Sir Cholmley fell, and the usual scene took place; the quondam friend rushed forward, and regretfully wished to be of service to the dying man. A surgeon was sent for, and before his death Sir Cholmley not only freely forgave his adversary, but admitted that 'this Misfortune was my own Fault, and of my own Seeking.'
For the defence 'Several Persons of Quality and Worth declared as to Mr. Thornhill's Character, That they never knew him to be of a Quarrelsome Disposition; but that on the Contrary, Sir Cholmley Deering was given to be unwarrantably Contentious.'
DUEL BETWEEN DUKE OF HAMILTON AND LORD MOHUN.
The judge summed up very clearly, but against the prisoner, pointing out to the jury the difference between manslaughter and murder; but the jury brought in a verdict of manslaughter.
Thornhill did not survive his adversary long. Swift writes Stella, Aug. 21, 1711: 'Thornhill, who killed Sir Cholmley Dering, was murdered by two men on Turnham Green last Monday Night. As they stabbed him, they bid him remember Sir Cholmley Dering. They had quarrelled at Hampton Court, and followed and stabbed him on horseback.'
His remorse at his killing Dering is commented on by Steele in Spectator 84, under the name of Spinamont.
The duel between the Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun has been frequently described; and, had only the dissolute Mohun have been killed, few would have regretted its having taken place. As it was, the Duke being the leader of the Jacobite faction in Scotland, and Mohun being a violent Whig, the duel was invested with a political colouring; and the Tories, enraged at Hamilton's fall, did not scruple to call it a Whig murder, and denounce Lord Mohun's second, General Macartney, as having unfairly stabbed him; but from all the evidence[615] it is impossible to believe it.
The story of the duel is briefly this. The two noblemen were opposing parties in a lawsuit, and on Nov. 13, 1712, met in the chambers of a Master in Chancery, when the Duke remarked of a witness—'There is no truth or justice in him.' Lord Mohun replied, 'I know Mr. Whitworth; he is an honest Man, and has as much truth as your Grace.' This, fanned into flame by officious friends, was enough; and on Nov. 15, or two days afterwards, they fought, early in the morning, in Hyde Park; their seconds—Col. Hamilton and General Macartney—also fighting, or, as they expressed it, 'taking their share in the dance.' Lord Mohun fell, dead, and the Duke atop of him, mortally wounded. The seconds left off fighting, and went to the assistance of their principals; and it was then, it was averred, that Gen. Macartney treacherously stabbed the Duke.
Macartney fled; but Col. Hamilton remained, took his trial, and was only found guilty of manslaughter. He accused Macartney of the foul deed, and great was the hue and cry after him. The Duchess was naturally enraged, and offered a reward of 300l. for his apprehension, and the Government offered 500l. more, but he got off safely. When things were quieter, he returned, stood his trial at the Queen's Bench, Colonel Hamilton's testimony was contradicted, and he was acquitted of the murder—but found guilty of manslaughter. The punishment for this, by pleading benefit of clergy, which of course was always done, was reduced to a very minimum, something amounting to the supposed burning of the hand with a barely warm or cold iron—and he was restored to his rank in the army and had a regiment given him.