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fHB TOIVQVB imTRUCTED.Gnzrd w«ll thy lips; none, non* oaa know—Ptot. xilL S.What evils from the tongue may flow;—Junes lli.fl.fl. Whet guilt, whet grief may be incurred—Judges xL 88.By one uhcautioufl, hasty word.—Mark ri. 23, 2T. Be“slow to speak,” look well within,—Proverb.To check what there may lead to sin;—James L 36.And pray unceasingly for aid,—OoL iv. 3.Lest, unawares, thou be betrayed.Luke xxl. 84.“ Condemn not, judge not”—not to man—James iv. 3.Is given his brother’s faults to soan;—1 Cor. iv. 8.The task is Thine, and Thine alone,- Matt. vii. 2.To search out and subdue Thine own.—John viiL 7.Indulge no murmurings; oh, restrain—1 dor. x. 10.Those lips so ready to complain;-Lam. iii. 22.And, if they can be numbered, count-Pa. ciii. 2.Of one day’s mercies the amount.-Lam. iii. 23. Shun vain discussions, trifling themes;—Titus iii. 9. Dwell not on earthly hopes and sohemes;—Deut vL 4-7.Let words of wisdom, meekness, love, Thy heart’s true renovation prove. Set God before thee; every word-James iii. 13. —Luke vL 45.—Gen. xvii. 1. Thy lips pronounce by Him is heard;—Ps. cxxxlx, 4. Oh, couldst thou realize this thought,. -Matt. xii. 88. What care, what caution would be taught!—Luke xii. 3.“ The time is short,” this day may be-1 Cor. vii. 29.The very laafcasaigned to thee;~ —Eph. v. 16.So speak, that shouldst thou ne’er speak more,-CoL iv. 6. Thou may’st not this day’s words deplore.—Bom. xiv. 1%A Celebrated Duel.The Fatal Encounter Between Jackson and Dickinaon.[From the New York Sun.]Jackson’s most severe wound, and the one that finally caused his death, was received in his duel with Charles Dickinson in 1806. This fatal fight grew out of a projected horse race. Gen. Jackson was the owner of Truxton, a renowned race horse, named after Commodore Truxton, who, six years before, had captured the French frigates L’ln-surgente and La Vengeance. This horse was matched against Capt. Joseph Ervin’s Plowboy for the Nashville races in 1805. The stakes were $2,000, payable in notes which, it is understood, were to become due on the day of the race; forfeit $800. A schedule of the notes was made. Truxton was backed by Gen. Jackson, Maj. W. P. Anderson, Maj. Verrell and Capt. Pryor, and Plowboy by Capt. Ervin and his son-in-law, Charles Dickinson. Before the day appointed Plowboy was withdrawn, Ervin and Dickinson paying forfeit. In paying the forfeit Capt. Ervin offered Gen. Jackson some notes that were not due. The General declined to receive them. He said that Maj. Verrell and Capt. Pryor were about to leave the country, and they wanted notes that could be turned into cash without discount. Capt. Ervin saici that they were the scheduled notes. When asked for the schedule he put his hands in his pockets and said that he had lost it. He added that Mr. Dickinson had a memorandum of the schedule, and sent for him. Dickinson produced the memorandum. Jackson insisted that the schedule notes were to become due on the day of the race, and Dickinson and Ervin were confident that they were offering only notes that were on the schedule. Finally Ervin executed his own note on the house of King Carson for one drawn by Robert Thompson, which was not due, and the matter was satisfactorily arranged.assured 1 hold myself answerable for any of my conduct, and should anything herein contained give Mr. Dickinson the spleen, I will furnish him with an anodyne.Swann showed the letter to Dickinson, who was on the eve of a flat-boat voyage to New Orleans. He wrote to Jackson on January 10. Among other things he said:“ Do you pretend to call a man a talebearer for telling that which is truth and can be proved ? Mr. Swann gave me liberty to make use of his name. I used it, and when he asked what you had said I told him. The word coward is as applicable to yourself as any one I know. J. shall be glad, when ttie opportunity serves, to know in what manner you give your anodynes, and I hope you will take in payment one of my most moderate cathartics.” SOn the rext day Dickinson started down the Cumberland river on liia way to New Orleans. On Jan. 12, Swann sought an internew with Jackson. As the interview was not satisfactory, the Virginian threatened a challenge. The General replied that if he sent him a challenge lie would cane him. Swann declared that if he attempted it he would instantly kill him. On the same day Swann sent a challenge by the hands of Nathaniel A. McNairy. The latter reported that Gen. .Jackson said that the observations made to Dickinson could not by any fair construction be made to apply to Swann, but if he thought proper to trim his head to lit the cap he could not help it. He refused to answer the note, and said he would be in town in a day or two.On the next day Col. John Coffee and Gen. Jackson went to Nashville and put up at Winn’s tavern. They had been in the house but a few minutes when Swann walked into the room. McNairy afterward said that Swann merely called on the General to make an explanation. The General %rose from his chair, cane in hand, saying “I am glad to see you, sir.” He struck Swann a severe blow with the cane. S wann advanced upon him, and in falling back to repeat the blow the General fell over a chair. He