The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1886-06-30
For The CLARION.
sEARGENT S. PREETI5s-
No III.

No III.
In Mr.. Premises day gentlemen we're
responsible for their speech, and were
always ready 10 indicate the slightest
imputation of their honor, and challenge
to mortal combat was frequent. A man
of Prentiss' temper could not escape.
Then it was known he was of Northern
birth. The refusal to accept challenge
would have fixed his status as coward,
and it would have been impossible for
him TO have lived in the Soul Many
things have been written against the
duel a. the last resort Of gentlemen.
Admitting it TO be a relic of a barbarous
time, and also a poor illustration OF the
manifest courage, this much must be
said in its favor-it kept the peace in a
community of rude men. Any man,
however brave, would hesitate ere he
said the word that woulG cause chal-
lenge, and perhaps end his life at ten
PAGES. 1t was, and is still, to modified
degree a powerful influence in every
Southern community. Suits IN court
for slander, or assault are unknown.
Every man is the custodian of his own
honor, and the honor of his family.
Mr.. Prentiss had his first affair of
honor with Henry ;. Foote. line or
more may be devoted to this remarkable
man. He was one of the most skillfui
men in the use Of words. As an orator
he never had wide fame, but as writer
he had few superiors. His vocabulary
of scorn and anathemas was full, and he
stung men into fury, or made them pale
with passion as they heard him. lie
and Prentiss were on opposite sides in a
case. Foote provoked Prentiss to mad
ness by his tauats and scorn. Prentiss
resented by blow, and in due time
Eoote challenged him. Prentiss was an
unerring shot, but after his anger passed
away, he determined not to fire at his
antagonist. When hey had taken their
places Toote fred before Prentiss had
time to raise his pistol above the line OF
danger The bullet cut the shoulder of
Foote's coat. Neither were wounded
and they shook hands and became
friends.
A few days after rumors came to
Prentiss that he had taken an unfair
advantage, by using his cane as rest
for his lame leg. To man as sensitive
as he was, such rumors could not long
remain uninvestigated, and he sent Mr..
Foote a note, stating he was ready to
receive another challenge. The chal-
lenge was sent, and the two men met
again, in the presence of a large crowd,
drawn by a morbid curiosity to see a
conflict, which might end in the death
of one or both the principals. Prentiss
took his place, and with smile tossed
his cane from him. The word was
given, and Mr. FoOte fired first, his ball
striking the ground in front of Mr.
Prentiss He then stood with his left
arm across his heart, without culver,
though he knew he was under the tire
of one of the most expect marksmen-
Prentiss pulled the trigger, and the cap
exploded without firing the pistol, His
second quickly took the pistol, put on
cap and fired into tree to prove that
the failure was in the cap and not in
loadir g of the pistol. Singular, too, out
of the hundred caps in the box that one
was the only defective one. Another
shot was demanded and Mr.. Foote was
seriously wounded.
Mr.. Prentiss wrote to his brother as
follows: II am no advocate of duelling,
and always shall from principle avoid
such a thing as much As possible.
could not have acted differently from
what | did If had | should have lost
my own self-respect, and life itself would
have had no further object for me"
The two men became warm friends.
They we're brave men, and bravery is no
mean foundation for the edifice of
friendship TO rest upon. And here let
me contradict the old story of Prentiss,
saying to the boy in the tree: "You
had better come down my son. General
Foote shoots wild, you know, and you
may get hit up there" Years after Mr..
Foote denied it in his vigorous way:
THAT is an outrageous falsehood. Moth
ing of the kind was ever said. protest
against it, less on my own account than
in the name of Sergeant ;. Prentiss,
who died one of my warnest friends,
and one of the noblest men God ever
permitted to live. He was too
brave and refined to indulge in coarse
badinage on the field"
In September, 1915, Mr.. Prentiss lett
the State of Mississippi, and settled in
New Orleans. His reason for removal
was his financial trouble. He imagined
himself rich, and endorsed for friends,
and loaned friends, and made loans for
himself The decision of the Supreme
Court in the celebrated Wick case was
against him. He had bought the claims
of all the heirs, and won against the
city of Vicksburg. The daughter of the
owner, Miss Wick, won from him. He
was poor, and his notes were due, and
because he had no money, the holders
of his paper wanted money. He was
now thirty y-seven, with family to care
for. His genius had triumphed once,
and intellectually he was in his zenith.
But his health was precarious, and he
felt that time was precious The same
success which had attended his first
efforts in Mississippi crowned his life in
New Orleans. He was on the high way
to fortune when the end came, and all
his purposes were broken off.
He had not been long in New Orleans
before he became involved in difficulty
which led to challenge. The circum-
stances must have given him very deep
pain, for the party who felt agrieved
was the grandson of his beau-ideal of a
man, the princely and generous Henry
Clay, and his father the brother of Mrs.
John Bell, of Tennessee, another very
intimate friend. Tie trouble grew out
of suit in which Prentiss was very
severe ON the opposite side, charging
fraud. The young man, I'll. Clay Erwin,
who sent the challenge, was but twenty,
and Mr.. Prentiss had an admiration for
the youth who would vindicate the
honor of lis father. His friends advised
him to decline on the ground that what
he said was not personal, but in the
way of professional engagements. After
some deliberation he concluded to ac-
cept the challenge and meet the descend
ant of his dearest friend, and perhaps
send him into eternity. There was no
real necessity for him to accept the chal-
lenge. He had shown in his affair with
Mr.. Foote that he was no coward, and
the challenger was but boy. The SEN
timent in New Orleans was in favor of
fight, and Mr.. Prentiss was not brave
enough to decline.
The authorities of New Orleans heard
of the contemplated duel, and Prentiss
was arrested. His friend found him in
the city prison, "hovering over a few
Goals, with a strapping fellow who
had been picked up, towering near
him" g Well,' said /, Prentiss,
this law of honor introduces us 60
strange bed-fellows." YES" he re-
piled. II have endeavored to make my
neighbor here feel at home, as was she
first squatier; but can get nothing out
of him; he takes me for watchman"
MY wife, said he, s1has packed up my
clothes and bandages. and everything
can possibly want (among his things
was Bible given to him by his mother,
@and has not said one word to alter my
purpose, though almost speechless with
feeling, and this time, Archer, will
fight for lay wife and children, not for