The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1854-04-05
DUELS.
When duel is spoken of as likely to oe
DuELS.

WEDNESDAY MONNINe. q. y. :,
DUELS.
When duel is spoken of as likely to oe-
chr between two distinguished personages'
the whole country is agog with excitement
the newspapers TEEN with rumors and con
lectures: and the telegraph multiphes hes
with more than its usual facility. II the ei-
sorts Of benevolent pacifcators should sue
caaa and a resort to arms be obviated, the
amiable public considers itself swindied and
sets up howl of ridicule and denunciation.
fu had paid for admission to performance
nv great tragic actor, and should be cheated
cut of the anticipated luxury, by the refusal
of the hero of the night to enact his part, its
indignant virtue could not express itseii
in stronger terms. " Is this" it exclaims,
"the entertainment to which we were invi-
tedr' Have we come to the amphitheatre
to seethe gladiators fight, and are we ohiy
TO behold q shaking of hands ? Well, your
hands were hound to shake either from fear
or reconciliation, and the latter must be
vastly more agreeable. After all, what is
honor 2, Can it "set a legF But what do
YOU mean by exciting our interest on false
pretences?
But if there is fight and one of the CON-
batants falls, then the ferocious public be-
comes excessively humane and profoundly
sympathetic. 1t denounces the practice of
duelling as a savage and murderous practice;
It sheds bitter tears over the dead body of
the brave, cut down in his prime; it mourns
ovefthe sad spectacle of widowed wife and
orphan children; and it looks upon the sur
vivor of the fight as Cain who bears brand
of guilt upon his brow which many waters
cannot wash out, and in his heart worm of
gnawing remorse which can never die.
1t never occurs to this benevolent and sa-
gacious public that, whatever there is ridicu-
lous in demonstrations of hostility which end
in smoke, and whatever there is murderous
in quarrels which have bloody termination,
the public itself is chiefly responsible for.
The stupidity, the absurdity, the revenge of
duelling are all its own. But for its own i'm
mutable DEGREES, higher and stronger than
all human laws, the duel would be an idea as
obsolete as knight errantry, and the parties
who would engage in it, be looked upon it as
more hopelessly mad than Don Quixotte de
Ia Mancha. For the duel, as all will admit,
has no support in reason or common sense.
Its cede, written in blood, is as blind as it is
ferocious. 1t visits with the same capital
punishment a word of insult, and heartless
and cruel invasion of the most sacred rights
of man. Not only is it unequal in its awards
of vengeance, but it requires the injured
man to expose himself to the same fate with
the injurer. The man who has been wronged
often falls whilst the aggressor survives and
triumphs. Of course then, but for Public
Opinion, which sustains duelling, the absurd,
senseless and cruel practice would be hooted
out of society, and the men who indulge in
it, would be consigned to the cell of Incura.
bles in Bsdlam.
1t is thought that the custom of duelling
teaches men civility and courtesy, and that
therefore it is useful. sf
But it may be doubted whether this is the
fact to any great extent. We have little re.
spect for politeness and amiability which are
enforced at the pistols mouth. We all know
that the frank and cordial tone which distin-
is the result of the institutions, the social
tastes, the ardent temperament of the South
ern people. Yet here is practice which en-
ables the enemies of the South to libel its
character in one of its noblest and most Pc
culiar traits, and to assert that personal fear
is the handspring of its bland and courteous
politeness.
In the highest civilization, courtesy and
pOliteness proceed from the incentive of be-
nevolent principles and feelings. This, ace
believe is the civilization of the South, and
would remain, were the duel as polisher of
manners, to be forever discarded. Still, it is
useless to reason against practice which has
its roots deeply imbedded in the stronges,
passions of human nature, and is nourished
and strengthened by the genial breath OF
public sentiment. 1t will live on till the era
of common sense shall be more firmly estab.
lished. 1t will have its farces in which pre-
tenders will make men laugh; its tragedies,
which will make them weep; until, at last.
gradually, its long career of blood will be
closed, and mankind will wonder that thing
so monstrous was ever tolerated But, in the
meantime, let its guilt and its folly rest, not
alone on the misguided spirits who obey its
stern requirements, but ON the Public Opin-
ion, which lashes men to the field with whiu
of scorpions; and, with a refinement of tor.
ture worthy of the master spirit of lowe,
world, heaps shame and scUrn upon thei,
heads II they resist its mandates, and brands
them as murderers if they obey.
CUBAN EMANCIPATION.
1t appears that the Cubans resident in New
York. and who desire the independence of
Cuba are divided in opinion upon the sub
ject of negro emancipation in Cuba A M.
ton Of their number advocate abo,;t;., =,