skill and sagacity soon gained for him an extensive practice. Upon removing to New York, he had joined the ranks of the Federalists, whom his chances of promotion afterward induced him to desert. He was not the man to scruple at a political somerset, and finally gave in his adhesion to the Democratic, then called the Republican party. He was appointed Attorney-General, then Judge of the Supreme Court of New York, then chosen United States Senator. He took his seat in the Senate in the autumn of 1791. He opposed the measures of his former coadjutors with an energetic spirit, and was considered the member of the opposition most capable of counteracting the ascendency of Hamilton, the illustrious leader of the Federalists. He took an active part in supporting the contested seat of Albert Gallatin. He opposed the appointment of Chief Justice Jay as Ambassador to England, and also the treaty with that country, negotiated by Mr. Jay after his appointment; but his party was in the minority, and he was unsuccessful in all the measures which he advocated. The style of his oratory was precisely opposite to that of Hamilton, his great competitor. Burr reasoned; Hamilton speculated. Burr's manner was cool, compact, and destitute of all rhetorical embellishment; Hamilton's was impetuous, and his diction of Ciceronian splendor.

At the expiration of Burr's term in the Senate, he was elected a member of the State Assembly for the City of New York. In the mean time, the administration of Mr. Adams was drawing to a close; and, having performed the duties of his responsible office to the satisfaction of his own party, he was nominated for re-election. Mr. Pinckney, of South Carolina, was substituted upon the new ticket for Thomas Jefferson, the then Vice-President, who now headed the ranks of a distinct and powerful party. Jefferson dissented from the financial system of Hamilton, which had been adopted by the Federalists. He advocated a curtailment of the privileges of the judiciary, rotation in office, and State sovereignty. Jefferson and Burr were the nominees of the Republicans. The result of a Presidential election, at that time, promised to be such as would necessarily carry out the wishes of the great mass of the people; but the contest of 1800 subjected the

election laws to a practical test which clearly demonstrated the contrary. It was perfectly understood that Jefferson was the choice of the Republicans for the Presidency. Ordinary care would have secured his choice by the vote of the Electors. The Constitution declared that each State should appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof might direct, a number of Electors equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State might be entitled in Congress. These constituted the Electoral College, each member of which voted by ballot for two persons. The person receiving the greatest number of votes was declared President, provided such number was a majority of the Electors appointed. If there were more than one having such a majority and an equal number of votes, the election devolved upon the House of Representatives, voting by States. A quorum for this purpose consisted of the Representatives from two thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States was requisite for a choice. Adams was the Presidential candidate of his party, and one Federal Elector withheld his vote from Mr. Pinckney, in order to secure the majority of Adams. From some misunderstanding or blunder, such a precaution was neglected by the Republicans; and when the electoral votes were unsealed by Jefferson, as presiding officer of the Senate, in the presence of both houses of Congress, Burr unexpectedly found himself elevated to a competitorship for the first office in the gift of the nation. It was a dizzy eminence, and might have subjected the principles of a more virtuous man to a severe test. Burr had no small claim upon the gratitude of his party. They had appointed him to offices calling for the display of integrity and talent; he had certainly filled them with marked ability, and, so far as we know, with perfect uprightness. Whatever might be the result of the approaching contest, the Democratic President would owe his election to the instrumentality of Burr. In the election for President in 1796, New York had cast a Federal vote; since then, Burr's influence had won ascendency for his own party, reversed the vote of the Electors, and (as in the memorable contest of 1844, the national result depending upon the vote of New York) secured victory to the Republicans. His position was now unpre

cedented, yet there was but one course for a high-minded man to pursue. Purely entitled to accident for the place he occupied, he should have instantly disclaimed all competitorship for the office intended for another. Burr was at Albany whilst the election was pending. The votes were unsealed on the 11th of February, 1801. On the 16th of December previous, Burr had written to Senator Smith, of Maryland, thus: "It is highly improbable that I shall have an equal number of votes with Mr. Jefferson; but if such should be the result, every man who knows me ought to know that I would utterly disclaim all competition. Be assured, that the Republicans can entertain no wish for such an exchange. As to my friends, they would dishonor my views and insult my feelings by a suspicion that I would submit to be instrumental in counteracting the wishes and expectations of the people of the United States; and I now constitute you my proxy to declare these sentiments, if the occasion shall require.”

