The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1915-05-07
Reasons For Accepting the
Challenge.
Seme Facts In Regard to the Fa-
Mcrs Duel That Robbed Amer
sea of a Great Statesman.

h0VNh as ihN''
IN TIRE neighborhood of what is now
.Nuery-first street. around Central
Park. now the heart of New York
Gity He was captain of Artillery
IN E7s6 and held a place on Wash
ingfon-s staff 1771-S1. He won dis
rincsion at Yorktown in 1891. was a
memDer of the Continental Congress
IN 1882. was a member of the Con-
.sti7Ai ional Convention in 1897, and
when but thirty-two years of age.was
Secretary of the United States Treas
urx. He was ommander-in-chief of
the army in 1893.
Aaron Burr, an ambitious states
man of that day and once Vice Pres
i,denl of the United States, was a po-
Aitjca' rival of Hamilton and they
became involved in a quarrel which
ended with challenge sent to Ham,
aIbgD by Burr and accepted by the
i0rmeI with regrets.
Their friends interceded and every
effort possible was made to aviod the
oiueI. Ii was beyond them, however.
and the time was set for the night
,,f July II, 1904. at a desolate spot
in the bluffs of Weehawken, ~ j..
which is just across the river from
New York They were conveyed by
carriages and ferry with their friends
and, in the moonlight the distance
was stepped and they faced each 9th
,er, the records show that Hamilton
fireC in the air, while Burr fired a
single shot, MORALLY wounding him.
He was then taken to a home of a
friend in New York and received
medical and surgical attention, but
.succumbed to the wounds on the fol-
lowing day. He was buried in the Old
Trinity churchyard at the head OF
Wall street on Broadway. His grave
is to-day a spot OF interest to the
visitors to New York. Trinity church
and its burying ground are now To-
Gated in the heart of the business
district of lower New York, with tow
.eriDg Office buildings on every side
with the subway station on Broadway
Just in front.
eJB the day before the duel, Ham
iItun wrote the following reasons for
not declining Burr's challenge, which
shows that his moral principles gave
way 10 a sense of prOpriety, for in
shat day a man was called upon to
defend his honor when challenged al
though it was in defiance of the stat
usory law. The following are the
reasons he ascribed:
His Reasons.
On my expected interview with Col
BuIY,I think it proper to make some
remarks explanatory of my conduct,
motives and views. l was certainly
DESTROYS of avoiding this interview
for the most urgent reasons:
1. My religious and moral princi-
pies are strongly opposed to the
practice of duelling and it would ever
give me pain to be obliged to shed
Ithe blood of a fellow creature in
private combat forbidden by the law.
.. My wife and children are ex-
tremely dear to me, and my life is Of
the utmost importance to them in
various views.
3 j feel sense of obligation to-
ward my creditors, who, in case of
accident TO me- by the forced sale OF
my property,may be in some degree
sufferers. | did not think myself at
liberty, as a man of probity, lightly
40 expose them to this hazard.
4. ! am conscious of no ill-will to-
ward Col. Burr, distinct from politi-
cal opposition. which. as l trust, has
proceeded from pure and upright
motives.
Lastly, | shall hazard much and
can probably gain nothing by the is
sue OF this interview.
But it was. as | conceive, impossi-
BILE TO avoid it. There were intrin-
sic difficulties in the thing, an arti-
fetal embarrassment from the man
ner OF proceeding on the part of Col.
Burr.
Intrinsic, because it is not to be
denied that my animadversion on the
political principles, character and
views OF Col. Burr have been ex-
treDely severe; and on different oc-
casions I. in common with many 9TH
ers. have made very unfavorable crit
icisms on particular instances of the
private conduct OF this gentleman.
In proportion as these impressions
were entertained with sincerity and
uttered with motives and for pur-
poses which might appear to me com
msndable would be the difficulty (un-
iii they could be removed, by evil