Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1838-04-25
From the American Monthly Magazine.
ANECDOTES OF DWELLING.

From the American Monthly Magazine.
ANECDOTES OF DWELLING.
In most cases of duels growing out
Of differences in society, it is the man
who is most in the wrong who seeks
redress. He feels himselfin the wrong,
and therefore in manner disgraced !;
he wants something to take eff the
sense of public censure, and he remem.
bers that by the code of honor a duel
absolves both parties of all that went
before it. We remember an instance
which occurred in packet ship, where
man, either drunk or in some violent
excitement, made an assault upon ia
Bile at which several persons-some of
them lades--were sitting. The near.
est man repealed him by force, and was
afterwards called upon, at Havre, to
fight him for his satisfaction. He re.
piled, /" Sir, you brought your disgrace
upon yourself, and | will lend you no
aid to wipe it off," The answer was
most logical, and in accordance with
sense, and our customs and opinions
but by the code of honor he must have
fought. And he should have fought
forthwith, without waiting to learn
what, in this case, he would afterwards
have learned. that his adversary was a
felon and fugitive from justice, and was
not person Of sufficient rank to BIO
considered in such circumstances, even
technically, gentleman.
Lord BrudeneIl, son of the Earl Of
Cardigan, ran away with married
lady, who was Afterwards divorced, and
he married her, and she is now Lady
Brudenell. But his Lordship, after the
first escapade, was somewhat surprised
that he did not receive challenge
from the injured husband, and he was
so anxious to make reparation, that at
last he wrote to offer it. His note was
worded as follows:
"SIR: Having done you the great.
est injury bat one man can do another,
think it incumbent upon me to offer
YOU the satisfaction which one gentle
man owes 10 another in such circum-
stances.
The reply was this:
"MY LORD In taking off my hands
a woman who has proved herself a
wretch, you have done me the greatest
favor that one man can do another /;
and | think it incumbent upon me to
offer you the Acknowledgements which
one gentleman owes TO another in such
circumstances.
This man took a cold blooded view
of the case, but he was right revenge
in such case, is no reparatlon and
the unworthiness Of the cause must
completely neutralize its relish. Pc
cuniary damages are positively base
and Mr.. Buckingham himself would
hardly have thought it worth the trou-
BILE Of pursuing the case through court
of honor to make the culprit apologize.
The real cause of the most violent
quarrels is very often beyond the reach
of evidence or explanation and this It
IS which accounts for permanent and
moral differences breaking out on
trivial pretext, which seems like no.
thing but is backed by old hatreds'
indefnable sights, rivalries, and boar
ded animosities. The once notorious
Baron Won Hoffman challenged man
for not inviting him to dinner-a cause
not likely to be avowed, but certainly
il was the real one. The Baron had
lost his trunk in the river, with all his
letters of introduction, and consequent
". till more came, his standing was
not well ascertained. Some persons
received him, others denounced him
but this latter class the Baron, II ne
could get at them, was always ready
to fight. He knew very well that the
ratio ultima regum, the lcgic OF kings
was also the best logic for lmposters
and if any thought his credentials were
short weight, he was ready to throw
his pistol into the scale. In the case
in question, Mr.. J. R, whom
the Baron met in certain set where
he had access, was famous for his good
dinners, from which the Baron was al
ways left out. Weary Of this, he CAL
led one day on Mr.. R. and spreading
his credentials, such as they were, be-
fore him, by way of removing suspl.
sions, which, he said, he had heard X.
/ had expressed, and against which he
made labored argument. He left his
papers, and desired they might be re-
] turned with a note expressive Of the