrecy was maintained because a disclosure would
have induced an investigation which would have impU
cated Innes in other matters which it was his deep interest
should remain covered. As between the justice of these
expressions, and that of Colonel Brown's broad assertion,
that " no one, who will take the ^trouble to examine the
testimony given under oath, can have a shadow of doubt"
of the " perfect rectitude " of Innes, the reader is left to
determine. Certain it is, however, that among the mem
bers of the committee who heard the testimony as it was
given, and who afterwards testified in the libel suit of
Innes v. Marshall, there was more than one who did have

entirely to the evil influence exerted over him by others. All of the
misfortunes which embittered the closing years of his life were attrib
utable to his intimacy with, and the baneful influence of, James Wilkin
son, John Brown, and Sebastian. In the origin of the personal quarrel,
between Innes and H. Marshall the latter was to blame, and so confessed
himself. That quarrel was never espoused by any of Marshall's kin
dred, none of whom had any share or participation therein, and not one
of whom ever manifested or cherished the slightest personal ill wiU
against Innes on that or any other account.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 369
very grave doubts of the rectitude of the Federal Judge.
Nor were those doubts confined to them ; they were shared
by the people and by many of the prominent men of the
Commonwealth. The judgment of the committee was,
that the intercourse of Sebastian with the agents of the
Spanish Government, a part of which certainly was with
the confessed approbation and connivance of Innes, was
" illicit, unjustifiable, and highly criminal, subversive of
every duty he owed to the constituted authorities of our
country, and highly derogatory to the character of Ken
tucky." Still no direct censure had been passed upon the Judge
of the Federal Court by name. That he remained unmo
lested was unquestionably not attributable to any convic
tion on the part of those in authority that there was no
culpability in his own conduct, nor in the concealment of
the treasonable proposition which had been made to him,
but solely to the fact that the concealment had been prac
ticed during the administration of Johu Adams, who had
been succeeded by Mr. Jefferson, of whom Innes had
been a devoted partisan.*

* In 1797, the Federal army, which Innes was so fearful might be
gent to Kentucky, was under the command of his friend, James Wil
kinson. ,
24

370 The Spanish Conspiracy.

CHAPTER XXII.
Humphrey Marshall Becomes a Candidate for the Legislature —
Announces His Purpose to Inaugurate Measures to Securb
the Impeachment op Innes — Is Elected — Popular Verdict Unfa
vorable to Innes — Action of the Legislature Equally Condem
natory — More of Colonel Brown's Misrepresentations — The
Libel Suit Against Street — Marshall Neither Wrote the Arti
cle on which Street was Sued, nor Gave the Information on
which it was Founded — Colonel Brown Claims that the Inves
tigations Completely Vindicated Innes, but Conceals the Re
sults OP those Investigations — Suppresses the Eesult op the
Suit Against Marshall — That Suit Goes to Trial — A Divided
Jury.
Having been chiefiy instrumental in driving Sebastian
in well merited disgrace from the Court of Appeals, in
order that measures might be initiated for the visitation
of what he conceived to be equal justice upon Innes, Hum
phrey Marshall now determined to announce himself as a
candidate for a seat in the next Legislature. The Federal
party, of which he was the ablest and most conspicuous
member then in Kentucky, w^as dead beyond the power
of resurrection. His vote for the ratification of the
Constitution of the United States, the adoption of which
had saved the people from anarchy and all the evils that
flow from lawdessness, and had rescued the country from
impending dismeraberment and internecine strife, had
been imputed to him as a crime much worse than treason.
His vote for the Jay treaty with Great Britain, which de
clared the neutrality of our country in the conflicts which
desolated Europe, and kept us free from all entangUng for
eign alliances ; which first announced and inaugurated the
policy -which has ever since been maintained by all subse
quent administrations ; which at the tirae saved us alike
from a threatened war with Great Britain and from being
made a mere adjunct of France ; which immediately led to
the surrender of the posts in the North-west, to the

The Spanish Conspiracy'. 371
pacification of the Indians, and to important commercial
advantages ; — for a vote which gave peace and averted war,
guarded our honor and promoted our interests aud wel
fare, he had been denounced as a friend of monarchy, an
enemy of liberty, and had been vilUfied as though he had
been the vilest of malefactors. To his other offenses as a
senator had been added the crime of the ardent support
he had given the administrations of Washington and
Adams, in their patriotic efforts to establish public credit,
to maintain the national honor, to avert strife, to uphold
the Constitution, and to preserve the Union against the
foes by whom they were assailed on every sidci As a Fed-
eraUstthe odium excited by the Alien and Sedition, law -vyas
visited upon him. He had refused absolutely to obey in
structions when they confiicted with his own matured
convictions of justice and right and the interests and wel
fare of the whole country. Disdaining to temporize with
wrong, scorning all that savored of equivocation, he cour
ageously maintained against all comers the principles and
policy of the defeated and disbanded party. The national
administration was in the hands of an enemy to all of his
name and kindred. The state administration was con
trolled by his own implacable foes. With many of the
prominent men of the state he had been involved in the
most acrimonious political and personal controversies.
Seldom was any man so maliciously traduced. The as
saults by insignificant tools of others were treated with
contemptuous indifference. But the leaders among his
antagonists who assailed him had abundant cause for
regret. On the other hand, Innes, a generous, hospitable and
amiable man, much beloved for his personal quahties, was
surrounded by a large, respectable and influential family
connection, as well as by friends whose political and per
sonal interests were identified with his own, and who had
at their back all that prestige of success and wealth can
bring. It was under these circumstances, in a community
in which he had been grossly outraged by mob violence,
that Marshall, single handed and alone, openly avowing

372 The Spanish Conspiracy.
his object, entered the canvass against all odds, and ap
pealed to the people whom he had never courted or flat
tered, upon the facts established by the record. He was
elected, and, on the same issue, was re-elected to the suc
ceeding Legislature; from this circumstance, which Colo
nel Brown fails to mention, may be gathered the contem-
ptorary judgraent upon the evidence as passed by the
community in which both men lived.
Having thus obtained a popular verdict, in January, 1808,
Humphrey Marshall presented resolutions to the Ken
tucky House of Representatives looking to an investiga
tion into the conduct of Innes by Congress. They were
opposed by Mr. Clay, on the ground that they constituted
an expression of opinion and tended to prejudice Innes.
They were not adopted, and Mr. Clay's substitute therefor
was also rejected. The substance of Marshall's resolu
tions was then erabodied in others which were presented
by William Blackburn, and were adopted by both
branches of the General Assembly, which were transmit
ted to Congress, and which fairly reflect the sentiment
and judgraent not only of that legislative body, but ofthe
most moderate and conservative of the candid and think
ing people of the State at that time, viz.:
" Inasmuch as it has been deemed expedient to express the public
opinion on subjects of general concern, as the means of union among
members of the same community, or as indications of the public, serving
as guides to public servants in their official conduct ; and whereas, from
representations made to the General Assembly by the introduction of a
resolution, and upon the application of Harry Innes, Esq., by letter di
rected to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and by him laid
before that house praying an examination into the charges exhibited
against him in said resolution, and from evidence to them exhibited, it
appears that the said Harry Innes, Esq., while sole judge of the Federal
Court, for the Kentucky district, had knowledge of various intrigues
and secret negotiations having been at different times carried on by the
agents and emissaries of a foreign government with citizens of this
State, Iwstile to the peace and tranquility of the Union ; particularly in the
case of the Baron de Carondelet, and in the case of Thomas Power,
agents and emissaries of the King of Spain ; and the said Harry Innes,
Esq., possessing a complete knowledge of propositions having been
made to himself and others, citizens of the Western country, by the
said Carondelet and Power, which had for their object the dismember
ment of the Union ; and having failed to communicate to the Federal Execu-

The Spanish Conspiracy. 373
tive, err to take any measures of prevention, as by the duties of his office he was
bound to do; and the conduct of the said Harry Innes, Esq., in this par
ticular having heen such as to excite great public discontent, and a suspicion
that he participated in the intrigues and secret negotiations aforesaid.
"The Legislature deem those circumstances in the conduct of the said
Harry Innes, Esq., as furnishing an occasion of sufficient magnitude to
interest the attention of the representatives of the people of Kentucky,
and to call forth the expression of their opinion ; therefore,
" Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives, That the con
duct of the said Harry Innes, Esq., relative to the secret negotiations of the said
Carondelet and Power, ought to be inquired into by the constituted auiliorities of
the United States.
" Also resolved. That the Governor of this State be requested to trans
mit a copy of the forgoing resolutions to each of the representatives of
this State in the Congress of the United States."
'These resolutions were adopted by a general assembly
inimical to the political views of Marshall ; they did not
utter his personal ill will, but gave a voice to the deliber
ate sentiment of the representatives of the people as to
what was due to the honor and dignity of the Common
wealth which they deemed to have been outraged by the
federal judge. They were transmitted to Congress, and
were by that body referred to a committee. The report
of that committee did not acquit Innes of culpability nor
of criminality ; it simply stated that in the opinion of the
committee the proofs which accompanied the resolutions
of the legislature were not sufficient upon which to im
peach the district judge. It w^as an evasion of the request
for an investigation, which would have exposed many a
skeleton, and which the committee therefore deemed it
inexpedient to institute. The sketch of Judge Innes,
pubUshed by CoUins, mentions that charges against him
were ignored by Congress, but it gives no clue to the na
ture of those charges, and suppresses the fact that they
were made by the legislative power of the state in which
he lived, controUed By the party of which he was a mem
ber. And the " Political Beginnings," while asserting
that Innes was vindicated by the investigation of the
charges against Sebastian, conceals the fact that one of
the results of that investigation, was this formal action of
the General Assembly of 1807-8.
In his Centennial Address Colonel Brown did not hesi-

