Obviously counsel for the defense were not surprised when the Chief Justice granted Mr. Wickham the right to make the motion. As learned in the law as the gentleman was known to be, he could not have made the finished argument he did without long and careful preparation. He approached his task with an air of confidence derived from his acknowledged leadership at the Virginia bar and the many victories to his credit, a number of them over the plodding Hay. This confidence was fostered by his realization of the great difficulty of sustaining any charge of treason under the Constitution of the United States and of the weakness of the evidence in this particular case. Suave, refined, and elegant, he was the envy of his less distinguished legal brethren. The weather had turned hot again but neither Mr. Wickham nor his colleagues were to let themselves be discouraged by so trifling a matter, or to shorten their arguments so much as a sentence in order to save themselves exertion. In introducing his case, Mr. Wickham proceeded at once to scotch the suggestion put forward by the prosecution that the motion to disqualify witnesses had been presented because the defense wished to suppress evidence. On the contrary, said his lawyer, the prisoner was more than willing that everything should be disclosed. But, the speaker pointed out, there was a practical difficulty resulting from the great number of witnesses the Government had summoned. If, he said, all of the 140 were examined, not only weeks but months would elapse, and throughout it all his client would be under confinement just as though he had been found guilty and was serving a sentence. Having dealt with that matter to his satisfaction Mr. Wickham next directed his attention to the most obvious weakness in the prosecution’s case. That was its admission that when the alleged overt act had taken place on Blennerhassett Island Colonel Burr was many miles away. To refresh the minds of the jury, he quoted from Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution which deals with treason against the United States and lays down that it “shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort” and adds the safeguard that “No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.” To Mr. Wickham’s way of thinking the language of the Constitution made it abundantly clear that no person in the United States could be convicted of treason in levying war who was not personally present at the commission of the act.