Part 13 (2/2)
Upon a visit I o, I was shown a certified copy of his will, which contained this remarkable provision:
”It is my will, that I shall not be buried within one mile of any churchyard, or of any Presbyterian or Anabaptist church, for the reason that _as I have kept a great deal of bad company in this world, I do not wish to do so in the next”_
This country has kno abler or more eminent men than DeWitt Clinton He was successively Mayor of the city of New York, Governor of that State, a Senator in Congress, and in 1812 an unsuccessful candidate for the Presidency against Mr Madison Distinguished as a lawyer and statesman, he is even better known as ”the Father of the Erie Canal” His biographer says:
”After undergoing constant, unre borne, in October, 1825, in a barge on the artificial river--which he seemed to all to have constructed --fro, and cannon saluted hiress”
In 1803, while in the Senate, Clinton accepted a challenge froround of the challenge ords spoken by the forh the interposition of friends a satisfactory explanation upon the part of Clinton resulted in a peaceable adjustment, and the restoration of friendly relations between the two Senators
An ”affair of honor” in which Clinton was engaged one year earlier, was not quite so easily adjusted This ith a noted politician of that day, John Swartout of New York The latter was the friend of Aaron Burr, the political and personal ene party, and the hostile round, after the parties had been placed in position, Clinton is said to have expressed regret that Burr--the real principal in the controversy--was not before hiht have run in a different channel had such been the fact
Three pistol shots were exchanged without effect, at the end of each the second of Clinton de of Swartout, ”Are you satisfied, sir?” to which the ansas, ”I ae, was added, ”neither shall I be until that apology is made which I have den a paper presented, but declared that he had no anily shake hands and agree tounsatisfactory, the fourth shot was proed Fortune, heretofore reluctant to decide between her favorites, now leaned toward the challenged party--Mr Swartout being struck just below the knee
In reply to the inquiry, ”Are you satisfied, sir?” standing erect while the surgeon kneeling beside him removed the ball, he answered, ”I aed, Mr
Swartout's other leg was the recipient of his antagonist's bullet
The voice of the woundedstill for war, Mr Clinton here thren his pistol, declaring he would fight no longer, and iround The second of the reerent now advised his principal to retire also and have his wounds dressed, which certainly seemed reasonable under all the circuht well stand for athe administration of the older Adams by Mr Thatcher of Massachusetts, to Blount of North Carolina The challenge grew out of a heated debate in the House In reply, Thatcher said in substance, that being a husband and father, his family had an interest in his life, and that he could not think of accepting the invitation without the consent of his wife, that he would i her permission,_ he would meet Mr Blount with pleasure Whereupon Fisher Areat ue, ”Behold now the advantage of having a wife-- God preserve us all frounpowder!”
The reply of Thatcher was read in the House, causinghis adversary--
”Sacred to ridicule his whole life long, And the sad burden of so”
It is hardly necessary to add that at last accounts the consent of Mrs Thatcher had not been obtained
It is scarcely reered by a bitter criticise conditionally, Southey added:
”In affairs of this kind, the participants ought to meet on equal terms But to establish the equality between you and ht to be done, and a third may also be necessary before I meet you on the field First, you irls Second, you reater part of the provision which you make for them depends upon you life, and you ed, commit suicide, nor be killed in a duel, which are the conditions upon which I have insured hters Third, you must convert me to infidelity
We can then e will be cheerfully accepted”_
Since the writing of the letters of Junius, nothing probably has appeared equal in invective to the correspondence seventy years ago between Daniel O'Connell and Benjauished member of Parliament, and an orator without a peer Disraeli, at first a supporter of the policy of the great Liberator, had joined the ranks of his ene in his denunciation of O'Connell and his party
In his reply O'Connell, after charging his assailant with ingratitude and treachery, concluded as follows:
”I cannot divest y were traced, it would be found that you are the lineal descendant and true heir-at-law of the impenitent thief who atoned for his crie from Disraeli, which immediately folloas treated by O'Connell with supreme contempt
The duel between Hamilton and Burr is of perennial interest to the Areat distinction and splendid talents Both had been soldiers during the Revolutionary War, and Hamilton was the confidential friend and for a titon Burr had been a Senator from New York, and was at the time of the duel Vice-President of the United States He was one of the recognized leaders of the dominant party, and by reat office Whatever hopes he ed attempt to defeat Jefferson and secure his own elevation by the House of Representatives in 1801 His hostility to Ha in the opposition of the latter to Burr's aspirations to the Presidency Differing widely, as Hamilton did, with Jefferson upon i, he nevertheless preferred the latter to Burr, and his influence eventually turned the scales--after a protracted struggle --in favor of Jefferson
The valuable service just mentioned was one of the many rendered by Hamilton He was the earnest advocate of the adoption of the Federal Constitution, and his papers during that pivotal struggle have justly given hih place in the list of American statesmen He was the first Secretary of the Treasury, and possibly no ton
Aaron Burr was the grandson of the great New England hter, Edith, was the wife of the Reverend Aaron Burr, an eye Froentleman, there can be no doubt that his ability and piety were unquestioned Edith, his wife, was a woifts and one of the loveliest of her sex The pathetic reference to her in the funeral sermon over Hamilton will be remembered: ”If there be tears in Heaven, a pious mother looks down upon this scene and weeps”
Hamilton and Burr were both citizens of New York, the latter, of Albany, the fore Haed in a lucrative practice of the law Burr was near the expiration of his term as Vice-President, and was a prospective candidate for Governor of New York This candidacy was the immediate cause of the correspondence which resulted in the fatal encounter Four letters passed between Burr and Hae The first was from Burr, and bears date June 18, 1804 In it attention is directed to a published letter of Dr Cooper containing the words, ”General Hae Kent have declared in substance that they look upon Mr Burr to be a dangerous overnment And I could detail to you a still more deplorable opinion which General Hamilton has expressed of Mr Burr”
It was to the last sentence that the attention of Hamilton was especially directed by Mr Van Ness, the bearer of the letter, which closed with the demand upon the part of Burr of ”a proment or denial, of the use of any expression which would warrant the assertion of Dr Cooper”