374 The Spanish Conspiracy.
tate to stigmatize as " malevolent slander" the imputa
tions upon Innes published by Humphrey Marshall and
thus indorsed by the people of th'e county in wdiich they
Uved and by both branches of the legislature. In that
address it is boldly asserted, that " the litigation between
Innes and MarshaU, in 1806. developed the evidenee that
gave his merited vindication ;" and that "by this prose
cution for libel, his pure and unfaltering patriotism was
vindicated in the eyes of even his persecutors." The sanie
address states, that "the suit against Marshall was con
tinued several times and finaUy dismissed upon a written
agreement that all personal differences should be buried
in oblivion, and that neither should wa-ite or publish any
thing of or concerning the other disrespectful in terms or
inference, or touching upon any subject of controversy
that had existed. It was an ill-kept agreement." The
author of that address, referring to a number of public
men who were not accused of complicity in the Spanish
intrigues, states, in the " Political Beginnings," that
" they gave their testimony in the suits for libel which
Hary Innes brought against the historian Marshall, o.s
author, and Street, the newspaper proprietor, as publisher,
and their statements under oath are worthy of credence, and
should, settle the dispute forever" [page 164.] In the same
reraarkable work, it is asserted, that the results of the in
vestigation in the case of Sebastian, and of the suits
against Street and Marshall, " vindicated Innes, who was
chiefly attacked. Street was mulcted in damages that
ruined him. MarshaU agreed to refrain in future from
assaults on Innes if the suit was dropped, and it was
therefore discontinued," [jiage 216,] and that "the records
of those controversies show that no man ivho was present at
any of these conventions knew, or believed, or, suspected,
that Brown or Innes had ever entertained a thought other
than that of entering the Union as a sovereign state, or a
plan consistent with that thought." And this last state
ment was made directly in the face of the depositions of
Judge John Allen, of Bourbon, of Colonel Joseph Crock
ett, and of French, all of which Colonel Brown had read;

The Spanish Conspiracy. 375
of the letter of Colonel Marshall, which he had also read ;
and of the letters of Muter, which were pubUshed in the
paper with which he was familiar !
But the attention of the reader is now directed to the
evident purpose of Colonel Brown to create the impression
that Street, " as publisher," and Humphrey Marshall, " as
author," were sued for libel contained in the same publica
tion or publicarions ; that Street, " as publisher," was
mulcted in damages that ruined him on account of libel in
an article which Marshall had written ; whUe MarshaU,
" as author," sneaked out of the trouble in which he had
involved Street, by promising " never to do so any more."
No other interpretation can be placed on Colonel Brown's
statements on pages 164 and 216 of his book. Now, the
fact as it existed, as it was proved, and as Colonel Brown
knew it to be, is this : That the articles, upon which Street
was sued and mulcted, were published in 1806; that Street
himself deposed, in the case of Innes v. Marshall, " that
the matter upon which the suit at Jessamine (that against
Street) was predicated, was this deponent's own composition ;"
that Street testified that he "was irresistibly led to the
conclusions in those publications by a serious, candid and
liberal examination of the testimony delivered by Judge
Innes before the committee in the case of Sebastian ; "
that Street further testified that the charge pubUshed in
the Palladium that Humphrey Marshall had furnished the
information upon which the articles in reference to the
" Spanish conspiracy were founded " " was untrue ;" and
" that he did not receive the matter relative to the Spanish
conspiracy from the defendant." The article, on the
other hand, upon -which Marshall was sued, was published
months later, in answer to abusive assaults made upon
Marshall himself, and no claim was ever made upbn Street
on account thereof. The fact remains, that no verdict
was ever obtained against any one for libel contained in
any article written by Marshall, or which was based upon
information he had furnished.
The reader has not failed to observe, that in the extracts
published from the address and from the " Beginnings "

376 The Spanish Conspiracy.
there is no intimation that the suit against Marshall ever
went to trial. The address and the book may be searched
from their beginning to their closing sentences without
the detection of a hint that the case ever went to a jury.
The author of those unique papers would have been seri
ously inconsistent with himself, and w^ould have been as
seriously embarrassed in his purpose, had he failed to con
ceal the fact of the trial and of its results from his readers.
No other inference can be drawn from his language than
that the evidence taken by deposition -s\'as so absolutely
conclusive of the innocence of Innes; that the charges
made by Marshall on account of which the suit had been
brought were not only so utterly unsupported by the testi
mony, but were shown to be so wholly unfounded, that
Innes was completely vindicated in the eyes of Marshall
himself; and that, without a trial, and at Marshall's re
quest, in order to avoid a result similar to that which had
ruined Street, the suit was withdrawn upon Marshall's
promise to desist in the future. That this impression
would be created by Colonel Brown's language, and that
he intended to produce it, are alike unquestionable. When
Colonel Brown wrote those papers he was in possession of
the records of that suit and was fully acquainted with all
the facts. The suit was brought because of a coramunica
tion published by Marshall in the Western World, on the
16th of July, 1807, in reply, as already stated, to violent
and abusive assaults made upon hira in the Palladium by
the friends of Innes. In this communication he referred
to Innes as a " Judge, weak, partial, and an enemy to the
Government ;" as " a faithless public servant and an oppressor
of private rights;" as " a judge who still holds his office to
the public degradation and disgrace of our country; a judge
whom I rank with an Arnold, a Blount and a Sebastian."
Innes brought suit upon those words, but allowed term
after term to pass without filing his declaration, until a
rule was issued against him to file, and then the case was
dismissed on account of his failure. This was in 1808. At
the March term of 1809 it was reinstated, the declaration
was filed and the appearance of the defendant was entered.

The Spanish Conspiracy. 377
From the first MarshaU avowed that he had written the
words in question, affirmed their truth and justified every
word. After various special pleas, demurrers, amend-
ments,*answers, etc., Marshall plead to the general issue,
which Innes joined, at the July term of 1810. At the
October term of the same year the case was, by consent,
transferred from the Franklin to the Mercer Circuit
Court, where it came on for final trial on the 8th of June,
1814. Marshall was without political influence ; Innes was an
influential member of the dominant party. Marshall had
many enemies made by his bold championship of national
principles and his fierce denunciation of what he held to
be criminal practices ; Innes was kindly and conciliatory,
and Church and State and official position were at his
back. To Marshall, of whose sincerity in preferring the
charges there could be no doubt, the question was merely
pecuniary ; and, without being distressed thereby, he could
have met all the damages claimed. To the unhappy Innes,.
on the contrary, the issue was one of character and repu
tation aud of personal disgrace. Thus the case was given
a semi-criminal aspect, in which Innes was the person actu
ally on trial, and to him naturally drifted the current of
sympathy. Upon Marshall rested the entire burden of the
proof. It devolved on him to verify his charges, not upon
Innes to disprove them. One of those charges made most
prominent in the issue by Innes was that, as a judge, he
had been "weak, partial," and "an oppressor of private
rights." If Marshall faUed to sustain that charge also, he
lost his case, no matter how conclusive might be the evi
dence on aU other points. The trial, in which Innes thus
had every advantage except that of the facts on his side,
occupied ten days. It was then announced that the jury
could not agree. In his History Marshall states that five of
the jury were for giving Innes damages, if for only one
eent; while the other seven said no, not a cent shall he
have. Now, in the insinuating and expressive language of
Colonel Brown, it is " passing strange," indeed, if aU the

