“The gentleman assures us, that no imputation is meant against the Government. Oh no, sir; Colonel Burr indeed has been oppressed, has been persecuted; but far be it from the gentleman to charge the Government with it. Colonel Burr indeed has been harassed by a military tyrant, who is ‘the instrument of the Government bound to blind obedience’; but the gentleman could not by any means be understood as intending to insinuate aught to the prejudice of the Government. The gentleman is understood, sir; his object is correctly understood. He would divert the public attention from Aaron Burr and point it to another quarter. He would, too, if he could, shift the popular displeasure, which he has spoken of, from Aaron Burr to another quarter. These remarks were not intended for your ear, sir; they were intended for the people who surround us; they can have no effect upon the mind of the court. I am too well acquainted with the dignity, the firmness, the illumination of this bench, to apprehend any such consequence. But the gentlemen would balance the account of popular prejudices; they would convert the judicial inquiry into a political question; they would make it a question between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. The purpose is well understood, sir; but it shall not be served. I will not degrade the administration of this country by entering on their defence. Besides, sir, this is not our business; at present we have an account to settle, not between Aaron Burr and Thomas Jefferson, but between Aaron Burr and the laws of his country. Let us finish his trial first. The administration, too, will be tried before their country; before the world. They, sir, I believe, will never shrink, either from the evidence or the verdict.” Mr. Hay then delivered an elaborate argument in support of his motion and was followed by Mr. Randolph. Colonel Burr concluded the debate in a ten minutes’ speech. “The case is this,” says Colonel Burr: “No man denies the authority of the court, to commit for a crime; but no commitment ought to be made, except on probable cause. This authority is necessary; because policy requires, that there should be some power to bind an accused individual for his personal appearance, until there shall have been sufficient time to obtain witnesses for his trial; but this power ought to be controlled as much as possible. “The question in the present case, is whether there is probable cause of guilt; and whether time ought to be allowed to collect testimony against me. This time ought generally to be limited; but there is no precise standard on the subject; and much is of course left to the sound discretion of the court. Two months ago, however, you declared that there had been time enough to collect the evidence necessary to commit, on probable cause; and surely, if this argument was good then, it is still better now.