The Republican journal., 1910-06-23

4
manner. This Britisher was a duelist,
and a good shot, who had killed his man,
and his object in insulting Lieut.. Balm
bridge was either to get challenge to
fight duel or to prove the Yankee a
coward who dare not fight. But his cal
culations We're wrong, for when he blus-
tered up against Lieut.. cambridge, that
officer promptly knocked him down, thus
avenging the insult in proper manner;
and the John Bull, thinking that he was
the aggrieved party, promptly challenged
cambridge and the challenge was as
promptly accepted. Lieut. cambridge
selected as his second, Lieut.. Stephen
Decatur The second of the Britisher
suggested pistols at ten PAGES, but the
challenged party having the choice of
weapons and the distance Lieut.. Deca
tur made choice of pistols but insisted
that the distance, instead of being ten
PAGES, should be shortened up to four.
The Englishman second then said, why
this looks like murder, to which Deca-
tur replied ut looks like death. Your
man is duelist and a good shot, while
my principal is neither, and he has no
chance with yours at ten PAGES or over,
and | propose to shorten the distance so
as to make my principals chance as good
as yours. The duel was fought at four
PAGES, distance so short that they could
almost touch each other. By shortening
the distance the Britisher lost all advan-
tage and when facing his antagonist lost
his self control and became violently
agitated At the first shot both missed,
but at the second shot the Englishman
fell, mortally wounded. The British
authorities tried to stir up discord about
the matter, but the officers of the British
Navy, almost to man, declared that their
countryman was the aggressor, as he
gave the first insult and also the chal
lenge, and this incident proved to them
that the Yankees could stand the smell
of powder and their regard for the officers
of the navy of the new nation was in
creased materially.
About this time our relations with
Great Britain began to look dubious.
While striving in every honorable man.
ner to have them cease from taking the
men from our ships, President Madison
was preparing for war. Aside from the
searching of our ships and taking our
seamen therefrom on the high seas, We
had another grievance with Great Brit
ain which probably had something to do
with fastening the war, and it was this:
England was at war with France and
Napoleon Bonaparte issued an edict that
/ vessels of all nations would be liable to
capture if found entering an English
port. Great Britain promptly returned
the compliment by sending out like
decree against all vessels found entering
French ports. Thus debarred from en-
tering all ports of both nations without
mourning the risk of capture our COM
merce dwindled and President Madison
felt compelled to declare an embargo, in
consequence of which, during the three
years that it lasted, our ships rotted at
the wharves and the wharves themselves
rotted down, until at last the United
States demanded of France and England
the resembling of that order. France
promptly complied with our request, but
England hesitated and equivocated until
Congress felt compelled to declare war.
| The order was rescinded before war was
declared, but the notice did not reach
Congress until after the declaration of
war, and shots We're exchanged by ships
of the two nations before war was de-
clared, but when the conditions were
very much strained. 1t was in this way:
This incident, or accident, did much to
inf1ame and widen the existing differ
ences. An English sloop-of-war, the
Little Belt, commanded by Captain
Bingham, sighted ship off the Ameri-
can coast and made sail to come up with
her, but finding it frigate, and being
dubious of its nationality. retired. The
other, which proved to be the American
ship President, under the command Of
Captain Rogers, gave chase in turn, and
coming up with her both captains hailed
nearly together, and both instead of re-
| lns1oJ o-c:,. n-J &c.,. GOOD. -.