Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-03-07
aHiseelIaueulls Reading.
SETTLED BY THE CODE.
"Reminiscences Of Statesmen and
Others Who Fought.


"Reminiscences of Statesmen and
Others Who Fought.
"I can't help thinking" said an old
raconteur to a group Of cronies ,wher
they had assembled few evenings ago
that If the code Of honor so called
had not been suffered to lapse into al.
most nothingness the recent tragedy al
Columbia, S. c., by which an accom-.
plished man and good citizen-I NEAR
Editor Gonzales, Of course-was hurled
into eternity before his time, would not
have happened. At least it would not
have happened in the way 1t did, caus.
ing a stain, as 1t has, upon consid.
erable portion Of the community
Now" he continued, while I have
never been what one might designate
as an out-and -out stickler for duelling
yet have always insisted that the
code had it's good points. I believe Il
Mr.. Tillman had challenged Editor
Gonzales in the old-fashioned way, in.
stead Of shooting him down on the
streets without notice, a tragedy would
have been averted. know something
about duelling and in my younger
days, I am happy to say, have beer
instrumental in preventing at least one
resort to the code. There are always
friends sincerely anxious to prevent
two men from meeting in mortal com.
bat, many more than could be found
'egging angry msn to risk their lives
in personal encounters.
There's always some kind Of a court
of arbitration that can be resorted to
Why, that grim old veteran, Captain
Macmurdo, spoken Of in Vanity Fair
Thackeray's chief doeuvre, old Mac.
murdo, you know, gentlemen, wher
Rawdon Crawley, thinking that he had
been dishonored by Lord Steyne, called
upon Mac for his friendly Office, wanted
to know If there was no way out OF
it, and finally finding that Crawley's
suspicious were not based on sufficient
ground, prevented fight. Oh, yes, In
nine cases out Of ten duel could be
averted, even IL the law allowed it.
"Some, of course, could not, and this
reminds me of the McCarthy-Mordsca
duel, still fresh in memory. That could
not have been prevented by all the
courts Of honor in the universe. There
was no necessity for these men to show
that they were brave. They had both
sought the bubble reputation at the
cannon's mouth and both obtained It
but there was no escape from due
when young Mordecai struck Mccarthy
with the idea Of humiliating him in the
opinion Of every man in Virginia.
Its a mistake to- call duelling @
southern institution. It's no more g
southern institution than 1t is north.
ern. or eastern. :aE western. The fact
is, it originated in the days Of Script
ure, when Goliath Of Gath def1ed al
Israel and challenged-yes, challenged
anybody to single combat. If that was
not a duel, then what was it? There
were some conditions about it. Some
formalities, but it was a duel, all the
same, and David, the royal bard, who
was in. the right, was the conquerol
in a regular out-and-out square fight.
Now here again I have to say that
while there are many men, both north
and south, who, while they would lead
forlorn hope on sea or land, wher
their duty required it, would under nc
circumstances face other men on the
duelling ground, and only because
they are opposed to such a resort fol
the settlement Of grievances on princi-
pie. There was James K. Polk, OF
Tennessee. He was opposed to the
code, and actually submitted to a gross
insult from Henry A. Wise, Of Virginia
rather than fight a duel. The fact
however, did not prevent Polk from be.
ing elected president Of the United
States. And, as I said before, there
are now men in the north as well as
in the south, men in the east as well
as in the west, who, If they were not
violating laws on the statute books OF
conscientiously opposed to it, would
fight duel whenever, in their opinions
or those of their friends, there was any
necessity therefor.
Look at some Of the famous duels
in American history. There Is the af'
fair between Jonathan Cilley, Of Maine
and William J. Graves, in which Gil
ley was shot dead. He was from such
a northern latitude that he would only
have had to travel short distance te
find himself among the blue noses OF
Canada. Graves was from Kentucky
Look at the duel between Dave Brod'
erick and Judge Terry, which occurred
in California, and in which Brodericl
fell the victim. He was a New YORK.
man. Another famous encounter Of
world history was the fight be-
tween Lieuts. Barron and Decatur
Barron was a Virginian, and though
Decatur was born in Maryland, he wa:
Of sturdy New England stock. The
American people are not through with
lamenting that duel yet. 1t might
have been prevented. That duel, BY
the way, did not take place at Bladens'
burg, as it is generality believed. Il
was fought on the Marlboro road. The
little Maryland village across the
District line was purposely avoided by
both principals and seconds.
Everyone remembers the late Mr.
Burlingame, who once represented
Massachusetts in congress. A splendid
fellow he was. Well, Burlingame, af
Ter the assault by Preston Brooks, o
South Carolina, on Senator Summer
made some very caustic remarks in thu
house of representatives on Brooks
who promptly challenged Burlingame