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ELEC7A-MT • EX TZ ACT.
[We regret that we have not room to
i life it the eloquent arid argumenta
tive Speeches of the Counsel engag
ed 6:r the Trial of Cos). Burr, on
■’ the motion to arreflthe Evidence in
the cafe„of TreaXon. We cannot,
however, forbear from cxtraßing
. the fallowing companion which
Mr. Wirt, (one of the Coanlel for
the profecutioh) draws of ti e two
tr.ofi confpicucas clmraciers i.i the
c<>n [piracy, Burr and Elannerhasset.
Whether the Fvie of this Speech is
ftrittlv of that fpccics cf forenfic
eloquence, molt proper feu the bar,
we will not decide : ‘i hole familiar
r - “vui the eloquence of the late Lord
Chancellor of England and ilill
more with those of the celebrated
Curran, wifi immediately recognise
, the refemblaucc, an 1 may poftblc
think with us, that the American
Bar rider does net Pilfer in the com
panion with either.J (Ch. Times) j
<s Who then is Arran Burr, and what
the part which he has borne in this trar.s
idciiota ? lie is l.s stitl.o. ; ns prcpA.!-
c:; us aflive executor. Bold, ardent,
rciilefs, an 1 afpiftng, his brain corseti
vedit; his hand brought it into action.
Beginning his operations in Me v-York,
he a!rociatcs *.v.th !iiin rnen v. hufe wealth
is to iopplv the necellary fund-,. Pof
frffed of the main i’priug, ids personal
labor contrives a!) the machinery.—
Pervading the continent from New-
York to New-Orleans, he draws into
his plan, by an allurement which he
tan contrive, men of ail ranks and all
defcripdons Yu youthful ardor he
prtdents danger a::i glory; to ambi
tion, rank and titles, and honors; to
avarice, the mines of Mexico. To
cacti per fun whom he addresses, he
pffTents the objects adapted to his
tafie; his recruiting chicers are ap
pointed ; men are engaged through
cut the continent; civil life is indeed
quiet upon its fur face; biu in its bo
fosri tnis man has contrived to depoht
the materials, vhh which the flighted
touch, of his match produces an ex-:
plofion to shake tlte continent. Ail;
this his r< ftlefs ambition has contrived
-—mJ in the autumn cf iScS, he goes
forth for the Sail time to apply this!
match. On this excursion, he meets!
with BfannerhafTct.
“ Who is BflanncrhafTett? A native
of Ireland, a man of letters, who fled !
from the ftoims of h:s own country,!
to find quiet in ours. Hishiftoryj
shews, that war is not the natural de
ment-of hi> mir.d; if it had been, he
would never have exchanged Ireland
for America. So far is an army from i
i urnifhing the foctety natural and pro
pi r to Mr. BUnnefhaflett's character,
that on his arrival in America, he re
turd even from the population of the
Atlantic States, and fought quiet soli
tude in the bosom of our weftero fo
rdL. But he carried wuh him ufie
•nd science, and wealth; and “ 10,
the deik-rt finiled.” Polfefling him
E liot a beautiful ttland in the Ohio,
he rears upon it a palace, and deco
rates it with every romantic embel
lithSientof fancy.’ A shrubbery that
Shenitpne might have envied, blooms
around him; mulic that might have
charmed Calypso and her nymphs, is
his; an extenlive library spreads its
treaiiires before him ; a philosophical
apparatus offers to him all the fccrcts
and tnyfterics of nature; peace, tran
qnilin, and innocence, ihed their
mingled.delights around him; and to
crown the enchainment of the feene, a
vjte, who is {aid to be lovely even
beyond h"t f x, and graced with every
ectdmp'iifhei shat can render it me
fiftibh, had bleflcd him with her love,
•ml made him the father ol her chil
tiien. ihe evidence would convina
) ou, fir, that tins is but a faint pic
tnre ot ih? seal life. In the mid ft oi
‘all this peace, this innocence and Iran
qtiihty, this lead or the mind, this pun
Jbanquet of the heart—the deflroyet
come.a-—he comes to turn this paradif
iiiMi 4 bdl—y ct the flowers do not
wither at his approach, and no moni
tory fhudclering through the bosom of
their unfortunate pofieffors, warns
i;!>esi of the ruin that is coming upon 1
! them. A tlranger presents himfelf.
Introduced to their civilities by the
high rank which he had lately held in
this country, he soon finds his way to
their hearts, by the dignity and eie-j
gar.ee of his demeanor, the light and!
