ing him on a
visit to the Ursuline Convent, and there the son of a Protestant
preacher chatted pleasantly with my lady prioress and her demure nuns.
Burr went everywhere, and wherever he went, he made discreet use of
his opportunity to inquire, to observe, to listen, to make friends and
proselytes. He felt the pulse of public sentiment. Never to any person
did he fully disclose his designs. Without argument or appeal, he
convinced, persuaded, and inflamed the victims of his corrupting
influence. To the avaricious his intimations promised riches; to the
luxurious, pleasure; to those disaffected towards the East, revolt and
secession.

Affairs in the Southwest were unsettled. Only a year and a half had
elapsed since Louisiana had passed into American hands. Jefferson's
land purchase was a current topic of conversation. Opinions differed,
and men hotly discussed the question whether, even if the President
had a constitutional right, he had a moral warrant for saddling upon
the young republic a wild domain, of doubtful value, sparsely
inhabited by Indians and already dedicated, by tradition, to the rule
of an alien, white population. The Spaniard and the Frenchman, sold
and transferred, by one power to another, could not be expected to
submit. The citizens had long yielded willing allegiance to his
Spanish majesty, the emblem of whose sovereignty had been hauled down,
to give place to the tri-color of France; and now that second banner
had disappeared. Though an American governor ruled the district, there
prevailed among the populace a hope and belief, that, after a brief
meteoric display, the red, white and blue, emblazoned with stars,
would fade and vanish from its proud height over the old fort, new
garrisoned by American soldiers. Spanish officers in disguise lingered
in the haunts of their former dignity and sway. They stirred up secret
dissension. They deemed themselves not extinguished, though eclipsed.
Discontent and resistance were in the air. War-clouds hung dark along
the Mexican and Floridan border, rumbling with ominous thunder.

Into this chaos of troubled politics, and conflicting interests, Aaron
Burr came exploring, vigilant to note and sedulous to question. The
sum of the impressions which he received confirmed him in the belief
that the people of the West and Southwest were ready and anxious to
separate their section from the Atlantic States; and he felt convinced
that it would be no trouble "to enlist