The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1856-07-25
The BROOKS and Burllngame Affair.

Should this affair remain as 1t now stands, the
| gossiping public will have much to say on the
1 question-which Of the belligerents showed the
! white feather? And though, really, at thisAtime
| of day, it is Of no sort Of consequence whether
| Mr.. Brooks be more or less afraid of powder and
ball than Mr. Burlngame, still for the sake Of the
feelings of certain class of Northerners and for
the benefit Of the Southern press it may be well
to render justice to whom justice is due, and set
| the affair straight before the people
| The quarrel sprung out Of a remark made by
| Mr.. Burlingame in the course of his speech on
| the Sumner assault that remark was to the ef-
| feet that Mr.. Brooks had smitten Senator Sum-
| ner as Cain smote his brother" On this Mr..
Brooks, inferring that Mr.. Burlingame wished
| to imply that he (Brooks) was coward
An inference for which, by the way, there is no
Bih1cal warrant, as Cain, though immortalized as
| n1rderer is not said to have been wanting in
courage-sent friend to Mr.. Burlingame to talk
| with him on the matter. The friend desired the
conversation to be confidential and it was so re-
garded by Mr.. Burlngame, who stated thus con-
identially to his visiter that he had no doubt
| whatever of Mr.. Brooks courage. Matters re-
NAMED on this footing for time, till Mr.. Brooks
began to make his speech in defence he then So
! licited Mr. Burlingame to give him in writing
| a statement of the remarks he had made verbally
| and confdentially to Mr.. Brooks friend. This
| appeared to be contrary to the spirit Of the
| first communication had with Mr.. Burlingame
and moreover, the statement which Mr.. Brooks
had drawn up all ready for signature, was not
deemed suitable by the Massachusetts member
| He accordingly drew up another one, at the re-
quest Of Mr.. Brooks friend, signed it, and pre-
sented the Brooks party with copy for publica-
ton.
A day or two afterwards, hearing that this
statement was being misconstrued- on the one
hand Southern men were boasting that Brooks had
bullied another Northerner, while on the other
the New England delegates felt sore at what ap-
peared to be in some sense retreat, however
slight-Mr. Bnrlingame withdrew his card, and
let the speech stand on its own merits At this
point therefore, the parties stood exactly on the
ground they occupied when the speech was first
made. Nor did Mr.. Brooks pursue materially
different course from the one he then adopted
He wrote to Mr.. Burlingame, asking when and
where confidential message would reach him.
Mr. Burlingame replied-at Niagara Falls, at such
time; and instantly with great secrecy and pre-
canton, he left the city en- route for Niagara
Mr.. Brooks did not leave. On the contrary, he
forthwith published the whole correspondence,
declining to fight at the place chosen, but offer
ing to meet Mr.. Burlngame, /" ifthe latter could
be screwed up to call upon him."
The consequence Of this proceeding was, Of
course, to render the duel comparative impos-
sibility; for Brooks was arrested and bound over
TO keep the peace, as he must have known he
would be when he published his card.
Now the question arises, was the choice of a
place so far distant as Niagara sufficient to war
rant this peremptory course And secondly,
supposing that the place was unsuitable, was the
publication of this card the proper way Of no
ticing the mistake?
We srrrrehend that negative answer must be
given to both these questions. The rule with re-
gard TO duels as given in all the works which
treat Of them, is that the challer ged party has
the choice Of weapons distance an ,tp1qee /; nor is
this rule limited in respect to the latter point as
It Is with respect to the two former, by any
travelled. Instances Of persons travelling for
several days IN order to fight duel are quite
common. French lawyers, who are liable to be
struck from the rolls Of court if they fight in
France. constantly travel from Paris, Nantes, and
even Montpelier, to Brussels to fight English
men-when dueiling was commoner than II now
il in England-took ship at London or Dover to
G..lN Al
perasal OF any collection Of duels-Mr. Sabine's
work, for instanee-will We hayeno doubt, bring
10 light quite host Of cases in which men have
journeycd for days together in order to meet in
security.
Bat if the distance-some tweEty-four hours in
point Of time-was not excuse enough, Mr.
Brooks falls back on the prctence that bis life
wosld not have been safe in the Northern States
Mr.. Brooks il quite right in supposing that his
cowardly assault on Mr.. Sumner has aroused
very strong feeling Of adherence for him in the
Northern States; but be is wrong when he sup
poses that tha. feeling would find expression by
assaults on his person That sort Of thing may
be common in the societies which Mr. Brooks has
hitherto frequcnted but II Is not in fashion here
Were we to announce in our personal column to-
morrow that Mr.. Brooks was staying at the Astor
House and would walk up Broadway precisely al
twelve o'clock there would no doubt be good
many people TO stare a; him-he would divide
with Barnum's latest sea monster the admiration
that is paid to curious beasts, but not soul
would touch a hair Of his head. Nor can we, In
plain truth, believe that none Of Mr. Brooks
friends knew the North and Northern society
well enough to tell him this.
If, therefore, Mr.. Brooks was not justified in
declining the meeting according TO the laws Of
the duello-on the ground Of the great distance
he would have to travel; and if his apprehension
Of being mobbed and hurt on the way was not a
feeling well founded in itself or justly calculated
to shake the nerves Of resolute man. II must