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BY S. B. GRAFTON.
SANDERSVILLE, GEORGIA, TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 1853.
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COL. BENTON’S HISTORY.
[extract prom col. benton’s “thirty
YEARS IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE,”
IN COURSE OF PUBLICATION.}
Anno 1826—John Quincy Adams, Presi
dent.—Duel between Mr. Clay and Mr.
Randolph.
It was Saturday, the first day of April,
towards noon, the Senate not being that day
in session, that Mr. Randolph came to my
room at Brown’s Hotel, and (without ex
plaining the reason of the question) asked
me it 1 was the blood relation of Mrs. Clay ?
1 answered that I was, and he immediately
replied that that put an end to a request
that he had wished to make of me, and
a distinction between man aud senator, in answer to an inquiry before it was deliv-
As Senator, he had a constitutional immu- ered.
nity, given for a wise purpose, and which ! The following arethe communications be-
he would neither surrender nor compromise: tween-the respective seconds on this point:
as an individual, he was ready to give satis-1 “In i
ready to give satis-j “In regard to the protest with which Mr.
faction for what was deemed an injury. He : Randolph’s note concludes, it is due to Mr.
would receive but not return a fire. It was : Clay to say that.he had been informed Mr.
as much as to say : Mr. Clay may fire ati Randolph did, and would hold himself re
me for what has offended him ; I will not; sponsible to him for any observations he
by returning the fire, admit his right to do might make in relation to him; and that I
so. This was a subtle distinction, and that (Gen. Jesup) distinctly understood from Mr.
in a case of life aud death, and not very Randolph, before I delivered the note of Mr.
clear to the common intellect; but to Mr. j Clay, that he waived his privilege as aSen-
Randolph both clear and convincing. His 1 ator.”
allusion to the “two pledges unredeemed,” j To this Col. Tatnall replied :
which he might have plead in bar to Mr. j “As this expression (did and would hold
Clay’s challenge, and would not, was anoth-1 himself responsible, <Scc.,) may be construed
er sarcastic cut at Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay, to mean that Mr. Randolph had given this
while rendering satisfaction lor cuts already ■ intimation not only before called upon, but
given. The “member of the House” was jin such a manner as to throw out to Mr.
then went on to tell me that he had just I ^ r * Ge°‘ Bremer, of Pennsylvania, who, at. j Clay something like an invitation to make
received a challenge from Mr. Clay, had i ^ me ot the Presidential election in the I such a call, I have, ou the part of Mr. Ran-
accepted it,- was ready to go out, and would j House of Representatives, had avowed him-; dolph, to disavow any disposition, when
apply to Col. Tattnall to be his secoud.— i s . e ^ to Be the author of an anonymous pub- expressing his readiness to waive his privi-
Before leaving he told me he would make' B cat ’ OD ) the writer of which Mr. Clay had , lege as a Senator from Virginia, to invite,
To this exposition of the grounds of the
complaint, Col. Tatnall answered :
“Mr. Raudolph informs me that the
words used by him in debate were as fol-
VOL. VII--!
scheme to- get at the inquiry without seem
ing to make it. I told him of m-v visit to
Mr. Clay the night before—of the late sit
ting, the child asleep;: the unconscious tp&»-.
my bosom the depository of a secret which 1 threatened to call to account if he would a- j in any case, a call upon
he should commit to no other person : it vovv himself— ai 'd did not. The “great i satisfaction. The conciu
lows: “That I thought it would be in my j quility of Mrs. Clay‘and added, 1 cuuIdnoeU
power to slow evidenoe sufficiently pre- j help reflecting how different »M that might
sumplive to satisfy a Charlotte (county) be the next night. He understood: me
perfectly, and immediately said with a qu>.
jury that this invitation was manufactured
here—that Salazar’s letter struck me as
etude of look and expression which seer
bearing a strong likeness in point of style j to rebuke an unworthy doubt “/ sMil
to the other papers. I did not undertake j nothing to disturb the sleep of the child c.
to prove this, but expressed my suspicion: the repose of the motherand went on wilff
that the fact was so. I applied to the ad-1 his employment—his seconds being" en-
ministration the epithet, puritanic diplo
matic black legged administration.” Mr.
