The Sun.
London, England, 1804-08-17 00:00:00

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RAL lI.4MILTON•AND-Tig ;ICE.
PRESIDENT BURR:-

(FROM THE NE W-YORK V AYERS.)

The fatal duel was occasioned, us otrr Readerelnovi, tly
,sotite animadv rsions by the General itpon the condnet of the
Vice. President. The following Correspondence took place
between them upon the ;übject of these animadvertdops,
the Letters of the General being deemed unsatisfattory, Mr.
YAW .N si was sent with a Challenge troth the Vice-Presi!
death which•was accepted.

eorrespnndence between General 1-TA'ytt Lim, and
Colonel BURK., together with an explanAtion of the
coaduti, motives; aid views, of General .HAt.ti;
TON, written-with his own hand, the evening be.
fore the-meeting took plaeei and only to have been
seen in the'deplotable event that followed.

SIR,

No. I.

Nrw.York, June 18, i 80.4..

I send for your perusal a letter signed CHARLES
D. Cour eR, which, though apparently published
some time ago, ha; but very recently come to my
knowledge. Mr. Van Miss who does me the favour
to deliver thi,, will point out to you that clause of
the_ letter, to which I particululy request your at.
tent ion.

You must perceive, Sir, the necessity of a prompt
'and unqualified acknowledgment or denial of the use
of any rxpre,sion which would warrant the asser.
lions of Dr. Coop/ a.

• I have the honour to be,
Your obedient servant,
ilarnillets. A. BURR,

No.
ST R,
,tu Yor, 7100 20, illcse.
/ have maturely refletted on the ..tabjett of sour
letter of the 18th inst. and the ruore I have,refiett:
elf, the more I have bechme convinced. that I.cOuld•
• not, without manifest impropriety, make the avowal
" • or disavowal which you seem to think necessary. The
clause pointed out by Mr. Van Istess is in these terms,
4' J could derail tp you a still more despicable opinion
,which HAMILTON has expressed of Mr., Buttit."
To endeaYour to di.cover the meaning of this de.
;laration, I was obliged to seek in the antecedent part
of this letter for the opinion to which it referred, as
having been already disclosed : I found it in these
word.. •
46
General HiMetoet, and Judge Ken?, have
p ,
otx to ared, in substance that they looked upon Mr.
.3 be a dangerous man, and. one who ought
tlot to be. trusted with the reins of Gavernment."
The laegtelge of Dr. Cooiza plainly.implies,
that he conStd,red this opinion of you, which' he
ittributes to Me, as a despicable one ; but he' al.-
tims, that I have exeressed some °diet' still more without, however, mentioning to whom,
when, or' where. It is evident, that the phrase
. 44 still mote despicable," admits of infinite shades
from very light to very dark. How am Ito judge
al the degree intended or how shall I annex any
precise idea to language so indefinite
Between Gentlemen, 'despicable and more deep',"
are not worth the pains of a distindion
When, . therefore, you do not interrogate me, as to
the opinion which is specifically ascribed to me, I
must conclude, that you view it, as within the li.
f. nits to which "the animadversions of political onto_
tents upon each othet may justifiably extend, and
consequently as not warranting the idea of it which
Dr. COOPIR appears to ;ntertain. If so, what
precise inference could you draw, as a guide for
Your conduit, were I to acknowledge that I had
expressed-an opinion of• you still more despicable
than the one which is' particularised How could
You be sure that even this opinion had exceeded the
bounds which you would yourself deem admissible
between political opponents ?
Out I forbear further comment on the embarrass.
enti to which the requisition you have tnade-
,,,‘?,ikuy leads. The occasion forbids a more ample
Ito testrsu tation, though nothing could be more easy than
Put it
• prißettPeating that I cannot reconcile it with pro.
deal r te
Make the acknowledgment or deniaLyou
ntinre., I will add, that I deem it inadmissable, on
justiciPlet to consent to be interrogated as to' the
others of of the inferences which may be drawn by
ft9nl whatever I may have said of a political
Itieunent in the course of fifteen years competion.
ecie there were no other objeftion to it, this Is suf.
a., nr_t that it would tend to expose my sincerity
'le delicacy to injurious imputations from every
Person) who
_
may, at any time, have conceived the
7,Pert or my expressions, iliffetentlY from what I
T,y then have intended, or may afterwards recol.
explicitly any precise or drfinite oPPini" I may be charged
an
yllan. More with having declared of
re titan this cannot fitly be
ex
sonxbiy ex ; and especially
"ed
4°171
mne °'
it cannot be tea.
lion upori Pa‘i•ltett that 'I shall enter into an explana.
adopted. ask so vague as that which you hive
the matter inrTt) on more refletlion, you will see
I.:ah only „vit"te same light with me. If not, I
theeobsi,,,,..y the eirc,,,,„,ti,„ea, and must !abide
he lbuic."ces*
„ 1!" 'cation of pl
, 1111 after the 4.,!. Cootie, was never seen
I have receipt of your Letterx
Cecee/ t,e Honour to be, .10.
A. }Wastrels.
. W.
IR, No.
7„l:lovteird.Letvite4r (.)f the zoth
Nelu•Yer4, grim 21, 1804.
grti. to. find in !in"
C"
idered it attentively, re-
instant has been this day
`act'ikkieh it nothing of that sincerity and deli.
Y 3u-Prufegb to value. •
• fteto- the rie..°P"sitten can never abstdve Gentlemen
1-keour, e"itrof a rigid adherence to the Laws
of 04iinsuch
rit.nd.. the rules of decorum. I neither
p tvtiege, nor indulge it in others.
The co
the.,
),,nr.non see,, of mankind affixes to the epi.
• It has IlLoe4'l7.pr.COOPißs the idea of dishonour.
-
tely
ti" Your Pun" apoliett to me-under the sanc.
he has understodinde. The question is not, whether
used it
acoordi ° the meaning of the word, or has
4ccuraCY; bur, to Syntax, and with grammatical
41vphemion, Whether you have authorised this
41.41,
or 2
.n.ither direftly, or by uttering expres.
time „
when„ is
derogatory to my honour. The
4iltri4l to • iS in your knowledge, but ho way
"iselohed me' as the itillumny has thisv first been
and. 4o as to become the b'e of my
. as the
erri. su notices
a is present and palpable.