378 The Spanish Conspiracy.
evidence so completely and thoroughly vindicated Innes,
and established that Marshall had for so many years pur
sued and hounded him with malignant slander, with totally
unfounded and unsupported accusations of offenses so dis
graceful to him as a man and judge ; that, in the absence
of any testiraony whatever to justify Marshall, and such
an overwhelming mass of irrefragible proof of the inno
cence and purity of Innes, as represented by Colonel
Brown ; — if that were true, it would be most astounding
that the jury who heard it all could not be persuaded to
give the persecuted man even one cent as a salvo. That
Colonel Brown felt the full significance of this refusal is
evidenced by the concealraent in which he had refuge.
A year later Marshall met John Jouitt, a friend of
Innes, and stated that he had no fear that Innes could ever
obtain a verdict against him ; that the suit had been on for
eight years, had already cost Innes and himself a great
deal of money, and seemed to be as far from a conclusion
as ever. In the meantime they had both grown old ; and
his own business affairs needed the time occupied in de
fending the suit; under these circumstances he was will
ing that it should be marked settled and be dismissed,
each party paying his own costs. As to the future, an agree
ment was reached that neither party would write or speak
disrespectfully of the other concerning what was past.
On these terms, leaving all that Marshall had written and
published unretracted, unqualified, and sustained by legal
proof which, if not so absolutely conclusive as a mathe
matical demonstration might have been, was at least so
weighty as to satisfy «ome, and probably a majority
of the jury which tried the case, that the characteriza
tions used by Marshall were as deserved as the evi
dence by -which he justified them was clear and abundant, —
the suit was dismissed by the judge, who had brought it
for the vindication of his patriotism and oflacial integrity !
Thereader wUl agree that the "complete vindication"
which Colonel Brown coolly asserts, that Innes received
as the results of these legislative and judicial inquiries, as
seen in the report of the committee which investigated

The Spanish Conspiracy. 379
the charge against Sebastian ; in the popular verdict ren
dered in the election of Humphrey Marshall to the Legis
lature from Franklin county, upon the open issue that it
was his purpose to inaugurate steps for the impeachment
of Innes ; in the resolutions passed by both branches of
the Assembly looking to that action by Congress; and in
the refusal of the jury to give him a verdict in the suit he
brought, was one of which no one would ever boast, and
which his rash champion might well have declined to
mention. Nor does a careful sifting of the testimony
relieve the unfavorable impression made by these opinions
of committee, people. Legislature and jury. And the sug
gestion must forcibly, as unavoidably, present itself to ev
ery mind, that had the letters of his friend, Wilkinson,
which have since been obtained from the Spanish archives,
been then produced in evidence before that committee, be
fore that Legislature, before the Congress, or before the
jury, the results would have been yet more unfortunate
for the amiable, but unhappy and ill guided judge.

In 1788 the laws of Virginia denounced as higii treason
the attempt to erect a State within her limits without her
consent previously obtained. That state had adopted the
Constitution and had become a part of the new Union.
John Brown was one of her Congressmen. As her Attor
ney it was the duty of Innes to prosecute infractions of
her laws ; as one of her Judges it was that of Wallace to
enforce the penalty. The degree of turpitude involved in
the schemes herein disclosed may safely be left to casuists to
determine. What the conspirators themselves thought of
those schemes is exhibited by their attempts at conceal
ment. What their latest champion thought of thera is
shown by his painful attempts to repel the charges and to
suppress the evidence that manifests their justice. Before
the November convention John Brown had been in
formed by Madison ofthe declaration of Congress that the
navigation ofthe Mississippi was an " essential right ofthe
United States."
The reader has seen how the "PoUtical Beginnings"

380 2he Spanish Conspiracy.
plays at shuttlecock and battledore with John Brown ; —
how on one page it represents him as knowing nothing of
the Jay project until March, 1787, and nothing of the
action of Virginia until the following May ; and how on
another page it represents him as " procuring " that action
in the j)receding November. He has observed how the
statement in that book, that the olyect of John Brown's
resolution in the November convention was to secure an
iraraediate application to Congress for admission to the
Union, is flatly contradicted by John Brown's own state
ment in Littell ; — which not only relegates that applica
tion to sorae indefinite tirae in the future, but confesses
that an inducement to adopt the resolution was the pros
pect of obtaining from Spain the navigation ofthe Missis
sippi, which the author of that resolution knew could
only be had b}' separating from the United States. That
condition, Avhicli -was concealed from the readers of Littell,
was known to the author of the "Beginnings," who de
tected the fraud his ancestor had endeavored to palm upon
the people. The author of the "Beginnings" also saw,
as plainly as the reader sees it, that after John Brown had
received the overture of Gardoqui ; had then sought the
Spaniard at his own house for further coramunication on
that subject ; had thanked his tempter for having so ap
proached him and proraised to " aid " in the plan ; had
written the Muter and similar letters with the Spaniard's
permission ; had come home and consulted with the Span
ish-bought Wilkinson and others whom he supposed
favorable to the scheme ; had cooperated with Wilkinson
in the November convention ; had there offered a resolu
tiou designed to separate Kentucky from Virginia, and
necessarily, under the circumstances then existing, from the
Union ; and that then, according to his own statement in
Littell, he had disclosed the overture of Gardoqui as an
inducement to adopt his own resolution; — he savf that,
after all this, his grandsire's poor plea, to avoid the conclu
sions which all must reach from his acts, that he had not
advocated the acceptance ofthe overture by the convention,
was weak, puerile, and contemptible. If he did not, the

The Spanish Conspiracy. 381
reader can judge whether it was because of his patriotism,
or, as stated by Wilkinson, it was due to his timidity.
Admitting by unmistakable implication that had John
Brown spoken as represented by liumphrey Marshall, he
"spoke treasonably;" and feeling that if John Brown
spoke as he himself stated in Littell that he had spoken,
it was yet worse for him than as represented by Mar
shall ; — the " Beginnings " suppresses the statement made
by Littell, suppresses also all the evidence which confirms
that made by Marshall ; — and endeavors to extricate John
Brown from his difficulty by asserting, that he kept the
overture of Gardoqui a profound secret from all but Mc
Dowell and Muter, by boldly affirming that John Brown
deeraed it inexpedient to narrate to the convention what
Gardoqui had said, lest rash men might make trouble by ad
vocating w^hat Gardoqui had proposed ; and by laboriously
arguing that the " quota.tion," which he knew was a repe
tition of w^hat Colonel Marshall had written, was a coinage
out of the malice ofthe historian Marshall. The reader has
seen what were the facts; knows how that " quotation "
was confirmed by every witness who wrote or spoke in
reference thereto, was adraitted substantially by the ques
tions of Innes, and was challenged by no one ; and knows
also how the assertion in the " Beginnings " is refuted by
that which John Brown hiraself authorized Littell to
make in the " Narrative." These tortuous concealments
of the evidence, these pitiful efforts to evade the facts,
these stateraents which are so emphatically contradicted
by John Brown himself, and these shameless accusa
tions of others, render the " Beginnings," instead of the
" vindication " for which it was designed by its author,
a sorrowful,, a painful and a most sickening confession
of the author's own conviction of John Brown's guilt,
and of his detection of John Brown's deceits in his efforts
to conceal that guUt. It surely is not necessary to recapi
tulate. The charitable may find an extenuation of the
course pursued by the grandson in his morbid desire to
reUeve his ancestor's memory from the cloud that dark
ened it, and his perception, after a careful investigation.

382 The Spanish Conspiracy.
that it could be done in no other way. But, alas! what
must that cause have been for which this was the best that
can be done ! — how utterly desperate, when a well
equipped and able advocate, possessing linguistic facility
and the literary art, a careful aud laborious reader and a
diligent student, after exhausting all the resources from
which the materials for a defense can be drawn, found
that this was a necessity !
And the reader will adrait that, unfortunate as the federal
judge himself had been in the results of the several in
vestigations, referred to in the " Beginnings," his ruBmory
has sustained yet more serious injury, by the useless and
wanton resuscitation in that remarkable production of
these unsavory political reminiscences ; — which had been
-well nigh forgotten in the stirring scenes of the recent
past ; — and which the friends of the descendants of Judge
Innes, among whora were included the kindred of his ad
versary, were most anxious should be forever buried.
There is no need to dwell longer upon the infelicity which
.has attended this latest effort at a much needed, but im
possible, " vindication." The misrepresentation that Innes-
had moved, prepared, reported, and advocated the address
to the Virginia Assembly ; the false pretense that Owen
had been murdered within Spanish territory, and that the
American courts had no jurisdiction over the crime of his
murderers ; the suppression of the evidence of Allen and
French ; the concealment of the action of both branches
of the Legislature, and of the fact and result of the trial
of the libel suit ; — all unite in the absolute demonstration
that, in Colonel Brown's own opinion, after the most la
borious and careful examination, neither could the inno
cence of Innes be maintained, nor the candor and integ
rity ofthe historian be impeached, save by this systematic
suppression of testimony, by this concealment of truth,
by this garbling and misstatement of records, and by this
substitution of invention for fact.
Were the writer disposed to enter upon a defense of the
historian, the manifest confession implied in the course
pursued by an able, well informed, and deUberate inve8.ti-

The Spanish Conspiracy. 383
gator, renders it superfluous. 'It is admitted that the last
of the old Federalists in Kentucky, the relentless foe of
all conspiracies against the peace, the independence, or
the union of our country, w^as as human as he was mortal.
But, if it be conceded, that, with splendid talents, a grand
presence, stately manners, and an utter fearlessness, he
was as irreligious, as profane, as violent, and as malevo
lent as Colonel Brown w^ould have him appear to have
been, nevertheless it can be confidently asserted, that
neither treachery nor the habit of falsifying w^as num
bered in the catalogue of his vices.*
¦*An interesting sketch of Humphrey Marshall has been prepared by
A. C. Quisenbury, and will soon be published from the press of John
P. Morton & Co.

