Shortly afterward, Burlingame delivered a celebrated speech denouncing Brooks’ attack on Sumner as a cowardly act. In response, Brooks challenged Burlingame to a duel on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls to circumvent the U.S. ban on dueling. Burlingame quickly accepted the challenge, but surprised by Burlingame’s quick acceptance and knowing Burlingame’s reputation as a superb marksman, Brooks did not show up citing unspecified risks to his safety if he was to cross the northern states in order to reach Canada. Burlingame became a hero throughout the North.
In other words, Preston Brooks was a cowardly little b****.
At least Brooks paid for his perfidy.
Brooks died unexpectedly from croup in January 1857, a few weeks before the March 4 start of the new congressional term. He was buried in Edgefield, South Carolina. The official telegram announcing his death stated "He died a horrid death, and suffered intensely."
Brooks challenged Burlingame to a duel on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls to circumvent the U.S. ban on dueling.
There seem to be a variety of accounts of this running around the net, but those crediting Burlingame as opting for Canada deserve more credence than your version, as the challenged party was the one who normally selected location. Burlingame opting for Canada for reasons of law ipoints to a farce, as dueling laws in Canada were much more strictly enforced: if some one, challenged to a drinking contest, chose Saudi Arabia as a venue to avoid the laws against public drinking in New York, I would smell a rat.
It sounds to me that Burlingame wanted to set Brooks up for an attempted murder charge.