Randolph, in giving these words as those
uttered by him in debate, is unwilling to
aftbrd any explanation as to their meauiug
aud application.
In this answer Mr. Randolph remained
upon his original ground of refusing to an
swer out of the Senate for words spoken
within it. In other respects the statement
of the words actually spoken greatly ame
liorated the ofteusive report, the coarse aud
Professional and Business Cards.
B- It. FXLBSCOTX
Attorney at law,
Halcyondale, Scriven co., Georgia
WILL give his whole attention to the
practice of Law in all its branches.
July 12, 18I>3.24—6m
BBVBBJalTD. SVANSi
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
Sandersville, Georgia.
WILL practice in the counties of Wash
ington Burke, Jefferson, Scriven, Emanuel
Laurens, Wilkinson and Hancock.
(Office in Court House on Lower Floor.)
Feb. 1, 1853. 1—ly
JABZXSS S. BOOS.
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
Sandersville, Georgia.
WILL PRACTICE IN THE COUNTIES OF
.. ) Washington,’Burke, Scriven
Mtddle-circuU. £ j e g- ei . aon an( j Emanuel.
Southern Circuit. | - Laurens.
Ocmulgee Circuit | - - - - Wilkinson
[Office next door to Warthen's store.]
jan. 1, 1852. 51—ly
JNO.W. RTJDX SXLXi,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
Sandersville Georgia.
Jan. 25,1853 52—lv
B.. X>. WAXLTBBZ7.
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
Sandersville, Georgia.
feb. 17, 1853. 4—ly
X. B. SAFFOBD, JR.
ATTORNEY AND COUNSELLER AT LAW,
Sandersville, Georgia.
Will practice in the comities of Wash
ington, Montgomery, Tatnall Emanuel and
Jefferson of the Middle Circuit, also the
counties of Telfair and Irwiu of the South
ern Circuit. Office in Sandersville.
February 22, 18 4—tf
' Z* a RAF.
WATCH maker, and jeweler,
Sandersville, Georgia.
May 10, 1853 15—ly
XKV&FOftB MARSH,
ATTORNEY AND COUNSELLER AT LAW,
Office, 175, Bay street, Savannah, Ga.
feb. 22, 1853. 4—ly
S
B GRAFTON,
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
Sandersville, Georgia.
Will also attend the Courts of Emanu
Laurens, and Jefferson, should business be era
rtustedto his care, in either of those countie>
feb. 11. 4— tf
per
was, that he did not intend to fire at Mr.
Clay. He told it to
a witness of his
mean to tell it to his secoud, or anybody
else; and eujoiued inviolable secrecy_until
the duel was over. This was the first no
tice I had of the affair. The circumstances
of the delivery of the challenge I had from
Gen. Jesup, Mr. Clay’s second, and they
were so perfect!}’ characteristic of Mr. Ran
dolph, that 1 give them in detail, and in the
General’s own words :—
“I was unable tosee Mr. Randolph until
the morning of the 1st of April, when 1 call
ed on him for the purpose of delivering the
note. Previous to presenting it, however,
I thought it proper to ascertain from Mi.
