would take the matter into their own hands, and secure themselves either by force or by treaty.

This excitement appeared so alarming as to induce President Washington to write an explanatory letter on the subject, to some of the leading citizens of Lexington; among whom were George Nicholas and John Brackenridge, disclosing the state of the negotiation with Spain, contrary to his usual practice, for the purpose of removing erroneous impressions, and allaying the feeling of the people. During this excitement negotiations were carried on secretly, between some of the prominent men of Kentucky, whose names were generally known, and the Spanish authorities at New Orleans; which it was said, terminated in an agreement, the object of which was understood to be, to detach from the Union a part of the western country contiguous to the river, and attach it to Spain.

Such was the prevailing opinion, and it was known that some of the leaders in the project, were men high in office, and in public confidence; and it was even said that commissions had been bestowed on some of them, for the express purpose of detaching them from the party. This however, will not be credited, if for no other reason, because it was inconsistent with the uniform policy of the President, and because he never accomplished his purposes by indirect means, or committed power to suspected characters, for the purpose of reforming them. Be this as it may, the patriotism of several distinguished persons, both in and out of the army, was very strongly doubted.

While that impression rested on the public mind, a man of fine personal appearance and polished manners, by the name of Powers, arrived at Cincinnati, from New Orleans, in a handsome, neatly finished barge, with a full crew of well dressed Spanish boatmen, professedly on a trading voyage. If the enterprise was undertaken for profit, the cargo on board did not seem to justify the expense of such an outfit; particularly as the trip could not be completed

in less than six months. Some river traders who went on board with the view of purchasing, made an estimate, that the proceeds of the entire cargo, at fair prices, would not be more than sufficient to defray the expense of the voyage; from which it was inferred, that there was something connected with it, which did not meet the eye. This surmise was strengthened by the fact, that the barge came to, on the Kentucky shore, a mile below the town, where there were neither improvements nor inhabitants; and that she remained there one or two days before she came up to the landing, at Cincinnati.

Mr. Powers, who commanded the barge, was an intelligent, enterprising man, born and educated in Great Britain, though he had become a Spanish subject; and it was understood that he and a Mr. Nolan, who professed to be a trader in Spanish horses, and who probably ascended the river in the same boat, were in the employ of the individuals before alluded to. From these circumstances it was believed, that the barge had been sent by the Spanish Governor, with money, for purposes not consistent with the allegiance due from Americans, to their government; and that the object of landing on the Kentucky shore, in the night, was to deliver it, without giving rise to curiosity or suspicion. The whole movement was certainly mysterious, and cannot be rationally accounted for, on the common principles of mercantile business.

This expedition was connected, in public opinion, with a similar one which had failed during the preceding year, under the management of Mr. Owen, an Irish gentleman of fine education and very polished manners. He had then recently married an accomplished young lady, in Elizabethtown, New Jersey; and soon after that, came to the western country to better his fortune. He brought letters of introduction to the principal officers of the army; and very soon after his arrival, he was sent to New Orleans, professedly on public business. From that place

he came up the Mississippi in a barge, and arrived safely at the mouth of the Ohio. But soon after he entered that river, he was murdered, and his boat plundered.

The first report of the catastrophe was, that he had been murdered and robbed by the Indians, or by white men, disguised as Indians. According to another version of the fatal tragedy, he was assassinated by the crew of the barge, by whom it was robbed and sunk. Mr. Owen had a large amount of specie on board, destined for Cincinnati; and public opinion did not hesitate to name the persons for whom it was intended. Both these shipments were considered as the fruits of the intrigue above alluded to, which was generally called the Sebastian conspiracy.

In the summer of 1797, the American troops were ordered to the West, under the command of General Wilkinson. In the year following, the Mississippi Territory was established by Congress; and Winthrop Sargent, having resigned the office of Secretary of the North-western Territory, was appointed Governor of the new Territory. At the same time, William H. Harrison, who had resigned his commission of Captain in the army, was appointed to the office relinquished by Governor Sargent.

Before the Governor left Cincinnati for Natchez, the seat of government of the new Territory, he gave the writer of these notes a pressing invitation to accompany him, as a member of his family, promising him his patronage, and holding out the prospect of a rapid accumulation of fortune. From a fear of the effects of the climate, on a debilitated constitution, the advantageous and flattering invitation was declined. At that time, titles to real estate in the Mississippi Valley, were in a very unsettled condition, and it was foreseen, that as soon as the courts of the Territory were established by Congress, controversies, involving property of immense value, would arise; suits multiply, and lawyers flourish; which proved to be the case. It was therefore apparent, that the prospect of professional ad

vancement, connected with the patronage of the Governor, presented strong temptations to risk the dangers of the climate.

Most of the members of the bar who migrated to that Territory, at that early day, with fair pretensions to talents and legal knowledge, and who were proof against the miasma of the valley, soon acquired fortunes. According to the theory of chances, if chance there be, in the moral world, the writer might also have found a short road to wealth, had he accepted the offer of Governor Sargent; but on the other hand, he might have found a shorter one to the grave. Upon the whole, after a review of all the circumstances connected with the decision then made, declining the flattering invitation of the Governor, and giving up the alluring prospects of preferment and wealth, he can repeat the cheering words of Æneas, to his shipwrecked companions-" Forsan et hæc olim, meminisse juvabit."

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CHAPTER XXV.

Sale of public lands on credit.-Debts due to Government from purchasers. -Exceeding twenty millions of dollars.-Embarrassments in the Western Country.-Purchasers unable to pay.-Lands on the eve of forfeiture.— Resistance to the execution of the land laws apprehended.-A plan for relief concerted at Cincinnati.-Memorial to Congress drawn.-Printed, and circulated through the entire West.-The law of 1821 passed, in conformity with the memorial.-Grant of lands to Ohio, for Canal purposes.—Conditions annexed.-Not assented to.-Grant lost.-In 1829-30, the conditions repealed, and a further grant made.—Miami Extension completed.-Simon Kenton.-Biographical sketches of him.

UNDER the system established for the sale of the public domain, by the law of 1800, and the acts supplementary thereto, an immense debt was contracted, and became due to the government of the United States, from the people of the West, exceeding by estimation, the entire amount of money then circulating in the Western States. That debt had been accumulating more than twenty years, and was swelling daily, with increasing rapidity.

In 1821, it far exceeded the ability of the debtors to pay. Neither the speculator, who had purchased with a view of selling at a profit, nor the farmer, who bought for the purpose of cultivation, and who expected nothing more than to obtain a subsistence for his family, could procure the money which was necessary to secure his title.

It is well known that the first emigrants to the west, and the greater part of those who followed them, from time to time, were compelled by necessity to purchase on credit. Some of them exhausted their means to the last dollar, in raising the first payment on their entries, and others were