! beauty of his convei iation, and the
ftrdußive and fafeinating power of his
address. The conqucd was net a dis
ficuli one. Innocence is ever simple
and credulous; conscious of no de
sign itfelfj it fuTpefiing none i.a others;
it wear's no guards before its bread;
every door and portal, ari l avenue of
I the heart, is thrown open, and all who
! ehoofe it enter. Such was the Hate
iof Ederf, when the serpent entered the
bowers. The .prifyncr in a more en
gaging form, winding him fid f into the
open and unprat'd fed heait of tint up.
for lunate Blannernaflctf, found but
little difficulty in changing the native
character cf that heart, and the ohjcbVs
of its affection. By degrees he itifu
fes into the potion of his own ambi
tion ; be breadies into it the. firco!
o.j o.*i courage; a itu*t..g artel a del*
perate third for glory; an ardor pant
ing for all the dorms and butile am:
hurricane of life. In a Snort time the
whole man is changed, and every ob
jcß cf his former delight relinquished
I Mo more he enjoys the tranquil fcer.e ;
u has become ikt and insipid to his
palate.; his books are abandoned ; his
retort ari l crucible are thrown aside ;
his shrubbery blooms and breathes its
fragrance upon the air in vain; he
likes it net—his car no longer drinks
the rich melody of music; it longs for
the trumpet’s clangor and the cannon’s
roar; even the prattle of his babes,
once so fwcet, no longer affects him ;
and the angle smiles or his wife, which
hitherto touched bis bosom with ceda
cy IB unspeakable, arc now unfelt and
unseen. Greater objetls have taker,
poljeifion of his foul—his imagination
has been dazzled by vidons of dia j
drnr, and liars, and garters, and titles
ol nubility ; he has been taught to
burn with redlefs emulation at the
names of Cromwell, Casar and Bo
naparte —His enchanted if] and is
dt'lined soon to rclapfe into a defart;
end in a few months we find the ten
der and beautiful partner of his bo
som, whom he lately “ permitted not
she winds of” summer 51 to visit too :
roughly,’ we find her shivering at
midnight on the banks of the Ohio,’
and mingling her tears with the tor-’
rents that froze as they fell. Yeti
thus unfortunate man, thus deluded;
from his imereU and happinefs—thus’
seduced from the paths of innocence!
and peace—thus confounded in the 1
toils which were deliberately spread!
for him, and overwhelmed by the 1
tnatlering lpirit and genius of another ■
—This man thus ruined and undone, j
and made to play a subordinate part
in this grand drama of guilt and trea-j
ffm—This man is now to be called 1
the principal offender; while he, by:
whom he was thus plunged and itcep
eu in misery, is comparatively inno
cent-—a mere acceffary ! Sir, neither
the human heart, nor the human un
deritanding, will bear a perversion so
moniirous and absurd ; so (hocking to
the foul; so revolting to reason. O’j
no, Sir. There is no man who knows*
any thing of this affair, who docs not !
know, that to every body concerned;
in it, A Alt ON BURK was as the |
fun to the plannets that surround him;’
he bound them in their refpedive or- i
bits, and gave them their light, their 1
beat and their motion. Let him not;
then (brink from the high definition!
which he has courted; and having!
.already ruined B'annerhaffet in for- 1
tune, character, and hap pine fa for.ev-i
•ver, attempt to finifh the tragedy, by
bruiting that til-lated man between
himfelf and pumihment.”
IVanied Immediately ,
/in /■ .?iw atgrn Boy about 16 of agi.
et ‘t&s <>s!*> 22..:.60 !
For tha INTEL LICENCER.
SAVANNAH, October 12, ISO 7.
Messrs. M'Lccn ar.d Barr.::,
Gsmtlsmex,
I fend you for publication in your- nest
I::TEtL)GENC£R , a (ketch of the life cf General
Elbeit, and I (hall occasionally furnish you
with biographical accounts of the revolutionary
heroes and patriots of Georgia, until my Hiilory
;3 completed.
This charaAer of Elbert, with a few alte
rations, is taken from the files of papers deport
ed with me by tlte friends cf the late General
Jackson, whole life will appear, as soon as fuff- j
cier.t lcifare is afforded me to fuprrintend the j
publication of. I mail not as was 01 iginally pro- j
pored incorporate the life cf Jackson, With a
Hiftoryofthe Revolution in this (late”—it will
be a dillincb volume. This deviation from the
arrangement fubmlttedto the public feme months
ago, will place it in my power to do moie com
plete juliice to the ehiracter cf the General as a
Magillrate, a Legdator and a Citizen. There
are certain events in his life, which could not
without wreat incongruity, be aiTociated with his
.n litary ferviees, during the revolution. Some
other reafens have iniluer.ced me iu changing my
plan. In writing a hiilory of the revolution in
this (late, I ought ar.d (hall diveil the work of
El estrar.eouo matter: and unbiaflbd by the
prejudices of fricndfhip, 1 ought and (hail endea
vor to diilribute with an impartial hand, t'ne
. hard earned laurels, of every patriot officer, who
taught, or bled, or ciaCci * n the femce of his coun*
ti"-r.
