Page:Henry Adams' History of the United States Vol. 3.djvu/350

338 support it, and which was represented on the bench by a judge himself implicated in the charge.


 * "On the whole," said the Message, "the fugitives from the Ohio, with their associates from Cumberland, or any other place in that quarter, cannot threaten serious danger to the city of New Orleans."

Yet a conspiracy against the Union existed; the President communicated Burr's cipher letters; he proclaimed Burr's expectation of seizing upon New Orleans, as well as the panic prevailing there; and he approved Wilkinson's arrest of Bollman and Swartwout. Finally, the Message spoke of the people in New Orleans in a tone of confidence quite different from that of Wilkinson's despatches, communicated with the Message itself.

The Senate interpreted the Message in the sense it was doubtless meant to bear,—as a request from the President for support. Bollman and Swartwout, who would arrive in Washington within a few days or hours, had been illegally arrested, and they, as well as the other conspirators, could not without special legislation be held longer in custody. Giles at once introduced a Bill suspending for three months the writ of habeas corpus with respect to such persons; and the necessity of this measure seemed so obvious to the Senate that the Rules were suspended by unanimous consent, and the Bill was passed on the