Randolph himself whether the information
which Mr. Clay had received—that he con
sidered himself personally accountable for
the attack on him was correct. I accord
ingly informed Mr. Randolph that I was
the bearer of a message from Mr. Clay, in
consequence of an attack which he had
made upon his private as well as public
character in the Senate; that I was aware
I no one had a right to question him out of
the Senate for anything said in debate, un
less he choose voluntarily to waive his priv
ileges as a member of that body. Mr. Ran
dolph replied that the constitution did pro
tect him, but he would never shield him
self under such a subterfuge as the plead
ing of his privilege as a Senator from Vir
ginia ; that he did hold himself accountable
to Mr. Clay ; but be said that g*entleman
had first two pledges to redeem: one, that
he had bound himself to fight any member
of the House of Representatives who should
acknowledge himself the author of a certain
publication in a Philadelphia paper; and
the other that he stood pledged to establish
certain facts in regard to a great man,
whom he would not name; but, he added,
he could receive no verbal message from
Mr. Clay—that any message from hi*s
must be in writing. I replied that I wa
not authorized by Mr. Clay to enter into or
receive any verbal explanations—that the
inquiries 1 had made were for my own satis
faction and upon my own responsibility—
that the only message of which I was the
bearer was in writing. I then presented
the note, and remarked that I knew nothing
of Mr. Clay’s pledges; but that if they ex
isted as he (Mr. Randolph) understood them
and he was aware of them when he made
the attack complained of, he could not avail
himself of them—that by making the at
tack I thought he had waived them him
self. He said he had not the remotest in
tention of taking advantage of the pledges
referred to; that he had mentioned them
merely to remind me that he was waiving
his privilege, not only as a Senator from
Virginia, but as a private gentlemanthat
he was ready to respond to Mr. Clay, and
would be obliged to me if I would bear his
note in reply; and that he would, in the
concluding paragraph of
man” was President Adams, with whom Mr. i your note, I presume, is intended to show
me because he wanted ' had h ad a newspaper controversy, in- j merely that you did uot present a note, such
intentiou, aud did not v °Hiug a question of fact, which had been i as that of Mr. Cla\* to Mr. Randolph, until
him for personal: insulting words, ‘‘forging and falsifying,”
postponed. The cause of this sarcastic cut,
and of all the keen personality in the Pana
ma speech, was the belief that the Presi
dent and Secretary, the latter especially,
eucouraged the newspapers in their interest
to attack him, which they did incessantly ;
and he choose to overlook the editoTs and
you had ascertained his willingness to waive
his privilege as a Senator. This I infer, as
it was in your recollection that the expres
sion of such a readiness on the part of Mr.
Randolph was in reply to an inquiry on that
point made by yourself.”
Thus an irritating circumstance in the
retaliate upon the instigators, as he believed j aflair was virtually negatived, aud its often
them to be. This he did to his heart’s con-! sive import wholly disavowed. For my
tent in that speech—and to their great an j part, I do not believe that Mr. Randolph
novance, as the coming of the challenge j used such language in his speech. I have
proved. The “two frieuds” alluded to were j no recollection of having heard it.
Col. Tatnall and
The
myself, and the circum- | published report of the speech, as taken
might disqualify one of the down by the reporters and uot revised by
the speaker, contains nothing of it. Such
gasconade was foreign to Mr. Randolph’s
character. The occasion was not one in
which these sort of defiances are thrown out,
which are either to purchase a cheap repu
lation when it is known they will be de-
stances which
two were those of my relationship to Mrs.
Clay, of which he did not know the degree,
whether of affinity or consauguiuity—con
sidering the first no obstacle, the other a
complete bar to my appearing as his sec
ond—holding as he did, with the tenacity
of an ludian to the obligations of blood, and i spised, or to get an advantage in extracting
i l... . ' a challenge when there is a design to kill.
Mr. Randolph had none of these views with
respect to Mr. Clay. He had no desire to
fight him or to hurt him or to gain cheap
character by appraising to bully him. He
was above all that, and wanted no more.—
I do not believe it was said; but there was
a part of the speech which might have re
ceived a wrong application, and led to the
erroneous report a part which applied to a
quoted passage in Mr. Adams’ Panama
message, which he condemned and denoun
ced, and dared the President aud his friends
laying but little stress on marriage connec
tions. His affable reception and courteous
demeanor to Gen. Jesup were according to
his high breeding, and the decorum which
belonged to such occasions. A duel in the
circle to which he belonged was “an aflair
of honor;” and high honor, according to its
code, must pervade every part of it. Gen.
