Year: 1874

The Duel.


A REuINEsCENsE OF SEVENTY YEARS AGO.


On Saturday, the 14th of July, 1904
this city witnessed the most solemn and
impressive funeral pageant that had, up
to that time appeared in its streets. Four
years previously the mock funeral of
| Washington had been celebrated with all
the pomp of which the age was capable,
but that was merely civic demonstra-
tion of respect and sorrow. When Ham
ilton died the populace beheld the corpse
of the dead, and saw his funeral the re-
suit of terrible crime. 1t was not on
ly the death of an exalted and almost
idolzed leader, but his death by murder,
that gave such deep and unutterrable
thrill to the heart of the public. The
history of this tragedy is so familiar to
our readers that mere reference is suffi-
cient to revive its power. 1t will be re-
membered that the cause of the duel, as
alleged by Colonel Burr, was the refec-
tion made upon him by Hamilton in
conversation with General Cooper and
others several years previously. This,
however, was but pretext for settling
long account. There was constitu-
tional antagonism between these two
gifted men, but though their mutual an
tipithy had been of long standing, its
bloody termination was little expected.
Only four years previously they had
served as united counsel, having associ-
ated in one of the most important mur-
der cases which had ever occurred in
this city. This was the trial of Levi
Weeks for the murder of Gulielma
Sands, and was commonly called " The
Manhattan Well murder"


Miss Sands was the daughter of a Brit
ish officer and lived with her uncle. She
was engaged to be married to the prison
er. One night she accompanied him in
sleigh drive, so it was alleged, and
/
terrogated concerning her he denied that
she accompanied him, and although it
was proved that she left her room to go
with him no one saw them depart to-
gether. A week afterwards as some
boys were playing oD the Commons (the
locality being near Spring street, they
discovered a corpse in one OF the wells
belonging to the Manhattan company.
The alarm was given, and the body was
found to be that of the missing girl. An
intense excitement followed, and Weeks
was indicted and tried for the crime.
He had influential friends who were de-
termined to employ the best lega talent.
Burr was then forty-five years old and
| had won q reputation as an adroit and
tenacious attorney, and an expert in all
kinds of legal strategy. He was also
recognized as the leader of the northern
republicans-a fact which soon after
wards placed him in nomination for the
presidency. Hamilton was a year young
er, and enjoyed distinction as a states
man, man of unsurpassed eloquence
and the leading federalist of New York.
Two such noted lawyers, and especially
such political opponents, had never pre-
viously been associated in criminal prac-
tice; and indeed this was the first MUIR
der case of importance which had oc-
CURED since the Revolution. The case
lasted three days, and the prisoner was
acquitted but many considered him
guilty, and no one had been found ON
whom eircumstantial evidence fastened
the deed so powerfully. The trial took
place March 81, 1900, in Federal Hall,
which occupied the site on which the
Treasury now stands, and the judge was
Chancellor Lansing who afterwards per-
ished in so mysterious manner. Indeed
the whole affair was series of trage-
dies. In addition to the hard fate of
Miss Sands was that of the counsel for
the defence. One of these killed the
other, and then became fugitive, while
the judge either committed suicide or
died by violence of accident. He disap-
peared in a manner which has never
been explained. Some assert that he
hanged himself in the garret of the City
Hotel, and that his friends buried the
body secretly while others say that he
left the hotel for the Albany steamboat,
which then lay at the foot of Cedar
street, and that he fell into the clip and
was drowned. 1t is TO be remembered
that at the very time when Hamilton
was thus associated with Burr he was, in
his private correspondence writing bitter