Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1838-03-15

sure 10 INFORM you tnat l nave I'D my
possession, an exeeiiensritie, insgood or
der, which is at the service. Of MIR.
Graves" and at the expiration Of anoth-
err half hour, namely, at II O'Clock,
"throughthe ppliteness" Of his.iriens,
DR.. Duncan, MIR. Jones actually semitic
Mr.. Wise's lodgings the rifle in ques-
ton, with powder and ball !!
Thus goaded on, as il seemed, by the
antagonist party, Mr.. Graves and Mr..
Wise had no alternative, but to fix the
meeting as soon as possible. Yet al
eleven O'Clock, on Saturday morning,
the only rife Mr.. Graves had been able
to procure-.ihe use Of that SO politely
rendered TO him being, Of course, cut oil
the question-was in the hands Of the
armorer, unfit for use. 1t had been bor-
rowed at IL O'clock on the previous
night, and was in such neglected state,
that, although one Of the friends of MIR.
Graves skilled in the use and construc-
ton Of the weapon, was up the greater
part Of the night to putt in order, twas
still unfit for service, and, as is said a
bove, it was actually, at about O'Clock
on Saturday, in the hands ofthe armOrer,
the lock taken off and altered, the breech
Of the barrel unscrewed, and undergoing,
thorough overhauling Nevertheless,
after the receipt Of Mr.. Jones' second
note with the rife, Mr. Wise Immediate
ly notified him that his principal would
be ready between / l-2 and 9 g o..
clock, At the appointed place-the rest
is known. The parties met, and at the
third fire Mr.. Cilley fell dead. b,
Having studiously avoided epithets
and exaggeraiion of every sort IN this
plain narrative-which we believe in all
its essential particulars TO be correct,
we now ask our readers to weigh well
the whole matter, and thea determine
where the real responsibility should rest.
Agreeing, as we do most cordially, IN
the utter condemnation of dueliing-and
ready now, as we alwaJ have been, to|
lend our earnest, though feeble coop
GRAFTON, to any practical laws for repress-
ing and furnishing tive yet insist, that
even duellists are entitled to be jud ged
impartially, and that so fnr as either prin-
cipal or the conduct Of the parties are
concerned, the mere fact OF fatal lssne
should not be allowed blindly to enlist
our feelings for the dead, or bias our
judgments against the living. Under
these impressions we say, then,
Ist. That as to the cause Of the duel
il was about as substantial, or unsubstan-
tial, as the causes of duels generally.
Cd. That for all that gave atrocity to
the duel, in the choice Of weapons and
terms Of the combat, the surviving party
is to be held guiltless and
Sd. That he is to be held in like man.
ner guiltless for the hot haste, which
hurrying the matter to an issue, defeated
ell effectual interference to prevent it.
On the first point, it is sufficient to say
that Mr.. G.. thought there was equivo-
cation on the part Of Mr.. Cilley, "a virtu-
al impe achment of his Mr.. G.'s) veraci-
ty, both in MIR. Cilley's not committing
to writing the answer first verbally made
by him, and in afterwards materially
changing the character Of that answer.
We do not say that this was, ander
the circumstances, adequate cause for
duel-far otherwise but we repeat, il
was about as good cause as occasions
half the duels that arc fought. i
On the second point !: the choice of
weapons and the terms Of the contest
were wholly with Mr.. Cilley. They
were deemed "unusual and objectiona-
b!c." though not absolutely objected to,
by men coming from u region of country
where due!ling is held to be at least ex-
cusable and yet these "unusual and
Objectionable" terms were at once, and
without leaving any opening for consul
tation or conference between the seconds,
so as by possibility to give less bal
barous aspect to the contest, vigorously
prescribed through his friend by Mr..
Cilley--a New England man, where
duelling is held in just adherence. 1t
is said, too, and we fear truly said, that
pending the correspondence, MIR. Cilley,
under tho auspices Of some noted per-
sons in both Houses, was actually prac-
tising with the rife, and that the chal-
lenge was not accepted till MIR. C.'s ac-
curacy as marksman with this deadli-
est Of weapons was ascertaimed and
that the terms prescribed as to distance,
position, manner of holding and manner
Of firing the rifle, we're exactly in con-
formity with this preliminary Practice
On the other hand, strange as it may
seem for kentuckian, MIR. Graves was
80 little conversant with firearms, as
scarcely ever to have fred a pistol, and
rarely rife, and then only from rest,
In point OF fact, moreover, he had mol
practised, having only fired two or three
shots between and l2 o'clock on Sa-
turday, with the rifle, as soon as it came
from the armorer's hands, in order to as
certain if il could be relied on to FIRE at
ALL Il
On the third point, we have the most
undoubting conviction, that but for the
fatal pertinacity with which rifle was
pressed upon Mr.. Graves by the antag-
onist party, time would have been gain
ed for the successful interpositiOn Of