 | Burton, or, The sieges |  |
PREFACE.
During the last fall it was announced that the
author of “Lafitte” was preparing a romance,
founded on incidents in the life of Burr, to be
called “The Conspirator.” The appearance of
the present work, bearing a different title, would
seem to require some explanation.
After the original plan had been matured, the
author was made acquainted with the fact that the
ground he had taken was preoccupied by one calculated
in all respects to do full justice to the subject.
He therefore retreated from this field, and
took his station in an adjoining one, discovered,
during his researches into the character and history
of Burr, to be equally fruitful.
The present work, therefore, instead of arraying
in “fairy fiction” the events of the conspiracy,
embraces an earlier period, and aims at unfolding
the steps by which a chivalrous youth, his heart
beating high with honour and patriotism, became,
in time, the Catiline of his country.
In the page of history from which this romance
is taken, we see the young aid-de-camp exhibiting
the trophies of his conquests, drawn from the
later page, we shall see the betrayer of female confidence,
by a natural and easy transition, become
the betrayer of the trust reposed in him by his
country, and ready to sacrifice her dearest interests
on the altar of youthful vanity, ripened into hoary
ambition.
West Point, N. Y., July, 1837.
| Burton, or, The sieges | |