Jesup had come upon an unpleasant busi
ness. Mr. Randolph determined to put
him at his ease, and did it so effectually as
to charm him into admiration. The whole
plan of his conduct, down to contingent de
tails, was cast in his mind instantly, as if by i to defend. His words were, as reported un
revised: “Here I plant ray foot; here I fling
defiance right iuto his (the President’s)
teeth; here I throw the gauntlet to him and
the bravest of his compeers to come forward
and defend these lines,” &c. A very palpa
ble defiance this, but very different from a
summons to personal combat, and from
what wa3 related to Mr. Clay. It was an
unfortunate report, doubtless the effect of
indistinct apprehension, and the more to oe
regretted, as after having been a main
cause inducing the challenge, the disavowal
could not stop it.
Thus the agreement for the meeting was
absolute : and according to the expectation
intuition, and never departed from. The
acceptance, the refusal to explain, the de
termination not to fire, the first and second
choice of a friend, and the circumstances
which might disqualify and delay the other,
the additional cut, and the resolve to fall,
if he fell, on the soil of Virginia—was all,
to his mind, a single emanation, the flash of
an instant. He needed no consolations, no
deliberations to arrive at all these impor
tant conclusions. I dwell upon these small
circumstances because they are characteris
tic, aud show the man—a man wjio belongs
to history, and had his own history, and
should be known as he was. That charac-
acter and significant to their smallest par
ticulars.
J, B BATHB.
ATTORNEY AT LAW,
Scarborough, Georgia.
Will atteud promptly to all business en
trusted to his care in any of the Courts of the
Middle or Eastern counties.
March 14, *7—ly
XVX. A R at JOBOTSTOMF.
ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
Sparta, Georgia.
"Will practice in Hancock and the ad
orning counties, and the Supreme Court.
MARK JOHNSTON, J R. M. JOHNSTON.
March 22, 1853. 8—tf
W. L. HOLLIFIELD,
SVROBOB BXZWFXST.
SANDERSVILLE, GEORGIA
maylO, 1852. 16—tf
Dr, William LJernigan,
HAVING permanently located him
W self in Sandersville, respectfully offers
*• his professional services to the citizens
°f the Village, and county. When not oth-
^wise engaged lie may be found at his Office
*t all times.
Sandersville, Mamii 8,1853. 6—ly
course of the day, look out for a friend
declined being the bearer of his note, but in
formed him that my only reason for declin
ing was that I thought he owed it to him
self to consult his friends before taking so
important a step. ‘ He seized ray hand, say
ing, “You are right, sir. I thank you for
the suggestion : but, as you do not take my
Dote, you must not be impatient if you
should not hear from me to-day. I now
think of only two friends, and there are cir
cumstances connected with one of them
which may deprive me of his services, and
the other is in bad health—he was sick yes
terday, and may not be out to day.” I as
sured him that any reasonable' time which
he might find necessary to take would be
satisfactory. I took leave of him; and it is
due to his memory to say that his bear-
ing was, throughout the interview, that of
a high toned, chivalrous gentleman of the
old school.”
These were the circumstances of the de
livery of the challenge, and the only thing
necessary to give them their full character
is to recollect that, with this prompt accep
tance and positive refusal to explain, and
this extra cut about the two pledges, there
was a perfect determination not to fire at
Mr. Clay. That determination rested-on
two grounds: first, an entire unwillingness
to hurt Mr. Clay; and next, a conviction
that to return the fire would be to answer,
and would be an implied acknowledgement
of Mr. Clay’s right to make him answer.—
This he would not do, neither by implica
tion nor in words. He denied the right of
any person to question him out of the Sen
ate, for words, spoken within it. He took
ter can only be shown in his conduct, his! of the principals, the meeting itself would
own words and acts : and this duel with | be immediatelv; but their seconds, from
VIr. Clay illustrates it at many points. It j the most laudable feelings, determined to
is in that point of view that I dwell upon • delay it, with the hope to prevent it, and
circumstances which might seem trivial, but! did keep it off a week, admitting me to a
which are uot so, being illustrative of char- participation in the good work, as being al
ready privy to the affair and friendly to
both parties. The challenge stated no spe
cific ground of offence, specified no excep
tionable words’ It was peremptory and
general, for an “unprovoked attack on his
(Mr. Clay’s) character,” and it dispensed
with explanations by alleging that the no
toriety aud indisputable existence of the in
jury superseded the necessity for them. Of
course this demand was bottomed on a re
port of the words spoken—a verbal report,
the full daily publication of the debates
having not then begun—and was of a char
acter greatly to exasperate Mr. Clay. It
stated that in the course of the debate Mr.
