sidency.
Whether this charge be substantiated or not makes little or no part of
the purport of this letter. There is a point of much higher importance
to attend to than any thing that relates to the individual Mr. Burr: for
the great point is not whether Mr. Burr has intrigued, but whether the
legislature has intrigued with _him_.

Mr. Ogden, a relation of one of the senators of New Jersey of the same
name, and of the party assuming the style of Federalists, has written
a letter published in the New York papers, signed with his name, the
purport of which is to exculpate Mr. Burr from the charges brought
against him. In this letter he says:

"When about to return from Washington, two or three _members of
Congress_ of the federal party spoke to me of _their views_, as to the
election of a president, desiring me to converse with Colonel Burr on
the subject, and to ascertain _whether he would enter into terms_. On my
return to New York I called on Colonel Burr, and communicated the above
to him. He explicitly declined the explanation, and _did neither propose
nor agree to any terms_."

How nearly is human cunning allied to folly! The animals to whom nature
has given the faculty we call _cunning_, know always when to use it,
and use it wisely; but when man descends to cunning, he blunders and
betrays.

Mr. Ogden's letter is intended to exculpate Mr. Burr from the charge
of intriguing to obtain the presidency; and the letter that he (Ogden)
writes for this purpose is direct evidence against his party in
Congress, that they intrigued with Burr to obtain him for President,
and employed him (Ogden) for the purpose. To save _Aaron_, he betrays
_Moses_, and then turns informer against the _Golden Calf_.

It is but of little importance to the world to know if Mr. Burr
_listened_ to an intriguing proposal, but it is of great importance to
the constituents to know if their representatives in Congress made one.
The ear can commit no crime, but the tongue may; and therefore the right
policy is to drop Mr. Burr, as being only the hearer, and direct the
whole charge against the Federal faction in Congress as the active
original culprit, or, if the priests will have scripture for it, as the
serpent that beguiled Eve.

1 In the presidential canvas of 1800, the votes in the
electoral college being equally divided between Burr and
Jefferson, the election was thrown into the House of
Representatives. Jefferson was