There are many of the revolutionary heroes
of Georgia, (hitherto unnoticed) who performed
acts of l.ercif.a, and evinced a stoicism ia the
hours of* carnage and danger, which if faithfully
and minutely related, place them upon a level
with the patriot-heroes of any nation ancient or
modem.
Their names, their valour, and their fEfer
:ngs, (hall be refeued from cbvilian, & though the
narrative may not be didinguithed by those talents
wlr.cn would procuie it univerfai attention, yet I
latter myfelf with the hope, that it will prove
(efficiently ir.tereiting to every Cstizeh of
GEoaGta.
THOS. U. P. CHARLTON.
* 1 shall at some futur: period give art instance
of this kind of heroic apathy in the condud of Ed*
■ward Loyd at the siege of Savannah.
A SKSTC3 Os Tits ZIFS Os
GENERAL ELBERT.
General Samuel Elbert, to ufethe expres
sion of gen. Lee, (of Col. Hctu-y Lee) was born
a soldier, and his fondnefs for taAics was evinced
even in childhood. The forming little compa
nies, and teaching them the exercise was bis prin
cipal amusement, and this attachment to the
aft military increased with his years. He was
early appointed an officer of the Georgia Provin
cial Militia, under Britifii government, but this
did not fatisfy his mind. In the year 1772, he
formed the plan of a volunteer grenadier compa
ny, which President Hr.berffiam, in the ebfence
of Governor Wright who (on account of Mr.
Elbert’s priciples ) would not have conferred to
if had he been present—gave him a comir.iffion
to raise, and Mr. Elbert immediately after at his
own expence repaired to London, to perrtdl
himfelf in the duties of military life. On his re
turn, his attention was chiefly fixed on perfedtiny
his corps. Their proficiency was such as to be
come celebrated in the southern provir.es, anu on
the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, it
furnilhed many of the mod diltingukhed officers
in the Georgia line, and fc-veral who entered that
of South Carolina—its march (the Georgia Gre
nadiers) ccmpofed by Alexander, is ilill extant
in the Britifii Books of Mulkk, and is an excel
lent corapoiition. In 1775, when Georgia had
acceded to the Union, and it was determined,
that troops ihotild be railed for the defence of
the Colony, Mr. Elbert was appointed 111 colo
nel of the Id Georgia regiment, under colonel
MTntodi, which regiment was principally difei
plined by him. The compliment paid to it, by
general Lee on his coming to Savannah, in 1776,
was that it was equal, if not superior, to any
the United States. Mr. Elbert was afterwards
appointed colonel of the 2d regiment, aud soon
a Brigadier General of the U. State, He diftin
gtiilhed himielf on many occafious previous to
the fall of Savannah, in 1773. Had general
Hcwe followed his advice on that occasion, and
detached a portion of his army with feme field
pieces to Brevvtens Hill, where the enemy laud
ed, ar.d marched up a Angle dam 10 feet wide,
wltild the adjacent rice field was inundated in
all probability, the Britifii attempt would have
been fruit rated with imm?n£i loss, and the check
would have given time ?cr reinforcements, and
might have prevented the loss of Savannah. But
ger.errl Ho we, was a general sui generis and
thought if ungenerous to take advantage of an ene
my. The cofequence was, that the Baitifh ef
ieited tneit landing, and general Howe drove to
effsft a retreat, which till that moment- h-i had
ridiculed, ordering gem Elbert with the G*ir,
gia line to cover it: but the Br.tiih light infan.
try, had already turned his right flank, where the
only refinance was made by col. Walton and the
militia, and the Generals retreat became a p er .
feft route, without system regularity or order.