Randolph said:
“That a letter from General Salazar, the
Mexican Minister at Washington, submitted
The acceptance of the challenge was in
keeping with the whole preceding —
prompt in the agreement to meet, exact in
protesting agaiust the right to call him out,
clear in the waiver of his constitutional
.privilege, brief aud cogent in presenting the
case as one of some reprehension—the case
of a member of an Administration challeng
ing a Senator for words spoken in debate of
that Administration ; and all in brief, terse,
and superlatively decorous language. It ran
thus —
“Mr. Randolph accepts the challenge of
Mr. Clay. At the same time he protests a-
gainst the right of auy Minister of the Ex
ecutive Government of the United States to
hold him responsible for words spokeu in
debate, as a Senator from Virgiuia, in crim
ination of such Minister, or the Adminis
tration under which he shall hare taken of
fice. Col. Tatnall, of Georgia, the bearer
of this letter, is authorized-to arrange with
General Jesup (the bearer of Mr. Clay’s
challenge) the terms of the meeting to
which Mr. Rondolph is invited by that
note.”
This protest which Mr. Randolph enter
ed against the right of Mr. Clay to chal
lenge him led to an explanation between
their mutual friends on that delicate point
—a point which concerned the indepen
dence of debate, the privileges of the Seu-
ate, the immunity of a member, and the
sanctity of the Constitution. It was a point
which Mr. Clay felt; and the explanation
which was had between the mutual friends
presented an excuse, if nut a justification,
lor bis proceeding. He had been informed
that Mr. Randolph, in his speech, bad avow
ed his responsibility to Mr. Clay, and waiv
ed his privilege—a thing which, if it had
been done, would have been a defiance, and
stood for an invitation to Mr. Clay to send
a challenge. Mr. Randolph, through Col.
Tatnall, disavowed that imputed avowal,
and confined his waiver of privilege to the
being disavowed, as in fact they were not
used, and are not to be found in the pub
lished report. The speech was a bitter
phillippicj'aud intended to be so, taking for
its point the alleged coalition between Mr.
Clay and Mr. Adams with respect to the
election, aud their efforts to get up a popu
lar question contrary to our policy of nou-
entanglemeut with foreign nations; in sen
ding Ministers to the Congress of the Ame
rican States of Spanish origin at the Isth
mus of Panama. I heard it all, and’though
sharp aud cutting, I think it might have
been heard without any manifestation of re
sentment by Mr. Clay. The part which he
Look so seriously to heart, that of having
the Panama invitations manufactured in his
office, was to - my mind nothing more than
attributing that he wanted; aud not at all
that they were spurious fabrications. As
to the expression “blackleg and puritan J
it was merely a sarcasm to strike by antithe
sis, and which, being without foundation,
might have been disregarded. I presented
those views to the parties, and if they had
come from Mr. Randolph might have been
sufficient, but he was inexorable, and would
not authorize a word to be said beyond
what he had written.
All hope of accommodation having van
ished, the seconds proceeded to arrange for
the duel.—The afLernoon of Saturday, the
8th of April, was fixed upon for the time ;
the right bank of the Potomac, within tbp
State of Virgiuia, above the Little Falls
bridge, was the place, pistols the weapons,
distance ten paces; each party to be atten
ded by two seconds aud a surgeon, and my
self at liberty to attend as a mutual friend.
