the malcontents leaped from the
front line and leveled his weapon at Burr.

"Now is the time, boys!" he shouted.

Like lightning Burr's sword flashed from its scabbard with such a
vigorous stroke as to cut the man's arm completely off and partly to
cleave the musket.

"Take your place in the ranks," said Burr.

The mutineer obeyed, dripping with blood. A month later every man in
that company was devoted to his commander. They had learned that
discipline was the surest source of safety.

But with this high spirit and readiness to fight Burr had a most
pleasing way of meeting every one who came to him. When he was arrested
in the Western forests, charged with high treason, the sound of his
voice won from jury after jury verdicts of acquittal. Often the
sheriffs would not arrest him. One grand jury not merely exonerated him
from all public misdemeanors, but brought in a strong presentment
against the officers of the government for molesting him.

It was the same everywhere. Burr made friends and devoted allies among
all sorts of men. During his stay in France, England, Germany, and
Sweden he interested such men as Charles Lamb, Jeremy Bentham, Sir
Walter Scott, Goethe, and Heeren. They found his mind able to meet with
theirs on equal terms. Burr, indeed, had graduated as a youth with
honors from Princeton, and had continued his studies there after
graduation, which was then a most unusual thing to do. But, of course,
he learned most from his contact with men and women of the world.

Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, in The Minister's Wooing, has given what is
probably an exact likeness of Aaron Burr, with his brilliant gifts and
some of his defects. It is strong testimony to the character of Burr
that Mrs. Stowe set out to paint him as a villain; but before she had
written long she felt his fascination and made her readers, in their
own despite, admirers of this remarkable man. There are many parallels,
indeed, between him and Napoleon--in the quickness of his intellect,
the ready use of his resources, and his power over men, while he was
more than Napoleon in his delightful gift of conversation and the easy
play of his cultured mind.

Those who are full of charm are willing also to be charmed. All his
life Burr was abstemious in food and drink. His tastes were most
refined. It is difficult to believe that such a man could have been an
unmitigated profligate.

In his twentieth year there seems to have begun the first