APPENDIX.

LETTER OF THOMAS GREEN TO THE GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA.
Louisville, Falls of Ohio, Dec. 22, 1786.
Honored and Respected 5i"r.-— Since I had the pleasure of writing my
last, many circumstances of alarming nature have turned up to view. The
commercial treaty with Spain is considered to be cruel, oppressive, and
unjust. The prohibition of the navigation of the Mississippi, has aston
ished the whole western country. To sell us and make us vassals of the
merciless Spaniards, is a grievance not to be borne. Should we tamely
submit to such manacles, we should be unworthy the name of Ameri
cans, and a scandal to the annals of its history. It is very surprising to
every rational person that the legislature of the United States, which
has been so applauded for its assertion and defense of their rights and
privileges, should so soon endeavor to subjugate the greatest part of
their dominion even to worse slavery than ever Great Britain presumed to
subjugate any part of hers. Ireland i^ a free country to what this will
be when its navigation is entirely shut. We may as well be sold for
bondsmen as to have the Spaniards share, all the benefits of our toils.
They will receive all the fruits, produce of this large, rich, and fertUe
country, at their own prices, (which you may be assured wiU be very
low) and, therefore, wUl be able to supply their own markets, and all the
markets of Europe, on much lower terms than what the Americans pos
sibly can. What then, are the advantages that the inhabitants of the
Atlantic shores are to receive ? This is summed up in a very few
words : their trade and navigation ruined, and their brethren laboring
to enrich a luxurious, merciless, and arbitrary nation. Too much of our
property have they already seized, condemned, and confiscated, testi
monies of which I send you, accompanying this.
Our situation can not possibly be worse ; therefore, every exertion to
retrieve our circumstances must be manly, eligible, and just. The
minds of the people here are very much exasperated against both the
Spaniards and Congress. But they are happy to hear that the state of
Georgia has protested against such vUe proceedings: therefore they
have some hopes, look up to that state, craving to be protected in our
just rights and privileges.
"Matters here seem to wear a threatening aspect. The troops sta
tioned at Post Vincennes by orders of General George Rogers Clark
(385)
25

386 Appendix.
have seized upon what Spanish property there was at that place, also at
the Illinois, in retaliation for their many offenses. General Clark, who
has fought so gloriously for his country, and whose name strikes all the
western savages with terror, together with many other gentlemen of
merit, engages to raise troops sufficient, and go with me to the Natchez
to take possession, and settle the lands agreeable to the lines of that
state, at their own risk and expense ; provided you in your infinite good
ness, wUl countenance them and give us the land to settle it agreeable
to the laws of your state. Hundreds are now waiting to join us with
their families, seeking asylum for liberty and religion. Not hearing
that the lines are settled between you and the Spaniards, we therefore
wish for your directions concerning them, and the advice of your supe
rior wisdom. At the same time assuring you that we have contracted
for a very large quantity of goods, we hope sufficient to supply all the
Indians living within the limits of Georgia. Trusting that we shall be
able to make them independent of the Spaniards, wean their affections,
and procure their esteem for us and the United States, as we expect to
take the goods down with us. We earnestly pray that you would give
us full liberty to trade with all those tribes, and also to give your agents
for Indian Affairs all the necessary instructions for the prosperity of our
scheme. The season for the Indian trade will be so far advanced that I
wait with very great impatience.
" General Clark, together with a number of other gentlemen will be
ready to proceed down the river with me, on the shortest notice ; there
fore I hope and earnestly pray that you will dispatch the express back
with all possible speed with your answer, and all the encouragement due
to so great an undertaking. As to the further particulars, I refer you to
the bearer, Mr. William WeUs, a gentleman of merit, who will be able
to inform you more minutely than I possibly can of the sentiments of
the people of this western country.
Sir, I have the honor to be your honor's etc.,
Thomas Gkeen.
[Secret Journals of Congress.]

Appendix. 387

B.

CIRCULAR, PROBABLY WRITTEN BY THOMAS GREEN.
During the winter of 1786-7, copies of the following production
were circulated with an air of secrecy, among some of the Ameri
can settlements on the western side of the Allegbany mountains ;
particularly in Kentucky and Tennessee.
" A COPY OF A LETTER FEOM A GENTLEMAN AT THE FALLS OF
OHIO, TO HIS FMEND IN NEW ENGLAND, DATED DECEMBER 4,
1786."
" Dear Sir : — Politics, which a few months ago were scarcely thought
of, are now sounded aloud in this part of the world, and discussed by
almost every person. The late commercial treaty with Spain, in shut
ting up, as it is said, the navigation of the Mississippi for the term of
twenty-five years, has given this western country a universal shock,
and struck its inhabitants with an amazement. Our foundation is
affected. It is therefore necessary that every individual exert himself
to apply a remedy. To sell us, and make us vassals to the merciless
Spaniards, is a grievance not to be borne.
The parliamentary acts which occasioned our revolt from Great
Britain were not so barefaced and intolerable. To give us the liberty
of transporting our effects down the river to New Orleans, and then be
subject to the Spanish laws and impositions, is an insult upon our un
derstanding. We know by woeful experience, th:it it is in their power,
when once there, to take our produce at any price they please. Large
quantities of flour, tobacco, meal, etc., have been taken there the last
summer, and mostly confiscated. They who had permits from their
governor, were obliged to sell at a price he was pleased to state, or sub
ject themselves to lose the whole. Men of large property are already
ruined by their policy. What benefit can you on the Atlantic shores
receive from this act ? The Spaniards, from the amazing resources of
this river, can supply aU their own markets at a much lower price than
you possibly can.
Though this country has been settling but about six years and that in
the midst of au inveterate enemy, and most of the first adventurers
faUen a prey to the savages, and although the emigration to this country
is so very rapid that the internal market is very great, yet the quantities
of produce they now have on hand are immense. Flour and pork are
how selling here at twelve shillings the hundred ; beef in proportion ;
any quantities of Indian corn can be had at nine pence per bushel.

388 Appendix.
Three times the quantity of tobacco and corn can be raised on an acre
here that can be within the settlement on the east side of the moun
tains, and with less cultivation. It is therefore rational to suppose that
in a very few years the vast bodies of waters in those rivers will labor
under immense weight of the produce of this rich and fertile country,
and the Spanish ships be unable to convey it to market.
" Do you think to prevent the emigration from a barren country,
loaded with taxes, and impoverished with debts, to the most luxurious
and fertUe soil in the world ? Vain is the thought, and presumptuous the
supposition. You may as well endeavor to prevent the fishes from
gathering on a bank in the sea, which affords them plenty of nourish
ment. Shall the best and largest part of the United States be unculti
vated — a nest for savages and beasts of prey ? Certainly not. Provi
dence has designed it for nobler purposes. This is convincing to every
one' who beholds the many advantages and pleasing prospects of this
country. Here is a soil, richer to appearance than can possibly be made
by art. Large plains and meadows without the labor of hands, suflB-
cient to support millions of cattle, summer and winter ; cane, which is
also a fine nourishment for them, without bounds. The spontaneous
production of this country surpasses your imagination. Consequently,
I see nothing to prevent our herds being as numerous here in time as
they are in the kingdom of ^lexico. Our lands to the northward of the
Ohio, for the produce of wheat, etc., will, I think, vie with the island of
Sicily. Shall all this country now be cultivated for the use of the Span
iards ? Shall we be their bondmen, as the children of Israel were to the
Egyptians? Shall one part of the United States be slaves, while the
other is free? Human nature shudders at the thought, and free men
will despise those who could be so mean as to even contemplate on so
vile a subject.
" Our situation is as bad as it possibly can be ; therefore every exer
tion to retrieve our circumstances mnst be manly, eligible, and just.
We can raise twenty thousand troops on this side the Allegheny and
Appalachian mountains : and the annual increase of them by emigra
tion, from other parts is from two to four thousand.
" We have taken all the goods belonging to the Spanish merchants of
Post Vincennes and the Illinois, and are determined they shall not trade
up the river, provided they will not let us trade down it. Preparations
are now making here (if n^xessary) to drive the Spaniards from their settlement,
at the mouth of the Mississippi. In case we are not coantenanced and succored
by the United States [if we needit) our allegiance will be thrown off, and some
other power applied to. Great Britain stands ready, with open arms, to receive
and support m. They have already offered to open their resources for our sup
plies. When once re-united to them, " farewell, a long farewell to all your
boasted greatness. The province of Canada, and the inhabitants of
these waters of themselves, in time,- will be able to conquer you. You
are as ignorant of this country as Great Britain was of America. These
hints, if rightly improved, may be of some service ; if not, blame your
selves for the neglect,"