There was to be no practising with pistols,
and thererwas none ; and the words “one,”
“two,” “three,” “stop,” after the word “fire,”
were, by agreement between the seconds,
aud for the humane purpose of reducing
the result as near as possible to chance, to
be given out in quick succession. The Vir
gjnia side of the Potomac was taken afe-the
instance of Mr. Randolph. He went out as
a Virginia Senator, refusing to compromise
that character, and if he fell in defence of
its rights, Virginia soil was to him the cho
sen ground to]receive his blood. There was
a statute of the Slate against duelling with
in her limits; but as he merely went out to
receive a fire without returning it, he deem
ed that no fighting, aud consequently no
breach of her statute. This reason for
choosing Virginia could only be explained
to me, as I alone was the depository of his
secret. The week’s delay which the sec
onds had contrived was about expiring. It
was Friday evening, or rather night, when
I went to see Mr. Clay for the last time be
fore the duel. There had been some alien
ation between us since the time of the Presi
dential election in the House of Representa
tives, and I wished to give evidence that
there was nothing personal in it. The
family were in the parlor—company pres
ent—and some of it stayed late. The
youngest child, I believe James, went to
sleep on the sofa—a circumstance which
availed me for a purpose the next day. Mrs.
Clay was as always since the death of her
daughters, the picture of desolation, but
calm, conversible, and without the slightest
apparent consciousness of ihe impending
event. When all were gone, and she also
by the Executive to the Senate, bore the had ieft tfae P ar,or » Idid what 1 carae for >
mark of having been manufactured or forg-1 and said .^ r ’ Cla 7> thafc notwithstanding
ed by the Secretary of State, and denounced
the Administration as a corrupt coalition
between the puritan and black-leg; and ad
ded, at the same time, that he (Mr. Ran
dolph) held himself personally responsible
for all that he had said.”
This was the report to Mr. Clay, and up
on which he gave the absolute challenge,
and receive the absolute acceptance, which
shut out all inquiry between the principals
into the causes of the quarrel. The sec
onds determined to open it, and to attempt
an accommodation, or a peaceable determi
nation of the difficulty. In consequence
Gen. Jesup stated the complaint in a note to
Col. Tatnall, thus:
The injury of which Mr. Clay complains
consists in this, that Mr. Randolph has
charged him with having forged or manu
factured a paper connected with the Pana
ma mission ; also, that he has applied to
him in debate the epithet of blackleg. The
explanation which I consider necessary is,
that Mr. Randolph declare that he had no
intention of charging Mr. Clay, ei therein
his public or private capacity, with forging
or falsifying any paper, or misrepresenting
any fact: and also that the term black-leg
time of the delivery of the clialleuge, and j ^vas not intended to apply to him:
our late political differences, my personal
feelings towards him were the same as for
merly, aud that, in whatever concerned his
life or honor, my best wishes were with hi*m.
He expressed his gratification at the visit
and the declaration, and said it was what
he would have expected of me. We part
ed at midnight.
Saturday, the 8th of April—the day for
the duel—had come, and almost the hour.
It was noon, and the meetiug was to take
place at 4 1-2 o’clock. I had gone to see
Mr. Randolph before the hour, and for a
purpose; aud besides, it was so far on the
way, as he lived half way to Georgetown,
and-we had to pass through that place to
cross to Potomac into Virgiuia at the Lit
tle Fails bridge. I hadheard nothing from
him on the point of not returning the fire
since the first communication to that effect,
eight days before. I had no reason lo
doubt the steadiness of his determination,
but felt a desire to havesom fresh assurance
of it after so many dap’s delay, and so near
approach of the trying moment. I knew
it would not do to ask hiha the question-?-
any question which would imply a doubt of* was being marked off; but on speaking to
. ^ 1 TT- /•'!!_* m T/tlt r. .. U. Ron.lAl«I. otft dill in ti.
