They were calculated to excite the sympathy of the brother--the
parent--the husband. They were, indeed, testimonials of the weakness
of the weaker sex, even where genius and learning would seem to be
towering above the arts of the seducer. Why they were thus carefully
preserved, is left to conjecture. Can it be true that Moore is
correct, when, in his life of Lord Byron, he says, "The allusions
which he (Byron) makes to instances of _successful passion_ in his
career, were not without their influence on the fancies of that sex,
whose weakness it is to be most easily won by those who come
recommended by the greatest number of triumphs over others? Some of
these productions had been penned more than sixty years. They were all
committed to the flames, however, immediately after the decease of
Colonel Burr. Of them, it is believed, "not a wreck remains."
The faithful biographer could not pass over in silence this strong and
revolting trait in the character of Colonel Burr. It will not again be
referred to. From details, the moralist and the good man must shrink
with disgust and abhorrence. In this particular, Burr appears to have
been unfeeling and heartless. And yet, by a fascinating power almost
peculiar to himself, he so managed as to retain the affection, in some
instances, the devotion, of his deluded victims. In every other
respect he was kind and charitable.
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