elected on the 36th ballot,
but he never forgave Burr, and between these two old friends
Paine had to write this letter under some embarrassment. The
last paragraph of this Letter shows Paine's desire for a
reconciliation between Burr and Jefferson. Aaron Burr is one
of the traditionally slandered figures of American history.
--_Editor._

The plot of the intrigue was to make Mr. Burr President, on the private
condition of his agreeing to, and entering into, terms with them, that
is, with the proposers. Had then the election been made, the country,
knowing nothing of this private and illegal transaction, would have
supposed, for who could have supposed otherwise, that it had a President
according to the forms, principles, and intention of the constitution.
No such thing. Every form, principle, and intention of the constitution
would have been violated; and instead of a President, it would have had
a mute, a sort of image, hand-bound and tongue-tied, the dupe and slave
of a party, placed on the theatre of the United States, and acting the
farce of President.

It is of little importance, in a constitutional sense, to know what the
terms to be proposed might be, because any terms other than those which
the constitution prescribes to a President are criminal. Neither do I
see how Mr. Burr, or any other person put in the same condition, could
have taken the oath prescribed by the constitution to a President, which
is, "_I do solemnly swear (or affirm,) that I will faithfully execute
the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of
my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United
States_."

How, I ask, could such a person have taken such an oath, knowing at the
same time that he had entered into the Presidency on terms unknown
in the Constitution, and private, and which would deprive him of the
freedom and power of acting as President of the United States, agreeably
to his constitutional oath?

Mr. Burr, by not agreeing to terms, has escaped the danger to which
they exposed him, and the perjury that would have followed, and also
the punishment annexed thereto. Had he accepted the Presidency on
terms unknown in the constitution, and private, and had the transaction
afterwards transpired, (which it most probably would, for roguery is a
thing difficult to conceal,) it would have produced a sensation in the
country too violent to be quieted, and too just