Broadside entitled 'The Late Dual'

Commentary

This report begins: 'Trial of Mr STUART of Dunearn, for the late Duel in which Sir ALEXANDER BOSWELL, of Auchinleck, lost his life, which came on at Edinburgh on Monday last, the 10th June, 1822, with an account of its final result.' The sheet was printed by William Carse of Glasgow.

This trial caught the imagination of the people, as James Stewart appears to have been an important man; many of his friends present at the trial were advocates and eminent people of the day. He was found not guilty after an eighteen-hour trial which finished at five o'clock in the morning. This was a unanimous, and very popular, verdict.

The reason for the duel was that Boswell, who was incidentally the eldest son of Samuel Johnson's biographer, wrote a satire called 'The New Whig Song' which offended Stuart who challenged him.

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