thing could be done with Great Britain; and then,
incredible though it may seem, he turned to Spain, and sought to obtain
from the Spaniards themselves the funds with which to conquer their own
territories.

His Burlesque Proposals to Spain.

This was the last touch necessary to complete the grotesque fantasy
which his brain had evolved. He approached the Spanish Minister first
through one of his fellow conspirators and then in his own person. At
one time he made his request on the pretence that he wished to desert
the other filibusterers, and save Spain by committing a double
treachery, and betraying the treasonable movement into which he had
entered; and again he asked funds on the ground that all he wished to do
was to establish a separate government in the West, and thus destroy the
power of the United States to molest Spain. However, his efforts came to
naught, and he was obliged to try what he could do unaided in the West.

His Second Trip to the West.

In August, 1806, he again crossed the Alleghenies. His first stop of
importance was at Blennerhassett's. Blennerhassett was the one person of
any importance who took his schemes so seriously as to be willing to
stake his fortune on their success. Burr took with him to
Blennerhassett's his daughter, Theodosia, a charming woman, the wife of
a South Carolinian, Allston. The attractions of the daughter, and Burr's
own address and magnetism, completely overcame both Blennerhassett and
his wife. They gave the adventurer all the money they could raise, with
the understanding that they would receive it back a hundred-fold as the
result of a land speculation which was to go hand in hand with the
expected revolution. Then Blennerhassett began, in a very noisy and
ineffective way, to make what preparations were possible in the way of
rousing the Ohio settlers, and of gathering a body of armed men to serve
under Burr when the time came. It was all done in a way that savored of
farce rather than of treason.

Again Visits Jackson.

There was much less comedy however in what went on in Kentucky and
Tennessee where Burr next went. At Nashville he was received with open
arms by Jackson and Jackson's friends. This was not much to Jackson's
credit, for by this time he should have known Burr's character; but the
temptation of an attack on the Spaniards proved irresistible. As Major
General, he called out the militia of West Tennessee, and began to make
ready in good