212 The Winning of the West 



was a good-looking, plausible, energetic man, gifted 

 with a taste for adventure, with much proficiency in 

 low intrigue, and with a certain address in influ 

 encing and managing bodies of men. He also spoke 

 and wrote well, according to the rather florid canons 

 of the day. In character he can only be compared 

 to Benedict Arnold, though he entirely lacked Ar 

 nold's ability and brilliant courage. He had no 

 conscience and no scruples; he had not the slight 

 est idea of the meaning of the word honor; he be 

 trayed his trust from the basest motives, and he was 

 too inefficient to make his betrayal effective. He was 

 treacherous to the Union while it was being formed 

 and after it had been formed; and his crime was 

 aggravated by the sordid meanness of his motives, 

 for he eagerly sought opportunities to barter his 

 own infamy for money. In all our history there is 

 no more despicable character. 



Wilkinson was a man of broken fortune when he 

 came to the West. In three years he made a good 

 position for himself, in matters commercial and po 

 litical, and his restless, adventurous nature, and 

 thirst for excitement and. intrigue, prompted him 

 to try the river trade, with its hazards and its chances 

 of great gain. In June, 1787, he went down the 

 Mississippi to New Orleans with a loaded flat-boat, 

 and sold his cargo at a high profit, thanks to the 

 understanding he immediately established with 

 Miro. 28 Doubtless he started with the full inten 

 tion of entering into some kind of corrupt arrange- 



js "Wilkinson's Memoirs," II, 112. 