You
letter, has Furnished nie.with new f MOM to
requiring a definite reply.
"have the honour to be;
• Sir, your obedient,
Gintral Hamilton. A...13%711.

On Saturday, June z 2, Gen. H. for the fiat time,
called on Mr. P. and communicated to him the pie.-
ceding Correspondence. He informed him, that in
conversation with Mr. V'. N. at the time of receiv.
ing the last letter, he mentioned it as rude and
offensive, and that it was not possible for him to
give it any other answer, tjian that Mr. BUR tt must
take such steps as he might think proper. He said
farther, that Mr. V. N. requested him to take time
to deliberate, and then return an answer, when he
might possibly entertain a different opinion,. and
that he would call to receive it. That his replyto
Mr. V. N. was, that he did not perceive it possible
for hira to give any other answer than that he had
mentioned, unless Mr. BURR would take back his
last letter, and write one which would admit of a
different reply. He then gave Mr. P. the letter,
hereafter mentioned, of the 2 2ti June, to be de.
livered to Mr. V. N. when he bhduld call on Mr.
P. for an answer, and went to his country house.
The next day General Hatt t LTON, teceited,while
there, the following letter

NO: Iv..

SIR, lOW 23, 1804..
In the afternoon of yesterday I reported to Cot.
BURL the result of my last interview with you, and
appointed the evening to receive his further instruc.
tions : some private engagements, however, pre.
vented me from calling on him till this morning.
On my return io the city, I found upon inquiry,
both at your office and house, that you had returned
to your residence in the country. Lest an interview
there might be less agreeable to you than elsewhere,.
I have taken the liberty of addressing you this note,
to inquire when and where it will he most convenient
to you to receive a communication.
Your most obedient and vet:), humble Servant,

Cenral Harilrar. W. P. VAN'Niss.
Mr. P. understood from Genera! HAMILTON that
he immediately answered, that if the communication
was pressing he would receive it at his country
house that day ; if not, he would he at his house in
town the next morning at nine o'clock. But he did
not give Mr. P. any copy of this note.

No. V.

Sig.

NeW-York, ;SW 22, 18(544

?bur first letter, in a stile too peremptory, made
a demand, in my opinion, unprecedented and un.
warrantable, My answer, pointing out the embar.
rassment, gave you an opportunity to take a less
exceptionable course. You have nut chosen to do
it ; but by your last letter, received this day, con.
taming expressions indecorous and improper, you
have increased the difficulties to explanat►on intrin.
sically incident to ;he nature of your applications.
If by a " definite reply" you mean the direa
avowal or disavowal required in your first letter,
I have no other answer to give, than that which has
already been given. If you mean any thing diffe.
rent, admitting of greater latitude, it is requisite
you should explain.
I have the honour to be,

Sir, your obcdient Servant,
dart?! Burr, Esq-
• ALEX; HAMILTON.

This Letter, although dated on the 23i of
June, remained in Mr. P.'s possession until the
25th, within which period •he had several convey
sations with Mr. V. N. In these conversations,
Mr. P. endeavoured to illustrate and enforce the
propriety of the ground General HAMILTON had
taken. Mr. P. mentioned to Mr. V. N. as the
result., that if Colonel BURR would write a Letter,
requesting to know in substance, whether, in the
conversation to.which Dr. Coorte alluded, any
particular instance of dishonourable condua was
imputed to Colonel Btiait, or whether there was
any impeachment of his private charafter ? Gen.,
HAMILTON would declare to the best of his recot.
leCtion•what passed in that conversation ; and Mi.
P. lead to Mr. V. N. a paper containing the sub.
stance of what General H. would say on that sub.
jcitg which is as follows :