would have tumbled into the fire-place had he not been cauglit by some Southern gentlemen who were present. They prevented further blows. Swann stepped back, and put his hand behind him as though about to draw a pistol. A bystander warned him not to do so. At this Jackson shouted, “Let him draw and defend himself. ” The General then drew his own pistol and covered the Virginian. Swann withdrew his hand from under his coat and said that he did not intend to draw a weapon. Mr. Swann then left the room.McNairy called on Jackson that afternoon, and insisted on a reply to Swann’s challenge. The General said he could not disgrace himself by accepting it. Swann’s conduct had been ungentleman-ly, and he would have no correspondence with him. If, however, Mr. Swann had any friend known to be a gentleman, who would step forward in his behalf, he pledged himself to meet that friend on gentlemanly ground. McNairy replied that he thought he could produce certificates indorsing Mr. Swann as a gentleman. Thereupon Gen. Jackson referred him to Col. Coffee, and withdrew; In reporting what followed, the Colonel said that McNairy observed that his own knowledge would not justify his supporting Mr. Swann as a gentleman. He urged that a court of honor should be called. He acknowledged that Swann had been mistaken in the original cause of complaint, and said that the caning was now the only thing that stood in the way of a reconciliation. Coffee assured McNairy that Gen. Jackson’s propositionMeanwhile, Swann replied to Jackson at extraordinary length. He printed a score of certificates and affidavits to prove that he was a gentleman and Jackson a coward. Edmund Randolph and Edmund Carrington, of Virginia, were among those who certified that Swann was a gentleman.Before this reply was printed, Charles Dickinson returned to Nashville. On his way to New Orleans and back he had spent every leisure moment in practicing with a pistol. On the 21st of May. only a day after his return, he sent to the Review a scurrilous attack on the General. The editor showed the letter to Gen. Thomas Overton, who informed Gen. Jackson. Jackson rode over to the office and read a proof-sheet. Here is an extract:“In alluding to Thomas Swann he says ‘he lias acted t e puppet and lying varlet for a worthless, drunken, blackguard scoundrel. ’ Should Andrew Jackson have intended those epithets for me, I declare him a worthless scoundrel, a poltroon and a coward—a man who, bv frivolous and evasive pretexts, avoided giving satisfaction to a gentleman which was due to a gentleman whom he had injured. This has prevented me from calling on him in the manner I should otherwise have done, for I am well convinced that he is too great a coward to administer any one of those anodynes he promised me in his letter to Swann. His excuse I anticipate, that his anodynes have been in such demand since I left Tennessee that he is out of the necessary ingredients to mix them. ”On the iDstant Jackson challenged Dickinson. He did not wait for the publication of the letter. Before the day closed Dickinson accepted. Gen. Overton was Jackson’s second, and Dr. Hanson Catlet was the friend of Dickinson. It had been quick work. Dickinson had arrived in Nashville on the 20th of May; on the 21st he wrote his letter to the Review, and on the 22d he accepted Jackson’s challenge. The seconds immediately conferred. They agreed that the duel should be fought at 7 a. m., on the 30tli, at Harrison’s mill, on Red river, Logan countv, Kv. Jackson was averse to postponing the tight for a week. Ho wanted the matter settled before the publication of Dickinson’s letter, and suggested that ttyB duel be fought that very night. Gen. Overton urged Dr. Catlet to change the time. The doctor said that Dickinson had not a pair of dueling pistols, and it would require time to procure a pair. Jackson denounced this as a subterfuge. At his request Gen. Overton wrote the doctor a note pledging himself to give Dickinson the choice of Jackson's weapons. No answer came, either that night or the following moniing. Jackson grew impatient. Overton wrote a second note, renewing liis offer and asking for answer. Dr. Catlet replied in a barely civil note that it would be inconvenient to after the day already agreed upon. This settled the point in dispute. On May 21 the seconds signed the following:“It is agreed that the distance shall be 24 feet, the parties to stand facing each other, with their pistols down perpendicularly. When they are ready the single word ‘fire’ is to be given at which they are to fire as soon as they please. Should either party fire before the word is given, we pledge ourselves to shoot him down instantly. The person to give the word to be determined by lot, as also the choice of position. We mutually agree that the above regulations shall be observed in the affair of honor between Gen. Andrew Jackson and Charles Dickinson, Esq.”There was intense excitement in Nashville. The coming duel was no secret, although the time and place were known
Newspaper Details
Fairfield Evening Journal
Fairfield, Iowa, US
Mon, Sep 12, 1881
Page 3
Full Page
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TN, USA 04 Aug 2024
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