different occasions. I in common with many others, have made very unfavourable criticisms on particular instances of the private conduct of this gentleman."

accommodation. His objection is, the very indefinite ground which Colonel Burr has assumed, in which he is sorry to be able to discern nothing short of predetermined hostility. Presuming, therefore, that it will be adhered to, he has instructed me to receive the message which you have it in charge to deliver. For this purpose I shall be at home, and at your command, to-morrow morning from eight to ten o'clock.

I have the honour to be respectfully,

WILLIAM P. VAN NESS, Esq.

Your obdient servant,

NATHANIEL PENDLETON.

I transmitted this to Colonel Burr, and after a conference with him, in which I received his further instructions, and that no misunderstanding might arise from verbal communication, I committed to writing the remarks contained in No. XII. which follows:

No. XII.

SIR, Wednesday morning, June 27, 1804. The letter which I had the honour to receive from you, under the date of yesterday, states, among other things, that in General Hamilton's opinion, Colonel Burr has taken a very indefinite ground, in which he evinces nothing short of predetermined hostility, and that General Hamilton thinks it inadmissible that the inquiry should extend to his confidential as well as other conversations. To this Colonel Burr can only reply, that secret whispers, traducing his fame, and impeaching his honour are, at least, equally injurious with slanders publicly uttered; that General Hamilton had, at no time, and in no place, a right to use any such injurious expressions; and that the partial negative he is disposed to give, with the reservations he wishes to make, are proofs that he has done the injury specified.

Colonel Burr's request was, in the first instance, proposed in a form the most simple, in order that General Hamilton might give

the

He even appeared desirous to avoid the possibility of shedding the blood of his antagonist; for he adds:

the affair that course to which he might be induced by this temper and his knowledge of facts. Colonel Burr trusted with confidence that from the frankness of a soldier and the candour of a gentleman, he might expect an ingenuous declaration; that if, as he had reason to believe, General Hamilton had used expressions derogatory to his honour, he would have had the magnanimity to retract them; and that if, from his language, injurious inferences had been improperly drawn, he would have perceived the propriety of correcting errors, which might thus have been widely diffused. With these impressions, Colonel Burr was greatly surprised at receiving a letter which he considered as evasive, and which in a manner he deemed not altogether decorous. In one expectation, however, he was not wholly deceived, for the close of General Hamilton's letter contained an intimation that if Colonel Burr should dislike his refusal to acknowledge or deny, he was ready to meet the consequences. This Colonel Burr deemed a sort of defiance, and would have felt justified in making it the basis of an immediate message. But as the communication contained some thing concerning the indefiniteness of the request; as he believed it rather the offspring of false pride than of reflection, and as he felt the utmost reluctance to proceed to extremities, while any other hope remained, his request was repeated in terms more explicit. The replies and propositions on the part of General Hamilton have, in Colonel Burr's opinion, been constantly in substance the

same.

Colonel Burr disavows all motives of predetermined hostility, at charge by which he thinks insult added to injury. He feels as a gentleman should feel, when his honour is impeached or assailed, and without sensations of hostility, or wishes of revenge, he is defermined to vindicate that honour, at such hazard as the nature of the case demands.

The length to which this correspondence has extended, only tended to prove that the satisfactory redress earnestly desired, 1805-1806.

C c

cannot

"I have resolved, if our interview is conducted in the usual manner, and if it pleases God to give me

cannot be obtained, he deems it useless to offer any proposition, except the simple message which I shall now have the honour to deliver.

I have the honour to be, with great respect,

Your obedient and very humble servant,
W. P. VAN NESS.

I handed this to Mr. Pendleton, at twelve o'clock on Wednesday, the 27th instant. After he had perused it, agreeable to my instructions, I delivered the message, which it is unnecessary to repeat. The request it contained was acceded to; after which Mr. Pendleton remarked, that a court was then sitting, in which General Hamilton had much business to transact, and that he had also some private arrangements to make, which would render some delay unavoidable. I acceded to his wish, and Mr. Pendleton said, he would call on me again in the course of that day or the following morning, to confer further relative to time and place.

Thursday, June 28, ten o'clock, P.M. Mr. Pendleton called on me with a paper, which he said, contained some remarks on the letter I had yesterday delivered him. I replied, that if the paper he offered contained a definite and specific proposition for accommodation, I would with pleasure receive it, and submit it to the consideration of my principal: if not, I must decline taking it, as Mr. Burr conceived the correspondence completely terminated, by the acceptance of the invitation contained in the message Į had yesterday delivered. Mr. Pendleton replied, that the paper did not contain any proposition of the kind I alluded to, but remarks on my last letter; I of course declined receiving it. Mr. Pendleton then took leave, and said, that he would call again in a day or two, to arrange time and place.

Tuesday, July 3, I again saw Mr. Pendleton, and after a few subsequent interviews, the time when the parties were to meet was ultimately fixed for the morning of the 11th July, inst.

The

the opportunity, to reserve and throw away my first fire, and I have thought even of reserving my second

The occurrences of that interview will appear from the following statement, No. XIII. which has been drawn up and mutually agreed to by the seconds of the parties:

No. XIII.

Colonel Burr arrived first on the ground, as had been previously agreed; when General Hamilton arrived, the parties exchanged salutations, and the seconds proceeded to make their arrangements. -They measured the distance, ten full paces, and cast lots for the choice of position, as also to determine by whom the word should be given, both of which fell to the second of General Hamilton. They then proceeded to load the pistols in each other's presence, after which the parties took their stations.-The gentleman who was to give the word, then explained to the parties the rules which were to govern them in firing, which were as follows:-" The parties being placed at their stations, the second who gives the word shall ask them whether they are ready? being answered in the affirmative, he shall say, present, after this the parties shall present and fire when they please. If one fires before the other, the opposite second shall say, one, two, three, fire; and he shall then fire, or lose his fire," He then asked, if they were prepared; being answered in the affirmative, he gave the word present, as was agreed on; both parties presented, and fired in succession; the intervening time is not expressed, and the seconds do not precisely agree on that point. The fire of Colonel Burr took effect, and General Hamilton almost instantly fell: Colonel Burr then advanced towards General Hamilton, with a manner and gesture that appeared to General Hamilton's friend to be expressive of regret, but, without speaking, turned about and withdrew, being urged from the field by his friend, as has been subsequently stated, with a view to prevent his being recognized by the surgeon and bargemen, who were then approaching. No further communication took place be tween the principals, and the barge that carried Colonel Burr im

fire, and thus giving a double opportunity for Colonel Burr to pause and to reflect."

THE REV. WALTER BLAKE KIRWAN,
DEAN OF KILLALA, &c. &c.

IF the talents of the human mind are to be estimated by their effects, the most dignified and most important is certainly Eloquence. Unarmed with the mandates of power, or the seductions of birth. and titles, the orator rules with despotic sway over the feelings and the sentiments of his hearers; rouses a nation to energy and enterprise, or smooths the waves of tumult and disturbance to rest.

It is not alone in the senate, or the courts of justice, that the voice of Eloquence is all-powerful. The dearest interests of the human soul receive and ennoble its exertions; and the sacred orator becomes in reality what the Delphic priestess only pretended to be, the organ of the Divinity.

Walter Blake Kirwan was born in the year 1754, in the vicinity of the town of Galway, in the western part of Ireland. His parents professed the Roman Catholic religion; and, like many others in that part of the world, were not wholly destitute of the spe

mediately returned to the city.-We conceive it proper to add, that the conduct of the parties in this interview was perfectly proper, and suited the occasion.