The Dillon tribune., 1883-10-06
llueling, Past and Present.

Twenty five years ago, ~ the tnoAo
# a gentleman whose father ha! fallen
IN duel, the conversation fell upon
,ueljne. and after it had proceeded Tor
some time tie host remarked, emphat-
i, ,,i]y. that there were occasions when
It was Il mans solemn duty to fight.
III, pc scnal re erence was TOO s'gm !.
amt 10 permit further insistelce ut that
..,b'e that dueling was criminal folly,
and the subject of conversation was
changed.
Tie host, however, had only reiter'
ated the familiar view of Gen. hamll.
ton. HIS plea was that, in the state OF
public opinion at the time when Burr
challenged him, to refuse to fight I'M
der circumstances which by the code
Of lono," authorized challenge, was
to accept a brand of cowarlice and Of
wait of gentlamanly feeling. which
would Danish him to moral and social
Coventry, and throw cloud OF dis
credit upon his family. So Hamilton,
one Of the bravest men and one OF the
acutest intellects of his time, permitted
worthless fellow to murder him. Yet
there is no doubt that lie stated accu.
rately the general feeling of the social
circle in which he lived. There was
probably not q conspicuous membo. OF
that society who was Of military ante
cetlents who would not have challenged
any man who had said Of him what
Hamilton had said of Burr. Hamilton
d;sdainel explanation or recantation,
AID the result was accepted as tragical,
| but in O certain sense inevitable.
The most celebrated duel in this
country s'nce that Of Hamilton and
Burr was the encounter between Com
modores Decat II and Barron, in 1880,
near ash:ngton, in which Decatur,
Ike Hamilton, was mortally wounded,
and likewise lived but few hours. The
quarrel was one of professional, as
l}urr's Of political, Jealousy. But as
the only conceivable advantage of the
Hamilton duel lay in its a.ousing the
public mind to the barbarity of duel.
ing, the only gar from the Decatur duel
was that it confirmed this conviction.
In both instances there was OH unspeah.
able shock to the country and infinite
domestic anguish. Nothing else was
achieved. Neither general manners
nor morals were improved, nor was the
fame of either combatant heightened,
nor public confidence in the men or ad.
miration of their puplic services in
creased. In both cases it was calam-
ity alleviated solely by the resolution
which it awakened that such calamities
should not occur again.
Such resolution, indeed, could no!
at once prevail, and eighteen years after
Decatur was killed, Jonathan Ciliey, Of
Maine, was killed in duel at Washing.
ton l,y William J. Graves, of Kentucky
Tilis event occurred forty-five years
ago, but the outcry with which it was
received even at that time-one of tho
newspaper moralists lapsing into rhyme
us he lep,ored the cruel custom Which,
led excellent men to the fatal field
WAcre Cillcys meet their Graves
and the practical disappearance of Mr.
Graves from public life, showed how
q. ep and strong was the public con
domination, and how radically the gen
er.l view Of the duel was changed.
Even in the burning height of the
political and sectional animosity o
1856. when Brooks had assaulted
Charles Sumner, the challenge O.
Brooks hy some of Summers friend.
met with little public sympathy
During tie excitement the Easy Chuil
met the lata Count Gurowski, who wa,
Il consta' t and devoted friend of Mr.
Sumner, but an Old-World man, will
all the hereditary social prejudices o
the Old World. The Count was furl
ous that such a dastardly blow had no
been avenged. "Has he no friends p
he exclaimed. "Is there no honor lef
in your country?" And, as if he woult
hurst with indignant impotence, HI
shook both his fists in the air, and
thnndered out, sGood God! will moi
somebody challenge anybody?"-
| u0rDc1'S MnOnzi1aA