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Show H Sbra reis eilfei in accordance with this recommendation. recommenda-tion. As to Webb, the instigator of the duel, the committee decided to leave him "to the chastisement of the course of the law and of public opinion . . . and to consult its own dignity and the public interest by bestowing upon him no further notice." Webb, by the way, was a man of some political importance and had an active and interesting public career. He was born in Claverack, N. Y., and when a young man he entered the army as a second lieutenant and served under General Scott in the 'West for a brief period. He resigned to become editor of the New York Morning Courier, and when that paper pa-per merged with the Enquirer he wa3 retained by the consolidated journal the Courier and Enquirer and made it the leading Whig organ. In 18G1 it was taken over by the World. Webb served a term as chief engineer o the state of New York and was given the rank of major general. He refused the appointment of minister to Turkey, Tur-key, but accepted the office of minister minis-ter to Brazil. While in France in lS6n. General WTebb negotiated a secret treaty with the emperor for the removal re-moval of French troops from Mexico, which led to the downfall of Maximilian. Maxi-milian. Webb was himself a duelist, and fought Thomas F. Marshall of Kentucky Ken-tucky in 1842. The meeting took place in Delaware and resulted in the wounding of Webb. Under a New York law making it a felony to give or receive a challenge, be was convicted con-victed and sentenced to two years of imprisonment, but Governor Seward immediately pardoned him. He died in 1SS4 at the age of eighty-two. Webb was the author of an entertaining volume vol-ume in which he vividly described life and adventures in the Rocky mountains. moun-tains. He also wrote a book on "Slavery "Slav-ery and its Tendencies," and one on "National Currency." i By ALFRED SORENSON Drawing by Ray Walters. I , i NE of the most sensa- etional meetings on the "field of honor" in the United States was the fatal duel between Jonathan Jon-athan Cilley and William J. Graves. The princi-T- pals, the seconds, and WfWlv lle :tour witnesses were H"ft3'C!i prominent members Cgj3Sego 0f congress. At the time of this encounter, February 24, 1S3S, there was no telegraphic tele-graphic communication, and the news of the day was spread slowly by the stage coaches, the few railroads and steamboats. But when the people throughout the country learned of the tragic occurrence there arose a general wave of excitement and indignation. in-dignation. Jonnthan Cilley, victim of Graves' bullet, represented the state of Maine in the national house of representatives, representa-tives, and was a very popular and honorable man. He had made a speech in which he scathingly criticized criti-cized a charge of corruption which had been brought against some bachelor bach-elor congressmen in a letter, published In the New York Courier and Enquirer Enquir-er over the signature of "A Spy in Washington." This letter was Indorsed in the editorial columns by James 'Watson AVebb, the editor of the paper, who took offense at Cilley's emphatic denunciation de-nunciation of the author of the anonymous anony-mous letter as well as of the general tenor of his speech, and sent him a note demanding an explanation and an apology. Graves, a member of congress from Kentucky, acted as "Webb's note bearer. Cilley refused to receive the hostile communication I "without making any personal reflection reflec-tion on the character of Webb." Some correspondence followed between Graves and Cilley, resulting in a challenge by Graves, who, as the representative rep-resentative of Webb, thought he was acting in accordance with the unwritten unwrit-ten "code of honor," although there had been no animosity or trouble of any kind between them at any time. The challenge was accepted and the duel was fought near Washington with rifles, the two men being stationed 240 feet apart. Henry A. Wise, member mem-ber of congress from Virginia, acted as second for Graves, and George W. Jones, member of congress from Tennessee, Ten-nessee, seconded Cilley. The four congressmen con-gressmen who were witnesses were Crittenden and Menefee of Kentucky, Duncan of Ohio, and Bynum of North Carolina. At the given word Cilley fired first, and almost instantly Graves responded. respond-ed. Both missed. A consultation between be-tween principals and seconds was now hed with a view of ending the affair, but they failed to agree. Cilley is reported to have said at this conference that he "entertained the highest respect and most kind feelings for Graves." The duelists resumed their places and again exchanged shots. Again they shot wide. Graves then demanded demand-ed another round, and once more they fired. This time Cilley was shot through the body, and falling to the ground died in a few minutes. Congress was simply astounded upon up-on learning that one of its most esteemed es-teemed members had been shot to death without justifiable provocation. An immediate investigation of the affair af-fair was ordered and a committee of seven members of the house was appointed ap-pointed for that purpose. This, committee com-mittee presented a voluminous report stating, among other things, that "the challenge was given because Mr. Cilley Cil-ley declined to accept the note from Colonel Webb, borne by Graves, on grounds which would exonerate Mr. Graves from all responsibility growing grow-ing out of the affair. This, Mr. Cilley could not do without an admission that in his remarks in the house relative rela-tive to Colonel Webb he had slandered that gentleman, and he therefore accepted ac-cepted the challenge because the act was indispensable to avoid disgrace to himself, to his family, and to his constituents." The committee came to the conclusion con-clusion that the words spoken by Mr. Cilley in the course of a debate in the house of representatives, his refusal to assign any other reason for it than that he did not choose to be drawn into any difficult in regard to the subject, sub-ject, w-ere the causes that led to the tragedy. The committee maintained that Graves had committed a breach of the I highest constitutional privileges of the house and of the most sacred rights of the people in the person of their representative, by demanding in a hostile hos-tile manner an explanation of words spoken in debate and by being the bearer of such a demand or demanding demand-ing a reason for refusing to receive it. The committee held that the sending send-ing of a challenge by one member to another member and killing him in a duel was a still more aggravated breach of the privileges of the house, and was the highest offense that could be committed against either branch of congress, against the freedom of speech in debate, and against the spirit and substance of that constitutional consti-tutional provision that for any speech in either house the members shall not be questioned in any other place. "The present case is without any circumstance circum-stance of extenuation," said the committee com-mittee in its report, which praised Cilley as a man of high character, whose death could not be excused by any circumstance, whatever, "not even by that custom, the relic of unenlightened unenlight-ened barbarous ages, which was formerly for-merly supposed to be a proof of a degree de-gree of physical courage, but is in fact a signal monument of the want of the higher attribute of moral courage." cour-age." Graves was denounced in unmeasured unmeas-ured terms by the committee who recommended rec-ommended that he be expelled from the house of representatives, and that Wise and Jones, the seconds in the duel, be censured. Action was taken |