Appendix. 339

C.
THE MEMORIAL OF DELEGATES AND REVOLUTIONARY OFFICERS TO
THE VIRGINIA ASSEMBLY, IN 1786.
The following is a copy of the original remonstrance of the Dele
gates to the Assembly frora Kentucky and Western Virginia, aud of
a nuraber of ofBcers in the Revolution, for tbemselves and their
soldiers, against the proposition to forbear the use of the Mississippi
below our boundaries, or, as it was represented to them, to cede it to
Spain, for a term of years. The original paper was found in the
Virginia Archives by Colonel Raleigh Colston. The copy and the
fao similes of the signatures were made for the writer by Dr. R. A.
Brock, the accomplished Secretary of the Virginia Historical So
ciety. Many of them are those of prominent men, whose descend
ants have since occupied and now occupy the highest places in the
South and Soutli-west:
To the Honble the Gad Assembly of Virginia :
The Memorial of the Delegates representing in General Assembly the
Counties of this Commonwealth upon the Western Waters, and of sun
dry officers of the late army for themselves & soldiers owners of lands
on the said Waters Humbly Sheweth — that they are greatly alarmed at
a report which prevails that a project is on foot, which has in contem
plation the surrender of the navigation of the Mississippi for 25 or 30
years to the Crown of Spain in consideration of some advantages either
real or supposed to some part of the Confederacy the confidence they
have in the justice & wisdom of Congress wo'd induce them to hope that
such a project could never receive their approbation or even their
countenance so far as to merit their consideration ; but as they owe it
to themselves and their Constituents to be vigilant over their interests
and guard them, especially in a point of such importance to their very
existence, t'hey consider it their duty to express their uneasiness at this
report, and to make known to the Legislature their apprehensions of
the evils which much necessarily result from so unconstitutional and
dangerous a measure, should it take effect, that they may in their wis
dom take such steps as shall be best calculated to prevent it, and obtain
at the same time the important object they had in view, the tree navi
gation of the River.
Your Memorialists beg leave to observe that they are thrown into the
utmost consternation & distress by this report. Inhabiting the Counties
which border on the Western Waters, their prosperity & welfare and
that of their Constituents must principally depend on the navigation of
this River. Nature hath thrown so many difficulties in the way that it
will be in a manner impossible for their product to find a Market thro'

390 Appendix.
any other Channel. This project therefore presents to them the melan
choly prospect of ruin to themselves and their families. Born and edu
cated under our common gov't and attached to it by the strongest Ties
of Interest & affection, having equally participated in the hardships &
dangers of the Revolution and being equally entitled to its benefits,
they cannot but receive with horror the Idea of their being thus sacri
ficed, and their interests sold by those whom they have considered as
their brethren, friends & fellow-citizens. They have heretofore been
surprised to hear that even Spain should be opposed to their use of this
River, and have hoped that the wise & benevolent Councils of that
Court would perceive its injustice and impolicy, and give over the oppo
sition. With patience ami submission they have waited the success of
those mefLsures which Congress might take to obtain this important end,
in full confidence that under a wise arrangement an amicable accomoda
tion might soon be made to that efl'ect. But how great must their con
cern & astonishment be, if the Citizens of the Western Country find
that they are to be deprived of those benefits, not by the mistaken
policy of Spain, but by the Government to which they belong, and to
whose protection and support, by the common principles of the federal
compact, they are entitled.
Your 3Icmorialists are unacquainted with the merits of the commer
cial part of this project and thertfore cannot determine how far it might
be beneficial upon those principles alone ; but they do not consider that,
as a circumstance that should be taken into view in contemplation of
the surrender proposed ; for no considerations of advantage, however
great they might lie, could justify the U. S. lor the violation of the fed
eral compact, which this unquestionedly would be.
The Citizens of these Counties have the same right to the navigation
of this river which they have to that of the James or Patowmick ; fney
derive it from nature, from the principles of the revolution, and from
the treaty with (jireat Britain ; the same high sources from whence they
have those rights of government and religion they now enjoy for the
protection and security of which tho Confederacy "was formed, and with
the same propriety might Congress Barter away their right to the tryal
by jury or alien a County or a State for advantages in trade as occlude
the ilississippi. Treaties of commerce have heretofore been formed
even between tbe most despotic powers for reciprocal advantages in the
commercial intercourse between their respective subjects & Dominions,
but never have they before heard of a jjroject being proposed, much
less a treaty formed v,'hich shut the Doors of Commerce to ohe part of
a community and deprived it of its natural rights for the benefit of the
other; how subversive & abhorrent therefore must such a project be to
the mild and free spirit of our federal constitution ; formed on equal
principles hn- comnion good. The confidence your memorialists have in
the justice and magnanimity of Congress incli'nes them to hope that the
report re.^pofting this project is without foundation, but as they do in
their Consciences believe that if it shall he adopted it will produce the
most ruinous and destructive consequenees, not onlv to them and their
constituents, but to the general interest of the federal government, they
have thought it their duty to make known to the legislature their Sen
timents on the subject. The decision oi the State upon the present
occa-ion upon this point, even if the report should be groundless, mar
be of service in the negotiation, and contribute to bring it to a fortunate
close. That the General .-l.<i.sombly may take those measures which shall be

Appendix.

391

the best calculated to obtain this important end, and preserve at the
same time the harmony & general interests of the Confederacy is
sincere desire of your Memorialists.

is the

^<E/-i_

Pj^c

q^A-icr-a-*- \^ 4X,~m, c^ftr c^-ct 

C?/,./^^f'^^<^

<?^.»^ . {Si^s?^*s

INDEX.

PAGE.
Allen, Judge John, deposition ot  184 to 186
testimony of, in reference to conduct of Innes in the July Con
vention  184
proves the movement in the July Convention to separate from
the Union  184
corroborated by James French  184
candidate for November Convention, 178S  2U
elected to  215
member of Committee on Address to the Assembly  221
deposition of, in regard to conduct of Brown, Innes, Wilkinson,
and Sebastian in November Convention  25.5, 256
notice of  256
Allen, Colonel John, deposition of  361 to 367
letter of  366
$arbee, Joshua, secured by Innes to carry Wilkinson's dispatch to
Miro  ".  135
Bibb, Judge George M., deposition of  361 to 368
Breckenridge, Gen. Robert  143
Breckenridge, Gen. James  143
Bouligny, D., affidavit of  334
Bouquet's expedition  34
Brooks, Dr. Ebenezer, publications in the Gazette  186, 187
member of July Convention  202
defeated for November Convention  215
letter to Col. CampbeU  215, 217
Brown, James, denies the letter of John Brown to JIutcr and tra
duces James M. MarshaU for mentioning it  176
Brown, John, senator from Kentucky District  62
leave of absence to  62
signer of letter which induces censure of Clark  77
falsely represents that Clark was censured for organizing and
conducting an expedition against the Indians, and fraudulently
conceals the fact that he signed the letter which occasioned that
censure  92 to 100 ,
does not attend the Senate in 1786  102
and Innes, in their manifesto of March 29, 1787, conceal from the
people the information they had from John Marshall's letter
that Virginia had already acted in regard to the "Jay project." 110-112
opposed to the adoption of the Constitution  146 to 148
goes to Congress  • • ¦ ¦  (393)

