Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1819-04-26
ALEXANDRIA,:
.MOND.4Y, APRIL 26, 1919.

Il IT,.
| the practice, without great astonishment-
| as if it could diminish the Nervousness OF a
villanous crime, to commit it by rule. A.
mong the most proaigate people, no one
was ever found so wild or so wicked as to
| propose regulation Of adultery as cure
| for its evils. That must be very loose and
disjointed intellect TO which it could occur
| that a thing NAHUM in 80 could be changed
| in its nature by being reduced to a system.
Like deadly poison, it must be expelled,
or it will destroy. But how regulate it in
any of its manifold absurdities ?-They talk
of battle by duel equalizing the parties -
but does not the most vulgar common sense,
| and every days experience, give the lie
direct to the assertion? One of its most
| unjust aspects is, that it exposes worth, vir-
tue and excellence, to the same danger as
| vice and consummate villany. In nine out
Of ten OF the duels which are fought, the in
equality is as great as if fortune Of mil
lions were staked against copper or
counter. Numbers Of those who follow the
| infamous trade ofduelling, are men already
uadone, rendered desperate by their own
criminal practices, and, like the murderer
| in Macbeth, ready to commit any atrecity
that would help them either "to mend life
or get rid of it," An INDECENT, worthless
bully of this kind, who knows no more how
be shall live in this world, than he does how
be shall fare in the next, is angry to see
his neighbor in easy circumstances---in
good repute-and happy in all that can
render lie felicitous. Stimulated by envy
and malice, he contrives to pick a quarrel
with him-to which he is the more strong
ly impelled by his opinion of the superior
skill which successive and bloody practi-
ces ofthe kind have given him. Such men
too seldom have the feeling, the usefulness,
or the moral disposition, to have wives or
children or if it should happen other
wise, are so i'll qualified 10 discharge the
duties of father, or husband, or head of
family, that their death may often be emu
merated among the best benefits they could
confer on their families. The other has
an amiable wife: large flock Of hopeful
children, and discharges all the domestic
duties with the most exemplary correct
ness and tenderness. The meeting of those
two men to slaughter each other, is what
the bloody gang Of duellists would call e.
quality-putting them on an equal footing
but what will they do with the difference
between the two men whose lives are at
stake? All the worth of all the .duellists
that ever disgi aced Christendom, thrown in
to the scale with the one, could not bring
it TO an equality with the other. lfa swag-
gering dicer throws down a purse full OF
brass counters, or produces bundle OF for
ged bank notes, no one will be fool enough
to stake gold against them. II life then
be either valuable to keep, or dangerous to
lose, what mailman must he be, who ven
lures il against person whose life is OF va
lue TO he one-no, not even to HIMSELF
When Mark Antony lest the battle Of Ac-
tium, and was penned up in Alexandra, he
was weak enough TO send challenge to
Augustus to fight him in single combat-to
which the latter sent for answer, "that if
he (Antony) was weary of living, there
were other ways Of dispatching himself be-
side fighting him-and for his part, he
would not take upon himself the trouble of
being his executioner." Antony seemed
to think Casar's suggestion quite reasona-
BILE; for he soon after put himselfto death.
Our duells,s, however, would much rather
cut any other mans throat than their own.
This mention Of equality in mutual muir
der, calls to mind whimsical incident that
occurred some years ago, on one OF the
roads FROM Dublin 10 London. Two dash
ing young blades Of The sod, being on their
way to the metropolis of the British en-
pire, to ,hew themselves to the English Ia
dies, and make their fortunes by marriage,
stopped at the great inn at Holyheaa, and
to keep themselves in laudable employ
ment while the coach was getting ready. |
proceeded with their pistols to the garden,
to keep their hands in, by shooting at a !
mark. Having pinned patch ofpaper to
the door of certain building, in the gar
den, they measured back twelve PAGES ,
from it, and one Of them, taking aim, let fly
at the mark the other was just in The at I: