Yesterday
morning, immediately after he was brought from Hoboken [New
Jersey]…a message was sent informing me of the sad event,
accompanied by a request from General Hamilton, that I would
come to him for the purpose of administering the holy communion….
I observed to him…that however desirous I might be to
afford consolation to a fellow mortal in distress; still, it
was my duty as a minister of the gospel, to hold up the law
of God as paramount to all other law; and that, therefore, under
the influence of such sentiments, I must unequivocally condemn
the practice which had brought him to his present unhappy condition.
He acknowledged the propriety of these sentiments, and declared
that he viewed the late transaction with sorrow and contrition.
I then asked him, “Should it please God, to restore you
to health, Sir, will you never be again engaged in a similar
transaction? And will you employ all your influence in society
to discountenance this barbarous custom?” His answer was,
“That, Sir, is my deliberate intention.”
I
proceeded to converse with him on the subject of his receiving
the Communion…. [The bishop asked “]Are you disposed
to live in love and charity with all men?” He lifted up
his hands and said, “With the utmost sincerity of heart
I can answer those questions in the affirmative—have no
ill will against Col. Burr. I met him with a fixed resolution
to do him no harm – I forgive all that happened.”