394 Index.
Brown, John — Coi^tiimed.
entrusted with the r.pplication of Kentucky  150
misrepresents the action and motives of Congress  154
discloses his purpose to urge a separation from the Uiuon to Oliver
PoUock  ^  ¦  155
communicates to Wilkinson tlie overture of Gardoqui  156
promises Gardoqui to aid in separating Kentucky from the
Union  .'159 to 161
misrepresents the motives of Congress to .Iud;,^e JMcDoweU  167
" sliding letter " of, to McDowell  168
conceals h'om McDowell the real conditions annexed by Spain. . . 168
discloses the overture and reveals himself in the letter to Muter.169-172
conceals from Muter the real reason for the action of Congress,
and substitutes reasons of his own manufacture  169
urges Kentucky to assume sovereignty in order to accept Gardo
qui's overture  1 70
letter of, to Muter  171 to 172
letter of, to Muter, excluded from LitteU's Narrative  177 to 179
falsely pretends that the letter to JMuter gives the same account
of Gardoqui's overture as the " sliding letter " to McDowell  178
resolution of thanks to  199
on his return to Kentucky reveals the overture of Gardoqui to
Greenup and AVilkinson  217 '
elected to November Convention  220
resolution of  222
speech of, at the November Convention  224
plea of, for unanimity  225
purpose of resolution of  228
object of same as explained by John Brown in LitteU's Narra
tive  229 to 232
asserts that he disclosed overture of Gardoqui to November Con
vention  232 to 235
contradicted by Col. Marshall, Sebastian, Crockett and Muter..240-250
falsely represents that Col. JMarshall retracted the charges made in
his letter of Feb'y 12th, 1789  272
claim of, that Col. JMarshall was infiuenced by jealousy exposed. 273
remains silent under all the charges, avoiding the courts and makes
no sign  280 to 284
pretended memoranda of his evidence in the investigation of
Sebastian  281
testimony really given by, in that case  282
appointed com missioner to organize militia  289
solicits Gardoqui for a large grant of land  321
present when pension money is delivered to AVUkinson by Joseph
Collins  329
becomes detached from the Spanish interests, probably  337
Brown, Col. J. M., "The Political Beginnings," published after
death of  5

Index. 395
Browp, Col. J. M. — Continued.
reopens the discussion of " The Spanish Conspiracy."  6
account of the interviews between Gardoqui and Madison dis
proved by the letters of Madison to which he referred  80
detects the fraud of Innes in publishing the false copy of his let-
to Randolph and connives at it  89
misrepresentations of the censure of Clark, his effort to fix upon
Col. Marshall the responsibility for that censure, etc  95 to 101
pretense of, that Gen. Logan was included in the censure of
Clark  95 to 101
inaccuracies of, in regard to the time the news of the Jay project
reached Kentucky, and as to the time when the action of Vir
ginia was made known in the west  112 to 120
substitutes the resolutions passed by the Assembly in 1787, for
those of 1786  113
after claiming that John Brown knew nothing of the Jay project
until March, 1787, and nothing of the action of Virginia until
May, asserts that the same John Brown procured that action in
November, 1886  115 to 117
error of, as to the time when Wilkinson's corruption commenced.. 132-3
opinion of, the sufficiency of the reasons for referring the appli
cation of Kentucky to the new government  154
self contradictions of  161 to 165
suggestions of, in reference to Madison refuted by Madison's
letters  162
suppresses the circumstances under which Brown's letter to Miro
was published in 1790  177
asserts that Muter and Thos. Marshall were members of the July
Convention  l''^2
his statements refuted by Muter, Greenup, Marshall, and othors.192-200
suppresses Greenup's evidence  195
contradicted by Wilkinson  196
asserts that the " sliding letter " and that to Muter were identical.. 200
statement refuted by the letters  200
statement of, refuted by Muter  201
excludes Muter's address from his "Political Beginnings "  212
insinuates that the opposition of Muter and MarshaU to Brown
and WUkinson was influenced by Connolly  213
suppresses the evidence which refutes his statements  ^ 214
statements of, disproved by Gov. Greenup and AVUkinson. . . .217-218
refuted by Sebastian, Crockett and Muter  243 to 246
suppresses what Col. MarshaU wrote of John Brown's speech. . . . 254-
suppresses testimony of Sebastian, Judge Allen, Crockett, French
¦ and letters of Muter  ,  255 to 260
again upset by Muter's letter  ii' ""^
admits, if John Brown spoke as it was proved by Col. Marshall,
Muter Sebastian and Crockett he did speak, he spoke treason
ably  ^^'^

396 Index.
Brown, Col. J. 'M. — Continued.
tries to make it appear that H. Marshall's quotation was a malic
ious fabrication  259
denies that John Brown spoke at all concerning the Gardoqui
overture  259
contradicted by John Brown himself  250 to 261
conceals the fact that Wilkinson's memorial was read in the Nov.
Convention  261
incorrectly represents that Wilkinson was thanked for the ad
dress to Congress and not for the memorial to Miro  262 to 264
suppresses the fact that the address to the Assembly was drawn,
reported and advocated by Edwards  264 to 271
makes a false claim that the address to the Assembly was moved,
drawn, reported and advocated by Innes  267 to 271
assails H. Marshall because he did not give to Innes the credit
due to Edwards  267 to 271
overwhelmed by the official report  267 to 271
suppresses the explanation given in Littell of the " principle and
plan " of John Brown in Nov. Convention  267
assertion of, that Col. Marshall retracted his charges, refuted by
the letter which he cited  275 to 279
his claim that John Brown repelled on oath the charges against
him, refuted by John Brown's own testimony  281 to 283
suppresses the statements of Col. Marshall, of WUkinson, of Hum-
rey Marshall and of Butler, that Connolly's visit to the first two
named was made in November  303 to 308
falsely represents Connolly's visit to Marshall to have been made
in October, 1788  305
falsely cites the communication of A. K. Alarshall as his authority
for that misrepresentation  305
his false statement refuted by the communication itself  305 to 307
motive of, for those misstatements  308 to 317
fictitious scene fabricated by  309 to '310
attributes the authorship of the treasonable paper to Col. Mar
shaU  314 to 317
conceals the names of John Brown's associates in the petition for
land  321
misrepresents the deposition of Judge Thruston  330 to 335
contradicted by Marshall, Thruston, Langlois, Power and Bou-
Ugny  330 to 335
contradicted by Sebastian's letter in Gayarre  336
conceals the fact and result of the trial of the libel suit of Innes
V. MarshaU  -  ,374 to 376
Bullock, Capt. Rice, votes to ratify the Constitution  143
Butler, the historian, opinion of Brown's letter to Muter  415
Carondelet, Baron de, succeeds Miro  340
renews Miro's scheme  342
sends Power to Kentucky  343

Index. ¦ 397
Carondelet, Baron de— Coniirmed.
overture of, in 1795  344 to 349
sends money to Wilkinson  34y
renews his scheme in 1797  3,5^
offers $100,000 to bribe Sebastian, Nicholas, Innes, Murray and "'
others  „-.
Clark, Daniel, Senior, advances AVUkinson §3,000  125
partnership of, with Wilkinson  324
Clark, Daniel, Jr., charges of, against AVilkinson  124 to 127
discredited by AVilkinson  ;  ^26
deposition of, submitted to Congress  32:Uo 335
swears to having seen a list of persons prepared by AVilkinson for
pensioners in 1789  328
statement by, of Wilkinson's accounts  324 to 327
Clark, General George R., aided from New Orleans  12
establishes Fort Jefferson on the Mississippi  16
brief sketch of  38 to 45
the capture of Kaskaskia and Vincennes by, promoted and aided
by Virginia  44
expedition of, against Wabash Indians  67 to 72
causes of failure  68 to 70
conduct of, at Vincennes  70 to 72
letters reflecting upon  72
meditates an attack upon Spanish settlements  72 to 85
Clark, General George R., signs bond to pay expenses of Grgen's
messenger to Governor of Georgia  74
censured  78 to 79
letters and information which occasioned the censure of  76 to 79
measures taken to dispossess Clark from Vincennes  81
commissioned a General in the French army  341
Connolly, Dr. John, patent for the site of Louisville, issued to  36
issues circular which occasions the murders at Captina and Yel
low Creek  38
visits Louisville in October, 1788  299
visits Marshall and Wilkinson in November, 1788  300 to 306
proposes that the British shall aid to drive out the Spanish from
New Orleans  302
Congress, instructs American commissioners to be guided hy advice
of French Minister  20
Congress, Old, want of power of  48 to 53
embarrassments of  48 to 51
reasons of, for referring the application of Kentucky to the new
Government  152
Constitution, adoption of the  139 to 150
Convention, first, in 1784  56
second, in 1785  57 to 58
third, in 1785  58 to 60
fourth, in Sept., 1786, no quorum  •,  76

398 Index.
Convention — Continued.
quorum attends in January, 1787  104
receives news of new act  104
adjourns peaceably  105
fifth  Ill
sixth  118
recommendatory resolution in July, 1788  197-205-206
of July, 1788  180 to 206
of November, 17SS  220 to 284
Crockett, Col. Jos  98-102-115
letter of to A. K. Marshall  194
candidate for November Convention, of 17H,s  211
elected to  205
leaves his seat to obtahi instructions from Fayette  235
notice of  244
opinions entertained by, of Brown's speech at the time  244
Danville Political Club  145 to 147
Davidge. Judge Henry, deposition of  ;  359 to 367
Dorchester's,^ Lord, dispatch  294
confers with the Spanish party iii Kentucky  294 to 299
Edwards, Col. John, course of, in July Convention  197
chairman of Committee on Address to Assembly  221
reports and reads same  221 to 228
Fleming, Col. AVilliam, first Convention presided over by, and
sketch of  56
France, collusion of, in demands of Spain  17 to 30
endeavors to subject our independence to her protection  18 to 32
French, James, deposition of  ;  185 to 187
evidence against Innes  185
character of  186
Gayoso, sent to New IMadrid to negotiate  343
Gazette, Lexington, mutilation of the file of  177
communications in  186 to 187
Gardoqui, arrives in America  28
refuses to concede the navigation of the Mississippi  28
¦overture of, to John Brown  16g to 160
dispatch of  160 to 161
Great Britain, recognizes our independence  26
retains North AVestern posts  46 to 49
policy of, encourages Indian hostilities  46 to 55
emisaries of, in Kentucky  292 to 310
Green, Thomas, letter of, to Gov. of Georgia  73 and Appendix
Green, Thomas, inflammatory circular written by . .75, 76 and Appendix
Green. Thomas, letter and circular of, copied and sent to Gov. of
A'irginia  7g
Greenup, Gov., signs letter in regard to Clark  77
takes Neaves' affidavit  77
deposition of  ^83

