Show mm amb am ath W aai a ine cco 4 e I 1 a A V ru r U czar row 4 by ALFRED SORENSEN T A dinner party given in logdon in in 1772 by general who took quite a prominent part in the settlement of georgia a discussion arose over the question whether duelling buelling du elling was consistent with moral duty dr samuel johnson who was one of the guests maintained that a man had a right to defend his honor turning to boswell his biographer he asked what would you do if you yon were affronted 1 I should think it necessary to light fight was his reply that solves the question said goldsmith no serl emphatically declared johnson it does not follow that what a man would do Is therefore right ile he who lights fights a duel does not fig fight af from passion against his antagonist but out orf self defense to avert tile the stigma of the world and to prevent himself from being driven out of society I 1 could wish there were not that superfluity of refinement but while such notions prevail no doubt a man may lawfully light fight a duel henry clay who fought two duels one with humphrey marshall and the other with john randolph held virtually ally the same opinion as doctor johnson and advocated the passage passage of a bill by the united states senate against duel ling ile he admitted however ho vever that the man with a n high sense of honor and nice sensibility when the question Is whether he shall tight fight or have tho the finger of scorn pointed af at him Is unable to resist and few very few are found willing to adopt such an alternative during the days dayd of chivalry in the southern states it required great moral courage not to accept a challenge aind iceie were very few refusals john randolph wb eliose ose duel with clay was I 1 a bloodless airrall was challenged several times hut but declined owing to religious scruples when he stood in ill front of clay his hair trigger pistol was dentally discharged muzzle downwards before the alie word to fire was ft as given in the second round clay missed hn his mark and randolph fired up in the air thereupon they made up and shook hands randolph was frequently branded ng as a coward and wa was 4 once publicly posted by gen james jamea wilkinson in the following insulting language in justice to my character I 1 denounce to the world john randolph member of congress as it prevaricating base calumniating scoundrel poltroon and coward notwithstanding tills this great provocation as well as others of a like character randolph stood firm in his determination not to engage in affairs of honor in replying to Wilkin wilkinsons sons challenge randolph concluded ills his note by saying 1 I cannot descend to your level this Is my final fifie t answer 1 this was the 06 cause of Wilkin wilkinsons sons vitriolic posting of the congressman from virginia in 1785 gen Nathn nathaniel niel green twice declined to accept h a challenge from captain chinn of georgia who thereupon threatened to personally him rut but gunn failed to c carry arr y out ills his threat its as general green sent pent him word that he be was prepared to defend himself as he always carried pistols gen sam houston turned down several chat chal lenses lenges if they quarrel with me that 13 19 their privilege 11 said lie he hut but I 1 shall try to take care ehst they do me no herni stanley and johnston united states naval off officers leers had a misunderstanding in IS distio and the former senttie sent the latter a johnston refused to light fight thereupon stanley posted him film ns as a coward in a washington hapl and was court and dl dismissed from the he anvy general harney whose courage no one ever doubted was by benero acner 1 Sui mummer but bul In instead tad of f hp h lind ohp rh moral stamina to have aliv t court in 1881 john S wise member of congress aiom Virg hila in replying to those who expected him to resent some severe news newspaper pap r ns assaults by fighting a duel with page mccay said me lie bartys abuse of me tins has no mori mora effect than a dog barking at tile moon ills his comes too late time tins fins been when I 1 m imbt have ti been en tool fool enough to indulge in such olly boily but with ege age and with n brooder broader view pr ft life and its responsibilities I 1 have bidden ti rewell to the ty type pe of manhood sir walter Ital raleigh elgh after he had killed several men in duels and had declared that he would never fight again was wag challenged by a young ninn to whom he replied V if I 1 could as easily wipe from my conscience the stain of killing you vou as I 1 ran can this spittle from aror my face you should not live five another enother minute although duels in various forms and with rules differing fron drori time lime to time date back to remote ages when tile the memory of man not to the 06 contrary it was not until early in the sixteenth century of the christian Christl nn era that was adopted in europe as a method of settling nR ro co called affairs of nf honor in accordance with nn an established code so prevalent did duelling buelling du elling become in F france lalive that louis XIII issue Is an edict tile the pi practice netlee and sent many duellists duel lists to the scaffold fold tills this severity however did not much abate tile sang sanguinary unary encounters tut hut early curly in the reign of nf louis XIV qute quite a number r of A op A J xe cliftons Clin tons vituperative references took up nn an active defense of burr and charged that cliftons Clin tons vicious attacks wire were based on personal and selfish motives this angered clinton who de bounced swartout as a liar a scoundrel and a villain such vilifying epithets were more than swartout could stand and he accordingly challenged clinton who promptly accepted the shooting match took place in 1802 on the ground at weehawken Wee hawken N J where the famous duel between bet veen burr and hamilton was held in 1804 end and where hamiltons eon con had been killed in a duel in 1801 1801 on reaching the designated spot swartout demanded that clinton should sign a written apology clinton indignantly refused to do anything of the kind just before taking their places clinton remarked 1 I wish 1 had the prin noblemen whose courage was unquestioned made a compact to refrain from the fighting of duels their stand