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Burr and duelling...
It's interesting to note that Burr never engaged with any more 'affairs of honour' after his duel with Hamilton; no matter who insulted him, or even injured him. Chancellor Kent supposedly shook his cane at Burr while calling him a 'scoundrel' - one of the classic fighting words, along with 'liar', 'coward' and 'puppy' - and Burr just tipped his hat, responded that "The opinions of the learned Chancellor are always entitled to the highest consideration", and walked away.
In 1819, apparently the 63-year-old Aaron Burr received an unusual letter:
“Sir, Please to meet me with the weapon you chuse on the 15 of may where you murdered my father at 1 o'clock with your second. 8 May 1819. J.A. Hamilton.”
Burr initially wrote a very simple reply, along the lines of: “Boy, I never injured you: nor wished to injure your father. A. Burr”
…which would have been quite the rebuke, in Burr’s inimitably gentlemanly way, since James Hamilton was at that point 31 years old, and practicing law in New York. But Burr thought better of it, and instead decided just to ignore the affair entirely.
The letter was a forgery, but Burr’s response (and non-response) is very much at odds with reports of Burr's words on other occasions, such as from Bentham, which say that Burr went to Weehawken intending to kill Hamilton.
I rather suspect that the reason for the conflicting accounts of whether Burr intended to kill Hamilton is that Burr was conflicted about it himself, both before and after. But he certainly avoided ever getting into the same situation again.
In 1819, apparently the 63-year-old Aaron Burr received an unusual letter:
“Sir, Please to meet me with the weapon you chuse on the 15 of may where you murdered my father at 1 o'clock with your second. 8 May 1819. J.A. Hamilton.”
Burr initially wrote a very simple reply, along the lines of: “Boy, I never injured you: nor wished to injure your father. A. Burr”
…which would have been quite the rebuke, in Burr’s inimitably gentlemanly way, since James Hamilton was at that point 31 years old, and practicing law in New York. But Burr thought better of it, and instead decided just to ignore the affair entirely.
The letter was a forgery, but Burr’s response (and non-response) is very much at odds with reports of Burr's words on other occasions, such as from Bentham, which say that Burr went to Weehawken intending to kill Hamilton.
I rather suspect that the reason for the conflicting accounts of whether Burr intended to kill Hamilton is that Burr was conflicted about it himself, both before and after. But he certainly avoided ever getting into the same situation again.