Index. ' 399
Greenup, Gov. — Continued.
statement by, that Wallace was author of the resolution for an il
legal separation from Virginia  183
proves hostUity o^ Muter and Marshall to Wallace's resolution. . . 195
letter of, in relation to John Brown  217
deposition  248
Hamilton, Alexander, letter of, in regard to Wilkinson  290
Innes, Hary, member of early Conventions. See pages under head
of Convention.
district attorney  60
complains of Clark in a letter to Gov. Randolph  77
evades compliance with the directions of the tiovernor and Attor
ney General  82 to 85
original letter of, to Gov. Randolph  ,  84 to 85
the false copy of that letter he published in LitteU's " Narra
tive "  89 to 90
proof that he furnished Littell with the false copy  87
motive of, for mutilating his own letter  85 to 91
and .lohn Brown misrepresent the cause of the censure of Geo. R.
Clark  93
and Brown's false statement that General Ben Logan was cen
sured  92 to 100
confldential conference of, with Wilkinson  134
John Brown's " sliding letter " shown to  180
delight of, at Gardoqui's overture  181
spreads the information of Gardoqui's overture iu the July Con
vention  ¦  181
supports resolution for an iUegal separation from Virginia in the
July Convention  183
evidence of Judge AUen m regard to the conduct of, in July Con
vention  185 to 187
evidence of James French in regard to same  185
evidence of Wilkinson, same  •  187
excludes Wallace's resolution from Littell's •' Narrative ". .187 to 189
chairman of committee on Address to Congress  221
opposition of, to Edwards' resolution and address  229 to 232^
appointment of, by Gen. AVashington  287
no charge made again-st, in Col. MarshaU's letter  287
construction of motive for appointing Innes given by AVilkin-
 288
son 
contrast between conduct of, and that of Col. Marshall  311
induces Henry Owen to go to New Orleans for Wilkinson's pen-
 327
sion money 
refuses to try murderers of Owen 
ceases to work openly to separate Kentucky from the Union, but
continues friendly to the movement  337

400 Index.
Innes, Hary — Continued.
and Nicholas give Sebastian a "written opinion " as his creden
tials to negotiate with Gayoso  347
testimony before the Sebastian committee  344 to 370
reply of, and Nicholas, to treasonable overture of 1797  352
conceals his knowledge of Sebastian's pension  353
tries to prevent committee from continuing investigation  359
statement of, in relation to his conversation with Sebastian  365
reasons of, for not communicating Carondelet's proposition to the
Executive  368
resolutions of the Legislature in regard to  372
result of suit of, v. Marshall  377 to 378
Jay, John, mission to Spain  14 to 30
Spain refuses to recognize  15 to 20
Virginia delegates propose to rescind instructions to  16
maintains our right to navigate the Mississippi  14 to 30
arrives in Paris  22
refuses absolutely to treat with any power which does not first
recognize our independence  22 to 30
determines to violate instructions rather than sacrifice American
honor or interests .•  24
fathoms designs of France and Spain  22 to 30
reveals them to Oswald  25
secretary of Foreign Affairs  27
new instructions of Congress to  28
asks Congressto rescind  29
proposes to forbear the use of Mississippi for a period of years  29
proposition of, known in Kentucky in the faU of 1786. .73 to 89 & 105
" Jay Project," memorial to the Virginia State Assemhly in regard
to  106 and Appendix
action of Assembly in regard to  106 to 108
the Pittsburg circular in regard to  109
manifesto of Brown, Muter, Innes and Sebastian in regard to  109
resolutions of Virginia in regard to, in 1787  117
Jouitt, Capt. John  98, 102, 107, 115, 221, 237
Kanawha, first settlements on  36
Kentucky, flrst surveys in  36 to 38
settlement of, commenced  38
first, act to separate from Virginia  60 to 62
delay in presenting application of, to Congress  150
committee reports in favor of admission of  150
hill for the admission of, postponed  151
application referred to new Government  152 to 154
Langlois, F., affidavit of  332
Littell, AVm., deposition of  354 t^ 355
Logan, Gen. Ben., letter of Gov. Henry to  53
advises Clark should be given command  53
caUs a meeting of mUitia officers  55

Index. 401
Logan, Gen. 'Ren— Continued.
presides over mUitary councU at ClarksvUle  67
expedition of, against Mad river Indians  68
not responsible for Clark's faUure, nor for his conduct at Vin
cennes  71 to 72
opinion of Innes  98 to 99
Logan, Col. John, expedition against the Cherokees  81
Gov. Randolph's letter to Innes to institute proceedings against. . 82
Louisiana, ceded to Spain  9
possession of, taken by Spain  9
famine in  ;  11
Magruder, Allen B., statement by, in relation to the Spanish Con
spiracy  3
Madison, James, author of first act of separation  60
letter of, to Washington  62
account given by, of the interviews with Gardoqui  80
places action of A^irginia censuring Clark before Congress and the
Spanish Minister  79 to 80
suggestion of, as to the law under which Clark might be pun
ished  81
letter of Jefferson, explaining the movement in 1787, as developed
in the Pittsburg circular and the Brown-Innes-Sebastian mani
festo  Ill
testimony as to the methods used to prejudice Kentucky dele
gates against the Constitution  142
letter of, to Jefferson  162
Marshall, A. K., communication of  305 to 307
Marshall, James M., about to fight a duel with James Brown. .174 to 176
obtains from Muter and publishes an extract from Brown's
letter  176, 319, 320
Marshall, John, political agent for Kentucky  102
faUs to secure desired modifications in the act of separation  103
letter of, explauiing motives of Assembly in passing new act of
separation  103
gives information of the action of the Assembly in regard to the
"Jay project"  ¦  107, 108
member of House of Delegates in 1786  102
member of House of Delegates in 1787  117
MarshaU, Humphrey  63, 64, 143, 144
member of convention of May, 1787  144
. of that of Sept., 1787  l-^^
reasons of for voting for Federal Constitution  145
warned of John Brown's opmion that the Constitution ought to
be rejected. 

quotes in his history the account given by Col. MarshaU of John
)Wn'my :
26

Brown's speech  "Z
if any injustice was done, it was not by  -  253

402 Index.
JMarshall, Humphrey — Continued.
inference of, as to the motives of Innes and AA'ilkinson for send
ing murderers of Owen beyond reach of American courts  328
is elected to the Legislature  372
resolution of, defeated  372
Mai-shall, Col. Thomas, member of Convention of 1786  103
member of House of Delegates in 1787  117
not a member of July Convention  202
urges Muter to publish Brown's letter  210
concerts address with JMuter  211
account by, of Brown's speech in Nov. Convention  224, 225
seconds Edwards' resolution  227
writes to AA'ashington an account of AA'ilkinson's memorial, John
Brown's letters and speech, and visit of Connolly  240
correctness of same admitted by LitteU's " Narrative,'' and
vouched for under oath hy Thomas Todd  240, 241
account by, of John Brown's speech cororborated by Sebastian.... 243
same confirmed by Crockett  243
letter to AA'ashington of Feb'y 12, 1789  250 to 253
letter to A\'ashington of Sept. 11, 1790  277
letter to same of Sept. 7, 1792  278
letter of, claimed to have been a letter of retraction, a reiteration. 278
receives a call from Connolly after the November Convention  301
understands Connolly's proposal to imply separation from the
Union  302
rejects ConnoUy's advances with contempt  302
reference to  317
JMiro, letter of, to Court of JMadrid  128, 129
sends AA'ilkrnson's letter to Aladrid  130
dispatch of, to A^aldes of Nov. 3, 1788  155
account by, of the reception of his overture by John Brown.156 to 161
promises AA'ilkinson reward  322
recommends Wilkinson and Sebastian be pensioned  337
leaves Louisiana  340
JMississippi, American frontier extended to, in 1777  13
Morgan, Col. George  12
Morrison, James, communication in Gazette  18
McDoweU, Col. Sam  57, 58, 178
deposition of  180, 181
makes know the contents of the " shding letter " to Innes, but to
no one else during July Convention  181
deposition of  247
McKee. Judge Sam., deposition of  361 to 364
Muter, George, elected judge of the General Court  60
signs letter to Gov. Randolph concerning Clark  77
signs circular of March 29, 1787  110
goes backto legal ground  119
receives Bro-wn's letter in the fall of 1788  173 208