General Elbert, ildl kept the Georgia line cor.:,
padl, but on approaching toward the only road,
on which a retreat could be effedted the spring
hill, be found the reil of the army had pafhd
and the enemy in pcflefiioa of it, ami wa3 ob
liged to file off for Yamacraw, in hopes of meet
ing boats to cross Mufgraves creek of about 20
yards wide. In this he was disappointed, and
! the main body of the enemy pressing him, he
was obliged to leave the greatell part o f his brave
brigade, who could rot swim, to capitulate, cr.
dering ail who could swim to cross the creek
with him. With the remains of the line, he
reached Purkburgh, and was soon detached with
them to join Major General Alh, cf N. Carolina,
j and to make an incursion into Georg:?.. They
crolfed Savannah River, and drove the Eiitii'..
who were at Aagulla, as far as Bryer creek ;
when gen. Alh, confident in his fucccfa bcccr.e
.negligent of hi camp. Gen. Elbert, rem-m.
il.-aixd, but in vain—Adi was the fupciior off:,
cer, and would command : but he wanted t
forefight aud ability which Elbert poifcfTcJ to do
so. Elbert pronounced the.r fate, and it so
happend. The Britifii made a forced march,
erofied the creek 12 miles above them by right,
and next day completely surprised the American
camp. The North Carolinians (truck with a
panic, never were able to form, and indeed the
bed half of them never attempted it, but flung
their.Live3 into Savannah river or difperh-d ii
the adjacent woods. Elbert had his brigade
compelled of the remains of the line, the light
infantry of Savannah, and fome militia, prepared
for the event, and wounded in his fedir.gTi v
fome unwarrantable censures on his conduit, ter
leaving his brigade at Savannah, and fvrir'irfi g
I.lufgraves creek, was determined to die rather
than retreat. Henddrefltd his gallant brethren
in a fe'vv words, and they swore to die with him.
‘i'hey were had to the charge, and a leveie ac
tion took place : but overpowered by momberj,
deserted by the army, and one half ox his fv ‘I
force being either killed or wounded, humari /
and cotnpaiTion to his brave corps demanded that
1 he fiiould accept an offer of quarters, and he end
i they became prisoners of war—ar.d with t'.is
j action the whole Georgia line, v.t.is annihilated •
5 the prisoners being either compelled to erfut ia
’ Britilh regiments, or to go cn board Britifii cri
fe u (hips, ficm whence not one in t:n escaped.
The General was a ccr.fiderablc time prifov. r
within the Britifii l.ncs and lubjetled to many de
grading iufults, nctwithilanding which, he was
i rdpeded by their principal officers, as cr.c cf
their moil formidable opponents. After his li
beration not having a command, he retired.with
his family to Maryland, until the attach ott A’ork
town, by the French, and American forces,
where the Commander iu Chief called him Sp ain
into fevvice.
After the perxe he was mad? major general of
all the militia of Georgia, and in 1781, was ay.
1 pointed Governor of that (late. His fellovv
j citizens in their private societies were happy in
: conferhig their honors on him, and in 2785, he
was made Grand Mailer of the honorable aid
ancient focicly of Free Muffins in the flats cf
Georgia. He died in 1783, aged 45.
There are few chan,fieri, whole’ lives were
spent to greater public advantage’and whole
deaths were more fincerciy regretted. He oas
a soldier witheut arrogance , and a patriot ‘cciib'.Lt
affectation, of easy manners, a majestic form, ar.d
of winning address, and if he had been so fortu
nate as to have served in the grand army at the
northward, under the immediate eye cf general
Walhington,- cr had not been trammelled to the
ffiuthward by officers of superior rank, and infe
rior ability, the hiilcrians who have been nearly
filer.t would have filled the page with those prai
ses the character of an Elbert deserves. A
county iu Georgia is named Elbert, in honor of
. him.
For the IN / ELL ICE ACER.
, Messrs. Enrrcns,
A writer in the lad Mufeun has come {cr.
ward, who defence immortality for h:3 wonder
ful produ&ion. The infigmikant rales cf
grammar he holds in total contempt, and nobly
violates every rule of syntax. He tells us that
“ patience and fortitude is admirably, calculated
to fuilain the rr.ind."—He talks muck about
“ demigods,” and he surety deserves to be ranked
among them after giving such a valiant defiance to
ail grammatical rules, even in the teeth of every
difeerning reader. The poor fellow docs net
know the disposition and the fentimer.ts of that
faithful character, Mr. Bryan. He ; 3 an ene.
my to tyranny in any fi.ape, and a decided op
ponent to Scotch and F.nglilh renegadbes, who
while they amass thousands under the protc.clioii
of, our government, ilill ungratefully abuse it.
As to our defponder.ee, this fanatical writer fare*
-y docs not comprehend us, or he would not
suppose we felt the (mailed degree of it. We
ted Fir. Bryan, that it is our pride and cou(-
latton, hint tlicur li u-ogliih influence has pre #
j vailed in this little feflion of the date, dill that a
. large majority <,f lioaeft will