The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1822-10-22


agreement was violated, and the con-
sequent ycxations to which We were expo
sed.
IL Is not yet CERTAIN hv what means
the excitement in North Carolina was pro-
duced but | have strong reasons In sus-
pect, that Il was caused by the friends of
Mr.. M'Dlilie, and thai ifhc was not tile in
stigaiDr. he was ri least very careless about
It's prevention. A week before my arrival
IA the mountains, the whole aeighkorhood
had been nppri 81 Of our intended meeting.
As | was stranger there, aud indeed ~
most parts Of the Careiipas, il vas very
improbable, fiiai persons deriving iolorna-
ileu from ine, could circulate the rumor
In fact excepting thoae who accompanied
or followed me, did moi inform more than
three persong of my appointment aud
those were iahabitaa;s of Augusta, entire
~ unccnnccted with the district III question.
had held 40 communication direct or indi-
rect on the subject with any individual in
North or South Carolina aud even one Uf
my brothers, whom met Unexpectedly at
Green'ille, was not apprised OF my Inten-
ded Journey. How many persons Mr.. NJ
Duhe made his cOn6dants, cannot deter
mine but this know-that there are nov
in my possession two afr dayits, proving
that a lady ofhis acquaintance, nhe was al
the same house with him on the seth Of
August, said IN the presence of two inhabi
tants Of the vicinity, that the duel between
Us was to be fought Oh the ID Of September
which was the very day appOlnnd. This
seems 10 indicate style of keeping secrets
very like hetraying them. One of the de-
ponents is magistrate, and was of the
party who attended with their rifles, when
| appeared before the Justice under whose
warrant was arrested. After being har-
rassrd for more than two days, as will be
seen IN the statement, | reached Hodges
Oh Sunday night, more ont OF order than
bad been on Wedne 5day when | arrived at
Greene River. Those who are accustomed
to the USE Of az istrnmenl like The halr-tlig
gerod pistol need not be told, HAT lis sue
ccssim employment depends on state Of
bodyto which health and rest are essential
Mr.. MDmie was informed, in our notr Of
Monday morning, that whatever appoint
ment might therefore, he made, we should
expect some days nj our disposal IN the Vi
clnlty OF the place selected. This under
any circumstances would have been no
more than equity, but 1t was claimed rs my
right, because the inconvenienccs, which
had suffered, resulted from his own viola
ton of an agreement between our seconds
Though but two mics distant, he made no
reply on that day and we remained in ex
pecluion that ne WAS making enquiries
concerning Tennessee and "other parts of
( ',rAl,n., - I..th - l,cl, h., A.
scd. On Tuesday, about 8 O'Clock A. VI.
he rc-appolntcd a place near the line for
O'Clock The next morning. Our remarks
on the heur will be seen in the carrespon.
dcncc, and be explained by Col Montgo-
merry S statement of distances. We agreed
to the place, but required a postponemcnt
of twenly-lour hours Tor the reasons alrca-
dy assigned. He objected to il, add a cor
respondencc on that subject was continued
during the day. Ii was not moi untl twl-
hight that he communicated his peremptory
determination, To make 10 other appoint
ment. What lmpudcnt bascness Had
simply requested SO short postponemcnt
without alleging any cause whatever, no
gentleman would have refused il. Had
the inconvcncncics which | suffered, been
chargcablc only to i'll fortune and not 10
his bad faith, they would have given me an
absolute right 10 the delay, since in an at
fair of honor, neither party can take adyan-
tage of an accident which would destroy
the contemplated equality of terms. The
articles relative TO our interview provided,
that we should meet at certain time, " if
not pre,cated by sickness or other moral
| causes The senses ofthatproyision inclu-
ded the very case. But passing from these
| considerations, in themselves irresistible
what Was the real state of the affair ? Iis
sccosd who possessed full authority, gave
us the choice of houses near the line Mr..
| M'Duilic himself violated the agreement by
| pre-occupying the place which we had Sc
leetcd and in consequence we were dri-
ven INTO \. Carolina and deprived both OF
practice sand rest. Captain Elmore apo
! logizcd for his breach of the engage
ment, only by assuring Col Montgo-
merry and myself that he had neglect
ed TO arprisc his principal of It's existence.
This, II true, might excuse Mr.. MDuiie's
occupation of my quarters, i'll the first in
stance, but no more. The neglect of his
agent could neither increase has rights or
diminish NINE. What was an honest man
bound To do in such case Immediately
10 tender the place which he uniustly oc
cup'ed, hnd offer any reasonable lndcmnifi-
cation for his mintcntional wrong. What
would a man ofhonor have done Not
content even with measuring out full
compensation for the iniury,he would have
urged his antagonist To accept still more,
for the sake Of purSing his character from
all suspicion of had faith. What was
done by Mr.. George M'Duilie? He held
the quarter to which he was not entitled,
andFrefused not o. ly all compensation, but
even what equity in any case would have
demanded. Capt. Elmore indeed says, in
his first letter Of the Sd of September
In making Won an offer Of choice of quar-