The record-union., 1891-11-14
a KENTUCKY GLADIATOR.
General Cassius ID. Clay Talks of
His Duels and Fights.
How He Gained DR.. Declarey, With
General J. S. Rollins as Second
His Feud With Tom MarshaIl-Ter-
rible Battle With sam Brown-A
Narrow Escape.

Narrow Escape.
Frank g. Carpenter, writing from Rich
mond, KY, to the st. Louis G{o5e-Den1o-
crot, gives the following "reminiscences
OF the life of distinguished Kentuckian:
The life of General Cassius NJ. Clay has
been one of constant fighting. Kentucky
has always been a hOt-blOodcd State.
Here q word is always followed by a
blow, and an insult has to be wiped out in
death. Life is OF less account here than
IN the North, and it was OF still less value
IN the days of Gen. Clay's youth, nearly
two generations ago. 1t is sixty years
now since lie delivered the Washington
Centennial Grafton at Yale College, in
which he espoused the cause of the negro
and became the most hated man in Ken
lucky among the Shareholders. All his
life he has had TO fight for his ideas, and
the stories Of his personal encounters
read like a romance. It was during the
latter part Of my visit at white Hall'
this week, while we were sitting one
evening before the Goals of his library
fire, that l drew General Clay on to talk
of some of these fights, and / could al
most see the com bats in the Goals as in
cool, but graphic language he brought
them back from the memories Of the
past.
Said he: 81 have never courted trouble
with any one, but / have never gone out
of the way to avoid it. L have had a num-
ber Of encounters, and | have never been
whipped in my life, except by my mother
and by my elder brother. 1 remember
the first and only whipping l got from
my brother. He was older than | was
and great deal stronger, and L was ac-
cuStOmed to tease him and play tricks
upon him, until one day we were out
trimming some trees in the orchard.
J., III
brother had made a little ladder to enable
him to get up into them. lie took one
row of trees and l took another, and l
would put away his ladder and take it
over to my row so that he had to jump
down and get it when he wanted to go to
Notwithstanding this, l still kept at it.
and he caught me and threw me down
and whipped me with some CT the long
sprouts or trimmings of the trees. These
sprouts We're very supple, and can
almost feel their stings yet. | appre-
clated, however, the justice of the whip
ping, and dld not cry. / rose laughing,
but from that time I did not take my
brother's ladder, and / stopped teasing
him.
THE FIRST DUEL.
when did you have your first duel,
General?'' I asked.
My first duel" replied General Clay,
shot. 1t occurred when I was %, fifty
eight years ago. | was engaged to be
married, and had q rival suitor who, in
spite of my success, wrote a letter to my
SWeetheartS mother, in which he made
number OF very obnoxious charges
concerning nae. The letter should never
have been shown me, but the mother Of
my affianced wife did hand it to me and
asked me to explain it. | explained it by
going to Louisville on a,hunt for the man
who had written it. He was a doctor
and his name was Declarey. 4 friend of
mine went with me, and as soon as we
got to the city l went into q cooper shop
and got good tough hickory cane about
as big around as your finger. l saw DR..
Beclarey on the street and went up to
him and asked him if his name was De-
clarey. lie replied that it was, and /
then told him l would like to have a talk
with him. This was on one of the main
streets of Louisville, and though I in
tended to cane him ] did not want to do
it where a crowd would rush in and pre-
vent my giving him the punishment he
deserved, so l quietly turned our prom
enade off into side street. In the mean
time my friend, James S. Rollins, after
ward noted during the war as General
Rollins, walked along the other side of
the street and watched me. When | had
gotten Declarey into cross street | said,
DR.. Declarey, l am CaSsius NJ. Clay
v trouble
20 write in this letter, and | would like TO
know whether you can give me any ex-
planatlOn OF your action | then showed
MIN the letter, but he said nothing.
then raised my cane and began TO cane
him. He cried out and q crowd soon
collected, but Rollins, by spreading out
MS arms and running IN again and again,
pretending to separate US, actually kept
back the crowd until / was able to give
him good Gaming. l expected that De-
clarey would challenge me, and l had
brought Rollins along to act as my sec
Ond. l was not disappointed. A few
hours after the Gaming | got challenge
We fixed place in Indiana, just over
the river, and the time was the next day
When we got there we found that there
was great mob of Declarey's friends on
the ground, and General Rollins refused
10 allow the fight TO on. We thereupon
chose another place, but Declarey'S mob
followed US there. The next day was to
nave been my wedding day, and had to
go TO meet it. Declarey wanted me to
come back after I was married, but I de-
cldedly objected to breaking up my hon.
eymOOn in this way. He afterward said
that he intended to coWhide me the next
time he saw me, and went to Louisville
10 give him chance. l went to his
MOTEL, but he was not in the dining-room
and had not yet come into dinner. [
waited for an hour, but he did not come
and / then went into the dining-room
and leaned against the pillar. intending
to wait for him. AS I stood there L heard
some one rise behind me. / turned and
saw Declarey. He was as pale as death
and I saw the Dominick in him He did
not hold my eye, but got up and went
out. / staid for a short time longer, and
finding that he did not intend to fight
went back home. A man who acted in
this way could not at that time be re-
Spected in Kentucky and Declarey com
mitted suicide the next evening by cut
ting his throat.
THE CLAY-MARSHALL DUEL.
''It was curious thing" mused GEN
eral Clay, as he poked up the dying en-
Ders of the FIRE into glow, "that man
viii have the bravery to commit suicide
and still not have enough physical cour-
age to fight. / have had number Of
such instances in my life. It was so with
Tom Marshall, who was so famous as an
orator in kentucky. There had been for
a year a feud between the Clays and the
Marshalls. Henry Clay, you know, had
q duel with Humphrey Marshall, and
Tom Marshall and myself We're enemies
Tor years. My first trouble with him
was at the time | was the editor of the
True 4 me11cGll, and Marshall headed the
mob which was raised to kill me and de-
9noliSh the paper. ! got two fOur-pound
brass cannons and put them up in NV
Office, and loaded them with shot and
nails. l had them on table, and their
mouths were Just as high as q mans
breast and they faced the door. If a
mob attempted to enter l expected to
shoot right into it, and had inside of the
office also a keg OF powder which I ex-
pected to blow up with a match and send
my enemies into eternity if they sue
Cee1ed in capturing the Office. Well,
the mob attacked me- but I was not