The Irish standard., 1895-06-22

iAjOICu1OuOFe JdllGtNeI " AOAAohstlSHs
the encounter last narrated by at least 10
years. 4 The two men fought with pistols
! at a distance Of only eight PAGES. Capt
William Bainbridge was Decatur's sec
Lond and Capt. Jesse o. Elliot the second
Tof Barron. Several other officers OF the
navy were present at the time the duel oc-:
Cured. 3g III x5ffiEft II
On facing each other Barron said: ssf
| Decatur / hope on meeting in another
world you and will be better friends
than we have been in this. 5. it5 i} . y
To this speech Decatur promptly re-
piled, with an expression Of lofty courage
on his face: 5.g q, II, Ss$5
"Sir, have never been your enemy Z y. !.
AS soon as the signals were given both
men fred their pistols and fell to. the
ground simultaneously. One Of the by
standers observed that only one pistol
shot was heard II s8 NJ
The wound received by Commodore De-
catur was mortal; that of his antagonist
was supposed to be mortal, but. he ssubse-
! quentlW recovered. On account OF the
close quarters in which they We're fired
1 they fellgin touch Of each others arms.
Observing the contact one OF the men call :
ed to the other and asked if he was NOR
! tally wounded. Each gaye'i 1t as his cpin-
I
occurred between them On the field, and
each forgaye the other for the shots ex-
changed. AS Com Decatur was taken
from the field to the open carriage that
was waiting to receive him Commodore
| Barron was heard to remark: n VI
| Everything has been conducted In the
most honorable manner, and forgive you
| from the bottom of my heart. : E& 3#I@
! In q letter to George Carr dated IL days
after the duel, Attorney General Writ,
who claimed to know all the circpmstan-
ces Of the tragedy, gave the following
story: s.:s t:S
Barron asked that they should make
friends before they met in heaven, for he
supposed they would both die immediate
lly. Decatur said he had never been his
enemy; that he freely forgave him his
death, though he could not forgive these
VINO stimulated them to seek his life. One
report says that Barron exclaimed,
Would to God you had said this much
yesterday It is certain that they parted
in peace. Decatur knew that he was to
die, and his only sorrow was that he did
not die in the service OF his country. .$
! Commodore Decatur was not an adyO-
cate Of dueling, so the story goes, and only
consented to meet his antagonist in obedi-
ence to public sentiment. He expressed
himself to Mr.. Writ, on one occasion. in
this wise: Yss.
Fighting is my occupation, and It
would be impossible for me to keep my
station and preserve my respectability
without showing himself ready atall times
to answer the cali Of any one VINO bears
the name of a gentleman:
Decatur died within few hours after
1 1,,,k
subsequently recovered.
/ Henry Clay, the great American states
man, was, perhaps as widely known
through his dueling propensities as he
was through the. medium of that sublime
I gift that made him the peer Of Daniel
| Webster in oratory. On two separate
occasions he appealed to the code of hon.
or His first duel was fought ON Ken
lucky soil and the second on the Vir-
ginia side of the Potomac river. The
latter affair is a familiar episode in
American history. @.Y :.F
Mr.. Clay's first challenge was issued
to Humphrey Marshall, an ardent feder-
! alist, who was serving with him at the
time in the Kentucky legislature. The
! hostile meeting was the result OF fire.
quent debates between the two men, who
l
The issue finally merged into one Of per-
sonal criticism, and Mr.. Clay promptly
! challenged his enemy to mortal COM
bat. Two or three shots were exchang
ed and both men were wounded, but not
seriously. His famous duel with John
Randolph occurred In 1926, nearly 20
years later
Gen. James Hamilton, Of South Caro-
lima, was present at the meeting between
| the two eminent statesmen, and is au-
thority for the statement that Mr.. Ran
dolph never intended to aim his pistol at
the person of Mr.. Clay, but to fire in the
lair. 3
t<The night before says Gen. Hamil-
/ ton, MFR. Randolph sent for me. II found
! him in a calm, but confiding mood He
! told me that he had something on his
mind to tell me. He then remarked:
| Hamilton, have determined to receive
without returning Clay's fire. Nothing
! shall induce me to harm a hair of his
head. I will not make his wife a wild
ow. nor his children orphans. Their
tears would be shed over mis- grave; but
when the sod of Virginia rests on my
| bosom there is not one in this wide world
not one tndividual--to pay this trib-
ute upon mine. He begged me not to
dissuade him from going into the duel
with this intention and asked me to see
/ Col. Tattnall, who had promised to be
4 his second Col. Tattnall and REPAIRED
about midnight to Mr.. Randolph's lodg-
ings and found him engaged in reading
Milton's Paradise Lost Col. Tattnall
was opposed to going into the duel as
Mr.. Randolph's second unless he return
! ed Mr. Clay's fire. After much conver-
sation, Mr.. Randolph finally said Well,
Tattnall, promise you one thing; If ]
see the devil in Mr.. Clays eye and chat,
/ with malice prepense, he means to take
my life, may change my mind.
Il shall never forget the scene as long
as l live. 1t has been my misfortune
| to witness several duels, but never, saw
| one, at least in its sequel so deeply af-
/ fecting. The sun was just setting be-
1 hind the blue hills Of Randolph's own
/ Virginia. I approached my friend as !
believed for the last time. | took his
hand. there was not in its touch the
Iuuiver. of one sensation. He turned to
me and said: Clay is calm, but not vim
dictive, hold to my purpose. Hamilton,
/ in any event, remember this AS: soon
as: the word was given Mr.. Clay fred
without effect, Mr.. Rand olph discharg-
! ing his pistol in the air. The moment
i Mr., Clay saw that Mr.. Randolph had
4 thrown away his fire. with a gush OF
slsansibility he Instantly approached Mr. 1fr
Randolph and said, with an emotion
f.ran5 never. furRet Il trust IN God my dear