Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1819-04-29
ALEXANDRIA,:
THURSDAY, .4PRN %, 1919.

doubt whether a more eflectuaI mode
could be devised of putting young fools out
OF conceit with duei!ing, than exhibiting to
the public correct characters, upon the
caths of several creditahIe witnesses, we'll
acquainted with them, of the persons who
make practice of it. When compared
with those Of the men who condemn aud
ALLURE it, the constrast would be sufficient
ly impressive to fill all who contemplated
It with horror and disgust. On one side, the
virtue, the wisdom, the piety the elegance
and amenity, the consequence and the dig
nifty of society-on the other, the profit
gate, the desperate, the low bred rufhans,
the black-legs, the gamblers, men of i'll
fame, Of needy circumstances, who live by
the casual prey they can pick up as they
prowl through the underwood OF life. The
evil is too serious to be laughed at. while
in such hands else there would be chance
Of its being derided out of fashion. 1t is
only when it falls into the hands of men,
the meanDess OF whose standing and occu-
patons in society throw a cast of ridcule
upon il, that il can be treated with derision
but among us who own no distinctions
of that kind, and by whom he who laugh
ed at the incongruty Of butchers boy
challenging a general officer, would run a
risk of being set down as an ant-republi-
can, no such Weapon can be used in attack
ing the practice. Ye, in Europe, one of
the most successful modes of combating the
vice, has been that OF satirists putting sword
and pistol into the hands of the most con-
temptible beings they can think of. Doc
tor Smollet has, in several parts of his in
imitable works, reduced the business of
dueIling to almost as low a state Of ridicule
and degradation as it deserves. am not
sure in which of his works-but rather
believe that it is in Peregrine Pickle, that
he introduces two doughty blockheads, who
are resolute upon displaying their valor in
single combat, as agreeing, at the instance,
of mischievous wag, 10 fight, instead of
swords or pistols, with tobacco-pipes filed
with assafetida-in short, to smoke that
execrably nauseous drug against each other
till one should give out--innocent, no doubt,
compared with the usual mode-and GER
tainly full as brave and respectable. In
another place, he makes KoderIck Ran
dom persuade his friend, Hugh Strap, to
challenge another to fight him with razors
as Hugh, being by trade shaver, it was
the only weapon he was likely to be ex-
pert at. How often have we seen the most
ludicrous details in the European newspa-
pers, (most of them fabricated to ridicule
the custom) of haberdashers' shop boys,
blacksmi,hs' or tayiors' apprentices, going
out to fight, and uniformly ending in some
ludicrous, not seldom dirty catastrophe. |
remember one case which created much
merriment in London. A journeynan bar
Der and valet out OF place, happening 10
meet in beer house, in the west end Of
the town, had an argument upon the COM
parative merits Of bears grease and Mares
chal pomatum, for thickening the hair. 1t
was too important point TO be given up
with less than life, and fight they would
with pistols. The publican, who was ALI
arch, funny, ingenious dog. and had about
as much feeling for those fellows as have
fog d;l.er duellis,s, tipt the wink to neigh
boz OF mis-, "a butcher, who happened 10 be