Burr’s dinner at the White House of the winter before lent credence to that conjecture. The public could not know that Burr had requested the meeting and had gone to the White House to beg some important office in the administration, and to warn Jefferson that if he did not get it he was in a position to do him much harm. Mr. Jefferson had enough informants on Burr’s trail to comprehend what the threat implied. But he was not to be bullied or frightened. He replied calmly that he had always realized Burr had talent and hoped he would put it to the public good. However, Burr must be aware that the public had lost confidence in him. Mr. Jefferson did not know why Burr should wish to do him harm but he feared no injury. This was not the first time Burr had enjoyed the hospitality of the White House at his own solicitation. Two years before, when he was about to retire from the Vice-Presidency, he had dined with Mr. Jefferson, had proposed an alliance between them, and on that occasion too had asked for an office. The President had declined the request. He thought the meeting sufficiently important to note it in his diary, remarking that Burr’s conduct had always inspired him with distrust. Evidently Jefferson was not to allow this distrust to forbid Burr the White House. No doubt he hoped to derive information from such contacts and was so confident Burr could do him no harm that he was indifferent to the use which Burr might put the show of intimacy. Unfortunately, at this critical moment the policy left the country uncertain as to how far the administration was implicated in Burr’s operations. At last the Government at Washington acted. Following discussions by the Cabinet on October 22 and 25, John Graham, secretary of the Orleans territory, who was in the East and about to return to his post, was ordered to stop in Ohio and Kentucky on his way westward and inquire into Burr’s movements. He arrived in Marietta during the middle of November where he was warmly welcomed by Harman Blennerhassett who talked freely with him. It seems that in his effort to impress Blennerhassett, Burr had told him that Graham was concerned in the plot. Graham proceeded to Chillicothe where the Ohio Legislature was sitting and persuaded that body to authorize the governor to use the militia to seize Burr’s boats that were building at Marietta. He then went to Kentucky and induced its legislature to take action to halt the conspiracy. He was too late, however, to prevent a flotilla under the command of Blennerhassett from passing down the Ohio River to join Burr’s contingent at the mouth of the Cumberland. On November 27 the President issued a proclamation that was broadcast throughout the western country warning all good citizens to withdraw from unlawful enterprises. Thus he made it emphatic that whatever might be taking place was without the Government’s sanction.