that of the theory of medicine, it is scarcely possible he should come out untainted with error. His mind must be strong indeed, if, rising above juvenile credulity, it can maintain a wise infidelity against the authority of his instructors, and the bewitching delusions of their theories. You see that I estimate justly that portion of instruction which our medical students derive from your labors; and, associating with it one of the chairs which my old and able friend, Doctor Rush, so honorably fills, I consider them as the two fundamental pillars of the edifice. Indeed, I have such an opinion of the talents of the professors in the other branches which constitute the school of medicine with you, as to hope and believe, that it is from this side of the Atlantic, that Europe, which has taught us so many other things, will at length be led into sound principles in this branch of science, the most important of all others, being that to which we commit the care of health and life.
I dare say, that by this time, you are sufficiently sensible that old heads as well as young, may sometimes be charged with ignorance and presumption. The natural course of the human mind is certainly from credulity to scepticism; and this is perhaps the most favorable apology I can make for venturing so far out of my depth, and to one too, to whom the strong as well as the weak points of this science are so familiar. But having stumbled on the subject in my way, I wished to give a confession of my faith to a friend; and the rather, as I had perhaps, at times, to him as well as others, expressed my scepticism in medicine, without defining its extent or foundation. At any rate, it has permitted me, for a moment, to abstract myself from the dry and dreary waste of politics, into which I have been impressed by the times on which I happened, and to indulge in the rich fields of nature, where alone I should have served as a volunteer, if left to my natural inclinations and partialities.
I salute you at all times with affection and respect.
TO GENERAL WILKINSON
Dear Sir,—I received last night yours of the 16th, and sincerely congratulate you on your safe arrival at Richmond, against the impudent surmises and hopes of the band of conspirators, who, because they are as yet permitted to walk abroad, and even to be in the character of witnesses until such a measure of evidence shall be collected as will place them securely at the bar of justice, attempt to cover their crimes under noise and insolence. You have indeed had a fiery trial at New Orleans, but it was soon apparent that the clamorous were only the criminal, endeavoring to turn the public attention from themselves and their leader upon any other object.
Having delivered to the Attorney General all the papers I possessed, respecting Burr and his accomplices, when he went to Richmond, I could only write to him (without knowing whether he was at Philadelphia, Wilmington, or Delaware) for your letter of October 21st, desired by the court. If you have a copy of it, and choose to give it in, it will, I think, have a good effect; for it was my intention, if I should receive it from Mr. Rodney, not to communicate it without your consent, after I learnt your arrival. Mr. Rodney will certainly either bring or send it within the course of a day or two, and it will be instantly forwarded to Mr. Hay. For the same reason, I cannot send the letter of J. P. D., as you propose, to Mr. Hay. I do not recollect what name these initials indicate, but the paper, whatever it is, must be in the hands of Mr. Rodney. Not so as to your letter to Dayton; for as that could be of no use in the prosecution, and was reserved to be forwarded or not, according to circumstances, I retained it in my own hands, and now return it to you. If you think Dayton's son should be summoned, it can only be done from Richmond. We have no subpœnas here. Within about a month we shall leave this to place ourselves in healthier stations. Before that I trust you will be liberated from your present attendance. It would have been of great importance to have had you here with the Secretary at War, because I am very anxious to begin such works as will render Plaquemine impregnable, and an insuperable barrier to the passage of any force up or down the river. But the Secretary at War sets out on Wednesday, to meet with some other persons at New York, and determine on the works necessary to be undertaken to put that place hors d'insulte, and thence he will have to proceed northwardly, I believe. I must ask you, at your leisure, to state to me in writing what you think will answer our views at Plaquemine, within the limits of expense which we can contemplate, and of which you can form a pretty good idea.
Your enemies have filled the public ear with slanders, and your mind with trouble on that account. The establishment of their guilt will let the world see what they ought to think of their clamors; it will dissipate the doubts of those who doubted for want of knowledge, and will place you on higher ground in the public estimate and public confidence. No one is more sensible than myself of the injustice which has been aimed at you. Accept, I pray you, my salutations, and assurances of respect and esteem.
TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR
I suggest to you the following, as some of the ideas which might be expressed by General Wilkinson, in answering Governor Saludo's letter. The introductory and concluding sentiments will best flow from the General's own feelings of the personal standing between him and Governor Saludo:
"On the transfer of Louisiana by France to the United States, according to its boundaries when possessed by France, the government of the United States considered itself entitled as far west as the Rio Norte; but understanding soon after that Spain, on the contrary, claimed eastwardly to the river Sabine, it has carefully abstained from doing any act in the intermediate country, which might disturb the existing state of things, until these opposing claims should be explained and accommodated amicably. But that the Red river and all its waters belonged to France, that she made several settlements on that river, and held them as a part of Louisiana until she delivered that country to Spain, and that Spain, on the contrary, had never made a single settlement on the river, are circumstances so well known, and so susceptible of proof, that it was not supposed that Spain would seriously contest the facts, or the right established by them. Hence our government took measures for exploring that river, as it did that of the Missouri, by sending Mr. Freeman to proceed from the mouth upwards, and Lieutenant Pike from the source downwards, merely to acquire its geography, and so far enlarge the boundaries of science. For the day must be very distant when it will be either the interest or the wish of the United States to extend settlements into the interior of that country. Lieutenant Pike's orders were accordingly strictly confined to the waters of the Red river, and, from his known observance of orders, I am persuaded that it must have been, as he himself declares, by missing his way that he got on the waters of the Rio Norte, instead of those of the Red river. That your Excellency should excuse this involuntary error, and indeed misfortune, was expected from the liberality of your character; and the kindnesses you have shown him are an honorable example of those offices of good neighborhood on your part, which it will be so agreeable to us to cultivate. Accept my thanks for them, and be assured they shall on all occasions meet a like return. To the same liberal sentiment Lieutenant Pike must appeal for the restoration of his papers. You must have seen in them no trace of unfriendly views towards your nation, no symptoms of any other design than of extending geographical knowledge; and it is not in the nineteenth century, nor through the agency of your Excellency, that science expects to encounter obstacles. The field of knowledge is the common property of all mankind, and any discoveries we can make in it will be for the benefit of yours and of every other nation, as well as our own."
TO MR. HAY
Dear Sir,—In mine of the 12th I informed you I would write to the Attorney General to send on the letter of General Wilkinson of October 21st, referred to in my message of January 22d. He accordingly sent me a letter of that date, but I immediately saw that it was not the one desired, because it had no relation to the facts stated under that reference. I immediately, by letter, apprized him of this circumstance, and being since returned to this place, he yesterday called on me with the whole of the papers remaining in his possession, and he assured me he had examined carefully the whole of them, and that the one referred to in the message was not among them, nor did he know where it would be found. These papers have been recurred to so often, on so many occasions,