The Federal party in the House of Representatives had a numerical, though not a State majority. Burr had lately defeated and long since deserted them. But they had less to fear from his election than from that of Mr. Jefferson. The Federalists, in this dilemma, embraced the lesser evil, and when the contest came on, Burr was placed at the head of a formidable and dangerous opposition. The representatives determined to vote day and night without adjournment, until an election was effected; and for thirty-five ballotings Burr was supported by the united strength of the Federal party. The Republicans were equally inexorable. At that time there were sixteen States in the confederacy, the vote of nine, therefore, being requisite for a choice. From the first to the thirtyfifth ballot, Jefferson received the vote of eight, Burr of six, while two were divided, either of whose respective votes could have terminated the contest, and they were controlled by General Morris, of Vermont, and Mr. Bayard, of Delaware. The period of Adams's administration was near its close, and had these gentlemen persisted in their opposition, and dared to assume such a responsibility, they might have prevented the election of a new President; for the adherents of Burr were firm, and those of Jefferson would never have yielded. Deeply

impressed with the necessity and justice of giving way to the wishes of the nation, the Federalists were yet determined to negotiate for terms of capitulation; and upon their being assured, from a reliable source, that important principles of the Federal policy would be recognized by the administration of Jefferson, the election was brought to a close, upon the thirtysixth ballot, by Mr. Bayard, who, by withdrawing his opposition, changed the vote of Delaware, and terminated the protracted contest, Burr, according to the then existing provisions of the Constitution, being declared Vice-President.

It was supposed that Burr might have secured his election by a mortgage of executive patronage; and it was inconceivable to the public that such an opening had escaped the practised eye of that consummate political gamester, who had been trained in the labyrinthine mazes of New York politics, which, more than half a century since, acquired the complicate nature they have always retained. Burr's principles were not so rigid as to have recoiled from corruption; but there is no evidence whatever that it was employed. He was known to have resorted to dishonorable artifice when little was to be gained, and now that so splendid a prize was at stake, it was highly probable that his customary chicanery would be employed. The darkest rumors were circulated, and, unfortunately, the previous conduct of Burr had been such as to justify suspicion and give a speciousness to the charge. Jefferson never forgave him; and his subsequent treatment of his defeated rival was utterly unworthy of the statesman and philosopher. Burr entered upon the duties of his new office with the reputation of a baffled intriguer. The culpable silence he always preserved under just or unjust imputation has been his most formidable accuser. Before a legal tribunal, the want of conclusive testimony of guilt justifies an assumption of innocence; but at the bar of public opinion, a man who fails to repel suspicion and reproach virtually indorses the correctness of the popular verdict. Burr's reputation was injured, but not irretrievably; we confidently believe that upon this occasion he suffered unmerited obloquy. Yet future rectitude would have reinstated him, for justice will gain the ascendant as inevitably as the tide that ebbs will flow

in its appointed course; and lapse of time might have varnished over this imputed blot upon his escutcheon, had not an unhappy event which was shortly to follow led to the resuscitation of every error he had ever committed. There was no possibility of his re-election to the Vice-Presidency; but his local influence in New York was great, he could depend for State appointments upon the support of a powerful party, and while still presiding over the Senate, in 1804, he was nominated for the Governorship of New York.

The influence of Alexander Hamilton was, at that period, perhaps greater than any single man has ever exercised in the State. Though not the opposing candidate, he threw the whole weight of his power into the Federal scale, and supported that cause with all the fiery impetuosity of his nature. Washington had long since declared Burr a dangerous and unprincipled man. Hamilton's conviction of his baseness was equally firm and immutable. He denounced him in philippics of scathing bitterness, as a profligate libertine and an infamous traitor to every principle of honor, integrity, and patriotism. The canvassing was conducted with a fierceness which threatened to end in violence and bloodshed. It lost its political character, and assumed a tone of personal animosity unworthy of the noble accuser, and terribly fatal in its results. Other politicians had denounced Burr with equal bitterness; but Hamilton was no ordinary antagonist, — he had been the evil genius of Burr's life, the friend of Washington whom he hated, the leader of a party which he had betrayed. Hamilton had been the chief obstacle to his promotion at every step of his career, his early competitor at the bar and in the Senate. When Burr made his fierce onslaught upon Jay's treaty, Hamilton had stood forth as the ablest defender of the executive policy, and finally had been instrumental in Burr's defeat for the Presidency. These offences were not to be overlooked. Burr had a keen sense of personal dignity. Eclipsed by his superior talents, and stung by his indignant rebukes, he challenged his accuser.

Hamilton reluctantly yielded an assent, and at sunrise on the 10th of July, 1804, in the forest of Weehawken, opposite New York, overlooking the beautiful Hudson, by the hand of