Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1873-07-04

III tense pain. Both gentlemen, however
exhibited the utmost GOODNESS through
out, and not nervous tremor from firs
20 last could be detected in either.
CAUSE OF THE DIFFICULTY.
Subjoined is Judge CooIey's card
which gives a full explanation of tn
preliminaries to this shocking affair:
A CARD.
Yesterday morning the Pcdyt1le, il
an editorial, assailed me on account O
my argument in the Hawkins Pcdljlin
libel suit. My statements to the jur,
le were qualified as being "malicious anC
IS wilfully false.n As soon as 1 read tn,
y article addressed a letter to Colonel r
y B. Rhett, jr., editor, which was handed
n to him by a friend. After reading it
;. Colonel Rhett stated that he, within
u twenty-four hours, would answer; anC
u this time was granted. To-day | re-
e celved his answer, and now put before
= the people of New Orleans the two let
d ters.
q NEW ORLEANS, June %, 1873.
l. R. B. Rhett, Esq, Editor Of the Picayune:
d SIR-In the PicGyiale of this morning,
( under the caption of "Hawkins UerS9s
I The PicGylUe," you take the liberty OF
e commenting upon the incidents 0 the
] trial OF the libel suit against the paper.
= 80 far as you deal in generalities, it is
: not my purpose to ask of you any ex-
e planahon; but in referring to me, under
= my own name, you have been guilty. of
, what / consider direct misrepresenta-
ton. You refer to my concluding argu-
. ment for the plaintiff, and say that l
Travelled out of the record and fnisrepre-
: sented facts because l knew no one was
to follow me and show my mistakes,
! which you qualify as not only willfully
but maIiclOusly false. In this connec-
ton you allude and quote from my ar
gument as follows:
This canvass (Of the Lynch returning board1
was made-this result proclaimed to the citl-
Zens Of the tate of Louisiana on the twelfth
aay OF december. What did the PicdgFne do ?
DID the Pfcdyttae in the month of December
say one word about it? NfL-not a word
Inen comes the month of January. Did the
EtcdyWte IN the month of January say one
word about it? Not a syllable. Another
| month Is about 10 expire. On the twenty
th1rd of February, two months and a half
since the action was Committed then If Is
that the yirtuOus Indignation OF thar very
/ vlFtuous sheet is aroused, and it published
this article.
Why is it that they single out Judge Haw-
! hlhs IroIn the returning board? 1t was not
! HAWKINS solely and SiDgly who had perpetrat-
! ed this immense injury of which you had
| complained. If anybody did il, il was the
| board; that board was com posed of five indi-
| NluUals. l ask you, If you put yourselves for
ward as champions Of public liberty and pub
/ lie interest, and on that account claimed
exemption OF damages for libelous article
which you have written. l ask You. if Won
did that in the interest of the public why
q5oillt alant you pitch into Longstreet, Lynch,
Bovee and Heron? might suggest reason.
viii let you guess at it. Some people, YOU
know, II don't do TO trifie with.
In answer to this you pretend that
the Pcdys7ae had repeatedly denounced |
the returning board previous to your ar
ticle against Judge Hawkins, of the |
twenty-third of February, 1873. Now,
sir, was defending Judge Hawkins |
against charge of "perfdy," "periu- |
~" and "bribery" in connection with |
his labors as member of the returning
board, and / took occasion to tell |
the jury the Pc0y7me had made
no such charges against any other mem
Der of hebOard. / now reiterate my Lam
guage, and make you this proposition:
IT you can find and show me, in any
number Of the Picd5pme, the words,
'peTtidy," perjury" and "bribery,"
applied to any other member Of the
board, / shall politely acknowledge l am
wrong, if you cannot, you will make
the acknowledgment of cOntradicting
your record. Your obedient servant,
W. II. COOLEY.
NEW ORLEANS, June %, 1873.
W. H. Cooley, Esquire:
SIR-YouT communication of vester
day was received. The editorial re-
marks in the E'ic051a1e TO which you re-
fer were a reply to a portion of your
speech therein quoted. You assert that
neither during the month of December
nor January had the PicouGae noticed
the canvass of the Lynch returning
board and the result proclaimed, and
that had omitted noticing all the other
members of the board but Judge Haw-
kins. l ContrOverted these assertions,
and appealed to the files of the Picn,V,7e
TO disprove what you said.
1t is not my province to finu and 10
show you what the files of the paper
What was published on the
subject OF the Lynch returning board in
these two months, it cannot be difficult
for you to ascertain; and any acknowI-
ments you may see fit to makewill meet (
with due consideration.
In the meantime, | am, sir, your {
obedlent servant. r. B. RHETT, JR. {
The public will perceive from the !
above correspondence that / made a
'air, honest and manly offer to Colonel +,
Bhett, viz: to publicly acknowledge /
was wrong if he could show from his
)wn files that from the twelfth of De-
3ember, 1872, until the twenty-third of
February. 1873, the Picdyrne had used g
Oward any member of the Lynch re- I
urning board except Judge Haw =
lins, the terms "perfidv. ner- I
ury and bribery" provided that he I
Igreed he had spoken incorrectly in the I
'rticle Of yesterday morning, if he 1
,Ould not prove what l denied. The .
-aliant and truthful Colonel lodged the 0
ssue in his letter to me. and very com e
'lacently refers me to to the files of his a
'aper from December II, 1872, to Feb g
uary %, 1873. / had already examined Il
hese files, and knew that Colonel Rhett '
ould not prove by them that had 4
1isstated the PcdylSne; and l presume .
hat Colonel Rhett employed the twenty .
our hours Of delay he claimed, and .
'as allowed to answer my note to him q
examining those files himself; and ?
fter satisfying himself therefrom that 2
e was fairly caught, he refused the q
roposltlon l male to him. Colonel =
-hett having written in the Picdglu1e y
rat made assertions TO the jury which p
ere malicious and wilfully false,u e
nd having subsequently refused nv y
IiT, honest and honorable offer to decide u
hich OF US is correct, / publish him to a
le people of New Orleans as an unmit- a.
,ated calumniator, a deliberate and G;
ilful falsifier, an artful dOdger, and y
ithal, Thoroughbred braggart. a. a.
New Orleans, June 26, 1873. cl
THE CODE OF BLOOD.
The st. Louis Globe, in speaking of
le COoley-Rhett duel, says:
Sorrow for the catastrophe and horror dl
II the crime must pause while the prov 10
;ation, leading to the tragedy, is ex- "a
mined. A careful reading OF Judge d.
ooley's card, which we copy below, hl
Iggests that in his letter to Rhett he u
ad virtually recast the statements of ID
Is speech, making them more definite "a
nd inclusive, and then demanded n'
lat Rhett should either disprove IN
lem as thus recast, or else n
tract. Rhett simply reiterated his ue
rst denial of the truth of Cooley's re- y
arks as delivered and quoted; and pi
lereupon Cooley applied to him the te
nguage which ELECTED the challenge. IN
nth the facts now before us, we cannoti IN
sufy the course taken by Cooley, nor te
ZIP regarding it as ineXcnsable. The so
,cdyul1e, however, had no right TO as w
Al the motives and veracity of the tW
tOrney, in his address to the Jury. Jo
-~s----- at
PeHnsyIvsnia state Wmr-CIntD,. SaI. an
leetor before the SupFeme Court. i'm
PHILADELPHIA, July S.-The supreme wi
urt Of Pennsylvs.nia has reversed the W,
dgment of the court of common pleas Is
Dauphin county in the case OF the to
against George o. Ev- ba
Is, involving the commissioners for the pa
lection of the State war claims, and be