Index. 403
Muter, George. — Continued.
letters of  173 to 176
not a member of July Convention  173, 20I 202
. character of  209 to 211
exhibits Brown's letter to Col. Marshall  209
address of  211
notice of  244
letter of confirming Col. Marshall  ."  245
Navarro, advice of, to Court of Madrid  1 24
reprimanded by Gardoqui  124
leaves for Spain  130
last dispatch of  131
Nolan, PhiJ  325, 350
Owen, Henry, murder of  327
murderers of, sent by Innes to AVUkinson  327
Political reflections by a gentleman of Kentucky  296
identity of, with AVUkinson's letters to Miro  298
Pollock, Oliver, arrives at New Orleans  11
influence of, at New Orleans  11
obtains ammunition  11, 12
testimony cf in favor of AVilkinson  126
communicates to Miro, John Brown's confidential declaration of
his purpose to urge a separation of Kentucky from the Union... 155
Pontiac, confederation of, dissolved  33
PorteU, Don Thomas  329
Power, Thomas  329, 343, 349, 350
communicates proposition of Carondelet to Sebastian in 1797  351
visits Wilkinson at Detroit  353
conducted under guard to Fort Massac  353
Sebastian, Judge, deposition of  243
corroborates Col. Marshall  243
solicits compensation in 1790, for his efforts to separate Kentucky
from the Union  336
after Innes becomes judge, principal aid of Wilkinson  337
appointed judge of the Court of Appeals  339
pensioned by Spain  339
receives proposition from Power, undertakes to see Innes, Nich
olas and Murray, and writes to AVilkinson  343
meets Gayoso at New Madrid  347
goes to New Orleans with Gayoso  •¦  348
communicates overture of 1797 to Innes  352
encourages Power to still hope for success  353
resigns his judgeship and admits the pension  357
notice of  ^^^^
report of committee upon  36 J
Shelby, Gov., deposition of  -249
Short, Peyton, partnership of, with WUkinson  326
Spain, aids in the Revolution  -  12 to 30

404 Index.
Spain — Continued,
declares war against Great Britain  14
conquest by, of the Floridas  14
demands of  14 to 32
concludes treaty of friendship, limits and navigation  349
St. Clair, Gen., testimony of  286
letter of, to Isaac Dunn  •'  286
St. Joseph, on Lake JMichigan, captured  16
Stuart, Dr. David, publishes an account of John Brown's conference
with Gardoqui in the Alexandria Gazette  238
letter of  239
Thomas, Eichard, deposition of  134
Thruston, Col. Chas. Alynn, sketch of  149
Thruston, Judge Buckner, deposition of  330 to 332
Todd, Judge Thomas, vouches for the correctness of Col. I\Iarshairs
letter to AA'ashington concerning AVUkinson's Alemorial  241
pays Littell for writing the " Narrative "  354
Transylvania Company  38, 39
Treaties with Indians  48 to 55
Treaty violation of, hy Great Britain and several of the States. .40 to 52
of 1763, between Great Britain and France  10
secret, of 1762, between France and Spain  10
of 1703, constitutes the Mississippi western boundary of North
Carolina  13
of 1783, with Great Britain  27
at the German Flats  34
of Fort Stanwix, 1768  35
with Spain  350
Trimble, Judge Robert, deposition of  362 to 364
Virginia delegates propose to rescind the instructions  16
instructs her delegates never to agree to Jay's proposition  30
Assembly passes new act of separation . .•  102 to 105
Assembly, Kentucky delegates in, of 1786  115
Convention of, ratifies the Constitution  151
AValker, Dr. Thos., penetrates to the Dicks' river  33
AA'allace, Caleb, signer of letter to the Governor censuring Clark. . . 77
elected to Convention of July, 1788  138
resolution to separate Kentucky from Virginia without a law for
the purpose attributed to  183 to 185
letter of AVilkinson relating to action of, in July Convention  189
ignores his own resolution  189
convenient memory of  189 to 196
defeated for November Convention  215
course after the defeat  215
evades the issue  ,  247
" did 'nt recoUect "  248
AVashington's views of JMississippi question  31, 32
views of the necessity for a vigorous Constitution  139 to 150

Index. 405
Wilkinson, Gen. James — Continued,
first publication of John Brown's movement made at the request
of  239
letter of, iu regard to AA' ilkinson  290
administration of, embarrassed  340
sends James Innes to Kentucky  342
AA''atauga, settlements on the  13
AA'ilkinson, Gen. James  59, 62
the debate at Lexington between, and Humphrey Marshall. .63 to 65
secures his election to Congress of 1875 by a trick  65 to 66
jealousy of Clark attributed to  72
signs letter which induces censure of Clark  77
recommended for Commissioner to treat with Indians  78
sketch of  120 to 123
trading expedition of, to New Orleans  123
obtains exclusive privileges of navigation and trade  125
concerts memorial with Miro  1 27
reads memorial in Danville Convention  1 28
committed by his memorial to the separation of Kentucky from
the Union  128
engagement of, with Miro  128 to 150
letter of, to Miro, May 13, 1788  129, 130, 135
calls at Mt. Vernon  133
on his return to Kentucky sends immediately for Innes  134
confides in Innes  134
elected to July Convention of 1788  338
learns from John Brown the effect of his memorial upon tie Span
ish Court  ¦  156
letter of, convicting Wallace, Innes and Sebastian  187
letters of, to j:vIiro, proves hostUity of Muter and MarshaU to his
plans before the July Convention  196
letter of, to Miro, Feby. 12, '89  196
is forced to dissemble  265
elected to November Convention  265
letter to Miro describing John Brown  :  218
speech of, in Nov. Convention  223
refers Nov. Convention to John Brown for information concerning
the Spanish overtures  224
reads his memorial in Nov. Convention  226
explains to Gardoqui the purpose of the Address to Congress. ... 235
yields, apparently, to instructions obtained by Crockett  235, 236
object of the resolution' of, asking instructions from the people, as
explained in Littell's " Narrative "  236
".e tne navigation oi i.ue ivj-ia-
sissippi to the United States.  263

urges the Spaniards never to concede the navigation of the Mis-
sissippi to the United States 
letter of, to Miro, Jany. 26, 1790
appointe opinions

289
appointed Lieut. Colonel  ^°^
I entertained of, by Hamilton and Washington  -90

406 Index.
AA'ilkinson, Gen. James — Continued.
intrigues of, with Great Britain  292 to 304
report of, to Lord Dorchester  294
the author of the " Political Reflexions "  297 to 299
invites Connolly to visit him  300
informs JMiro of Connolly's visit  300
explains the motive of the petition of Brown, Innes, Sebastian,
Dunn and himself for a land grant  321
attempts to smuggle murderers of Owen beyond the jurisdiction
of American Courts  328, 329
evidence of letters in regard to Innes and Sebastian  337
desires publicly to avow himself a Spanish subject  338
informs Power of the new plot  344
gives instructions to Power to be communicated verbally to Gay
oso  350
receives Power coolly  353
complains that Spain had given up her power over the AVestern
people by conceding the navigation of the Alississippi  353

ERRATA.

Page 48, 15th line, for "conception" read inception.
Page 58, hne 2, read Jlfitter for "Winter."
Page 106, 5th line from the bottom, " and " should be omitted.
Page 113, line 26, read " to " before Kentucky.
Page 116, the quotation beginning in the 3rd line should read thus:
"Brown, rSpresenting Kentucky as a Senator in the Virginia Assembly,
procured from it the emphatic declaration of 26th [he meant the 29th]
of November, 1786, already mentioned."
Page 135, line 17, "dispatches" should read "dispatch."
Page 193, the word "never" in the 7th line should read "ever."
Page 217, in 5th line of note, the text should read " Letter to Arthur
CampbeU." Page 258, line 16, the text should read, " spoke at all in the Convention."
Page 267, in the 6th line, for "conceded" read "concealed."
Page 278, line 16, the text should read "adding paltry equivocation to
sly treachery."
Page 297, line 12, read "refers" instead of "refer."
Page 302, line 16, the text should read "of a desire."'
Page 304, last word in 4th line should be " was."
Page 306, line 1 in note, for " copied " read " made."
Page 324, line 3, for " were " read was.
Page 351, line 21, for "pcrrts " read "posts."
Page 378, line 11, for " salvo " read i

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 01312 0101

Ml""" i"k