his word. His sensitive feelings would be
hurt and annoyed at it. So I fell upon a
gaged in their preparations in a different
room—which was, making codicils to bis
will, all in the way of rememberance to
friends; the bequests, slight iu value, but
invaluable iu teuderness of feeling and beau
ty of expression, and always appropriate
to the receiver. To Mr. Macon he gave
some English shillings, to keep the game
when he played whist. His namesake,
John Randolph Bryan, then at school in
Baltimore, and since married to his niece,
was sent tor to see him, but sent off before
the hour for going out, to save the boy from'
a possible shock at seeing him brought
back. He wanted some gold;—that coin
uot being then in circulation, and only to
be obtained by favor or purchase—and sent
his faithful man, Johnny, to the United
States Branch Bank to get a few pieces,
American being the kind asked for. John
ny returned without the gold and delivered
the excuse that the bank had none. In
stantly his clear silver toned voice was
heard above its natural pitch, exclaiming,
“Their name is legion ! and they are liars
from the begining, Johnny, bring me mv
horse.” His own saddle horse was brought
him—for he never rode Johnny ’s nor John
ny his, though both, and all" his hundred
horses, were of the finest English blood—
and rode off to the bank down Pennsylva
nia avenue, now Corcoran <fc Rigg’s —
Johnny following, as always, forty paces
behind. Arrived at the bank, this scene,
according to my informant, took place :
“Mr. Randolph asked for' the state of his
account, was shown it, and found to be some
four thousand dollars in his favor, lie as
ked tor it. The teller took up packages of
bills, aud civilly asked in what sized notes
he wouid have it. “I want my money.”
said Mr. Randolph, putting emphasis on the
-word; and at that time it required a bold
man to intimate that United States Bank
notes were not money. The teller, begin
ning to understand him, and willing to make
sure, said, inquiring, “You want silver?” "I
want my money!” was the reply. Then the
teller, lifting boxes to the counter said po
litely: “Have you a cart, Mr. Randolph, to
put it in?” “That is my business, sir,” said
he. Bye that time the attention of the
Cashier (Mr. Richard Smith) was attracted
to what was going on, came up, and under
standing the question, and its cause, told
Mr. Randolph there was a mistake iu the
answer given to his servant; that they had
gold, and he should have what he wanted.”
In fact, he had only applied for a few pie
ces, which he wanted for a special purpose.
This brought about a compromise. The
pieces of gold were received, the cart and
silver dispensed with; but the account in
bank was closed, and a check taken. for the
amount on New York. He returned and
delivered me a sealed paper, which I was to
open if he was killed—give back to him if
he was not; also an open slip, which I was
to read before I got to the ground. This
slip was a request to feel in his left breeches
pocket, il he was killed, and find so many
pieces of gold—I believe niue—take three
for myselfj and give the same number to
Tatnall and Hamilton each, to make seals to
wear in remembrance of him. We were" -
all three at Mr. Randolph’s lodgings then,
and soon sat out, Mr. Randolph and his sec
onds in a carriage, I followed him on horse
back.
I have already said that the count was to
be quick after giving the word “fire,” and
for a reason which could not be told to the
principals. To Mr. Randolph, who did
not mean to fire, and who, though agreeing
to be shot at, had no desire to be hit, this
rapidity of counting out the time and quick
arrival at the command “stop” presented
no objection. With Mr. Clay it was differ
ent. W ith him it was all a real transaction,
and gave rise to some proposal for more de
liberateness in counting oft the time, which
being communicated to Col. Tatnall, and by
him to Mr. Randolph, had an ill effect upon
his feelings, and, aided by an untoward ac
cident on the ground unsettled for a mo
ment the noble determination which he had
formed not to fire at Mr. Clay. I now give
the words of Gen Jesup:
“ WheD I repeated to Mr. Clay the “word”
in the manner in which it would be given*
he expressed some apprehension that, as he
was not accustomed to the use of the pistol,
he might not be able to fire within the time,
and for that reason alone desired that it
might be prolonged. I meutioned to Cob
Tatnall the desire of Mr. Clay. He replied,
“If you insist upon it, the time must be pro
longed, but I should very much regret it.”
I informed him I did uot insist upon pro
longing the tame, and I was sure Mr. Clay
would acquiesce. The original agreement
was carried out.”
I knew nothing of this until it was too
late to speak with the seconds or principals.
I had crossed the Little Falls bridge just af
ter them, and come to t(ie pijice where the
servants aud carriages bad stopped. I saw
none of the gentlemen and. supposed they
had all gone to the spot where the ground
Johnny, Mr. Randolph, who was still ir
[Concluded on Fourth Pagei]