caused a falling off in these combats and in 1044 1644 louis XIV organized a court of chivalry to pass judgment on affairs of honor which up to that time had been settled by a resort to arms today there la Is a law in france making the killing in a duel punishable as a homicide in recent years duels have been of rare occurrence in france generally resulting harmlessly and regarded as a joke carried out for notoriety I 1 in the united states especially in the south and in california duels were very common up to the close of the ilie civil war army and navy officers and poll politicians being the roost most frequent participants tiel pants today however a meeting to shoot it out on the held field of lianor honor Is an unheard of event and would bs bo a front page sensation one of the mos most t determined and desperate duels eer fought in the united states was that in which dewitt dewett clinton and john swartout exchanged shots five times it was the result of differences and bitter quarrels between the political followers of clinton and the adherents of aaron burr dewitt clinton W was admitted to the bar of new york at an early age and immediately entering the school of politics he became an apt pupil under the tutorship of his uncle george clinton republican leader and governor who made him its hla secretary and appointed him to other secretarial positions george clinton was a deputy in the new york provincial congress a brigadier general in the continental army was successively elected governor ot of new york from 1777 to 1705 1795 then served in the legislature was again elected governor in 1800 and was made vice president of the united states in filling that office until his death eight years later dewitt clinton rose rapidly to eminence and power in the republican party and had fully na as distinguished a career as his talented uncle when he was twenty eight years years old he was elected a member of th alie e lower house of the legislature and the following year he hd became a state senator from that olnie to the end of ills his life he was with brief interims Inte rims a continuous officeholder office holder he fie was united states senator from 1801 to 1603 when he resigned to accept appointment to the office of mayor maor of new york city after serving four years in this position he was removed but was re appoInted two years later adier ile he was again put out of this office in 1810 but was reinstated and continued to serve as aa mayor until 1815 clinton was an unsuccessful presidential can in 1812 from 1811 to 1813 he held the honorary office of lieutenant governor and in 1817 he was elected governor was reelected elected re in 1820 declined to be a candidate two iwo years later and was again elected in 1824 and in 1820 ills brilliant and remarkably successful career was cut short by death while still in oell aulce clinton was a public spirited cit citizen at the very beginning of his career tie he was an earnest earned advocate of public improvement it was owing to its his efforts that the erl erie e canal was built and this great achievement added much to his popularity clinton and burr became engaged in fierce political disputes in which offensive personalities were the outstanding features john swartout Swart nut an intimate friend and defender of burr became more or less mixed up in the quiler quai Tela els of the two leaders swartout who had bad himself been hard hit by capal here he referred to burr who if he be had stood before clinton at that meeting might not have lived to kill alexander hamilton swartout was seconded by colonel smith and clinton by Ill chard riker the first shots were harmless alker in accordance with the instruction of his principal now requested colonel smith to ask swartout it if he was waa satisfied 1 I am nov not was his answer another exchange of shots were ma made without effect and again swartout out was not satisfied A third exchange resulted without injury and swartout upon being again as asked ked it if he was satisfied replied 1 I am not and I 1 shall not be until the apology Is made which I 1 have demanded his hia defiant attitude was certainly that of macbeth who shouted lay on macduff macduffy and d d be him that first cries hold enough I 1 the prepared apology dictated by swartout was again presented to clinton for his sig signature with tile the declaration that if he be refused to his name the tight fight must go on to the finish clinton declined to sign any paper regarding the matter in dispute and said that he fie had no animosity against nir mr swartout and would willingly shake hands and agree to meet him film on the score of former friendship this friend lv offer was declined and the combatants resumed their positions and tired fired the fourth shot this time swartout was wounded in the left log about five alve inches below the knee ile he was not disabled and insisted upon proceeding with the contest saying that it was useless to risk ask him film to quit at this stage of the affair clinton once more asserted that he entertained no animosity furthermore he stated he was sorry for what had find occurred and then offered to shake hands and forget the past while this conversation was in progress the attendant surgeon extracted tile the bullet from touts leg for the fifth time he faced clinton and was again wounded in the left leg n few inches above the ankle still standing and determined determine as ever he called for another anotle shot thereupon clinton refused to comply and walked away swartout said ald he be was much surprised at ahls action in neither apologizing nor affording full satisfaction while clinton was in the united states senate he became involved in another affair of honor in the course of an animated debate lie had used language an guage that was offensive to senator dayton of new jersey who was a friend of durr burr the next day dayton sent him a challenge which was accepted without any long winded correspondence they met on october 24 1803 and upon clinton making a satisfactory explanation and offering an apology the duel was called off two years after this incident swartout fought a d dr r I 1 h riker who was severely wounded nil me aie a judge of the city recorders co caw 4 1 I ew bew york and served on that bench for many years |